One year without posting

On a whim, I decided to come update this blog and I was surprised to find out that I wrote the last post precisely one year ago, only a few days after we began our cyber-schooling year. In the end, I never posted here...

Why?

Because cyber-schooling is extremely intense and it was so hard for me that I couldn't find the strength and energy to write about it.

Was it a positive experience academically?

Yes, it was. I would highly recommend the cyber school we used: Pennsylvania Leadership Charter Cyber school (PALCS), particularly if you live close to one of the two school locations (West Chester and Pittsburgh).

Why didn't it work for us?

Because I just cannot manage it. My ADD doesn't let me do it. I'm too chaotic and disorganized and it became a nightmare. In addition, I had lots of conflict with my oldest son, he drove me crazy because he's so much like me. Yeah, every single day I felt like I needed to have tons of therapy just to be able to start the next day. But obviously I cannot afford therapy (and have never had it), so we just survived somehow.

I will try to come back and write more about our experience. The pros and cons. Academically I think that there is NOTHING that can compare to a good, sound, well run cyber-school. What my sons learned in their music and art lessons is just INCREDIBLE. Too bad it won't continue.

OK, more later then. Nobody reads this anyway, maybe Lucy will, hi Lucy! So, yeah, bye.

Sibling Rivalry, Cyber School Edition -- 3rd Day

So, I never realized that when I worked hard to get most of my youngest son's assignments done yesterday that he wouldn't have anything left to do today and the rest of the week. Part of what we had to do yesterday to prepare for kindergarten was cutting multiple words, letters, and number cards. L helped me with the numbers diligently, but was already tired of cutting when we got to the words and letters, so I cut those. Little did I know that I could have let those for him to cut today and tomorrow... Well, too late!

As you can imagine, the oldest, K, was outraged that his little brother didn't have anything to do and he had, and still has, LOTS! (deep sigh). Working with K is a constant struggle most days, particularly because he doesn't like to write (except when it's a dictation or spelling) and he likes even less to draw and color. He's too much of a perfectionist and takes forever. This has always been a big problem for him and I really don't know what I'll have to do to get him to work a little faster.

Because today he had a lot of writing to do and then we scan the paper and post it to the classroom site, half of it was postponed for tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow in the least! I wish the Kindergarten teacher would post next week's activities so I could have something to do with L so K would be more motivated to work. But then, again, I'd be divided and not be able to help/supervise him as closely. Yeah, he's a tough cookie. Bright, but very stubborn. I have to write more about these problems.

Tomorrow I'm going to try and call tech support so we can finally install the printer/scanner. It's been a hassle to have to use my own printer for everything, but I don't want to waste anytime with tech support because I know they're extra busy the first week of classes. I'm glad that my husband was able to figure out what to do with L's computer.

All right, enough for today! Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Sideways -- 2nd Day

The second day of cyber schooling (yesterday) was very busy, but relatively OK. It was less chaotic than the previous day since we already knew more or less what to do.

Halfway through the day, though, my youngest was getting tired of being at the computer and stretched his little legs which touched the keyboard, perhaps with his hands as well and then, all of a sudden, the images on the screed were sideways!!! We couldn't find a way to get it fixed (it never occurred to me to google to find the solution -- this is how my husband solved the problem today -- control, alt, arrows), so he had to use the laptop for the remainder of the day.

There were still technical problems in the school's website which were only resolved when night came. I'm definitely getting the hang of this.

First Day of Class

Perhaps I should be a little sad that my youngest boy won't have the same first day of school photos that his brother had at his first day of kindergarten and 1st grade, if any, since I didn't take any formal pictures today, but I'm not sad.

We had a busy, but slightly haphazard day in which I spent most of the time online (from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm) and got Kelvin to work quite a bit and Linton not much. We had a hard time to access the school website in the morning and then, later, some of its capabilities were off, but I'm confident that soon things will get smoother, for them and for us.

In keeping with tradition at least a little bit, I decided to prepare the very same lunch that Kelvin took on his "first day of school ever" (scroll down for photos) -- Inari sushi. Linton didn't really like it, but Kelvin and I scarfed it all down! Pictures forthcoming, or I'll never finish this post. :-)

The most important thing is that I have a really good feeling about this school year. I think we'll be able to handle it, in spite of my inherent haphazardness... (sigh). The "virtual school" gives us the structure that we desperately need, but is flexible enough to accommodate the boys' different learning styles.

It will particularly suit Kelvin, the "geeky boy" who loves to be working on the computer. He already did two online tests today (math and reading) and not only did really well, but enjoyed them thoroughly. If he works hard (I'll see to it that we go over the whole 2nd grade book, at least in math), he might even be promoted to 3rd grade in these subjects. They told us at orientation that this was real possibility, if those subjects were too easy for him, and I think they'll be. And this is exactly what I wanted for him and which was denied at our previous school, but I don't want to look back anymore and only forward!

I'll try to post photos and other things tomorrow.

Before We Begin

Tomorrow is our orientation at the cyber school (I've decided not to disclose its name in the blog) and I have no idea what to expect. I have read the school's website carefully and I just came online to print out the directions (I should be doing that and not blogging!), but other than that, I haven't made any preparations. I thought of getting the boys to study a bit for their evaluations but... I just want them to be themselves and that alone will demonstrate their strenghts and weaknesses and the level they should be placed.

I will soon come back to write more about why and how we decided to begin this journey, but I just decided to add a post so my brand new blog wouldn't be "empty." Hopefully it will soon have some readers and the conversation/interaction will begin!