A Typical Day

And I thought my house was small! This little gem was at a museum we visited. I'm sure the shingles are new but the house itself was old-shored-up. That's kind of how I felt after my hip surgery! Old-shored-up! My aunt Elaine is fond of saying that we have to get older, we just don't have to get old. I'm still pondering that.

How are you this fine, cloudy day? It looks like rain again and I'm hoping that the sun will peek out soon. Ryan has his massage today. He's due too. It makes such a HUGE difference with his muscles, his sleep and his general well being that we've scheduled a weekly massage with his therapist. Well worth it, I'd say. He's just so much more comfortable all week long. Check out Sans Souci massage and tell them I sent you.

Things are better today. Ryan's "person" got on board. I have nothing against young kids but they sometimes just don't understand the pragmatics of life yet. They try hard but there is a general lack of understanding on how the world works. The wisdom just isn't developed yet. They haven't lived enough. They haven't built houses, worked in full time jobs for years on end. They haven't dealt with major medical in any real sense of the word or even benefits packages. It's hard for them to grasp the realities of raising a person with disabilities. They think do-it-yourself and that's not a reality for people with disabilities. At any rate, things are sorted out and I'm on to the next project.

Ryan looked exhausted yesterday. That happens with his Cerebral Palsy. He just gets to a point where his resistance is down and he needs a day of complete rest. It happens less often than when he was in regular school. It's one of the benefits of homeschooling. I can catch that and call the day a rest day. It's prevented him from crashing with major illnesses in some cases.

We're getting ready for the school year. We don't start until mid September. Which is a laugh. The paperwork claims that you must teach over 700+ hours each year. Try 24/7. When you homeschool you grab those teachable moments. At any rates, we always start with Ryan's bird hobby in the fall with migration so we'd better get out the notebook. His two banded birds at the game reserve must not have returned to the same nesting spot last spring because he didn't get a call.

I'd better get out of my cyber life and get back to my actual one. Take care and see you tomorrow.

Much love and joy,

Karen

Back to Homeschool

Fall is only a few weeks away and I'm feeling a little blue. I love summer, even hot, sticky ones. Don't get me wrong, I love autumn too, I just lament the passing of time so quickly. It goes so very fast.

School is starting and Ryan graduates this year at age 21. I have to get going on curriculum and plans for the year yet. We don't start until mid to late September so I have some time yet. I love homeschooling and maybe that's one of the reasons I feel regret. This is our last year of it. Although I'll be teaching Ryan his entire life (and reteaching), there is still something about your child really reaching adulthood that makes you a little sad.

Ryan was in the public school from age 3 through Middle School. See my column, Life on the Exceptional Side, this month in Family Times for 10 Tips for Back to School for children with special needs. It's available now in stores.


When High School came the school district just couldn't meet his needs. Even with an IEP, he was losing ground so I decided to homeschool. It meant giving up a number of things on both our parts but we both consider it a spectacular success. Ryan has gained so much confidence and has so many more community relationships than he would have had he stayed in a traditional school.

Homeschooling isn't for everyone. I knew a woman who, when her daughter was having trouble with teasing in school, decided to homeschool her. The girl was in middle school and did not have disabilities but her mother thought it would be a snap to teach her at home. I asked which curriculum she'd decided on when she told me about it. What curriculum? She'd just wing it, she said. Two weeks later they'd gone to a play in the name of homeschool and discussed it. Needless to say, the little girl ended up back in traditional school.

One of the criteria for homeschooling is commitment. You commit to it and NEVER threaten with traditional school if your child wasn't happy there. You commit to teaching and prepare yourself with curriculum (even if you write it yourself) as well as planned field trips, volunteer activities and various other "classes."

I wrote goals for Ryan. Albeit some didn't have "measurable" outcomes like the school-required IEP but that was actually one of the strengths of teaching at home. I could have confidence building as a goal and measure it by how Ryan responded to situations on a "I think he improved: type of scale. It took a lot of pressure off of him, especially when some of his goals were so amorphous.

IRIS was a big help in getting Ryan integrated into the community. Once he turned 18 we could plug him into all sorts of activities that we couldn't when there wasn't funding.

At any rate, as you begin the school year know that you have options. It's important to always think of your child and his or her needs but also, think about what you're able to provide. If you can't teach then don't homeschool. There are other ways you can help with your child's education.

Have a great school year and see you tomorrow,
Much love and joy,

Karen