Mom's Going Back to School!

I just got done getting Faith back to sleep.  She has been sick again and needed another dose of medicine.  Poor thing!  After I got her to sleep, I just laid in bed with my mind going a million miles an hour.  I couldn't go back to sleep so I thought I would blog for a little bit instead.  A lot of new things to share! 

I have decided to go back to school!  It is something I did several years ago, with some online classes.  I stopped because Bryan decided to go back and finish his degree and he didn't want both of us in school at the same time.  So I haven't gone since.  Now that he is out of school we have talked about me going back.  Up till this point it hasn't been something that has really felt right.  I haven't known what I have wanted to do and it is a large financial burden to take on.   Well that has changed now.  I have decided that I want to teach.  It has been coming on slowly for a while, and homeschooling my children as certainly been a part of that.  The final straw was when I took Charity in for her placement tests. (we are seeing if she will be placed in advanced classes next year) I walked into the middle school and felt a surge of joy.  It always happens to me when I walk into a school, but this time it hit me a little stronger.  That coupled with many other things I have been feeling, everything just clicked into place.  I went home and started doing some research. 

There are a couple private colleges that will allow me to get my license with a bachelors only, but they are expensive.  Then there is Ohio State, which is ranked number 10 in the whole nation for their education department, which will license me only by going all the way through to a masters.  I talked with advisors from the local community college, from OSU and from the other two private colleges.  I found that the undergraduate program at OSU is offered at the off campus sites at a fraction of the price as going on campus.  It also brings my education closer to home.  So my plan is to go to Columbus State for as long as I can, transfer to OSU and finish my undergraduate degree at the Newark location and then head on campus to finish my masters and get my license.  That will take me a few years shy of David entering middle school.  Perfect timing!  I will be in school when my kids are and off when they are.

They do things differently now than they use to.  I have the option of being licensed for grades K through 3, 4 through 9 or 7 through 12.  I want to teach middle school, so I will go for the 4 through 9.  I am suppose to pick two areas of focus.  I am going to do Language Arts and History, the two that I find myself the most drawn to while homeschooling and in general!   

I'm going to continuing homeschooling, and plan to put each of my kids in school as they hit 6th grade.  For my school, I will be able to do most classes on line for the first few years, and the ones I can't, I can schedule during the winter when Bryan is home all day.  For the periods of time where I know I will need to go in all day, I can put kids in school if I have to, but I have a feeling things will work out for me to continue to homeschool.  Call it a hunch or whatever, but somehow I think it will work out.  We'll see. 

I am so excited!  It is going to be a lot of work, though!!!!  I start June 18th.  I am going to wrap up the school year with my kids by the end of May and then take a couple weeks off before I dive into my school!  I am really looking forward to it.  It will be a challenge, juggling everything on my plate, but a challenge that I am up for...  I have a picture in my mind of walking across the stage in cap and gown receiving my degree and license to teach!  I'm going to hold that picture in my head and not stop until I get there!  Then to teaching!  I will love that!  It will be a huge blessing to our family as well, filling in a bunch of needs Bryan and I have been wracking our brains trying to figure out how to fill.  I will also be grateful to know that if anything happens to Bryan, I will be in a position to care for my family in a manner that still allows me to be a stay at home mom while doing something I love.  Perfect again! 

What's weird is that instead of cutting back what I'm doing, the impression I had, even before I had the feeling to start school, was to look at taking on a little boy David's age to homeschool with him. (I checked with the laws of Ohio and I'm allowed to do that)  David is so social and really could use a playmate.  At first glance that seemed like the worst idea, but the more I thought about it, I realized it's actually going to be more helpful than anything.  When kids are busy doing school and David is done with his work, I am his playmate.  It would actually be very helpful for him to have someone to play with.  I would be able to get more of my school done while the kids are doing their school work.  My homeschooling schedule is refined enough that adding another kid into the mix would not be that big of a deal.  Plus, David doesn't have any brothers, and I would love for him to have a boy to play with.  The only problem is finding someone his age whose parents are looking for that type of situation.  Not the easiest thing in the world.  Not something I'm going to put an ad in the paper for.  So I'm just passing it along, word of mouth, and see what comes of it.  With so many parents interested in homeschooling now, maybe it will work out. 

Even though I'm going to be crazy busy, I am going to continue to blog, even if it's a little bit here and there.  I would like to be able to look back, at the end of this road, and have a record of what the journey was like. 

Well, I'm going to curl up with my hubby for a little bit (he's snoring next to me) before I'm going to crawl out of bed for the day.  A very little bit, I hear my girls alarm going off.  Maybe I will post a few pictures today, or tomorrow.  We'll see how the day goes and how Faith is doing.