My Little Corner of the World

Thoughts on raising and homeschooling a special needs child who has Aspergers, Tourettes, and ADHD. The life of a domestic goddess. Documenting the life of Superman (11 yrs) and Ladybug (4 yrs).

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

A New Quarter Before Us

Superman and I are back to the scholastic grind. We've had a lot of emotional work and healing to do the past few months and we all work through the mix of feelings and fears of the divorce. But now we seem to be heading into a better headspace and we decided we needed to start fresh. To put ourselves into a more predictable schedule. It was a project we embarked on together and the results were pretty outstanding.

We decided that English and Math must be tackled over a cup of tea. (That would be my British roots glaring brightly in his genes). We follow that up with our time outside. Usually a nature walk, bug hunting, hiking, whatever we can do with cooperating weather. We decided that bringing home specimans to look at with his microscope during our Science time would be lots of fun.

After our time outside we come back for video game time followed up by Science and Art. Then we make lunch together and watch a movie of his choice that relates to something that we're studying. Lately it's been a lot of movies about outerspace, UFO's, potential habitable planets, and various aspects of the solar system.

Next comes reading, discussion and research to work on social studies, history and unit studies. When that is done we'll head out to pick up his sister. Then they have an hour of play time/free time when we get home before dinner is served.

So it's schedule that fits everything in but gives him lots of variety. We'll keep tweaking it as we go depending on everyone's moods. But homeschooling is something that takes place seven days a week. Sometimes we get more out of a Sunday where it's completely unplanned. But something sparks his interest and we run with it.

That's the best thing about homeschooling. You never know where it will lead you.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Ending A Long Absence

It's been over a year since I've blogged here. My life took a drastic turn and I felt that I needed to step away for awhile.

Our family of one is now two. The marriage ended in June 2009 and we're going through the motions of separation. Lawyers, paperwork, schedules etc. I don't want to get into the details here but it was nothing messy like a third party.

But even though it is the best for us as a couple, and for the children in the long run, it is exhausting, emotional, and a times heartbreaking.

Superman and I have settled into an incredible homeschooling routine. He's flourishing like never before and although it's not always easy, it is by far the best thing that has ever happened to him. He's thriving. He always seems to be into a new topic. Researching, reading, experimenting. He works hard, has fun, and enjoys what he's learning. Such a drastic difference from sending him off to school every day where we never knew what the day would bring and his body was wracked with anxiety.

Ladybug is nearing the age of the 5 and loving school. She's in Montessori and she's a little workhorse. Loving what she learns, her friends, her experiences. She's always chatty about her day and her adventures.

As for me, I'm still dealing with the emotional downfall of a broken marriage. We're living in the same house until the custody dispute is settled. Once we move on to separate residences, I feel that I will thrive and feel comfortable in my own skin again. It's been nearly a year and it's still not wrapped up yet. I take it one at a time. That's all any of us can do.