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Special Words for Special Needs ~ Veterans Choose to Serve
Posted 11:58 AM, Nov. 6, 2009
Welcome my friends! Veterans Day is November 11. I have a particular soft spot in my heart for veterans, after all my husband and I are former Navy.
In researching for this post I found this quote on the VA website, "A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good." VA site for kids Why join the military? The money isn't terribly good. Starting pay is nice but it doesn't keep up with the private sector. The locations are great but even a tropical island is blah after the third holiday you don't see your family. Then there is boot camp and the continual physical tests and challenges that are just plain hard. So why join the military? I can tell you why we did. My husband and I both chose to serve. Someone must stand on the line and say no further. I will protect my family and friends. I will stand up for my rights and those of my neighbors. I chose to serve because it is a responsibility as a citizen of the United States of America that I am able to fulfill. Times change and now we are no longer in the military. I am glad that I had that chance. Now how can I continue that sense of service to country? This year we are looking into sending packages and cards to soldiers around the world. American Red Cross Cards for Heroes I would like to thank the veterans out there! Thank you for your dedication and willingness to serve and protect. God bless! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Special Words for Special Needs ~ Hospital Schooling
Posted 10:38 AM, Oct. 30, 2009
Special Words for Special Needs ~ Are You Teaching Cooking?
Posted 11:29 AM, Oct. 23, 2009
Do you know how to cook? Are you teaching or planning to teach your girls AND boys to cook? We should teach all our children to cook even if it is only simple foods. For some of our children the goal rather than cooking will be kitchen safety. Either way opening the kitchen to make it a part of homeschooling is a wonderful experience.
We homeschool just steps from the kitchen, so making meals has always been part of our learning. Confession time: I start homeschool most mornings still dishing out breakfast. Homeschooling has allowed meal preparation and cooking to be just another skill to learn in a working household. My daughter has excelled at cooking. She is very creative and has found cooking to be a special talent to show off her skills. Alton Brown you better watch out! We have also encouraged her learning with cooking. She is dyslexic and is so excited about cooking she will power through a recipe just to try it! (Use your child's interest to push them in weak areas! ) This past summer we started the Little House of the Prairie series. With all the scrumptious foods and preserving Ma does in Little House in the Big Woods we were encouraged to preserve. We beefed up the garden and canned some peaches from a local orchard. I was pleasantly surprised when everyone turned out to help me can. The little ones cleaned the peaches. The older kids helped me get out ingredients and jars. It made for a wonderful family afternoon! This has led us down many other culinary paths. Use cooking to do mini-unit studies or projects. Try some ideas like preserving food, figure out how much food a pioneer would need to live through a winter, research scurvy and rickets, teach fire safety in the kitchen, design a garden and imagine you are selling at a farmer's market. How much would you need to make a profit, grow, etc.? May your cooking adventures be blessed! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Special Words for Special Needs ~ Crafts and Art Provide Needed Depth to Education
Posted 11:45 AM, Oct. 16, 2009
This week we are focusing on crafts. I have to confess that I am not terribly crafty. I get good ideas but somewhere between my brain, the craft store, and getting all the kids to produce my masterpiece it never quite works out. In fact here is a picture of a craft day . . .
 Yes we usually have bath time soon after craft time. Are crafts important to learning? Yes! Do they have to be perfect and super cute when we are done. No. It's nice to have something to hand to grandma and grandpa. I have to remind myself that my children have a tough time with the creative side of their personality, most of my children are autistic. I try to incorporate crafty items into a real subjects like history. This way we can work with a real subject and then the details can be the creative part. Last week I talked about creating an Ode to Fall. We were doing super until the another side of autism kicked in...the obsessive side. The poor poem was worked over and over and over and over until we had changed pages several times. Part of the project was to decorate the outside edge of the paper. The craft part also fell victim to the obsessive issues. Each leaf was placed and replaced and then ripped off and tried again. It took some time to get it "right enough" to get my son to put it down. Then I laid it up out of sight for a couple of days, until I felt he was able to work with it again without obsessing. I truly think this was a good thing for him. It showed me where there are some problems we need to address. It also showed him that others really liked his poem and decorations even though he felt there still needed to be changes. Crafts are a fun way to work on these areas that are sometimes lacking in our special kids. Creativity, abstract thinking, and obsessive problems. Autism isn't the only problem that could use some craft time to increase the depth of our child's learning. Often those kids with high intelligence can be so focused on their hard subjects that they stop working on soft subjects. Yes you will do quite well with a solid knowledge of science and math. Crafts and art can open a world into the human nature that you also need to succeed. Art can also provide an outlet for stress. Encouraging your child to become well rounded in their education is a important goal. Enjoy your crafts and art! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Special Words for Special Needs ~ Making an Ode to Fall
Posted 12:44 PM, Oct. 9, 2009
Fall is a wonderful time of year. The bright colors and change in temperature have me reaching for a book and apple cider. I also get the warm fuzzies. All the holiday planning, harvesting is finished and it's time to take a breath and relax. I didn't realize how much I still connect with my roots. I was raised in the middle of farm country in northern Ohio. October and late fall were always a time of joy. The hard work of the season was over and your silos and pantries were full.
Today the kids and I sat down to talk about fall. We discussed the science of fall earlier this week. Now we were going to discuss the emotions of fall. My children with autism found this exercise to be particularly hard. They knew things about fall they liked but could not connect these things together. As we worked through the day each child had a break through moment where they understood what I was asking of them. This hard work really paid off not just in understanding fall but in understanding emotional response. So I thought I might share this exercise. We focused on making an ode, which is a lyrical poem showing enthusiastic, emotional response. 1. Together we brainstormed on the chalkboard all the things about fall that we loved and were enthusiastic about. 2. Then each child wrote or drew a picture about the 3 things that "made their heart sing" 3. I then read several poems and showed them several poems. They needed to see exactly what a poem looked like. 4. With each child I had them talk through with me one single part of their idea until it made a working stanza. I wrote it down for them to rewrite, or for the older one I just looked over spelling. This was the tough step. We needed to step forward and push, then relax several times until that light turned on. Take your time here this is where we are hoping to reach an emotional understanding of poetry. 5. We proceeded to work through each idea and find a common link to focus the poem. 6. Finally they rewrote the poem and tomorrow we are going to glue on leaves and other fall like objects. This turned out to be a great fun mini unit. The real fun (for mom) is that since it wasn't in our normal book they didn't consider it work. Mom knows better. We made a huge step forward in understanding literature and humanity today. Poetry is a wonderful way to reach beyond just telling a story. If you chose to write an ode to fall please post it! In fact I'll post my children's odes to fall on my homeschool blogger page! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Special Words for Special Needs ~ Learning Disabilities Mean Little in Sports
Posted 10:17 AM, Oct. 2, 2009
The leaves are changing and tailgating is happening all across the country. Happily most special needs children will fit right into organized sports. In fact that is where some really shine!
Bruce Jenner--a gold medalist in Track and Field has dyslexia. Jerome Bettis--former Steelers player has asthma. Magic Johnson--basketball player has dyslexia. Bo Jackson--baseball and basketball had a stuttering disability. Ron Harper--a basketball player has a speech and reading disability. Curtis Pride--a baseball player who is deaf, using 5% residual hearing to talk and fluently lip read. These athletes have a high degree of physical ability that is completely unhindered by their learning disabilities! For those of our children that would not fit into a sports team there are options! In the last two years a wonderful organization has started near us that has year long teams and sports for every learning and medical disability. As I look around the country this is a new trend. Your local ARC should know of any opportunities in your area. I know a wonderful man that coaches for our local Special Olympics. He praises the organization and highly recommends it. Check it out. Even if your child is not desiring to participate this may be a wonderful chance to volunteer at a disability friendly event. Special Olympics http://www.specialolympics.org/ I recently found out that our local childrens hospital has a full PT, OT, and exercise therapists. They told me that with a doctor's script you can get a personalized exercise program. This would help protect your child from any unintentional harm from exercising. Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Special Words for Special Needs ~ Math is Hard?
Posted 10:49 AM, Sep. 25, 2009
Math is all a twitter on the porch this week. Remember the big fuss when the Barbie doll had a prerecorded phrase,"math is hard." hmmm? Strange was Barbie was right?
Math like is just like any other subject in its ability to be learned or have problems. Even with a learning disablity called dyscalcula. Many children find the step by step process of math to be difficult because they lack organizational skills. Some cannot keep the numbers in the columns that are required to produce a proper answer. Then some children get so upset and anxious at the idea there is only one option they would rather put no answer than face the possibility of being wrong. Let's break it down and see if we can brainstorm each issue. Organizational skills: Break each problem down into the steps necessary. Have occasional "pit stops" places to recheck or verify they are proceeding correctly. For example, with an addition problem teach them that you can use subtraction to check the problem. With an algebra problem, after x is isolated, check that all numbers and signs are still present (in haste you can easily misplace a number or sign.) One last tip that sometimes helps the visual learners is to write the problem on the paper in another color, so they are sure their reference problem is correct. Problems with number placement: Dyslexia is not just a problem affecting reading. The visual problems of flipping single digits and whole series of number can greatly impact math. For my daughter, as we moved into higher math, I turned the paper sideways. Then you have an entire sheet of natural columns! Anxiety and math: Math is simple--the problem produces one correct way to get there and one correct answer. Imagine you are in the busiest train station in the world. There are foreign signs up everywhere and many, many choices of trains to take. Everyone around you seems to know exactly where they are going and how to get there. The more you look and think about how to get to your train the more confused you get. You might ask for help but some answers are in another language and mean nothing but confusion. An answer or two are in your language but when you follow their instructions you get the wrong train. Eventually you develop this knowledge deep in your gut that no matter what you do, you will be wrong and never get home. Sounds sad and maybe overblown?! Well how can we reduce anxiety? First take away some of the choices talk to your child about the process they are going to be using for their work. Repeat and reinforce that you know they can do this. You could even put a good piece of work near their math book or math folder so they can remember. Teach your child as the confusion and frustration from a problem sets in, that it is okay to move to the next problem. Have your child repeat the instructions you are giving them. Listen closely to be sure they are hearing what they need to do correctly. Lastly try to prevent depression from setting in when math comes out. Encourage your child to be cheerful in all that they do. If you are already to that point make it a team effort, "family sticks together!" Math is different from the other subjects, but not harder. I wrote a post discussing some of the math curricula options. The yearly search for math curricula Step outside of curriculum when you can make math real. Talk about NASA and the math used to get people into space. Talk to your adventurer about the math needed to calculate oxygen for SCUBA tanks. When math becomes another life subject and not a pile of annoying numbers you have WON! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Share on Facebook 
Special Words for Special Needs ~ When Writing is a Struggle
Posted 9:07 AM, Sep. 18, 2009
Fall is off to a wonderful start here. The weather is crisp and the garden is already dying back. Sad to see it but we are thrilled with the results of our hard work. The harvest and canning we did this year is more than any other year. I can sit back and see the end result of our hard work.
This week on the porch we are talking about writing. I equate writing to the end result of hard work. If you work hard, then you will have a mountain of work to show for it at the end of the year. I thought that right up until I started homeschooling my son. He works hard but he just doesn't produce written work. We, on average, get a page or two from all his work for a day. He learns. He listens. He tries, but writing is a struggle that blocks his natural output of producing finished work. When you stop and look at writing by itself there are a couple of general problems. 1. Like with an eye problem, look at the obvious first. Is there a physical problem with your child's hands? Does your child have the hand strength to adequately manipulate a pencil? One of my daughters has cerebral palsy, low tone. It makes long term writing a problem, with frequent breaks and changes with the use of her hands (such as using soft playdough). Then she does well. 2. Does your child have a dysgraphia processing problem? Is there a problem getting the information from the brain onto the paper? Sometimes giving more time without stressful overtones will help. Perhaps start with a subject that your child really loves. 3. Does your child have a sensory issue? If your child has a defensive sensory problem they may dislike intensely holding a pencil, crayon, or scissors. On the other hand if your child is a seeker, they may put so much pressure into writing that they break lead tips, and use up their hand strength quickly. Both children may be helped by using pencil grips, or hand massages right before starting the day. 4. Is your child a perfectionist? A child like this will not stop erasing the slightest mistake, or throws away papers that are not up to his internal standard. Teach him that there will be several drafts, and mistakes will be fixed as you go. The object of first drafts is to get the idea on to paper, perfection is not the goal. You may want to look up manuscripts and show your child that even the great authors made many mistakes. Show them what an editor does, again reinforcing that writing is a process. Here are some more great tips: Raised line paper or editing paper that has yellow lines every other one. Handwritng without Tears or ReadyWriter are good starting points for handwriting. Pencil grips, mechanical pencils, different lead strengths, or even a pen or crayon--try it see what works best! Small, highly interesting writing projects. Allow for alternative methods such as voice activated software, or tape recording. Be sure, if your teen is facing college and this will continue to be a problem during college, to get a diagnosis. If you obtain a learning disability diagnosis before the age 18, it will transfer into getting help and extra time in the college years. I have heard of too many colleges and jobs ignoring a disability because it was not "diagnosised as a child". Therefore it must not have affected your schooling and you should be fine now. This line a thinking is based in the belief that all children, especially disabled children, go to public school. Writing is a major method of verifying your child is learning. Also, writing is a major form of communication. Show your child the fun in writing. Show your child the need for writing. Let them be encouraged that you are there to help them excel one assignment at a time! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Special Words for Special Needs ~ Music
Posted 12:26 PM, Sep. 11, 2009
This week the Porch is full of music! I adore music. I grew up sitting next to my grandmother as she played the organ or piano for our little church. I knew that music brought a smile to my face and looking around, many others enjoyed the music, too.
Music can be used in so many delightful ways to enrich your homeschooling. You can sing hymns to start the day. Many hymns have scripture in them so you are learning scripture as you sing. For children with memory problems this is an extremely affective way to learn God's word. Use music as a sensory tool. Music with light strings and an airy feel will relax and help imagination. Music with a strong beat can help a sensory seeker work out some energy and refocus. Natural sounds such as rain and oceans can be a soothing white noise to help wiggle worms get to bed. As for playing music there is such a broad variety of instruments most anyone can find something to try. Great side effect to learning a musical instrument is self discipline, because the need to practice, also mathematical skill increases. Music is based off of math and it complements math in a very real and yet subtle way. Music is a great way to show glory to the Lord. Think of a trip to the nursing home this Christmas to perform. You can group together with a handful of other homeschooling parents and have a concert at someone's house followed by food and fellowship. Yum! Use all the tools you can to increase the breadth and depth of your child's knowledge. Music is one possible tool. God bless my friends! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Special Words for Special Needs ~ Stop Burnout Before You Even Start the Year!
Posted 11:33 AM, Sep. 4, 2009
Here we are the first days of September. We are getting back into the swing of the fall schedule. I find that while I have already mapped out where and what we are using for the year. The first few weeks can be an eye opener as to where I must adjust. Do you get frustrated at a "lost" skill? Do you ever feel daunted at the massive amount of material you need to cover to "catch up to grade level"? These feelings are the fast track to burnout. If you start discouraged than when the bumps in the road come, which they will, you have no cushion. So let's brainstorm some ways to stop burn out and discouragement now!
Persistent Patience!! You can move a mountain with a spoon, one spoonful at a time. Do not attempt to force march your way through a grade and a half just to catch up. If you child can move at that pace wonderful! But be aware that if you push that hard the joy of learning may be pushed out, and it may become harder and harder to homeschool happily. Schedule Form a schedule that is a structure to your days and weeks ahead. Try to leave enough room that the schedule is a helpful tool instead of a task master causing guilt. Use your principle wisely This year, with more responsibilities weighing on me and a large trip mid school year, I knew I would need some accountability other than the end of the year testing. I asked my husband who has always been supportive but quiet with our homeschooling to take an active role. He has stepped in as a principle. Every weekend each child sits down with dad and shows him everything they did over the week. This takes some of the heavy burden from my shoulders and I am grateful. This also lets the children know that they are responsible to the family as a whole not just mom. Choose your sounding boards wisely Choose who you talk to about your homeschooling, especially your struggles, wisely. Sadly many do not understand your desire to homeschool a special needs child. After all the easiest route would be to send them to someone else for hours a day. I praise you for not choosing that route! Take some time now while you are energetic and have the big picture in mind. If you have structure then the winds of change can come and your homeschool will withstand it. Set up a solid reliable support system. Then take one step at a time. If you are persistent you will be pleasantly pleased how fast and how far you can go in a steady upward course! May the Lord bless your year and may your homeschooling be fruitful! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Special Words for Special Needs ~ Books I Love, Part 1
Posted 10:23 AM, Aug. 21, 2009
I apologize for missing last week. My littlest one, 20 months old, got a kidney infection and had to have a day in the hospital. As you can imagine, or know from experience, shuffling 5 kids to grandma's, with no van, special allergen foods, then going to the hospital 2 hours away was a trifle overwhelming. My first week of homeschooling fell apart . . . and the world didn't fall apart! Homeschooling is the ultimate in flexible. We homeschooled the Saturday and picked back up on Monday. Relax, tend to the acute, and know that homeschooling is a journey not a lock step march to the next grade level.
Now on to the wonderful subject for the next two weeks BOOKS! It is a bit simple to say I love books. When I was in school I would go to the library afterwards and sit for hours reading everything that I could. I pick up extra books all the time and I read through most everything. The Lord has blessed me with a high speed reading and understanding ability. This can be a bit of a problem though. I have recently had to go through the house culling the herd of books. So the big question for me is where to start . . . Bible This may go without saying but I'll say it anyway. No successful Christian homeschooling program can exclude the Bible. Use it daily and rely on it for answers! The more you read and work with your Bible the more you get from the scripture. As my mentor says, "Learn to dig for the gold God has left you." Home Schooling Children with Special Needs by Sharon Hensley This is a real hands on book about homeschooling special needs children from a mother of a special needs child, and a special needs educator. Homeschooling the Challenging Child by Christine Field She walks you through their life. Finding out that their daughter has some learning differences that were impacting their homeschooling and how they work to overcome the problems. Christine has written several articles for TOS which I always find interesting. She has also written other books such as Help for the Harried Homeschooler which gives you ideas that you can read in the morning and use that evening. Homeschooling on a Shoestring by Melissa Morgan and Judith Allee We all need to trim a few corners financially. Here is a great resource to do just that. There are tons of tips and ideas in this book! The WholeHearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson I heard Sally talk at the Apologia conference and then briefly spoke to her myself. Her gentle, wonderfully encouraging, spirit touched me. This shines through in her book. Her book is a wonderful encouragement and guide to a Godly homeschooling model. I could just keep going but eventually we will run out of internet space! Next week I plan on listing books for specific learning and living problems we may face. So if you have any good ideas please let me know! Leave a comment! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Special Words for Special Needs ~ Family Togetherness!
Posted 9:53 PM, Aug. 7, 2009
Summer is in full swing. Around here the family reunions are as thick as the mosquitoes! I grew up only occasionally going to a family reunion. My husband's family meet every year. What can I say, it's the Italian heritage. They are born to cook and laugh.
While I have found our family reunions to be quite welcoming and understanding of the problems we have, I have sadly read blogs recently that were not so happy. The two main problems seem to be 1. Homeschooling 2. your child's special need Homeschooling--ahh who could make it through a large group of people with out encountering some one that is against homeschooling? Throw in that your family feels comfortable enough to let it all out and it creates a situation that is volatile. I have also known of problems occurring when a family member says something like, "I know autism and that is not autism." The culture leans towards all children are healthy. So when you have a child that is not or will not go on to be a great success people can choose to disbelieve. This makes for a tough situation in that your ADHD super hyper child, who is now really wound by the cousins, is loud and hard to control. How can we deal with this? THINK--Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. Ecclesiastes7:9 Do not get angry about another person's attitude. You cannot make them think differently. EDUCATE--If you have the opportunity, leave the person with solid information. Or offer to drop off a book about homeschooling they could read. SILENCE--If you cannot educate, or the person you are dealing with is too polarized, remain silent. It is better to let them make a fool of themselves while you remain calm than to join into a pointless argument. What do you do? Have you worked out a tag team approach with your hubby to derail Uncle George's yearly tirade? Has the long term view worked in your family, educate them and wait for them to see the proof? Leave a comment and lets share some tips to help make our family get-togethers better! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling. Special Words for Special Needs ~ Friendship a Worthy Goal!
Posted 10:35 PM, Aug. 3, 2009
Special Words for Special Needs ~ Insect unit studies
Posted 9:19 AM, Jul. 26, 2009
Insects are in on the Porch this week. If you haven't already stop over at Craft Corner there are a handful of very neat insecty crafts. Insects are great. They are by far the most populace critter on the planet. They are God's clean up crew!
When a subject like insects comes up in our homeschooling I jump straight to Unit Study time! Insects are the perfect subject for a unit study. Simply a unit study is an intense focus on a subject. You can incorporate as many of your normal subjects into the unit study as you wish. Unit studies are the ultimate in flexibility to match your child specific needs. You are focused on a subject that is a step outside the normal standards. I find that occasional unit studies relieve the feeling of pressure that builds as the year passes. Trying to attain a grade level or standard that just isn't right for my child. The cost/time ratio comes into play when deciding how to come up with your unit study. The more time you put into prep work the less you have to spend. You can make the study up yourself. It will require you to do research, come up with trip and craft ideas. You could buy a unit study that has a outline to work off of, such as Amanda Bennett's. Or you could pay a little more and get the work and ideas done for you, such as In the Hands of a Child. Insect Adventure: A Complete Unit Study, Level 2 This unit study was reviewed by TOS! Going Buggy Woo Hoo a FREE unit study printed in TOS, by Another FREE unit study on Bees! This one is Even though I have been doing unit studies on and off through our entire homeschooling journey. I was impressed at the vast amount of unit studies available. Here is a link to the TOS store, their Unit Studies area. I hope this encourages you to spice up your learning with a unit study. God bless my friends and may your homeschooling journey be a joy! Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling Special Words for Special Needs: Is There Ever a Better Time?
Posted 10:10 AM, Jul. 17, 2009
Ahhh! Vacation time. I like the topic this week. In fact it is a timely one for us. We are planning a trip to Amish country in Ohio next weekend.
The van needs cleaned. The kids needed haircuts. Food needs to be made and packed. All the calls need to be made to let everyone know we are on our way. Where are the emergency road assistance numbers? Since when did my oldest child out grow all her shorts? The to-do list is beginning to get overwhelming. Now the gas prices are looking iffy. The van is making that knocking noise in the front end. I am still sick with bronchitis. What am I thinking? We just can't do this right now. Maybe later this summer? Yes that's it--I'll just put off this little trip until things are better. When everything settles down will be a better time to go. Hmmm? I was thinking that 2 days ago. I was ready to throw in the towel and just wait until everything got better--the timing was better--the tree out back started producing money . . . you get the idea. Then in my quiet time it became clear to me that I was being attacked. How many times in our life do we postpone things until the the perfect time? Waiting until all the obstacles are clear and we can see the road we must travel. The Lord doesn't work this way. He calls us to go. We need to go. Stepping out in faith because we know that the Lord will protect us. Is our vacation really the will of the Lord? I think so. I have been praying about sharing the Lord with several of my friends and relatives that we are supposed to meet on the trip. Also the Lord knows that each of us needs a time of rest. Time to restore and recharge. Have you been postponing something you feel called to do? Perhaps it is homeschooling, ministry, or just calling a friend. In a book by Vicki Harris in which she put off calling a friend that was on her heart, she later found out that that friend went on to have an affair and leave her husband. Could Vicki have changed the outcome? I don't know, but if someone or something is pressing on your heart listen. Well I am off to pack and make lists. I pray that you have the strength today to do that which God calls you to do. As I pray that I will have the strength and wisdom to share Christ to those of my beloved friends and relatives who need to hear the Good News. Heather lives in West Virginia. She and her husband have been homeschooling their 5 children for 8 years. Due to a genetic disorder their children have multiple special needs. Living life to the fullest for the glory of God is their goal! Visit Heather's page at www.homeschoolblogger.com/gfcfmomofmany/ or at Special Needs Homeschooling 
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Homeschool Tip of the Day by Christina Monday by Taneil Linschied by Amanda Suryan by Tia Linschied Tuesday by In The Hands of a Child by Dell by Catherine Love Wednesday by the HWTB Team by Suzanne Gose by Lori Havens Thursday by Nancy Baetz by JoJo Tabares by Karin Katherine by Tia Linschied Friday by Donna Conner Special Needs by Heather by Lisa Golda by Tia Linschied News AlertsArchived Features Our New E-book ~ On Sale NOW! Quick LinksGrowth of BlogsSifry's Alerts - the blog of the owner of Technorati Do you have the whole set of back issues from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine? Click here to view all back issues and read the themes - you will want to collect the ones you've missed!! 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