Sunday, March 17, 2013

This Time It's Not About Rearranging

BUT...boy we sure have to change how we homeschool from month to month! We started the year working at the coffee table, mourning the loss of our homeschool room. Then, we graduated to setting up a card table in the living room each morning. That's where we stand now. But lately, Bee (who will be 10 months old tomorrow), has been more content to play and we've been able to get a bit more done.
Baby Bee's reaction to the new baby gate.

EXCEPT the tics. Little Bit's Tourette's has been making school work very difficult. She can only work for short periods of time. So we get school done in snatches and not every subject by any means. Tomorrow is the day after spring break and I intend to really hit some of the things we've been neglecting lately. I want to finish the school year with a lot under our belt.
Little Bit made a cake for my parent's anniversary. She's working on her Grandparents Badge in Keepers.

THAT will mean staying home more. And this week, with a dentist appointment, shopping trip, regular errands, piano, homeschool gym day, and Keeper's meeting...may not be the best week to say that.
Sweetheart and I used to look at the Sonlight catalog at all the older siblings holding babies while they did their school work. She's one of them now.

TRULY we used to get more done our first few years of homeschooling. I only had one student, we stayed home a lot because our homeschool social network was not very well established. Sigh. A middle schooler with a pretty substantial workload, a 3rd grader dealing with tics, and a cruising baby is definitely my most challenging equation yet. I mean, being pregnant was hard too but let's face it...I don't remember much of it because I was asleep.
Baby Bee is always willing to help. She helps a lot.

SPEAKING of tics. (Which, I was a few minutes ago) I had a thought the other day. I don't remember exactly what all things came together for this to occur to me, but I decided perhaps a weighted blanket might help Little Bit. Have you seen these? They are used mostly for children with autism to help calm them down. They are also for sensory processing disorders. It also occurred to me that Little Bit might have a little of that concern too. There are certain fabrics she cannot touch because they give her goose bumps. Napkins are difficult. I carried a cloth napkin in the diaper bag for a while. She's giving away a teddy bear because he feels wrong and bothers her. I spent 5 minutes researching sensory processing disorders but I didn't come to any conclusions.
We took a day off for a field trip to the zoo and art museum. L to R Matt with Bee, Emily, Sweetheart (top), Kate (bottom) and Little Bit.

AT ANY RATE, I'm going to try sewing her a weighted blanket. That's what I'll be doing this week.

In between errands.

And school.

Which will all work out really well as long as no one requires food.

4 comments:

  1. oh dear. that expression. how could you, mama? ;)

    sounds like a lot of busy-fun! yet, you are rockin' the homeschool schedule. so sorry we seemed to have missed the boat on going to the park in the big city. kinda wish i could take a year off of theater & dance to reboot! sigh.

    i'll have to pick your brain on all this high-school wisdom you've gained, one day... if you have time. ;) are the girls testing through the hs group this year??

    ReplyDelete
  2. have you read about massage and stuff.. I have or DID have the Out of Sync Child.. amazing book! It is all so relevant to how they operare and behave but it feels like how can we manage coping with "fixing" all the issues! OVERWHELMING... for Kate we literally had a swing IN the house and that helped.. for EMILY a trampoline (we are JUST getting rid of it this week!) We did tagless shirts, special socks, different material, blanket wraps (basically hugging them in a blanket) you name it! :0)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am wondering if you have ever read anything about P.A.N.D.A.S. I am looking for a doctor who treats it and part of the disorder is tics.

    I have missed your posts the girls are growing so fast. They all are so sweet looking.LucyT

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have mild SPD and love a weighted blanket. I don't have an official one, but I have one that is the PERFECT combination of the right weight and density and floppiness. It's like my blankey, lol!

    ReplyDelete

I don't get to talk to a lot of actual grown-ups during the day, so your comments make me really happy! :)