Tomorrow classes start up in full force.
We are homeschooling again this year and once a week Dancer Girl & her Dancer Sister take in a full day's worth of classes designed for homeschoolers. They are very excited to get back into things and are looking forward to seeing all their friends again.
(An aside: The difference between this and traditional school, for those who are curious, is that these classes are very small at only 8-12 kids, only meet once a week for middle school, and the tutors see themselves as coming alongside families rather taking charge of the education. It ends up being a nice mix of both classroom and independent learning for our homeschool program - the best of both worlds really, since there is value in both group instruction and personalized learning experiences).
Last January, when she first got the brace, Dancer Girl wore it each week during these classes. She only told her tutors and a few select friends about it and I doubt most people knew she was in a Boston brace. She has learned to hide it well.
It wasn't easy though - certain classroom chairs were very uncomfortable, the popular beanbag chairs were next to impossible to get in & out of gracefully, it became hotter as the summer approached so the outdoor lunch breaks were tiring, and she couldn't always fully participate in some of the more physically active classes.
This year she doesn't currently have any scheduled activities after her day of classes (which runs approximately 6 hours) so we are going to try to have her go without the brace for the day.
Once basketball starts up this will have to change, but for now she is thrilled to be able to have a brace-free 6-hour day of class!
And I am thrilled to be able to grant her that experience while still maintaining the 18 hour goal.
my daughter (7 yrs) was just diagnosis with scoliosis. We also will be homeschooling this fall(a decision made prior to the scoliosis diagnosis). It was nice reading these few blog posts about your life with scoliosis.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you found our blog! We found the flexibility of homeschooling to work nicely with the brace because it gave Dancer Girl more freedom about when to wear it. Even if your daughter is not in a brace it can allow for flexibility about schooling if she is having a rough day, or just needs an extra break. We were dealing with a fair amount of back pain prior to the brace so it was nice to be able to allow for the breaks as needed. Enjoy the homeschooling adventure!
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