Homeschooling during lengthy military deployment

[kilo90]

My husband will be leaving in June for a year. Our longest deployment so far has been 4 months (back when they actually had deployments that short?!) so this is a different ballgame and the kids are older. I'll have children in 6th, 3rd, K and a new baby. For those of y'all who have experience with this, could you offer any wisdom on what helped or what didn't help? I thought about making one day a week a field trip day for them to look forward too, but that would lengthen our school year and I just don't think I want a longer year under the circumstances. I've also considered just getting in what we could within our normal school year and not worry about finishing everything.

 

It has been years since I've done a Women's Bible study through a church. I try to keep our schedule simple and feel this isn't the season for that. Now I'm wondering if I "need" that next year to pull me out of the house/homeschool mode. Our church offers a home school study hall for kids during the bible study time, but it would still be a big interruption in our school day. I really don't feel like we could do a field trip day AND do a Bible study. Thoughts on all that? Incidentally, we are stationed close to Williamsburg, VA so we are surrounded by great field trip opportunities. But educational field trips still take hours away from curriculum.

 

Thank you for any wisdom you have to share!

Gloria

[PentecostalMom]

I went to PWOC on post, which is a Women's Bible Study. They did have childcare up through age five, and a "homeschool room" set aside for the kids to work quietly. I did need this time to get away from the doldrums of being home all the time. It was also filled with many other spouses who had been through what I was going through, or we were going through it together.

 

We switched from a lot of teacher intensive stuff to ACE Paces for him, I was pregnant with dd #1 and gave birth while he was gone. I was combating intense morning (all day) sickness so the Paces held him accountable and were easy for me to "grade."

 

We were stationed in Germany, and I am familiar with all of those fabulous opportunities. FWIW, we took them. We traveled a lot while dh was gone. We also did school, but didn't take a long summer break. We just traveled when the trips were available (a lot were scheduled with free transportation through the CAC - Community Activity Center) and we took several with other hsing moms whose spouses were also deployed.

 

Your life will not be "normal" during the time, just as normal as it can be without your mate. That is why we took advantage of what we could to keep us busy and together, in addition to school. You will have R&R which will be "scheduled" but depends on activities where he is going and flights, which will also disrupt your schedule.

 

So granted, I only had two kiddos, but I would not trade that time with them. We saw a lot and did a lot. We incorporated the filed trips into our homeschool and while I missed dh immemsely, I also had times with my kids that I will probably never have again.

[ElizabethB]

:grouphug:

 

Here is a thread with some tips:

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=126792&highlight=Deployment+apiphobic

[iamrachelle]

:grouphug: and prayers to you Gloria. I could have written your post and will be interested in reading some of the responses you receive.

 

My husband will also be deploying in June for a year. We HS'd for a year when we were stationed in Korea and then put the kids in private school when we returned back to the US. We've been back about 18 months and school has been.... okay.

 

Not stellar, not terrible, just okay.

 

We are actually planning on pulling the kiddos out to homeschool them again next year. I am worried about being able to work in a break for myself and have plans to hire a nanny/housekeeper one morning a week to help out around the house so I can sit at Starbucks, drink coffee and read the paper in peace.:D But really, just having the freedom that homeschool provides to travel, visit family and let the kids stay up late to talk to their Dad on skype without worrying that they have to be awake and on their way to school and an exam the next day makes it worthwhile.

 

From one military Mom to another, you are more than welcome to fly west (we live in Las Vegas) and do a field trip to the Grand Canyon with me and the midget types if we can crash your pad and visit Jamestown next year. :lol:

[Jamee]

I'll be joining your boat as well. DH leaves in August and the boys have never known any kind of deployment. This will be an interesting year for us all and I'm just hoping it will go fast.

[brinkseven]

I am currently 6 mos into a year long deployment (also our 4th deployment). I have six children ages 11-2....so I can offer some suggestions that have worked for us:001_smile:

 

This year I am using Calvert for school. I know this isn't a terribly popular curriculum on these boards, but it has worked great for us. It keeps us on track, everything is laid out for me and I know what has to accomplished for the day.

 

We have a routine and our sports schedule is a bit lighter. I may be the odd one out on this too, lol. I like our schedule not so rushed when I am the only one taking kids places!

 

Having a cleaning lady come once a week or even monthly is amazing. Take the kids to the park, a field trip, and come home to a clean house is re-energizing.

 

I think Mrs. Mungo suggested this, is having a friend unrelated to the military. Someone you can vent to without repercussions. I call them a "safe" friend...this is a especially nice if you are inclined to have a glass of wine with them. ;)

 

I have always ordered a book, new curriculum, something that I can look forward to arriving after my dh has left. We have done this with the kids as well. My dh ordered new lego sets for them before he left. It gave them something to do and work through some of their emotions after Dad left. We do lots of talking, but naturally the kids sometimes just like to work on something alone for a couple days. This has just been my experience.

 

I can tell you that time has flown by. It is hard to believe that we are 6 mos into this tour!

 

I always plan on getting in great shape during deployments. This helps time go by faster because I procrastinate on my running program!:tongue_smilie:

 

I wish you the very best.

[kilo90]

Thank y'all so much for your thoughts and experiences! I really appreciate it!

Thank you for the link, Elizabeth B. I realized I searched "deployed" and not "deployment" so it didn't come up on my search. Great thread.

 

So many things y'all mention make sense. We moved here from Italy 7 months ago and I enjoyed a housekeeper 2 days a month while we were there. I didn't consider it for this next year since I will have the evenings to clean instead of spending time with hubby, but I loved having that to look forward to. I plan to look into it after hearing thoughts on the issue.

 

I won't name all the suggestions I love and draw this out. So many are helpful and give me food for thought. I have also heard from others with experience that the busier their schedule was the more stressed they were. It's one thing to have options of things to do. It's another thing to HAVE to be somewhere at a certain time for a specific reason.

 

DH asked if I would want to put the 2 older kiddos in school for next year. That's the last thing I would want to do. I enjoy having them at home and it would definitely take away our flexibility. DH has just been trying to think of things that would make life easier. It would free up my day a great deal, but our full school day will be a good thing for me. A friend mentioned that it is really difficult to find time for the kids to Skype with their dad, but a homeschooling friend of mine reminded me her kids are in school. Home schoolers can Skype at 10 in the morning. :)

 

Nursewithgrace- I don't know that I would venture out west with my crew, but we have room if you want to come east. :)

 

I'm trying to keep it all in perspective. Once the year is over, it's over. We'll get through it with some good days and some not so good. At this point I'm just ready for it to get here so it's not looming out there in the future.

 

Thank you again for all the great thoughts! Blessings to y'all who are in the middle of a deployment or have one upcoming!

Gloria

[Mrs Mungo]

We have done it. We had a couple of half day activities that all 3 kids could participate in when he was deployed. I didn't do anything like soccer that required me to get everyone to different practices on different days, that would have been too hard.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

My husband will be leaving in June for a year. Our longest deployment so far has been 4 months (back when they actually had deployments that short?!) so this is a different ballgame and the kids are older. I'll have children in 6th, 3rd, K and a new baby. For those of y'all who have experience with this, could you offer any wisdom on what helped or what didn't help? I thought about making one day a week a field trip day for them to look forward too, but that would lengthen our school year and I just don't think I want a longer year under the circumstances. I've also considered just getting in what we could within our normal school year and not worry about finishing everything.

 

It has been years since I've done a Women's Bible study through a church. I try to keep our schedule simple and feel this isn't the season for that. Now I'm wondering if I "need" that next year to pull me out of the house/homeschool mode. Our church offers a home school study hall for kids during the bible study time, but it would still be a big interruption in our school day. I really don't feel like we could do a field trip day AND do a Bible study. Thoughts on all that? Incidentally, we are stationed close to Williamsburg, VA so we are surrounded by great field trip opportunities. But educational field trips still take hours away from curriculum.

 

Thank you for any wisdom you have to share!

Gloria

 

A little different situation. We just finished up two years in Japan. During that time dh was gone about 2/3 of every year, in 2-4 month intervals all through the year.

 

You mention that you are reluctant to do frequent field trips, because it will prolong your school year. One of the regrets that I have is that we DIDN'T do more field trips. We left and I'd hardly scratched my list of places to visit and museums/experiences to explore. One of the things I have to keep reminding myself is that exposure to ideas and experiences are at least as important as time spent in books and working on math problems.

 

In a couple years, when we get to studying the American Revolution or the Civil War, we might be back overseas again. I want my kids to have a mental picture of Fort Washington or Mount Vernon or Ford's Theatre. I want them to be able to picture the ricketty rockets that Robert Goddard built himself and remember that their math and science work might lead them down a tinkering path to the stars. (In other words, instead of allowing field trips to take away from your curriculum, consider them an essential part of it. Even if they aren't directly tied to what you are studying this week or this month.)

 

Could you plan for your Bible study day to also be your field trip day? Would that work? If the study were in the morning, you could pack a picnic lunch and spend the afternoon somewhere cool. A couple memberships to museums (like the aquarium in VaBeach) would free you up to explore and enjoy for a couple hours rather than feeling like it had to be an all day affair in order to "get your money's worth".

 

I love the idea of having someone to vent to who isn't going to carry tales. For me, that is a friend who is a couple of years further along in life (kids, homeschooling, military) than I am. She's still an active duty spouse, but our dh's don't cross paths professionally (and they are friends and have a mentorship relationship too). It is so good to be able to vent to someone who understands immediately what the frustrations are. But I do think it's very wise not to have those conversations within the confines of one's home command or community. Maybe at your church group you would find some retiree wives or former military wives with a dose of been there done that but without any personal stake in what will frustrate you. Civilians are good too, but sometimes won't be able to understand the reasons why you have to be involved with something that frustrates you.

 

The Tidewater area has so many great homeschool opportunities and museums and field trip options. There are also great homeschoolers who would probably be willing to come alongside you and help you through this. Let yourself be in a place where they are able to support you.

 

Do you have a few people you can call in an emergency for child care or a ride or other odd requests? There was one night when my dh was underway when I burned my arm badly making dinner. I probably should have gone over to the ER, but I didn't have anyone that I felt like I could leave my kids with. I should have had that prepped ahead of time.

 

:grouphug:

 

(And when all else fails, keep enough frozen pizza on hand to get you through a rough day.)