December Sky

Looking toward the future

Last week I was talking with a lady that teaches in the public school system. When she found out we homeschooled she asked if I would be putting Z~girl in high school when she was that age. I thought for a second and told her that we took it year to year and hadn't really decided. I lied. After both kids being homeschooled from the beginning (except for A~man's half year in kindergarten) I cannot imagine plunking them down in public school once they hit teenagers! Now, sure if it was my only choice BUT I would do everything in my power to keep teaching them at home.

I do admit, once Z~girl gets to that age I will get help (if needed) for certain subjects that might be beyond me. I have been to college but that was a long time ago. Fortunately, our local community college lets students attend at 16 PLUS, if I remember correctly, they can take classes there for free. So I think for us to homeschool highschool would be completely doable, and with help from the hubby especially, in the subjects he knows better than I do.

One thing I just started was keeping records. I started a homeschool portfolio this fall for the first time for both children. It's not intensive, I just basically print off their Time4Learning records off monthly which is very simple. I also plan to include some field trip, geography club, and Lego club photos into the binder. I might also put in some pictures of their volunteer work at a local shelter and of Z~girl volunteering at a local farm.

What about some of my homeschool friends reading this? Would you put your child in regular school for high school after homeschooling them for grade school and middle school? I know there are circumstances that could prevent a person from schooling till the end but I'm thinking with support we will do it until graduation.

                                                           

that's MY son....

One of the reasons I titled my blog "Who's learning? Who's teaching?" is because despite my sons challenges, daily I see the way strangers, acquaintances and friends react to A~man. I always say I can tell a lot about someone's character by their reaction. Also, sometimes I wonder how I would  react to him if he wasn't my son. The boy is engagingly quirky.

Today we went to the pool as it has been too cold to walk and I have messed my heel up too much to use the exercise room at the gym. This is fine with the kids though as they love to swim! For the most part hubby and I can go in the warm therapy pool and use the weights...and swim, while the kids swim laps in the big pool. The one issue we have is that A~man loves to stare. The reasons why vary; someones's pretty, they are very old, they are very heavy, they have an injury....the list goes on and one but it's something we are constantly working on with him. When he was little and did this it wasn't as big of a deal but he is a teenager now and I'm sure it can make people uncomfortable.

While we were in the pool an older lady who obviously wanted some conversation started talking to us. She had shattered her ankle at work and did therapy in the pool. We found out she was a teacher in a public school and taught middle school students that had severe/profound disabilities. I was happy to discover no negative comments when we told her we homeschooled our kids. (it was awhile before she knew we had a child with special needs) This lady was a talker and finally we told her that our son has autism and Prader-willi syndrome. I was surprised she knew what PWS was as most do not. I guess she had children with PWS in her classroom before. Finally she met A~man and I could tell she was enchanted by him and they had a very nice conversation.

Later, after Z~girl and I showered and dressed we went to turn our locker keys in and ended up behind two ladies (probably 10 years older than me), one of which looked familiar. They were talking about someone and I heard "the young man in the blue baseball cap". Hubby and A~man had gotten dressed before us so I looked over to remember which hat A was wearing. It was HIM they were talking about. I cannot remember exactly what they were talking about BUT it wasn't necessarily good. (not necessarily bad either) I believe it was due to him staring at them as he remembered one of them from a HUGE (HUGE) church we used to go to.

They soon discovered that they were standing in front of the mother of the child they were talking about as A~man made a beeline for me when he saw me. I can read the boys mind don't ya  know...he thought because I was standing in back of the ladies he was staring at it would of course give him the opportunity to talk to them. It was all very awkward to say the least. One of the ladies was in an Easter play years ago and A~man wanted the phone number of the man who played Jesus. (who in real life is a very nice doctor) The man looks so much like "pictures" of Jesus that in A~man's mind I think he truly thinks the man is Jesus. Obviously he isn't and well...now you can see it was just plain awkward and incredibly uncomfortable. LOL

After the very nice experience with the older lady in the pool this really dashed my spirits with the attitudes of these other ladies. Honestly, they didn't say anything real bad about my son...if they would have I would have spoken up. The look on their faces realizing I had heard what they said was enough.  ;)

But seriously. How would I have reacted to someone like my son if he wasn't my son? I have known and worked with many kids and adults with autism over the last 20+ years. Each one of them has taught me something. Something about tolerance and understanding. Even with all of my son's challenges I think that is one of HIS purposes in life. To teach me, to teach his dad, his sister, and to teach even complete strangers to be patient and tolerant of his differences.

I truly think this boy teaches all of us far more than we will ever teach him!!




Here is a figurine I have that TOTALLY reminds me of my dear sweet boy who has a heart of gold. 

Merry CHRISTmas!

It's that time of year again!

A couple of weeks ago both A~man and hubby came down with a nasty cold. I honestly thought I had escaped it using every remedy imaginable- essential oils, vitamin C, garlic, chicken soup, YOU NAME IT! Last week it decided that there would be no escape from our home and it hit me like a brick. I'm congested, losing my voice, exhausted and it sounds like I may cough up a lung at any minute. I am so thankful that for the most part our shopping was almost finished before I got sick. Also, the presents that I made for the kids were finished before the cold hit except for one I HOPE to complete tomorrow. Of course there is so much more I wanted to do before Christmas day but right now I am resigned to the fact that I will be doing well to finish wrapping the presents and preparing a simple meal for the big day.

                                                                           

I love Christmas time, honestly I do, but it is so stressful for a child with special needs. Add in a child with multiple special needs and the stress multiplies. A~man was so hyped up yesterday. Hyped beyond his normal hyper self. This time of year everywhere you go food is involved and this is so hard on someone with Prader-willi syndrome. Add in the crowds, Santa helpers walking around, shopping, presents, changing the house around for decorations and that can throw someone with autism in a whirlwind. Heck, that can send the mom,dad, and sister of someone with special needs into that same whirlwind!

                                                        

 The night before we are hoping to go to a Christmas Eve service at our church followed by stopping by a friends house that is having a drop in party...but that all depends on how tomorrow goes. It all depends too on if I am still sick! Before bed we will have our Jesus birthday cake. We are going to try our best to keep things simple on the big day. First we will open presents, then I will make a brunch.(haven't decided what yet EEEK!) Weather permitting, we will hopefully go for a hike in the afternoon followed by dinner. We go so much more basic than the holiday meals I had growing up! We will have ham, green beans, sweet potatoes, rolls and maybe a veggie tray. I haven't decided on dessert yet but I will make a pie. That's it. Growing up it seemed like there was food EVERYWHERE, and people ate all day long! (no exaggeration!) That is a tradition we had to definitely change. 

Originally I planned on taking the rest of December off until after the New Year but Z~girl had an awesome point that she would rather have a bit of extra time off when grandma and grandpa come the middle of January. So we will start back with our paragraph writing and homeschool math the day after Christmas! I hope to do a post in the next couple of days but in case I run out of time (hahah) I want to wish all of you a very Merry CHRISTmas!! No gift since that night can compare with the reason we celebrate this day.

Company is coming...

and much sooner than I thought! First off, I am not complaining as we rarely have family come visit. BUT my mother-in-law and father-in-law (hubby's stepfather) are moving down here this summer and  in January they were going to come down to finalize some stuff. I was thinking (that's what I get for thinking right?) it would be the end of the month but I just found out it will be the middle of January! 

Now my house as a whole isn't too bad but our bedroom looks like Christmas exploded in it and our yard looks like a tornado went through it as we have had some trees cut down. Over the years I have also found that if I am busy working with the kids and taking time to do some crafting of my own, that it leaves little to no time for house cleaning. When anyone visits we normally let them stay in our bedroom as it has an attached bathroom which gives our guests more privacy...and people can keep any meds away from sonny and in that bathroom. So this busy month is going to get even busier! Oh and thankfully, I get along really well with MIL and FIL...so it's all good!

I need to make up some lesson plans for January and February too so the wheels in my head are spinning! A~man is a visual spatial learner so I am always on the lookout  for new things to keep things interesting for both A and Z. Here is the Time4Learning Pinterest board that I get the pleasure of helping to pin things to. It has some great ideas on there to help visual learners! Here is another Homeschool Pinterest board that has a lot of creativie ideas that I hope to try soon. 

On a more solemn note, my heart aches for all affected by the shooting at the school in Newtown, Conn. Such a horrible tragedy. I pray that God brings all involved peace and comfort in the coming days.

Praying for Peace