My husband, son Kyle, me and daughter Emma at Kyle's high school graduation on May 30. A couple of you may remember Kyle and Emma when they weren't taller than me.
May's range of projects -- the planned, the accidental, the accomplished -- all revolve around study and books.
The planned project was to find out what I need to do to become a substitute teacher in my district. I have been a stay-at-home mom for the past 18 years and am at a crossroads of mommy identity with the entry of my youngest into school all day. I'm grateful for my husband's work that has allowed me to be at home, but current financial squeezes make me wonder if I should re-enter the work force. I would like to buffer our savings and not feel like we only operate month-to-month. Plus, kids get more expensive with age!
I teach piano lessons to pay for opportunities for my children beyond my own skills: karate, violin, ballet. I consolidate my lessons onto two afternoons, but it is premium time of everything happening at once, of homework and meal-prep. In short, the witching hour.
I'm as busy as ever with the demands of running a household (which I don't really do very well, sigh), but I feel an extra push lately to contribute financially. Being able to work part-time in my children's elementary school would be awesome. I volunteer there so much, one secretary joked they should pay me.
Some time ago a teacher friend told me that because of my having a bachelor's degree and years of volunteering in the classroom, I could easily be part of the district's substitute pool with the flexibility to choose what days I wanted to work. Really, I said, even though I don't have a license? Yep, she said. Sounded good to me.
This conversation on my mind, I eagerly logged on to the district page this month to start my application.
CRASH. BAM. KA-POW. (My 6-year-old told me that is how you would spell Screeching halt.) Turns out you do need a license to be a substitute. Good for the kids, of course, but not so much for my plan. Oh, how I wish I'd had a crystal ball when in college! If I'd known how much I would enjoy working in the classroom, I certainly would have majored in education and earned a teaching certificate. Instead, my degree is in journalism. Ho-hum.
My next step was to look into programs for earning a certificate. Because of an acquaintance's positive experience, I looked into Western Governors University, an online program. This woman I know left the workforce as a chemist to raise her family, then used WGU to convert her skills into teaching once her children were older. She now teaches high school chemistry in the same school her daughters attend. Cool, huh?
The program looks appealing, but a big stumbling block is, you guessed it, money. We're talking about someone who hasn't bought any new clothing for herself in years -- how can I justify money on myself when there is other tuition, braces, car insurance, etc. to be paid? Even if it can be considered seed money, it is hard for me to contemplate. I need to look into more programs and prayerfully evaluate how much I want to do this step.
I did, however, start my application for non-licensed substitutes (secretary, playground, aides), so I can at least say I did something. :)
The accomplished project was getting a head start on something I have outlined for later in the fall: sorting through our family's many, many books. It started with the need to find some missing library books. The timing this month was also influenced by wanting to share books with teachers. I gave nearly a dozen Magic Tree House and Junie B. Jones books to my son's first grade teacher. I packed up a box of 80+ picture books and sold the lot via KSL to a new teacher. It felt great. But removing 100 books didn't even make a dent!
As for the last missing library book, my 10-year-old and I scoured the house looking for it, to no avail. I guess all it took was turning in a $20 replacement cost check to invoke Murphy's Law. Summer vacation eve, the book surfaced. It was beneath the fleece scraps left over from my oldest son's citizenship project. Ha! Always an adventure around here.
June's project: Making mom/child piano lessons permanent. Other goals: 1. Doing better about weekly menus. 2. A daily read-aloud in French. 3. I also want to enforce an "empty sink" policy. Load the dishwasher, dang it!
3 comments:
What an accomplishment, to get that Kyle graduated. You're family looks good! In Jordan District you don't have to have a license to sub, just a pulse : ) Just kidding.
Oh and I've noticed that making the goals in January has me edging toward them sooner than the dedicated month. And way to make a new teacher's start by putting together a lot of books.
Oh that's a bummer! At least you were able to figure it out and now you can think about if you really want to go ahead and get the certificate.
Congrats on getting your son graduated!
I'm sorry things didn't work out as smoothly as planned but I'm sure eventually it all will, it usually does:)
Post a Comment