Hello! My name is Adriane Cooper and I have been teaching for, well, more than 20 years now that I do the math! Time flies! About half of that time I was teaching public high school science. In the more recent decade, I have been working with families doing school outside of the public school system, mostly homeschooling.
I have been meaning to start writing about my experiences for AGES. Finally! Here we are! I want to share to help families that are already doing homeschooling/unschooling and families thinking of making that switch.
There is the potential to have a lot of anxiety in ANYTHING regarding our kids! School especially seems to be a source of worry. My goal is to to alleviate some of that anxiety, and provide ideas and materials that can be helpful for homeschooling/unschooling in general, as well as some things that I have found to be particularly useful in specific subjects.
Also, I know there is a huge amount of expertise and really great ideas out there in all of you. I want this to be a place where I can help get those ideas out to others who would really appreciate your insights.
I have loved all the teaching I have done: from middle school through undergraduate, and in traditional classrooms and at kitchen tables, and the most rewarding of all? Homeschooling my own kiddo! Yay! But, homeschooling Joe has also been the most challenging teaching I have done (love you Joe*!). Being a parent AND a teacher to the SAME kid....it can be intense. It is of course a privilege to have the option to homeschool, and I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I understand that it can be HARD.
For now let me try to help just a bit with your school concerns in general. If you are reading things like this post, then I already know you are actively engaged in your child's well-being and education. And THAT is what your child needs. School (and growing up in general!) never goes smoothly all the time, and what your kiddo needs is guidance through those times when things are tough. And, again, because you are reading things like this, I KNOW you are providing that guidance. So, I know your kiddo will be ok, whatever you choose to do.
If you find yourself reading this at a time when you are really worried about what is going on with your kiddo related to school or otherwise: please know the academics part will work itself out (I know this because of the many kids I have worked with AND because I know YOU will try things until it does work out!). If your child is dealing with concerns more serious than academics (mental or physical health concerns, serious stress, etc.) worry about those first; yes, even to the point of actually ignoring academics for a time if need be. The academics will still be there when they are ready for them.
For those of you fortunate enough to be concerned about 'just' academic sorts of things, I can't wait to provide ideas, materials, and encouragement to assist your family in making decisions about HOW you may want to 'do' school. I really am so excited!!
For now, please email me (Adriane Cooper) at prairiesci5@gmail.com to subscribe/unsubscribe from getting my blog posts in your inbox. I am sure in a bit I will figure out the fancy way to do that on my emails and website (under construction at the moment)!
If you have questions, comments, or concerns, you can email those to me. I'll do my best to address those with blog posts and/or content on the website! I will also be working hard to get useful content and blog posts out to you!
*Joe has given me permission to use him/us as examples when I write. He reads and okays anything that mentions him before I publish it!