Tag Archives: Sick kids

Summer: Homeschool Style

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We finished our year’s worth of curriculum two weeks ago, and we have been enjoying our time off. We have always done an end-of-the-school-year party, but we have been delaying it this year so Farmer Boy can recover from mono (it’s a beeatch, I’m telling you, my friends. Over a month now!). If and when we manage to make that happen, I promise to write about and post pictures of it.

Cowgirl is practicing the speech she wrote about George Washington (she’s quite enamored with him, I must say). Shooter created a Keynote presentation about photography and is going to play a few songs on his coronet to show off what he has learned in band this year. Farmer Boy has a talk planned on the topic of…wait for it…drum roll…farming. This year he is discussing antique farm equipment.

In the mean time, we are kickin’ it home-school. Little Cowgirl is SO excited because I promised to teach her cursive in second grade. I didn’t realize that second grade began the Monday after first grade ended, but I was certainly mistaken.

Holding your tongue out really does help, you know.

Farmer Boy, despite the mono, has been able to continue with most of his phonics lessons. He is more than halfway through the program now, which we began after his initial dyslexia diagnosis. I am thankful every day for his tutor. She has become a member of our family and I love her so much. I can’t believe we were matched with someone who understands my son so well, is so invested in his success, and goes far beyond what could be expected of an instructor to help him.

He was having a hard time concentrating one day last week, so she asked him to help pack her picnic basket with their materials and they chose a spot on the lawn to finish. She is a miracle in our lives.

Shooter is polishing off his second math book for the year. He will begin sixth grade a full year ahead in math and I’m going to let him complete it as quickly as possible and move onto the next book. We are trying a new program this year called Teaching Textbooks, which we are all excited about. We have loved Singapore Math but are ready for something different for the boys. Cowgirl will complete at least one more year with Singapore Math.

Shooter also has a few days of band left. He has asked for lessons over the summer, and I’m sending a note along with him today to inquire.

Going in for the last concert of the year: Extravabandsa. It was fabulous and he is so proud.

We typically like to end the school year with a BANG, but this year it just sort of fizzled out. Our Farmer Boy has been feeling so drained and everything finished at different rates – plus it’s been as hot as June all through May – so we kinda feel like it’s already been summer for a while. Eventually, when we are all healthy, we’ll be having our usual summer fun along with some new exciting adventures.

And yes, I’ll bore you all to tears giving you WAY too much information about all of it.

But for now, we are taking it easy, doing some slow-paced learning, and waiting for wheat harvest to ignite (My Farmer thinks this week).

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Knowledge Is Power

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My Farmer and I have been amazed at the change in Farmer Boy since explaining to him that he is dyslexic/dysgraphic and what that has meant for him.   It is the only thing that is different in the last two months and he is like a new person when it comes to reading.  He is spontaneously reading things all the time now, which NEVER happened before.  I can’t tell you what it does to my heart to see him during these moments.  It reminds me of the first week we homeschooled, and I was literally nauseated all day hoping I hadn’t made a horrible mistake until Shooter told me as he threw his arms into the air, “I LOVE homeschooling!  NO MORE SAD DAYS!”

 

For his First Communion, we gave Farmer Boy a prayer book and rosary set.  It was, evidently, just what he had been hoping for.  When he got sick on Wednesday, we missed the last night of our Parish School of Religion.  This was the end-of-year party where Farmer Boy would have worn his fancy suit, received Eucharist with his classmates, had photos and a reception, followed by a barbeque at the park.  But do you know what he was sad about?  Missing the opportunity to have the gifts he received for First Communion blessed by our parish priest.  Even though I reassured him that Father Wayne would be happy to bless them for him at another time, I got out my prayer book and read a blessing of religious articles and he seemed satisfied.

 

Then the most suprising and wonderful thing happened.  Farmer Boy opened his prayer book and read this spontaneously:

 

Evening Prayer

 

Lord Jesus,

thank you for today.

It was your gift to me.

 

I tried to do the best I could,

please accept it as my gift back to you.

 

If I slipped away from your loving

arms, I ask your forgiveness.

 

Please, Lord Jesus, grant me a

peaceful night and restful sleep.

 

Bless my family and all those

who are close and good to me.

 

Give them your love and

protection.  May we all ever

stay faitherul to you.

 

Amen.

 

Then he looked at me and said “WOW!  I can’t believe I read all that!  I just opened it right up and read it!”

 

Amen indeed.

 

 

In which I babble about being indecisive.

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Well.  I had one sick yesterday (vomiting-waiting for the next kid to begin now) so the pace we expected of our day changed rapidly and instead of shuffling around to activities, we stayed home, did some quiet school and reading together, watched PBS and did some free-form building with hammers, nails and scrap wood outside.

 

We just finished reading The Apple And The Arrow and the kids loved it.  As with most of our read-aloud novels, we finished a week ahead of schedule because everyone keeps begging “PLEEEEEEEASE can we read just a little more?!”  My favorite part of reading this book together was when we heard the description of the Austrian King’s nasty governor and Farmer Boy piped up with malice “He’s just like PRINCE JOHN!” (from Robin Hood.)

 

And I spent a lot of time sitting beside the sick kid – waiting for the next upchuck – giving myself a headache looking at curriculum for next year.  I’ve was planning on CHC for all the kids, but I’ve been re-doing all my  curriculum research to find something for Farmer Boy that will be as compatible as possible with his dyslexia.  I should probably just create a dyslexic curriculum by grade that will make me a ton of money help other families who want to homeschool their dyslexic kid.  Someone remind me to do that later…

 

I haven’t seen anything to indicate that CHC is not as compatible as (or even better than) any of the other curriculum out there.  But I’m still unsure if this is the way to go for us.  I feel that, if given the time, I could put together an excellent program for a dyslexic third grader who loves farming more than pretty much anything in the world.  And that IS one of the reasons we wanted to homeschool – the ability to meet the specific needs of each child individually and with flexibility.

 

And at the same time, I am unconvinced that anything I do (which would take the entire summer) would be better than just using the CHC curriculum strait from the box and modifying it as much as possible for his needs.

 

I spent a lot of my time on the Internet today trying to find audio recordings of the books he would be reading next year.  Not a lot of luck.  However, I’m not sure I want to switch to an entirely different curriculum just so that I can have one subject on audio.  One of the ideas born from this process is to write his reading curriculum only, writing it around which grade-level books that I like are available for download, and just substitute it for the CHC reading.

 

I also could utilize some of the three-years-worth of Sonlight individual reading materials that came with the Cores we have used if I were to write a separate plan for his reading.

 

And in trying to decide what to include in this post (See!  MORE indecision!) I realized I’d never really updated the situation after this post about how to approach Farmer Boy’s dyslexia.

 

After writing that post, I really centered my approach with Farmer Boy around the idea that something new for him requires a process – one that seems long to people like me – that is going to take time.  The harder I push and the more I work toward it will only make him feel more pressured and rushed, filled with anxiety and unable to focus at all on the original idea or change.

 

This also helped me in deciding to interview (and eventually select) a tutor.  The person we chose is a lovely, fabulous retired teacher who, after visiting with me on the phone, told me in no uncertain terms that she could not give me a timeline for how long this program would take because she would be moving at Farmer Boy’s pace.  She also suggested a meeting to “see if she and Farmer Boy are a good fit.”  After that meeting, it was obvious this was the direction we needed to go.  And because I kept telling Farmer Boy we were just looking into it, we were still deciding, there were lots of steps left (talk on the phone, meet for an interview, discuss schedule, discuss price, discuss payment options) and that helped him feel that there was no rush.  And still, it all happened on my timeline.  I just needed to present it in a less aggressive way.  The other tutors I had been in touch with had all had points in their favor (aggressive personality like mine, children of their own with dyslexia, location nearby, taught a friend’s child, available more often, less expensive, etc etc etc) but none of these alone were a reason to choose them and none of them were so perfect for my little guy.  This is also what led us to choose a professional rather than continuing to work exclusively at home – I felt it would be advantageous to Farmer Boy’s learning speed and confidence if he could work with someone who has a more compatible personality with his.

 

Since then the rest of it has fallen into place and Farmer Boy spends three days each week with his friend working on Alphabet Phonics (An Orton-Gillingham, multi-sensory program for dyslexics).  During two of those days, the main Dojong for Shooter’s TaeKwonDo class (which just happens to be en route) teaches a class during the same time period.  Little Cowgirl and I have been saving her phonics and reading to do during the hour of tutoring (the teacher kindly lets us use her basement playroom).  And best of all, Farmer Boy really likes it.

 

So I guess even though I feel undecided and currently without enough guidance in choosing curriculum for next year, I’m trusting that it will come together.  Something valuable I have learned from Farmer Boy is the importance of taking things one step at a time.  And sometimes, letting something sit for awhile is necessary for processing it (who knew!).  I’m going to take some time to let all of the things I read and saw yesterday shift around in my head and perhaps they will have more order and sense to them the next time I revisit the need to select curriculum.  And even though I *want* to decide RIGHT NOW, I don’t actually have to.  Eventually, when I have enough information and have taken the time to really consider each child’s and our family’s needs as a whole, I will be able to be decisive.

 

 

Random

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Okay, sorry for the couple-day hiatus there.  It’s been quite a week here, including strep throat, visiting spring-breakers, and hosting a birthday party.

 

If this tells you anything, I haven’t been running or lifted since the DAY BEFORE ST PATRICK’S DAY.

 

We went to the YMCA yesterday for our usual round of lessons (which we missed last week, see: strep throat) and do you know what I did?

 

Took a shower.

 

That’s how my week has been.

 

 

 

I will have results from Farmer Boy’s screenings this week so I’ll be back soon to post about it.

 

Also, seriously, what is up with this freakin’ cold spell?  COME BACK SPRING!  I’M SORRY FOR SAYING IT IS SOMETIMES A LITTLE DEPRESSING WHEN YOU ARRIVE BECAUSE I NEVER SEE MY HUSBAND!

 

And finally – I have a weird relationship with casseroles.  I didn’t even know what they were until high school (thank you, pot luck sports award suppers) because my mother (hi, Mom!) is one of those children who kept her preference of no-food-touching-other-foods right on into adulthood.  I, of course, thought casseroles the most incredible idea I’d ever heard (poor Mom)!

 

Of course, then I go through phases where they are all I make until someone indicates (usually my child who prefers no-food-touching-other-foods) that they would like to have a meal in parts, rather than a whole.

Last week was one of those stages and I’ll share some recipes soon.  My sis-in-law gave me a gift for Christmas that included a book of only casserole recipes.  An entire chapter is dedicated to macaroni and cheese.  (~weak knees~)

It never fails…

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Something big is going on and a kink appears in the works.

 

Farmer Boy is doing his testing this week, screening for dyslexia (or something like it).  We were on ‘farmcation’ this weekend (when you have to travel to get or do something for your farm, take your whole family along and call it a vacation) and he is now coughing every three minutes and his nose is dripping like a spring-time icicle.

 

I’m sure the testing will still be accurate enough for us to assess his situation, but I know he is not going to be feeling his best.  Poor guy.  He is Mr. Perfectionist anyway, is excruciatingly hard on himself (here’s an example), and is nervous about doing anything that involves reading in front of anyone.

 

Maybe I’m projecting as well – perhaps he hardly notices the dry/hacking cough and constant sniffling unless I’m hollering “BLOW THAT OUT OR YOU’LL GET A SINUS INFECTION!”  Maybe he is comfortable enough with this psychologist that he really, though he’s not looking forward to it, isn’t giving much thought to the assessments.  Certainly we’ve made it (verbally) into a non-issue.

 

Either way, it’s coming and I’m thankful.  I’ll also be thankful when both (the cold and the screening) are finished.

Sick Days at our school

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Farmer Boy was up most of the night Wednesday - vomiting.  It was beautiful outside yesterday, so while I was moving slowly through my basic feed/clean/launder chores Shooter and Cowgirl had a great time playing outside.  Farmer Boy, though furious to be stuck inside (“Mooooooom!  My fever is only 100 degress!”) he was able to complete his language arts assignment, which was to dictate answers to autobiographical questions.  Here is the result:

 

January 27, 2011

 

    My name is Farmer Boy.  I am seven years old.  I live on a certain street, outside of a certain town, Kansas.  My brother’s name is Shooter.  He is nine years old.  My sister’s name is Little Cowgirl.  She is five years old.

    I homeschool.  When I was four, I started going to school.  I am in second grade.  My favorite subject is math.  In my free time I like to play with my farm toys, drive my lawnmower, and work in the garden.  I like to hoe the garden, too.  Playing farm is one of my favorite games.

    I like doing shopwork and hoeing in the garden (which is something I do for my mommy).  I also like to feed the kitty-cats and feed the dog.  I have to clean my room but I like to mop.  I can help hitch my mommy up to anhydrous tanks.

Finally Summer…

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We have been taking turns with high fevers at my house for about a week, so the beginning of summer for us was a bit of a dud!  Today and yesterday, though, we feel like we have reclaimed that summer excitement. 

This was our project yesterday.  We hoed and weeded, and planted beans, okra and another couple rows of corn.  Farmer boy made a mound and planted watermelons all by himself.

This was our project this morning.  I got sick of a weedy area between the sidewalk and front flower bed on the back side of some old cedar trees.  So Farmer Boy, Cowgirl and I expanded the bed.  The rest of the flower bed is on the other side of the bush in the right hand side of the frame, what you see here is what we added.  About half of those plants are shade-loving perennials I purchased and the other half I transplanted. 

And the water park opens tomorrow at our YMCA!  We cant wait!  So of course, I gave Cowgirl and I a mani and pedi to get all set.

I really knew it was summer when we were finished putting in the new garden plants and I decided to pick the sour cherries that were ripe, because I was slick with sweat when I came inside and shocked to realize it wasn’t even 11 a.m. yet!  The kids had so much fun helping with the flower bed, we decided to expand the other side, nearer to the driveway, where we also have some bare, weedy areas.  And I have three tomatoes, though their not ripening at all yet.  My mouth is watering thinking about lettuce and tomatosandwiches on toast… Shooter left at first light this morning with his dad to help plant soybeans.  I love seeing one of the kids dressed in their “work clothes” traipsing out the the pickup.  Ahhhh, summer time!

Followed by a change in tone…

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Another advantage to homeschooling:

You can hold the head of a vomiting child while calling out spelling words that include “mb” or “mn” without missing a beat, and when another round of retching begins your third grader calls from the kitchen “Did you say ‘hymn’ or ‘lamb’ Mom, can you tell me again please?”

You can also hold the head of aforementioned vomiting child a few minutes later while your four-year-old asks calmly “What’s next Mommy?” because she wants to know how to spell ‘once upon a time’ and you were only on the letter c before you received notification that your services were desired in the recently established quarantine area.

And before he fell asleep, the vomiting child begged you please for more of the novel you have been reading as a class chapter-by-chapter, and then requested the history book about ancient Rome. 

So we’ll make up spelling and phonics when he is feeling better, but I bet he will ask to do math this afternoon when he is awake again.  He is totally stoked because he started learning the principles of multiplication this week. 

It is unlikely, however, that I will manage to get Shooter to his Taekwondo class tonight.  Everyone is so busy on the farm (three tractors running all the time, except sometimes one stops so a body can run the sprayer, plus trucks hauling fertilizer) that no one will be available to give him a ride.  He is okay with it, but I am so cheap I fret over the five wasted dollars!  And a missed opportunity to be with the friends he has made in class (a third grader from a neighboring town, a six-year-old who speaks in ASL and his older sister who is hearing and translates for us, another home schooled girl who is close in age and a boy who recently joined Shooter’s class and is often his sparring partner) and the friends he sees before and after class to play foosball, ping pong and Wii with in the family room of our YMCA.

But there is always Thursday, right? 

Well, as long as no one else is kneeling before the porcelain altar by then.  Not holding my breath!

Overheard at my house…

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The boys, who are almost nine and almost seven, were having a discussion about vaccines.

I know.  I know.  I didn’t realize it was something they thought about either.

They were talking about which things they were vaccinated against, what illnesses they were not, and which things they WISH a vaccine could be invented for.

I followed a pretty delayed vaccine schedule with my second and third baby.  There were a couple of vaccinations they didn’t have at all.  I also allowed only one single vaccination at a time and had to make many extra appointments in order to do this.  Though I had misgivings and my head spun with information overload from both sides, I had my first child vaccinated on the recommended schedule until he was five.

That was the year Kansas started requiring the chicken pox vaccine for all children entering kindergarten in the public schools.  You know you are old the first time you are discussing something and say “well, when I was that age…”  But that is exactly what I did.  I remember, very clearly, the chicken pox.  I didn’t get it until seventh grade.  My brother was in eighth grade, my sister third.  How we managed not to contract it before then, I can’t imagine, save for general germophobia (I’ve talked about that before).

Anyhoo, we missed about two weeks of school, watched The Price is Right and whatever that show was where everyone yelled “NO WAMMIES!” and were generally itchy and miserable. 

Now, please understand that I am not in favor of being itchy and miserable.  If my job were one that I could not still complete (for the most part) with sick children and I would risk losing it, if my children were immunocompromised in some way, I would be vaccinating them for chicken pox.  But I don’t, and they aren’t. 

I want to declare, first of all, that I think vaccines are like everything else in the realm of parenting – there is a right answer for every family and none of those answers are the same.  I am not criticizing anyone who did vaccinate for varicella (chicken pox) nor am I targeting families who have less vaccinations than mine.  It is different for everyone and nobody has to do it the same way as we have chosen to.

I asked my family doctor - who I loved desperately and who then had the audacity to move away but I am holding out hope he’ll come back one day – what his views were on the chicken pox vaccine.  He put it something along the lines of – my kids have had it but if you don’t think yours should then don’t, it’s really all about the drug companies making money and the economy of the country…less people missing work to take care of sick kids etc. 

We all know businesses are out to make money.  We all know that it is really hard to miss two weeks of responsibilities.  I am not so sure about the risk of vaccines, though, and have developed a pretty serious distrust of the giant government structured organizations who are supposed to be overseeing our (health/food/veterans/financial sector/environment) who keep telling me that all of these vaccines are safe for my children.

After most of my kids were finished with vaccines, and already I was saying I would do it differently if I could go back, I read this book.  It changed my views even more. 

I am not anti-vaccine.  I’m not anti-public health.  I would still vaccinate my children if we were starting over, albeit without all those required for school attendance, and in a different order, and at different ages.

We did get the regular old chicken pox in the fall of 2007.  None of the kids had a very bad case.  Shooter was the worst with just 20 or so pox.  I know they might not be completely immune with such a light illness, but I would still rather them be exposed again than to continue giving the pharmaceutical company my money for the continued boosters they keep recommending.  It started as one shot when they are 2-4 years old to have immunity.  Then it became a booster a few years later.  Now it is continuous boosters to maintain immunity against the chicken pox.  And they’ve come up with a shingles vaccine since they have seen a sharp rise in the cases of this particular (related) illness.  Scientifically, they don’t know why, for sure.  All I know is, health organizations are now recommending the shingles vaccine for a broad range of individuals.  I’m sure the pharmaceutical company has deep regret that this age group does not attend public schools, which allows them to require their product be paid for (over and over again through the years a child attends school) in order for the child to attend.   I wonder if they will start requiring the shingles vaccine in order to receive medicaide or medicare benefits?

We need health care reform in more than one way, but what I have learned since I have been mothering is to be my family’s own advocate, that doctors do not know everything, that there is misinformation circulating on both sides of these debates, and that a gajillion page bill and another giant government organization will not help with some of what I perceive to be the country’s best interest in terms of health care.

My children, however, during their conversation with one another, agreed that there should be a vaccine against puking.  If the pharmaceutical companies really want to make some money, that is where it’s at.

Cabin fever – fever being the key word here.

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We have been housebound for several days now, as one of us has been suffering a fever/runny nose/loss of appetite/general lethargy that runs around at the end of winter.  It’s nice that we share, isn’t it?

I often bless my Mother, who gave me not only my germophobia, but also fabulous hand towels that she personalized with different fabric strips for each child – horses for Shooter, tractors for Farmer Boy and Dora for Cowgirl.  Not only were these great gifts that the kids love, but they each use their own towel every time they wash their hands or brush their teeth.  Thus not contaminating the other children with whatever illness they are carrying unbeknownst to the rest of us.

Getting sick is not a big deal at our house, but I do get a bit stir crazy when everyone takes turns.  I would almost rather we all get it over with at once, though it is more stressful that way. 

Here are some things I have done these past several days while housebound:

Make homemade pizza with dough from scratch (way easier than you think, and fun)

Emptied my closet completely, sorted out what to give away, reorganized and installed a shoe rack. (definition of install – place on floor of closet and fill with fancy, high-heeled shoes that are worn only on rare occasions or when going to the grocery store just because I love them)

Ironing (definition of ironing – that which Jessica hates more than almost any other household chore except cleaning up dog vomit)

Picnic dinner/tea party with children on floor with upside-down cardboard box for table and forks the size of my pinkie finger. (definition of dinner – what I found in the fridge or other raw foods requiring zero preparation)

Vacuum house including using tools for edges, furniture and cobweb removal.

Sort and put away all toys in children’s rooms. (definition of put away – to put an item in its proper storage place. For example:  the shelf, the dresser, the trash can.)

Read a book about the brilliant military strategies of the Mongolian army in the early 1200′s. (It was actually quite riveting – I almost missed the Olympic snowboarding I was in such a zone.)

Thank My Farmer profusely when he comes home early (6:30) so I can take the one child who is well to a 45-minute 4-H meeting followed by purchasing dog food.  It was so nice to get out.

Attend Ash Wednesday mass alone (definition of alone – sometimes good for you spiritually but not as much fun as cuddling with your children during church despite occasional distractions).

Oh – but I also managed to work in dropping off my closet cast-offs at the thrift store that raises money for good causes.  Nothing was name brand, but it was clean and only gently worn, so close enough.