Homeschooling an only child who has been homeschooled since birth http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:58:00 -0600 Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:58:00 -0600 Call be a very bad blogger, but I keep forgetting to post here ! Our school year has been going very well. For the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas we have moved to a total computer school model. It has a lot more patience than Mom does when we come across things that have been repeated for the billionth time but still do not completely sink in. We are continuing our weight loss efforts, and to date we have lost 146  pounds as a family. That is the almost the equivalent of the Complete unabridged Oxford Dictionary ! I have lost 40 lbs, hubby has lost 38 and our son has lost 73 . Still have more to go, but it is really satisfying looking at how far we have come. Son has also been given the job of Media Assistant at church. It's a fancy title for one who helps by running the video camera during the service. He is thrilled and it is a very good way to help him feel more of a part of the services and the community. Daddy sings with the choir , son helps with the multimedia presentations and runs the video camera.and i just make sure everyone has healthy food options and exercise I am making a resolution to post more often !!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/630525/ Wed, 10 Dec 2008 13:58:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/630525/ Five months into the weight loss journey, and we are all still losing, getting stronger , healthy, and have no intention of stopping. This is both good and bad. Good in the fact that this has become a real lifestyle change. bad in the idea that if we experience a financial setback, it can be hard to keep up this way of life if I do not learn a few new tricks with keeping down food costs. We have come to rely on a lot of boneless skinless chicken breasts, pre- portioned foods and so forth , simply because it is easy to figure out how many Weight Watchers points each serving is. I have tried experimenting with some staple items , making our meal choices pantry friendly, diet friendly and healthy choices. The last factor has been a greater concern of mine lately with the more articles I read about nutrition. I don't want to lose pounds as well as Vitamin D,C,Protein,and so on. I do not want to trade weight for chemical altering in order to make food mouth friendly. I want to know that my family is eating real food and getting real nutrition in the process. So I have been experimenting with peanut butter. Cholesterol free, high in essential fats, shelf stable and economical, a part of so many of our childhood lunches. We do not suffer from nut allergies, so this becomes a good alternative protein option. Here are two dishes that have become family favorites, with Weight Watchers Flex points information                       Honey Milk balls 2 points each Serving Size  : 24        1/2           cup  molasses, blackstrap      1/2           cup  peanut butter   1                cup  dry milk   1                cup  old-fashioned rolled oats Mix well, knead by hand until well blended. Shape into balls- makes 2 dozen Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 87 Calories; 4g Fat (43.5% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 5mg Cholesterol; 49mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.      CHINESE SESAME NOODLES -8Pts Serving Size  : 3          1/4           cup  peanut butter, creamy      1/2           cup  hot water      1/3           cup  soy sauce   2          teaspoons  honey   1              clove  garlic -- crushed   1           teaspoon  ginger   6             ounces whole wheat spaghetti noodles -- cooked In a large bowl, mix the peanut butter or sesame paste with hot water until creamy.  Whisk in soy sauce, honey, garlic and ginger.  Add the noodles.  Serve warm or cold. Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 378 Calories; 13g Fat (31.1% calories from fat); 15g Protein; 52g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 54mg Cholesterol; 1943mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 3 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates. Note- I steam a bag of stir fry vegetables to toss in with this and serve it with a side salad for a fast, easy healthy meal http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/525561/ Thu, 1 May 2008 13:14:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/525561/ No son, those are NOT liver spots or liverworts on your arms. They are called freckles, so you can relax. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/511985/ Mon, 7 Apr 2008 11:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/511985/ Math- the mention of the word would send me into a frustrated sweat as a child. Part of the reason was that I was instructed by teachers who considered only one way of learning, one way of fixing problems and had no resources or permission to think outside of the box. Result was intense math anxiety and much grief. My son is a different sort of learner. Some subjects he grabs onto and adores ( like geography ). Others, like math, he struggles with. We have been through Miquon, Saxon, Singapore Math, CMP math, Mammoth Math  through the years , all good, but each helping only a portion of his struggles. With coin counting he still gets very scrambled switching from counting by ones, then fives and then tens ( it's just that switching factor that trips him up). With multiplication, place values are a constant, maddening problem. The other day we finally hit on a solution that works for him, and I would like to share it for others who may also be struggling with this. Multiplication is a special club, and only the original members get to behave in the multiplication way ( the factors in the equation). Our club members here are 25x 5. Start with the ones, say the answer. (5x5= 25). The last number you say is the first number you write. The other one is a wanna be and gets carried over.Now next number, another column. Do the math (2x5) say the answer (10) Now the wanna be gets to come in, but because it is not an original member , you just add him (10+2=12). No more club members , so you are done - your answer is 125. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/510421/ Fri, 4 Apr 2008 08:55:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/510421/ Yesterday my own clothing situation reached a crisis level. I had literally nothing that I could wear that would stay on my body.Weight loss +  very old clothes = take a step, yank up clothes, take a step, yank up clothes, and repeat. While losing weight is a very good thing, having absolutely nothing to wear is not. I was depressed about this  ( why do clothes mean so much to us women , and why is it we moms think about our own needs last ??), and my Knight in Shining Armor (hubby), suggested we head off to Walmart and find something that would fit my new form. A great idea- my husband is one of those rare men who likes shopping and has a very good sense about clothing. So off we went, and I was lost as to what size I now wore, but I knew my measurements. I looked at the size chart , and thought this just cannot be right ! According to the numbers I was back down to my pre baby size ! While the scale shows I have lost  weight as well as the measuring tape showing I lost inches, but it did not really sink in till I thought about clothing size. I had lost a full 3 sizes !!!!  Prince Charming asked why this surprised me, and I said that it somehow seemed so official . I was so happy I almost cried . What an absolute Blessing to have Income Tax refund meet with a time when you need some new clothes and the store is carrying something that is cute , functional, modest and at a good price ! Thank you, Thank you, Thank You Father !!!!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/509285/ Wed, 2 Apr 2008 12:04:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/509285/ Bad blogger ! I keep forgetting to update this blog . Things have been going very well here. Weight loss is continuing- I have lost 29.7 lbs so far, Prince Charming ( my hubby) has lost 25.6 lbs and son has lost an amazing 46 inches all over his body. More important than the weight loss has been getting him to actually love and embrace new foods. As an Autistic child with texture issues, this is a near miracle ! Before this lifestyle change, it was a battle to get him to eat anything beyond plain pasta, blue box macaroni and cheese and peanut butter. I should have put my foot down, but parenting is full of battles- parenting an autistic child is battles on a landmine during an earthquake.Add homeschooling and it can become all that on a vibrating floor. In short, you learn to pick your battles. Now, 3 months and 2 weeks into the journey, son will request things like arugala, baby spinach, grilled cod, quinoa ,millet and more. He reads the labels to see how many calories are in a food, and he even turned down Girl Scout Cookies and Ice cream . At easter he decided to eat three peeps, and said no thank you , I don't need that " to any other offers of candy. Thank you Lord for showing me how to make the changes we all needed to make !  Please, Father, continue to inspire me and show me ways to help the three of us acchive our goal . http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/507403/ Sun, 30 Mar 2008 11:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/507403/ The holidays are over, technically. Christmas is past, New year has been rung in, and it is back to work for many. We are still on a home school break till Monday, so today is the day I lay out lesson plans for next week. The holidays were both quiet and busy- if you can imagine that. We chose to skip attending the extended family gathering  for my side because there simply were not enough hours in the day. It is almost impossible to combine singing at four services and extended family Christmas plus add your very own family celebrations. As all of the kids get older they start developing adult relationships of their own, and the sudden squished but happy gathering of 20 people has swelled to 60, and there are only so many molecules that can fit in a small space without blowing the walls off. Our weight loss has been going terrific. Not only are we eating healthier, but we are more active. It was mutually decided to buy a rebounder- a mini trampoline with a handle bar, and keep this in the middle of the living room. Not decorator chic, but oh so convenient to use many times during the day or while watching TV. Another purchase was inexpensive MP3 players to load with our own exercise tunes. Some songs you hear and you just cannot sit still when you listen to them, and these make for great work out tunes. Son loaded his, i loaded mine, and because these players have jacks for 2 headphones, we got to share each others choices. I like the Rolling Stones and The Who, and son likes listening to a lot of old bubble gum music( Remember the 1910 Fruitgum Company ??). His was a mix of these, Reliant K and several selections off one of his Kids Worship jams CD. It was so much fun to share these musical moments together ! Teens and music go together like fish and water. Something about music that helps a teen deal with all of the emotional turmoil that comes with those growing years. Happily my son has heard a wide variety of music and gravitates to things that neither his father or I have a problem with . He has some genuinely good taste in these matters , and we are quite proud of him for that. I wish all parents could say the same for some of the choices their teens make. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/454026/ Wed, 2 Jan 2008 10:23:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/454026/ It's been kind of crazy here , and little time to post. Weight loss is going fantastic, running to prepare for Christmas and just keeping up with life.MIL made it through her surgery with flying colors, but my mother's challenges keep taking strange turns. She keeps us on our toes, and dealing with her has gotten to be much the same as dealing with a very active toddler who puts everything in their mouth and touches everything. She is now to the point where she cannot shower without supervision, to make sure she takes her clothes off before getting in the stall, uses soap and not shaving cream on her body, rinses and then dries off and puts on clean clothes instead of the dirty ones. Her bladder problems are not improving- inspite of 3 surgeries and numerous medications. She gets terribly embarrased about this and has made it very difficult for her to even go to the grocery store with others. Personally I think the cause may be a food allergy, but her Doctor does not seem to be very open to listening to other opinions. So , meanwhile we deal with what we must. In a way it is kind of funny to suddenly have your mother as an image of a toddler, and think about how the roles in life have reversed ! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/446694/ Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:02:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/446694/ I was tagged by tagsfan.  I am on of those weird people who things memes are a lot of fun to do. I think I have done this one a few entries back, so here goes 7 new random things 1. I an not quite sure what I am supposed to do with comments ! I love getting them, read them, but I cant quite figure out if I am supposed to respond to them or what. On other Blog things it is sort of implied that you should or can respond to comments, but homeschool blogger is not really clear on this. In the grand scheme of things this is not a big deal it seems- blogging is a lot of fun no matter how it is done. 2.I don't really like eating apples other than in the fall, but i buy them every week. 3.I cannot talk on the phone with my glasses on- its not that the ear piece bothers me but rather if I cannot see clearly i think better . 4.I knew i was going to marry my husband before i actually met him. I was sitting in the common area at college and this man with the most penetrating eyes was walking up the stairs , smiling at me and something in my head said "You are going to marry his brother". I shrugged it off as not enough sleep or something, because i had no idea who this man was, let alone if he even had a brother or anything. I went back to my book, and all of a sudden he was sitting next to me , striking up a conversation. He asked me out and a few weeks later he brought m home to meet his family. He did indeed have brothers- 3 of them. When i was introduced to his older brother I knew at first sight i was going to marry him. 3 years later we started dating, 18 month latter married, and now 26 years latter I still don't know what exactly happened that day. It seems we were simply mean to be. 5 I lived through a bear attack- one day i will have to write about that one 6 I love pizza with italian sausage, but cannot stand any other kind of sausage in any other way- it makes me feel kind of queazy. I think it is because of the fat or something. 7I have a lifelong ambition to play a harp. I bought one las year but it was defective. I returned it and never go around to purchasing another I tag...anyone who would enjoy doing this meme ! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/438055/ Mon, 3 Dec 2007 14:51:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/438055/ Starting a diet in the holiday season? Some may think so, but I say not. When you reach that wall where you believe the time to do something proactive, it does not matter what the calendar says.  I have been overweight all my life, and my son is overweight. DH has become overweight as well. I had one of those watermark sorts of moments over the weekend that made me say this has to change. Now. I wont go into details, protecting the parties involved, but lets say it was a humbling moment.  Before my pregnancies, I lost 110 pounds. Solved a 10 year struggle with infertility. The first pregnancy was a stillbirth, and the second pregnancy was high rest, requiring 5 months of bed rest. In that time I regained 70 pounds, my living son, and a lot of fears. Three subsequent pregnancies ended in miscarriage, all of which left me feeling rather insecure. I attempted weight loss again, losing 70 pounds, but doing so in a rather unrealistic fashion that I could not keep up with.  This time I am going back to the program that I had the most success with- Weight Watchers. It is an intelligent, healthy, manageable program , and full of real life learning. Son is joining me on the journey as well as DH. Weight loss as a family will be a lot easier than as an individual.  Wish us luck ! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/435056/ Wed, 28 Nov 2007 08:46:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/simplyhomeschooling/435056/