Five days into the ‘new normal school year’ my daughter was quarantined from school. I had my heart set on keeping my kids home and doing e-learning for the first semester of the school year. I knew it was a bad choice for us. But, I had more questions than I had answers. I was […]
Author Archives: Tricia Sportsman
Don’t panic, there are still a few more weeks until school is back in session. I may be the only mom who is dreading back to school. Call me crazy but I’m still enjoying summer with my kids. As a full-time working mom, summer has been very relaxed with no schedules and no place to […]
I’m a stay at home mom of two non-school aged children. That title will change soon as my son will be starting VPK (voluntary pre-kindergarten) in August. I know it’s only a couple hours a day and it’ll be good, for the both of us. However, this is a whole new chapter and cautious feelings […]
Is this gifted? From the young age of two, my son Luke was quirky. He began to demonstrate some very different (and possibly gifted) behaviors compared to his other toddler buddies. I noticed that he would prefer to play by himself. He’d line up his cars in size, and in color order which was is […]
My kids have been home for four weeks, and this week we entered our 2nd official week of virtual school. As I see it, this virtual school we are all now navigating is like us being an extension of the teachers. We are their helpers (at least that’s what I keep trying to tell my […]
I won’t be attending Meet the Teacher night this year. There will not be any ice breakers at the back to school faculty meeting for me. As a result, I will not be scrambling to set up a fresh new classroom for another incoming class. I am leaving the teaching profession. This year I am […]
Last month, I read an article by Tiphani Moorer, called, “Dear White People, Why now?” It made me uncomfortable. It made me realize that I am watching and sitting on the sidelines with what is socially unjust. Reducing people to hashtags and statistics. Using the language of “us” versus “them.” It distances me from the […]
Happy New Year! I love January! It feels like a fresh start and a great time to think about your family routine. As parents, we reflect on the previous year and think about our resolutions for the new year. In my experience as a school psychologist and former educator, I get a lot of questions […]
I am a mom of three boys, I work full-time and also homeschool….pre-COVID-19. In 2019, my husband and I made the decision to homeschool our Autistic son, who was 8 years old at the time. You can read about why we made that decision here. This decision was not made lightly as we were faced with […]
We are all experiencing challenging times as we navigate the Covid-19 pandemic. As we implement new health and safety procedures at home, work, and public spaces, our area schools are doing the same. Hillsborough county schools and most other Tampa Bay counties are offering 100% virtual learning for the school year. For the 48,410 Hillsborough […]