Last night was a double-header. Dora has been struggling to regain control since the exhausting conference, the therapy sessions, and a note from her mom. She has been the passive/aggressive queen. Beth is struggling with school—not academically, but socially and emotionally. She’s not the happy camper bouncing off the bus that she was last year.


My husband is traveling this week and I have been a solo parent … (wait, that’s not much different than normal … oops, did I say that???) Last night I had Dora in the rocking chair from 7:15 until a few minutes after 8:00, followed by Beth until a few minutes after 9:00. Both girls had mild meltdowns. Dora was way overdue, as her anger and sadness has been oozing from every pore and in every conceivable way except healthy ones. Beth is tired and just stressed from school, and I marveled at how readily she allows herself to just scream out her feelings. Literally. She climbs in the chair with me and just screams. (That sure would have freaked MY mom out!)


The above-mentioned fun-filled 90 minutes followed a busy, busy day, which included getting updated glasses for Beth and new glassed for Dora. I had two bespectacled girls heading to school today. (Dora was much bouncier this morning and to my knowledge didn’t pull any P/A stuff.) Before that, I spent the morning with an attorney, starting paperwork to make Dora’s placement more formalized. In between, I had lunch with a friend (yeh!) and discussed an exciting new plan I am hatching …


I did some preliminary research on homeschooling when Dora first arrived. I have never considered myself homeschool teacher material, but I wasn’t about to have the school call the shots for this traumatized child—past history had clearly taught me that they are clueless! During my research (and through conversations with Julie) I learned about virtual schools. There is one available to me in Kansas, the Lawrence Virtual School. Virtual school is like going to public school—the child is actually a public school student—but the school takes place at home. They send you textbooks, materials, and everything you need. The state pays the virtual school the same per student rate that bricks-and-mortar schools receive. (Gee, maybe that’s why the bricks-and-mortar schools don’t let parents know that this option exists?) The friend that had lunch with me yesterday has used this program for her kids. I learned that we’ll even get a loaner laptop with this program! How cool is that? Beth thinks it is pretty cool!


I am strongly considering pulling Beth out very soon and learning the ropes of virtual schooling on my healthy child, with the expectation that Dora would join us next year. Dora has a fabulous teacher and I would be crazy not to avail myself of her skills. Plus Dora has much bigger fish to fry right now than school … no matter who teaches her, she’s not going to be much of a student for awhile.


Beth is quite excited (and somewhat scared, as am I) about this new plan. More coming on this.


Julie's post on virtual school

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