What went well for 2017?

[OneStepAtATime]

Title says it all but I wanted to clarify this doesn't have to be big moments. Sometimes the little things can have a big impact or be the thing that got us or our child through a difficult time. So what went well in 2017?

Edited December 20, 2017 by OneStepAtATime

[nature girl]

I'll start. :) DD7 is doing well in PS 2nd grade! (Something I didn't think we'd be able to say when we started this journey.) Not perfectly, she does still sometimes pretend to be a cat or a dragon while she's supposed to be sitting at her desk :p , but academically she's doing great, her behavior isn't that out of line and, most importantly, she's made good friends. I love watching her with the other kids, she really has learned to modulate her behavior and impulsivity, usually thinks before she speaks/acts, and is kind and loving. They accept her and even seek her out to play (I think they get a kick out of her huge imagination) or talk.

 

I attribute a big part of this to meds, but also all the work we've done on emotional regulation, role playing social situations, and also I see her becoming a bit more mature. We still have struggles at home sometimes (usually after meds wear off at night or in the morning, or weekends when we take med breaks), but there's been some improvement there as well. It's so nice not having to monitor her constantly while she's at the playground, or worry about how she'll act without us at play dates or parties. In all, it's been a good year.

(Happy holidays to all you wonderful mamas!)

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Edited December 20, 2017 by nature girl

[OneStepAtATime]

Oh that's awesome Nature girl! I'm thrilled for both of you.

[OneStepAtATime]

What went well here:

 

1.  DD is doing well with her on-line classes.  Much more independent.  Much better organized.  Making A's (although we had some very stressful moments over a mid-term).  She is motivated and makes gains in everything she does.

2.  DS starting a group for Dungeons and Dragons.  Excellent base for learning and he has deepened two friendships (something he desperately needed).

3.  Better fit on a lot of the materials we are using this year than what we were using this time last year.

4.  My health has improved.

5.  Even though this is a stressful Christmas and the past few years have been really hard we're making it through so far...

6.  I love cats which is a good thing since we now have 11 cats (although I absolutely do not want 11 cats).

[Storygirl]

My oldest, who is NT, is enrolled in a private Christian school. I'm finding that 10th grade is easier for her than 9th. Less stress, fewer really late nights studying. She's really happy there, and her grades are very good. I always considered her an average student during homeschooling, meaning she had to work hard to produce what I considered average work, so I worried she would struggle more in brick and mortar school. She still has to work really hard, and I still help her organize and edit her essays for language arts, but otherwise she is needing less help from us while doing her homework. She gets mostly A's!!

 

DS13 has a very small class at his school this year. Two seventh graders. Our school is really struggling with enrollment (last year there were 20 in his class), and we are worried that they will decide to close the middle school next year. Which is NOT good news, because he is really thriving there. Having such a small group in his class has been excellent for him. He participates more and gets more individualized instruction. He also gets good help from his intervention teacher, who has worked with him for three years now. She knows him really well.

 

Twice this fall parents of other kids have told them how much their sons appreciate DS13 as a friend!!! Once at school and once at church. This is huge!!

 

DS12 is dong well in sixth grade. After a long time trying to figure out what exactly was causing his struggles in learning, we finally got him on a 504 plan at the end of last school year. So far this year his teachers have not brought up any of the concerns that we heard from his teachers in the past, so it seems things are going more smoothly, with less frustration. I doubt that is due to the 504, but I'm glad we have it in place now. It gives me peace of mind to know that he has some allowed accommodations, even if he doesn't use them always.

 

DD12 is thriving in sixth grade at her private dyslexia school. This is her second year there. She is a social butterfly and loves her friends. She no longer has meltdowns about homework and enjoys going to school. This is a great change from when she attended the boys' school in fourth grade. Removing the aspect of frustration from her schoolwork has done wonders for her (and for our family!).

 

We expect 2018 to bring some changes. We plan to move to a new school district because DS13 will need to go to public high school. And at this point, we are not certain that his current school will be open for his eighth grade year, so they boys may also be in a different school next fall. 2017 has been good for my kids, school wise, and we are hoping that 2018 will bring good things.

[Storygirl]

Eleven cats!!! That's almost three cats for every lap in your house!! :001_smile: We only have one kitty, but she is always on a lap. I'm sure your cat lovers love having so many!!

 

I'm glad things are going well, OneStep and Nature Girl!

[OneStepAtATime]

My oldest, who is NT, is enrolled in a private Christian school. I'm finding that 10th grade is easier for her than 9th. Less stress, fewer really late nights studying. She's really happy there, and her grades are very good. I always considered her an average student during homeschooling, meaning she had to work hard to produce what I considered average work, so I worried she would struggle more in brick and mortar school. She still has to work really hard, and I still help her organize and edit her essays for language arts, but otherwise she is needing less help from us while doing her homework. She gets mostly A's!!

 

DS13 has a very small class at his school this year. Two seventh graders. Our school is really struggling with enrollment (last year there were 20 in his class), and we are worried that they will decide to close the middle school next year. Which is NOT good news, because he is really thriving there. Having such a small group in his class has been excellent for him. He participates more and gets more individualized instruction. He also gets good help from his intervention teacher, who has worked with him for three years now. She knows him really well.

 

Twice this fall parents of other kids have told them how much their sons appreciate DS13 as a friend!!! Once at school and once at church. This is huge!!

 

DS12 is dong well in sixth grade. After a long time trying to figure out what exactly was causing his struggles in learning, we finally got him on a 504 plan at the end of last school year. So far this year his teachers have not brought up any of the concerns that we heard from his teachers in the past, so it seems things are going more smoothly, with less frustration. I doubt that is due to the 504, but I'm glad we have it in place now. It gives me peace of mind to know that he has some allowed accommodations, even if he doesn't use them always.

 

DD12 is thriving in sixth grade at her private dyslexia school. This is her second year there. She is a social butterfly and loves her friends. She no longer has meltdowns about homework and enjoys going to school. This is a great change from when she attended the boys' school in fourth grade. Removing the aspect of frustration from her schoolwork has done wonders for her (and for our family!).

 

We expect 2018 to bring some changes. We plan to move to a new school district because DS13 will need to go to public high school. And at this point, we are not certain that his current school will be open for his eighth grade year, so they boys may also be in a different school next fall. 2017 has been good for my kids, school wise, and we are hoping that 2018 will bring good things.

Oh, that's a great update!  I'm so glad this has been such a good year.  That is AWESOME.

 

I'm sorry enrollment is shrinking.  Do you have any idea why that might be?  Moving.  How do the kids feel about relocation?  I hope that goes really well.  I am assuming from your post that the private schools would still be within driving distance?  How is the housing market in the new location?

[Storygirl]

Oh, that's a great update!  I'm so glad this has been such a good year.  That is AWESOME.

 

I'm sorry enrollment is shrinking.  Do you have any idea why that might be?  Moving.  How do the kids feel about relocation?  I hope that goes really well.  I am assuming from your post that the private schools would still be within driving distance?  How is the housing market in the new location?

 

The school is trying to figure out why their enrollment is low. From last year to this year, there was a precipitous drop. As in, most (if not all --- not sure about some grades) of the elementary grades shrunk from two classrooms and teachers down to one classroom. I think there is a natural drop during middle school, because our school does not have a high school, so many families switch to the high school that they will attend while in middle school.

 

But also, there was a lot of drama with last year's sixth grade class, evidently. I was on the outside and don't really know all that happened, because it was mainly among the girls and didn't involve DS13. Parents were unhappy with how the principal handled that. And how she handled some things with staff -- two favorite middle school teachers (husband and wife) were let go in the middle of the school year with insufficient explanation to parents about what was happening. People don't feel the school board communicates well or includes parents' thoughts when making decisions.

 

So there is a new principal this year, but I don't know if he can do all that is needed to turn things around, because he does not have enough staff to help him. The school is running in the red this year and can't continue that way. The reasonable thing for them to do is discontinue the middle school (which has only 14 students in the three grades) for next year and focus on rebuilding K-5. But the reasonable decision would be unfortunate for our family!!

 

We'll be moving just to a neighboring school district. The friends that my kids had in this neighborhood moved away, so I think they are okay with moving. They will still get to go to the same church, etc. And if the middle school stays open, they will go to the same schools next year. If it closes, we will need to move the boys to public school a year earlier than we had planned (in 7th and 8th instead of 8th and 9th).

 

That does put pressure on us to figure out housing sooner rather than later. The housing market here is good for sellers but poor for buyers, because there are not many houses on the market. We've been looking now since April and haven't found something. We've talked to several builders but can't find an acceptable lot. The school district we are moving into offers great services but is a growing school in an area that has mostly been rural until recently. There just aren't many neighborhoods with housing. So finding a new home has been tricky and frustrating.

 

We're willing to build if we can find a lot. So far we've struck out. Fortunately, we can buy before we sell, because I'd hate to sell our home and have nowhere to move to. It's been frustrating!! I try to remind myself that God has a plan, and we just don't know what it is yet!

 

But we definitely think the new school district will be a better choice for DS13 for high school than where we live now, so it will be worth it in the end.

 

[OrganicJen]

Switching to Build Your Library has been a dream come true for us. I only wish we had made the switch sooner.

[kbutton]

My 13 y.o. has been maturing at rocket speed. We had updated testing for him in the midst of much of it, showing some clearer areas of struggle and also shocking us about some of his high areas that we thought were high when he was little, but previous testing didn't uncover so dramatically. He's taken up trombone (after piano and choir), and he's flown through the material surprisingly fast. His homeschool band teacher brags on him all the time, and she knows him well enough to know his flaws too--she's amazed. We are doing lots of projects to move into a new house (laying flooring, lots of fixes and installation of little things as well), and he's doing the work of a much older kid. He also landed occasional odd jobs with a neighbor who usually hires only older kids (like 16 and older) doing yard work (older gentleman who is still active but no longer able to pick up heavy things). I am astonished to find myself excited that he'll be driving in 2.5 years, lol! It used to sound scary.

 

My 10 y.o. is blossoming too, but he likes to keep us guessing. He had a pretty heavy duty genetic diagnosis in January that he's handled well. He's okay right now and it's a good time to get this diagnosis--very different from 10 or 20 years ago. Like his brother, he does a lot of music stuff too, but he's tricky, playing by ear and getting by with figuring out intervals and such. He can read music, but apparently it's not his first approach--keeping his teacher on his toes. He's doing really well with math, and I think he's a natural writer. He found a wonderful OT that has made tremendous inroads with making his body work in a coordinated manner and keeping some of the side issues related to his diagnosis in check (like scoliosis). He also seems to like drawing, and he's willing to spend a lot of time drawing carefully. We were quite surprised to see what he's drawn recently while the rest of us were all working on the aforementioned house stuff.  

 

Memoria Press Geography has been a big hit all the way around this year. It's one of our in the car subjects, and the kids are hoping to do more than one level this year. They can do it together without me and mostly without arguing (arguing has also decreased this year).

 

[OneStepAtATime]

That sounds awesome kbutton!  Absolutely wonderful.  :)

[Heathermomster]

Subjects that have worked....CBT for EF was great. We stopped around May because we couldn’t afford it anymore. Intense physical exercise through 8-man football was awesome for DS, and he made many new friends. Thus far, my dyscalculiac is doing well with Apologia Physics. The literature program Read with the Best worked well.

DS currently has a job working as a cashier at a popular electronics store. We are encouraged that DS is employed while so many adults are struggling to find work.

Edited December 21, 2017 by Heathermomster

[PeterPan]

Well y'all would be bored if I said Mighteor. :D  Gummies with niacin. Taking a break from in-home workers and doing things myself. Taking up weight lifting and doing things to take care of myself.

 

It's been a hard year, like harder than hard. Unfortunately, I'm not sure next year gets easier. We seem to keep growing and have good people on our team helping us. We're communicating well as a team and doing a lot of problem solving. Our new church is good, and they send us the list of music ahead, which makes a DRAMATIC DIFFERENCE in ds' ability to know what is happening and interact. It's the little things like that, the people, not magic curriculum necessarily, who are helping the most.

Edited December 21, 2017 by PeterPan

[kbutton]

That sounds awesome kbutton!  Absolutely wonderful.  :)

 

Well, this was about what went well. I have another list too, lol!  ;) I think our highs are very high, and our lows fairly low, sigh. But I appreciate a moment to think about the good stuff on here!!! Thank you!

[OneStepAtATime]

Well, this was about what went well. I have another list too, lol!  ;) I think our highs are very high, and our lows fairly low, sigh. But I appreciate a moment to think about the good stuff on here!!! Thank you!

Yeah I know exactly what you mean.  We've had some really high highs and some really low lows.  I thought others might be the same.  I was hoping mentioning the highs might keep people more upbeat about the lows.  

 

Cheers, good luck and hugs to all.