Plodding Right Along

Whew!! Time has been flying by at a blistering pace since taking G out of public school. It is hard to believe that it is almost time to send in our first attendance report. Yikes, time stands still for no man! We have been very busy getting our school organized for the past four weeks. Almost every piece of furniture in this house has been moved at least once in an attempt to find the right place for everything. On top of that the boys decided to switch rooms. G has slept in T's room every night since T left for college partly in an attempt to annoy his big brother and partly because it makes him feel close to T while he is gone. For the first few weeks T ran G out when he came home every weekend but two weeks ago T said, "Let him sleep in there. I am getting used to sleeping on a twin bed." So, since then the big bed has been G's and the twin bed has been T's but the contents of the rooms remained as they have always been. Last weekend, however, T said he really likes G's room better (don't know if he is being totally truthful or not but he said it is quieter in there which is a possibility). Anyway Sunday was spent switching everything except beds and dressers from one room to the other (this was J's project).

My major project has been the school room. I have pulled most of my books out and arranged them (somewhat) on a bookcase we moved into the den-now schoolroom/cafeteria. I didn't realize that I had so many books. I sold most of our homeschool books after moving to this house 3 years after putting T in traditional school thinking that we would never need them again. Of course soon after selling all the books which T almost had a stroke over I decided to go back to school to complete my degree. My love of books took over and I began to build a library for a future classroom. I didn't realize how many books I had accumulated from book sales in the last three years. I even bought one of my own books back at a consignment sale without realizing it until I got home and T recognized my anal retentive organizational coding on the spine. I had sold it on ebay 4 years prior to finding it at the consignment sale!!

We are happily plodding along without formal curriculum for the time being. I would have cringed to have been curriculum free this far into the school year with T but G and I are doing a unit study on apples, working on reading and phonics, fine tuning computer skills, and plunging into math at a blistering pace. T was even impressed last week when he came home to hear G skip-counting. His favorite things right now are playing sight words games online, going through a sight word powerpoint I made him and playing a virtual math manipulative game with base ten blocks. I just love the sound of his voice when he says, "I have ten, time to bundle em up." He is such a sweet and smart boy. Tonight he was asking how many years until he will be 16 and his dad said, "about 9." Without missing a beat G said, "and it is about to be 8." He is exactly right. He knew how to apply subtraction in a real life situation!!!

Plodding Right Along

Whew!! Time has been flying by at a blistering pace since taking G out of public school. It is hard to believe that it is almost time to send in our first attendance report. Yikes, time stands still for no man! We have been very busy getting our school organized for the past four weeks. Almost every piece of furniture in this house has been moved at least once in an attempt to find the right place for everything. On top of that the boys decided to switch rooms. G has slept in T's room every night since T left for college partly in an attempt to annoy his big brother and partly because it makes him feel close to T while he is gone. For the first few weeks T ran G out when he came home every weekend but two weeks ago T said, "Let him sleep in there. I am getting used to sleeping on a twin bed." So, since then the big bed has been G's and the twin bed has been T's but the contents of the rooms remained as they have always been. Last weekend, however, T said he really likes G's room better (don't know if he is being totally truthful or not but he said it is quieter in there which is a possibility). Anyway Sunday was spent switching everything except beds and dressers from one room to the other (this was J's project).

My major project has been the school room. I have pulled most of my books out and arranged them (somewhat) on a bookcase we moved into the den-now schoolroom/cafeteria. I didn't realize that I had so many books. I sold most of our homeschool books after moving to this house 3 years after putting T in traditional school thinking that we would never need them again. Of course soon after selling all the books which T almost had a stroke over I decided to go back to school to complete my degree. My love of books took over and I began to build a library for a future classroom. I didn't realize how many books I had accumulated from book sales in the last three years. I even bought one of my own books back at a consignment sale without realizing it until I got home and T recognized my anal retentive organizational coding on the spine. I had sold it on ebay 4 years prior to finding it at the consignment sale!!

We are happily plodding along without formal curriculum for the time being. I would have cringed to have been curriculum free this far into the school year with T but G and I are doing a unit study on apples, working on reading and phonics, fine tuning computer skills, and plunging into math at a blistering pace. T was even impressed last week when he came home to hear G skip-counting. His favorite things right now are playing sight words games online, going through a sight word powerpoint I made him and playing a virtual math manipulative game with base ten blocks. I just love the sound of his voice when he says, "I have ten, time to bundle em up." He is such a sweet and smart boy. Tonight he was asking how many years until he will be 16 and his dad said, "about 9." Without missing a beat G said, "and it is about to be 8." He is exactly right. He knew how to apply subtraction in a real life situation!!!

Home Where We Belong

J and I recently made the decision to take G out of public school and bring him home. We were homeschoolers once upon a time and thought that season of our lives was over. After spending a day in the life of G (I observed him at school) and seeing how different he was there, how disengaged he was during the lessons, the numerous times he missed all or part of lessons, and the time he spent traveling to and from classes and bathroom breaks our decision was easy. G needs to be at home.

We have been told things by educators that we don't agree with. How anyone who has spent any amount of time with Sweet G could put those limits on him is beyond my understanding. I am sure they would say, "Well, they are just in denial." The truth is that it is hard to accept the limitations and obstacles that your child has to face. Each of us have weaknesses and strengths and G is no exception. He has huge obstacles to overcome but he also has great strengths to carry him through difficult times. I see him blossoming into a determined, strong, yet sweet little boy. He sat at our "cafeteria table" (that is what he calls our school table since we put it in the kitchen) the first day we homeschooled and did the very things public educators have said he is not capable of doing. He does have problems with attention and is very easily distracted, but when asked to do things when there are no distractions he can complete them.

We are not angry with the school system and are not disappointed with his school. They did the best that they could for our child. I know that he is loved by everyone there. They were simply not equipped to meet his very specific needs. It is just the nature of how school is set up. Public education is a wonderful thing. That is, it is a wonderful thing if your child is an average functioning child. I don't think it is the best option for children with special needs. I did for a long time because that is what I was told. But after spending the last three years doing my practicum and student teaching in public education I see that teachers are stretched beyond their limits, funds are nonexistent, the smallest need takes an act of congress to get done, the paperwork is endless, the meetings are heart wrenching, and somewhere amoung all those things a little boy was falling through the cracks.

Something is going on that limits G's progress but nobody knows what it is. They keep trying to fix it without knowing what "it" is they are trying to fix. So, even though it may not be the most popular decision we are prepared to face the criticism that is sure to come. We have been there and done that all before. Criticism is just a part of life. No matter what you do someone is not going to like it and they are going to tell you about it.

Amidst all the whirlwind changes that have taken place in my life in the past two weeks, I feel a sense of calm. I feel as if I have come home after being gone for way too long. We are settling into our "new normal" and we are thriving. My house is clean, we have had several homecooked meals, my baby is loved and becoming more curious daily. We even made homemade applesauce this week. There really is nothing like living the life of a homeschool mom!

Home Where We Belong

J and I recently made the decision to take G out of public school and bring him home. We were homeschoolers once upon a time and thought that season of our lives was over. After spending a day in the life of G (I observed him at school) and seeing how different he was there, how disengaged he was during the lessons, the numerous times he missed all or part of lessons, and the time he spent traveling to and from classes and bathroom breaks our decision was easy. G needs to be at home.

We have been told things by educators that we don't agree with. How anyone who has spent any amount of time with Sweet G could put those limits on him is beyond my understanding. I am sure they would say, "Well, they are just in denial." The truth is that it is hard to accept the limitations and obstacles that your child has to face. Each of us have weaknesses and strengths and G is no exception. He has huge obstacles to overcome but he also has great strengths to carry him through difficult times. I see him blossoming into a determined, strong, yet sweet little boy. He sat at our "cafeteria table" (that is what he calls our school table since we put it in the kitchen) the first day we homeschooled and did the very things public educators have said he is not capable of doing. He does have problems with attention and is very easily distracted, but when asked to do things when there are no distractions he can complete them.

We are not angry with the school system and are not disappointed with his school. They did the best that they could for our child. I know that he is loved by everyone there. They were simply not equipped to meet his very specific needs. It is just the nature of how school is set up. Public education is a wonderful thing. That is, it is a wonderful thing if your child is an average functioning child. I don't think it is the best option for children with special needs. I did for a long time because that is what I was told. But after spending the last three years doing my practicum and student teaching in public education I see that teachers are stretched beyond their limits, funds are nonexistent, the smallest need takes an act of congress to get done, the paperwork is endless, the meetings are heart wrenching, and somewhere amoung all those things a little boy was falling through the cracks.

Something is going on that limits G's progress but nobody knows what it is. They keep trying to fix it without knowing what "it" is they are trying to fix. So, even though it may not be the most popular decision we are prepared to face the criticism that is sure to come. We have been there and done that all before. Criticism is just a part of life. No matter what you do someone is not going to like it and they are going to tell you about it.

Amidst all the whirlwind changes that have taken place in my life in the past two weeks, I feel a sense of calm. I feel as if I have come home after being gone for way too long. We are settling into our "new normal" and we are thriving. My house is clean, we have had several homecooked meals, my baby is loved and becoming more curious daily. We even made homemade applesauce this week. There really is nothing like living the life of a homeschool mom!

When a Man Loves a Woman

Tonight I read a beautifully written post of an old friend. He is a worrier by his own definition and has recently been dealing with an issue that has had him turning himself inside out with agonizing concern; concern for someone who is dearer to him than his own life. As I read the post through my tears of joy at the life my friend has been blessed to live I couldn't help thinking of a recent conversation I had with Sweet G.

 

We were laying on his bed resting one afternoon this week when he suddenly asked out of the blue, "Momma, why did Uncle Phil not want Granny to date Ed?" (Fresh Prince characters) I responded to his question telling him that Uncle Phil's dad had died shortly before and although his mother was lonely and was ready to spend time with someone else Uncle Phil was jealous of someone spending time with his mother. I asked G if he understood and his responses let me know he did not.

 

I decided he needed a more personal example to help him understand. I said, "Well, G, if something happened to Mommy and she died would you want Daddy to go on a date with another woman?" His speedy reply was, "Nothin's gonna happen to you." Okay, that didn't work so I decided to reverse the scenario. "If something happened to Daddy and he died would you be jealous if Mommy went on a date with someone else?" G's answer to this question was, "No, because if something happens to Daddy you are going to marry me."

 

My first point is that in his childish mind he can't even consider that God would allow anything to happen to the dearest person in his life. He has total faith in God. As he lies in bed at night he doesn't toss and turn worrying about whether or not God is going to protect him and his loved ones. He has yet to be touched by the cares of this world and remains totally free from the worries that most of us struggle with.

 

The second point that I see between the blog of my friend and the views of my Sweet G is this: their love for the most important woman in their life. For Sweet G I am still the most important woman in his world but someday in the future that will change and he will fall in love with someone who he will spend the rest of his life with. I pray that Sweet G and T will both find the love for a woman that my friend has for his beautiful wife. That kind of love is rare. I am blessed to say that I know exactly how my friend feels because I have shared that same kind of love with my Precious J for the past 28 years (26 married). In the end it doesn't matter how much money you make or what kind of lifestyle you live. The most important thing in life is love--to love and to be loved. That is my prayer for my boys.