Confessions of an Erratic Homeschooling Mom: 2013

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Thoughts on "Special Needs" from an Atypical Household

Note (12/17/13): I'm gradually moving selected posts over from my old blog.
This was originally posted in November, 2007

I was listening to a bit of an NPR program on the way to Wal-Mart. They had been interviewing Jonathan Mooney. As a child, he received extensive school-based services for learning disabilities, including dyslexia. He described a plethora of efforts to "fix" him, including making him wear purple glasses to "treat" his dyslexia. ("YOU try going to school in purple glasses," he said. He's got a point). He also said, "I took enough medications to kill a small farm animal."

Rebooting This Old Parenting/Home Education Blog

In the coming days and weeks, I'll be gradually moving over old posts.

We're an eclectic and eccentric family with who homeschool in a relaxed eclectic fashion. My kids inspire, delight, and challenge the living hell out of me every day. We live in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I'm a writing teacher, editor, book lover, movie buff, and headmistress of the house of chaos.

We blog about education, parenting, mental illness, and life on the autism spectrum.

The Kids:

Sarah (age 19): Film Buff, Movie Reviewer, Aspiring Screenwriter

James (age 15): Hard-Core Gamer, Artist, Aspiring Video Game Designer, Expert on the Upcoming Zombie Apocalypse, Weapons, and General Badassery

Patricia (age 9): Unschooled Since Birth, Into Books, Video Games, Art, and Being Reigning Queen of the Universe

Friday, November 22, 2013

As Good As It Gets (Password Protected)

This article about Senator Deeds' family tragedy hit home for me, as I'm sure it did for many people. Every time I think about it, I feel physically ill ...

To read this post click this link and enter the password. I invite friends -- who don't mind being exposed to the slightly darker side of my blogging -- to e-mail me for the password.

The One Where I Post Random Facts About Myself

Originally Posted April 12, 2012

I've been "tagged" by Susan at Learning ALL the Time. :-) If you haven't seen her terrific blog on eclectic home education and natural learning, you should check it out.

The Rules:

1. Post these rules.
2. Post a photo of yourself and 11 random facts about you.
3. Answer the questions given to you in the tagger’s post.
4. Create 11 new questions and tag new people to answer them.
5. Go to their blog/twitter and let them know they have been tagged.

O.K. -- I totally cheated here. This photo is 17 years old. I actually don't have a single current photo of myself. Well, nothing I could post without frightening anyone. The only person who ever photographs me is Patricia, and she always gets these random shots, when I'm too tired to run away, in which I look like an extra from a graveyard scene in Return of the Living Dead.

Learning Journal: Tues., Nov 5 - Sat., Nov. 9

Researching Foxes

Learning Log: Monday, Nov. 4

I decided to try blogging regularly about the kids' learning again and see how it goes. Most of my homeschool blogger relationships have fallen by the wayside, and probably no one will read this but me. But I am hopeful that it will help me find some focus.

Cranking Up James' High School English Curriculum

Our Topic for the Year: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Dystopia -- We're still working on finding our groove with this, and I'm trying to find ways to get James more interested and engaged. Although we agreed to this mom-made curriculum, as preparation for college, he seems to be participating reluctantly. Maybe since he is such a visual-spatial, hands-on kind of learner, this is just too bookish for him. BTW, James has ADHD, and like many people with this "disorder," he is blessed with high energy, a quick mind, a strong "right brained," visual-spatial learning style, and great problem-solving skills. But keeping him interested in anything for more than 20 minutes is challenging.

Suggestions? :-)