MojoMommaMagic Homeschooling

To Camp or Not to Camp? In July, we had an advertised week-long "sensory-friendly" camp planned and purchased for Liam. It was touted as a camp for children on the autism spectrum or with sensory needs. It ran 9 am-12 noon each day- 3 hours of "fun." With an adaptive recreational specialist, mind you. Three hours. Five days in a row. Let's be honest, people. Even if Liam was successful for only 30 minutes--so I could read, have iced lavender coffee or phone my mom---well, I might just pee my pants with joy! Hubs and I went back and forth. Back and forth. Was Liam ready? What if? What if? What if? Liam had made progress, sure. But was it enough? Should we just cancel and try to get a refund? The Dignity of Trying The week before the camp, I scheduled a meet and greet with the primary camp counselor. Liam likes to be prepared. See the schedule ahead of time. Get a feel for the room. Vibe on the teacher. I heartily patted myself on the back for...

What Scuba Has Taught Me about Homeschooling RULE #1 NEVER HOLD YOUR BREATH- a s every good entry-level dive student knows, this is the most important rule of scuba. And for good reason — breath holding underwater can result in serious injury and even death. We’ve also learned the SIMPLE and effective value of beginning each day with a BREATHING EXERCISE before we need it. By that I mean, before Liam has hit fight, flight or freeze with anxiety or sensory overload. Our current favorite way to do this? Yoga Pretzels cards pictured here. There’s a fun section of cards just for breathing that includes bear breath, rabbit breath, or sometimes we make up our own. RULE #2   PRACTICE SAFE ASCENTS-  Almost as important as breathing continuously is making sure to ascend slowly and safely at all times. If divers exceed a safe ascent rate, the nitrogen absorbed into the bloodstream at depth does not have time to dissolve back into solution as the pressure decreases...

A Homeschooler is Born In the past 12 weeks as a fledgling full-time homeschooler, Liam has taught me so much. The first day I tried to homeschool with him, I was desperate to conform us both to the "the magical" online program. I was sucking wind to prove to everyone--especially me--that he was more than an alphabet soup of diagnoses. He was more than a third grader with a quickly evolved "bad" reputation. He was NOT "just" the kid who dropped THAT WORD (which I didn't EVEN know he knew) in front of the principal AS I was escorting him out of school after yet ANOTHER EPIC meltdown. He wasn't angry. He was scared. And I was TERRIFIED As we approached homeschooling together, I reeked of desperation. What NOT to DO: My Top 5  1. Ever say "we have to do this online program or we (you!) will have to go back to school." Yep. I did it. Shamed and all that. You could find me arm-deep in a vat of peanut butter with a bottle of w...

"Create a space in a child's soul and in a child's being for that fine delicate work to come into the child's being instead of being part of the spillage." (Kim John Payne- Simplicity Parenting ). My #1 job as a homeschooler is creating soul space for Liam. If that sounds woo-woo, new age-y and homeschooler-in-pj's-with-curtains- drawn-all-day, let me back that up a bit and share how a recent conference discovery, a brand new lens and a fantastic planning tool merged to breathe life into our learning approach. I encountered Kim John Payne of Simplicity Parenting during A Fine Parent Conference held online. His research into the effects of cumulative stressors--be it PTSD in war-torn countries or children with ADD--pierced my heart. What helped most across cultures? DIALING IT DOWN! Simplicity. Intuitively (guiltily if I am honest), Liam's days have been filled with rest, down time and space for constructive conversations. I have felt shame...

Learning in Shark Infested Waters Who is this brave SCUBA diver? Peaceful….beautiful…calm. All words Liam uses to describe sharks. Liam’s love of sharks began as early as 4 years old, when he visited the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. He subsequently memorized all the shark types. From the time Liam was 6 years old, he was counting down the days (literally!) till his 8 th birthday so he could complete an Eye-to-Eye Shark Dive. Liam fell head over heels in love with Tippy the Blacktip Reef Shark who became his Valentine. She's one of his most treasured friends. Indeed on his 8 th birthday, he met Tippy underwater to celebrate. A Deep Date with Destiny To date, Liam has completed four shark dives. Liam has also become a fierce advocate for sharks. He is featured in the PDZA Orientation PowerPoint for all Eye-to-Eye Shark Dives. Here he was photographed signing the Shark Conservation Pledge on his last dive: Sharing the Conservation Message Liam has pres...

LOST: Where Did My Child Go? Between second and third grade, I have longed to figure out WHAT CHANGED. I've kept myself awake until 3 am this past fall and winter trying to figure that out. The summer before third grade we saw a startling jump in aggression and anxiety in Liam. We kept thinking it would get better with more structure when school started back for third grade. It. Did. Not. Four Months of Sheer Hell That's September-December of third grade. Same school. Same specialists. Same team. Same favorite buddy. All at the same school I'd fought hard to keep him in when our school boundaries were redrawn in second grade.  Every day was something fresh and terrorizing for him. Not because anyone was wrong or bad or intentionally trying to make this hard. We just all got it really wrong and underestimated the impact of changes AND 20 KAZILLION other factors that set us on the abysmal road to nowhere. He had his favorite "peer coach" right n...

A Park Revelation... Like any normal day. Except for us, it kinda is not. Since becoming a homeschooler, I like to think that I am more attuned to Liam's ebb and flow. We maximize learning. I provide structure that is flexible. We play. We rest. We laugh. We learn. A minor miracle and outcome is that he now has the reserve and energy to have a playdate on a sunny afternoon at the END of the day. In the past we (both) would have likely been taxed from the morning struggles, his school meltdowns and me desperately trying to prove to myself & everyone else that I could DO IT ALL. By DO IT ALL I mean, have the full time dual income career& cheerfully partner with a team of 10+ clinical/educational professionals. By that I mean ride every storm with a smile. By that I mean skip another work meeting to rescue him from underneath a table at school..to join him when his anxiety went into FIGHT mode--all while wearing a dress (which rode up over my butt so I mooned the prini...

Just Another Lipstick Tuesday (aka Our Arduous Road to Homeschooling) LETTER TO SIR L'S SCHOOL COUNSELOR- 7:42 AM 10/24/18 Good glorious morning! While I was making waffles, L went upstairs and painted his face, arms and hands with my brightest lip ink  lipstick . You know the ones? The LipSense that I paid way too much for because a friend had one of those cool parties ..... well, it gets better. He also painted Darla our Pitbull to look like a "zombie dog." Oh this kid! Ok, so he took a shower and we tried my makeup remover. I am trying in vain to find the goof proof from LipSense to no avail.  His arms and face have a weird red tint today.   I stayed cool and he is still embarrassed some. We talked calmly that  everyone makes mistakes and it is just part of life and learning.  Script:  Please either ignore it or if he brings it up just say  everyone makes mistakes and it is just part of life and learning.  At least i...