I Chose This!

I keep repeating this to remind myself that this crazy year to come is our choice, and that there is a reason why we made this choice.  Hopefully we will survive.  I figure I should document it, so I can refer back when days are bad.

Last year, we made the decision to put Jack in North Idaho STEM Charter Academy.  STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.  In our area, there are three choices for education.  #1 - public school, #2 - "Charter", which is a language arts based program for middle school and up, or #3 - "STEM" which is K-12.

We were happy in our Elementary school.  Jack loved his teachers, and always did great.  He tested advanced on all standardized tests, and maintained high grades.  However, as he got closer and closer to 6th grade, I felt more and more uneasy about the future.  Panic is probably an apt term.  It was a feeling that grew and could not be dismissed.  It was obvious to me that our middle school was the WRONG place for my son.  I have never even considered taking my kids from public school before, so this was upsetting to me, and I was lost.  I realized that this feeling was actually a prompting from the Holy Ghost, and that I needed to turn to prayer to find the best situation for Jack.

After research and many conversations with parents at both Charter and STEM, I decided that STEM fit Jack's personality and abilities.  Being super nerds around here, the science and technology part of this was something we were very excited about.  We put in an application for the lottery, and prayed for the best.  I really felt like like I was guided, and that it would all work out.  I was nervous when he got wait-listed and thrilled when they called to let us know he made it in.

Jack came home from his first day of school, and said, "Mom, this is the best thing that ever happened to me."  It is almost unexplainable the growth that I saw last year.  He learned things that I did not learn until college.  We had amazing conversations about history, current events, literature.  He competed in FLL (lego league), built robots, engineered buildings, worked with NASA, competed on a state level in NHD (National History Day), and I could go on and on.  He was able to maintain all As or Bs in every class, and qualified for the 8 in 6 program which allows him to take high school classes while in middle school, and college classes in high school which will result in a diploma and associates degree by the time he graduates.  He completed his first on-line high school class this summer, and also taught himself how to code in Java Script just for fun.

At the same time, I watched Sam coast.  I had nothing to compare it to before, but my eyes were suddenly wide open.  He had a fun year and a darling teacher, who I believed did the best she could in her situation.  I have nothing bad to say about her or the school, but Sam was not challenged in any way. The difference between the two experiences was vast. (Sam did not make it into STEM last year, he was too low on the waiting list)

To be clear, this was not easy.  Not even a little bit easy - it was HARD!  Jack spent hours each night doing homework, sometimes he had to skip other activities.  Sometimes, he got frustrated and wanted to just have a day off.  Sometimes he cried, and sometimes I yelled.  It felt like at times, Tyler and I spent almost as much time correcting homework, and helping with projects as he did doing it. I also had to commit to driving 20 minutes to get to the school, and 10 minutes to pickup, and 20 minutes back home.  Luckily, we carpooled, so Jack had a ride every morning.  We asked him all of the time if this was too much, if we needed to consider a different option, but he loves it and wants to continue.

This year, we were thrilled that Sam also got in to STEM for 3rd grade.  To add to the craziness, Logan starts Kindergarten.  STEM has a Kindergarten, but we are sending Logan to the public Kindercenter.  Our individual schools do not have kindergartens, instead all students go to one building and there are several kindergarten classes and options.  There were a few reasons why I chose not to send Logan to STEM.  #1 - I don't think he is ready for that kind of structure, #2 - The extra drive to STEM during the day would really be detrimental to my work schedule.

Let's talk about my work schedule.  I am very lucky to have the ability to work from my home office every day, but that does not mean that I set my hours or that I am not expected to work 8+ hours each day, during regular business hours.  I spend most of my day on the phone with my team or with my customers.  My kids are getting pretty good at being quiet when I take calls in the car.  I have my headset, and there were times last year where I conducted a full hour of business on the drive to and back from STEM.  Once I even conducted an interview.  I will have to use my lunch break to pick Logan up from school every day.  The bus to school is just around the corner, so it will be an easy drop off.

Extra curricular activites - I am not crazy!  This is definitely a sacrifice, however my kids are not very into sports, so they don't care much.  We are taking swimming lessons on Saturdays, and both Jack and Sam take piano.  Jack also plays trumpet in school.  Both of the older boys are in scouts.  We could not possibly add anything else at this time.

Now comes Stake Conference last week which focused on what we need to do to keep our families on the path of salvation (scriptures, prayers, temple, family history, etc).  I had been thinking about the number of hours in the day and realizing that there was literally not enough time to make this all work.  Add the feeling of importance that I need to be better at having scriptures and prayers with the kids, FHE (family home evening), and all of that jazz, and that is when I began to panic.  How will we do all of this?  How will I still be able to work?  How will we eat?  Deep breaths, I chose this!  It occurred to me that this is what I am good at.  I manage and organize teams, and projects at work.  I organize my life, and it is my job to bring those skills home and put together a "project plan/schedule" for my family.  I am not naive enough to believe that this is going to go smoothly every day, or that I wont have to tweak this to make it work, but we are going to give it our best shot.  We were joking yesterday that I really need to go to the Doctor to have a look at my shoulder, but he would probably recommend physical therapy, and there is no room for that on the schedule.  Sad but true, advil will work for now.

So, after several hours playing around with a schedule, here is our great plan.  It is tight.  Jack is going to have to get quicker at home work, but it can work if we support each other.

Here is my schedule as it applies to the rest of the time in the day...

Here is my plan for the weekend...

 

 

I don't pretend to think that this is the right school for every kid, or the right choice for every family, but for now I know that this is the right choice for us, and I am willing to sacrifice my time to give this opportunity to my kids.  I know there are "football dads" and "cheerleader moms" that live through watching their kids play sports.  I have to admit that I am a little jealous when I hear about the educational opportunities that my kids get at STEM.  -Again proving (as if we needed more proof than the charts) that I am a super nerd.  So for any of you that run into me looking like a total mess repeating the words, "I chose this", just pat me on the back or feed me chocolate.  I will make it through this year.  Having all three in the same school next year will be a lot easier!