Homeschooling journey.

This year of homeschooling has been a long interesting journey.
Not only has my beautiful daughter learned new things but I too have learned so much. Maybe even more than her.
When I decided to home school I was very unprepared. I assumed that since I was doing mostly teacher led homeschooling that I did not need to do much more than what I was doing before when she was in conventional school.
Now I do need to add this side note. Sarah is taking her 8th grade this year. She has two older brothers that went from K to 12 in the conventional school system. So needless to say I was GREEN!!!!

I decided in light of today being Top 10 I would list 10 of the things that I learned this year. This is not to say I only learned these 10 things. I also learned a pile more.

1. Plan out your year of schooling at the beginning of school.
I figured craziness I know, that if she was working on certain subject for certain periods of time during the week that would work. Maybe for some it would. Not for us. We needed to break down all what she had to learn for the year and make a timeline for her to finish each one.

2. My daughter needs a schedule.
See above. I already knew that I worked better with a schedule so even though I said Monday and Wednesday were for this this and this, Tuesday and Thursday were this this and this and Friday was this and this; it wasn't structured enough for her. She would procrastinate, resulting in January us being VERY behind and her working A LOT to catch up so we could even finish the year on time.

3. My daughter has some learning challenges.
This was not a big surprise as my oldest also has learning challenges. If I would have been more in tune I probably would have realized that all the teacher comments on her liking to visit and if she would only hand her work in were rooted in a deeper issue. I realize now that she is more than likely ADD or a form of it. Part of the reason behind her schedule is because she gets distracted VERY easily.

4. I also believe that my daughter has some sensory challenges.
Again if I would have thought more about it I would have realized sooner. She hates me brushing her hair or even putting it up in a pony. I thought she was just being overly sensitive. She can't stand the sound of a public toilet flushing, even now she puts her hands over her ears.

5. Some days you need to just relax.
Sometimes we both need down days. I know that next year when I start my scheduling I would work it so maybe we can have a down day once a month. Not necessarily schedule it in but if some times I feel if would be beneficial to just recharge we have the luxury of doing so.

6. When she finds something she enjoys there is no limit.
She really enjoys Home Ec and was very keen to do things in it such as the cooking/baking session. With the help of her teacher they also found a math program that she really enjoys and she works hard on it and is improving more and more each day.

7. I like to have my 'me' time and my 'hubby and me' time.
I miss that. I miss that a lot!! We now really have to focus on making date nights and I have really grown to appreciate when she is out playing with friends.

8. I am sad that I never home schooled my boys.
I really believe that they would have excelled in this system instead of doing mediocre in the conventional system.

9. I have learned that I need to learn to lean on God more.
I like to be independent but I have learned that we do much better when we turn to Him first.

10. I am so glad I decided to do this crazy rat race of a life.
Sarah and I are way closer now. We always were but I feel that this year we are even closer. We have both grown up so much. Each and every day is a gift even if sometimes I might want to return it to sender. LOL

I am linking up today with Angie.