WonderHere Friends!
Another week, another blog post 🙂 We’ve been blogging pretty consistently since the beginning… ever since WonderHere was simply an idea shared between two friends on a couch, nearly a year ago! Back then, all we could do is blog! Each week, we’d pour our hearts out about our ideas and plans and passions, anxiously awaiting the day when we’d be up and running. What a different season that was! Now, we are a fully functioning learn & play studio that provides kids with high quality learning experiences every day. Life is good 🙂
So, imagine how honored we were when one of our moms offered to blog for us this week! Latisha Anderson has been championing us since she first jumped on board nearly a month ago, and has been a tremendous source of encouragement ever since. We’re excited to offer a different perspective for today’s post… that of a mother’s 🙂
Being a mom is exciting and exhausting all at the same time. However, being a mom that homeschools goes to another level completely! See mommies have always played every role there is to play in their child’s life… from biggest supporter to the strongest shoulder and everything in between. Yet having to take on the role of “teacher” can be intimidating, to say the least. Yet two years ago I took that leap.
I learned a lot these past two years… the biggest thing being that I needed all the help I could get. I also had to learn not to take it so personally and to make it fun for my sons, as well as myself. I informed myself on every aspect of homeschooling that I could, but I noticed one thing; it seemed like I never really got a break. I also began noticing that my second oldest son needed to socialize with other kids. See, when he was 3 he was diagnosed with a learning delay, meaning he takes in information differently and at times, at a slower pace than others. So going into this new school year, I found myself looking for sources that would benefit him, as well as myself. Well, his tutor and one of his former teachers asked me to look into WonderHere to see what I thought. I was a little hesitant at first because I had no clue what it was about.
So I enrolled my boys into an online program and waited patiently for August 22nd to come so they could start the school year. All went well for my oldest! However, many of the books for my middle son had not come in and they could not give me a date for when they would arrive. I started to cry… I felt lost and upset all at the same time because I take my children’s education so seriously. After my moment of feeling sorry for myself, I remembered WonderHere and looked them up on Facebook. I was determined to get a hold of them, but everything kept getting in my way!
I had scheduled to meet with them on that Tuesday, and when I walked in I just knew this was the place my sons should attend. I cannot explain it, I just knew. The way they approach education, is “A1” in my book. The fact that they have a teacher who specializes with students with an IEP was an extra for me! A few hours of the day for my boys to not just be with mommy, and for me to have some mommy time made a huge difference in just a few days. My middle son attends WonderHere full time, and what I love is that I can communicate with the staff and we work together to address the needs of my boys. The curriculum goes hand in hand with the work I do with them at home so it makes it a lot easier for me throughout the day. My oldest went from one day a week to now he attends twice a week. This has given us the time we all need to just exhale! The hands-on approach helps them to enjoy learning, and the fact that they are working on a project to build a school in Guatemala has just blown my mind, to say the least. Within the first few days my son informed me that he had been to Brazil during lunch (for their World Travelers class) and he loved it… lol!! It brought tears to my eyes because they made school fun for him again.
WonderHere is the extended hand I needed to help my sons succeed, and it also to allowed me to see that I do not have to do it ALL! Within these few weeks my son’s reading skills have increased and his excitement is on Level 10!!! “Thank You” is not enough, but that is all I can say is THANK YOU!! To Mrs. Amanda, Mrs. Tiffany, and Mrs. Jessica, I truly thank you with all of my heart!! It is so much I could say but, that is all for now.
– Latisha Anderson
All we can say is “thank you” right back. Thank you for believing in us, for encouraging us, for trusting us with your children. That goes out to Latisha, and all the other parents who we’ve had the honor of working alongside so far. We hope that list increases as the years go on 🙂
