I'm taking a bit of a break from Facebook & hoping to rekindle some of my former loves...
Journaling Through Our Blog!
Throughout 2013, we experienced a lot of change. A lot of upheavals in the inner workings of our home through foster care. We brought in & out 5 foster children. We learned a lot through the process. We have cried a lot through the process. And laughed. And loved. And hurt.
We did renew our foster license, but haven't received any placement calls/requests since our last foster child went to her adoptive home right before Christmas. Although I'm not sure we would accept a placement right now, I still feel a little eager knowing they could call anytime. It would be hard to say "no", but hard to say "yes", too. Hmm... Does that make sense?
We have defined our strengths & weaknesses regarding foster children during this past year. I'm sure this will vary placement to placement or even month to month. We seem to have a difficult time getting placement calls because we request that the children NOT be forced to go to daycare. As a stay at home mom, we prefer the foster child/ren stay at home with me & little E to facilitate a sense of normalcy as our family unit operates.
This seems to be an issue, because most children seem to be required to be in daycare. (One aspect of this makes sense: If the child is local to our area & is already established in a daycare facility, it would be best to keep the child in the same daycare to keep at least one aspect stable. This has not been the case in our placements.)
And, in theory, that is best. I'm sure it is in reality, also, but can functionally be difficult.
Because we participate in a Classical Conversations community that has completely full childcare, it makes our meeting time more difficult. One week, towards the end of our semester, I had both our sweet 2mth baby girl (we'll call her TAB) & a short-term placement of a 20mth boy. I had to take both of them along with little E into the 3hr teaching portion of our coop meeting. Talk about stressful. With advanced notice (like months & months), I would've been able to get the toddler into the host church's childcare. With fostercare, I don't know literally day-to-day sometimes if I will need childcare or not. With the baby, it is understandable that most moms of teeny littles would take their child into the coop time. But, again, with planning this is much easier. The knowledge of a child coming into a family allows better preparation for the arrangements.
I felt like I spent the first semester of little E's "official" home schooling experience just getting used to all of the many home visits & additional appointments TAB required. Not her fault, certainly, & still worth caring for that sweet girl... But, stressful. Discouraging. Overwhelming.
In our normal lives, I like to be able to plan a bit in advance. This is difficult to do in our experiences thus far with fostercare. These children still need a loving home, no doubt, but it is definitely an aspect I hadn't been forewarned about or thought about until we were in the mix. And we have been honored & humbled to care for these children. We don't regret any of the placements we were given & accepted!!
Like the first foster placement we had of 18mth twins that were court-ordered to attend daycare. At no time during our MA.PP courses or home study visits was this mentioned as a possibility. At nearly midnight, when the children were dropped off, that was the only concern the case manager had... For me to get them in daycare. I was able to find a wonderful facility that was amazing & I would recommend in a heart beat, but driving 300 miles a week solely for daycare was draining!
I could describe our experiences further, but truly... the negative aspects pale in comparison to the impact these children have had on our lives. I am not sure what fostercare will look like for us this year... Will we go more than half of the year without a placement? Will we simply help other foster parents by watching their foster children during a hospital stay or trip? Will we become a permanent home for a foster child waiting?
We just received notice, yesterday, that our adoptive home study has been approved. This is a different home study than our foster home study, but lots of the same questions & visits.
We've already expressed interested in several sibling groups & a few single children available in the State. Now that we have our adoptive home study, we send it out, receive information from our agency & the children's agency, & see if we may be a match for each other. We could have nothing come from any of the cases we emailed about or we could potentially be matched & meet a child in the next few months.
We are both excited & anxious at the thought of adopting. We've grown to be tender towards the children that are more difficult to place in adoptive homes... older children & sibling groups, specifically. It is heart wrenching to hear children asking for a home with no more requirements of the family than to "take both of us" or "be loving, be good". Wow.
We are praying & remaining as open as we can to what the Lord may have in store for us. Adoption will make our lives messier, more inconvenient, crazier... But, if He wants us doing that, we will. We will love another's child as our own, we will take them in with open hearts, & trust that His plan is amazing for us & for the child or children.
Our one & only, for now, little E has been amazing. He's taking workshop classes with his Nana J & has already made a bird house, a name plate, & several car projects. He loves using his personal, sized-for-little-hands, hand drill, saw, sand paper, scr.ewdriver, hammer, & saw to create things. He can recite his safety rules & loves going over to spend time "working like Daddy". He is a sponge full of knowledge & loves going to our CC meetings each Monday; his tutor, Ms. Natalie is like a rock star. He participates in the classroom recitations & does a presentation (aka speech) each meeting. But, really, he mostly is looking forward to going to the playground afterwards to play. :)
As far as goals go for 2014, we are hoping to go camping more. I'd like to complete a half-marathon (in April). We will be heading out of town for trips (another perk of home schooling). I'd like to journal a lot more. I am ashamed of the things I've already forgot that little E did a year or two ago... I want to write these things down so that I can remember. And he can. Other than that, I'd like to enjoy our lives each day. I want to say yes anytime my child asks me if I can help him or read to him or see the beautiful watercolor creations he made. I want to invest each day. Because, even though in foster care, we know we may only impact that child for a day... it is true of our child, too. Any day could be our last day with him & I want to cherish each day for the miracle it is. The miracle of a son that we weren't sure we'd ever have. And God has given us an opportunity to teach him & love him each day we spend together.
Love to you all!
Showing posts with label Our Little Bambino (Parenthood). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Our Little Bambino (Parenthood). Show all posts
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Announcing to the World...
That we are planning to homeschool our son.
This may not seem to be that big of a deal, but it is.
And I've been so worried about other people knowing because I don't want them to treat our son differently. I think homeschooling has become more mainstream than when we were growing up, but it is still not common. We have been so thrilled to have found such a large, local, community of support!
E will not legally have to be in education until he turns 6 years (entering 1st grade) which will be 2015-2016 school year. But, here in Florida, most kids head to preschool for free (aka VPK) for K4. We had decided to send E to our local Christian school for the VPK portion & then decide from there about further education.
Then we decided to homeschool him for this year. I am still nervous about him learning to read & all jazz, but I am so excited, too! We are looking forward to taking trips as often as possible to provide as much hands-on learning as possible, we are thrilled to have both a flexible AND structured environment for him to learn, we are happy to be able to focus on his strengths & his weaknesses, & so many other aspects.
{I feel as though I need to add some disclaimers here... We made a completely informed, individual, decision. We have thoroughly researched the benefits of homeschooling our child & are more than happy to share those resources with anyone genuinely interested in learning more about it. We aren't saying this will work forever, but for this year... it's the plan! There is no person, governmental entity, or program/school that will ever be as invested or motivated for E to learn all that he has the potential to learn than his father & I. Period. We are very honored to have family & friend support for this journey. Also, I plan to share our homeschooling journey here so that others may be encouraged to make- or not make- the decision to educate their child at home; this will never be a condemnation for those that decide to educate their child in a school setting & comments of the such will be deleted.}
I thought I could share what we are currently planning for this first semester/year; I'm sure it will evolve as we move along!
We are using Classical Conversations as a portion of our experience. If you're not familiar with "CC", you should check it out! CC uses the classical model of education. We will meet every Monday morning for 3 hours of guided education by a private tutor. During this meeting, E will review his memory work (Biblical passages, science, Latin, math, history, art, among others), have a science experiment + art project, & have opportunities to make "presentations" (small speeches) EACH week. He will have a small class of other children his age & I will be with him the whole time. After the session is over, many families stay & enjoy the playground along with a picnic lunch. They also schedule related field trips every month for us to take!
I am looking forward to utilizing Classical Conversations not only for the educational pathway it provides, but for the social support for E & myself. Even though we feel this is the right decision for our son, it doesn't make it easy to feel isolated & different. CC will provide friends for E that are also homeschooled & will provide mama friends for me, too. They have already been so helpful to guide us into curriculum & resources & our school year hasn't even started!!
In addition to the CC portion of our home education, we will be working lots of phonics + reading + writing. E already knows all of the sounds of the alphabet & can write nearly every letter. We are beginning BOB books to help him meld all those sounds into letters forming words. Pretty exciting! We have some Preschool Prep Series DVD + workbook sets for sight words. We are also probably going to be using Phonics Pathways, too.
We will be doing lots of letter recognition worksheets, coloring, writing, drawing, art, & more. We are already planning a trip to the Kennedy Space Center (two of the science subjects focused this year at CC are physics & astronomy... PERFECT for the Kennedy Space Center!) in the next few months. We are planning to start/plant/harvest a garden. We will be adding chickens to our property which E will help care for.
One aspect I am very excited about is E's woodworking classes. My MIL is a master crafts(wo)man & has agreed to teach our little one once a week! He already has his own safety glasses, screwdrivers, hammers, hand-powered-drill, saw, & tape measurer! They will be working on building various projects at her discretion. She said initially they will be working on him sanding the wood pieces down, then sawing & nailing/screwing together. How awesome to be learning these skills at 4 years old!? And, he gets to spend time with his grandmother at the same time!!
For math, we will be concentrating on counting, multiplication/skip counting, clock/time recognition, money counting/recognition, & anything else we find! We will cook to practice math & reading. We will garden to learn math, we will use any opportunity we can to learn math & reading.
We will read a lot together. Most of this year will probably consist of me reading to E, but I'm sure the transition will slowly occur to him reading much of the books. We will get a membership to the much larger county library in the town near us so that we can access as many DVDs, books, & classes as possible.
We have a membership to a local museum that has several animals, an old homestead with buildings, a train caboose, a playground, & weekly homeschool lessons. We hope to attend as many of these classes for homeschoolers as possible (one or two hours per lesson). This a very hands-on museum & has been wonderful to visit. E already has learned the difference between cold-blooded & warm-blooded animals (among other lessons) because of walking around & talking about the animals.
I'm sure I'm forgetting lots, but we have lots of plans. I am a little overwhelmed at some of the tasks I need to finish before starting our CC in September, but I have a Mentor Mom that has been helping me & I think once we are doing it... it'll be easier & flow better. I'm trying to take it day by day & have been working on our homeschool cubbies. I'll plan out lessons & leave room for spontaneity & flexibility. There is also a weekly local homeschool group that meets at a playground each week & has a very active Facebook group. Lots of people to interact with & ask questions to... I hope we can jump right into that community meeting, too!
I plan to be sharing photos & details about our journey. And his little uniform?! Adorable... ;)
Much love to you all! Have a wonderful Tuesday!!
This may not seem to be that big of a deal, but it is.
And I've been so worried about other people knowing because I don't want them to treat our son differently. I think homeschooling has become more mainstream than when we were growing up, but it is still not common. We have been so thrilled to have found such a large, local, community of support!
E will not legally have to be in education until he turns 6 years (entering 1st grade) which will be 2015-2016 school year. But, here in Florida, most kids head to preschool for free (aka VPK) for K4. We had decided to send E to our local Christian school for the VPK portion & then decide from there about further education.
Then we decided to homeschool him for this year. I am still nervous about him learning to read & all jazz, but I am so excited, too! We are looking forward to taking trips as often as possible to provide as much hands-on learning as possible, we are thrilled to have both a flexible AND structured environment for him to learn, we are happy to be able to focus on his strengths & his weaknesses, & so many other aspects.
{I feel as though I need to add some disclaimers here... We made a completely informed, individual, decision. We have thoroughly researched the benefits of homeschooling our child & are more than happy to share those resources with anyone genuinely interested in learning more about it. We aren't saying this will work forever, but for this year... it's the plan! There is no person, governmental entity, or program/school that will ever be as invested or motivated for E to learn all that he has the potential to learn than his father & I. Period. We are very honored to have family & friend support for this journey. Also, I plan to share our homeschooling journey here so that others may be encouraged to make- or not make- the decision to educate their child at home; this will never be a condemnation for those that decide to educate their child in a school setting & comments of the such will be deleted.}
I thought I could share what we are currently planning for this first semester/year; I'm sure it will evolve as we move along!
We are using Classical Conversations as a portion of our experience. If you're not familiar with "CC", you should check it out! CC uses the classical model of education. We will meet every Monday morning for 3 hours of guided education by a private tutor. During this meeting, E will review his memory work (Biblical passages, science, Latin, math, history, art, among others), have a science experiment + art project, & have opportunities to make "presentations" (small speeches) EACH week. He will have a small class of other children his age & I will be with him the whole time. After the session is over, many families stay & enjoy the playground along with a picnic lunch. They also schedule related field trips every month for us to take!
I am looking forward to utilizing Classical Conversations not only for the educational pathway it provides, but for the social support for E & myself. Even though we feel this is the right decision for our son, it doesn't make it easy to feel isolated & different. CC will provide friends for E that are also homeschooled & will provide mama friends for me, too. They have already been so helpful to guide us into curriculum & resources & our school year hasn't even started!!
In addition to the CC portion of our home education, we will be working lots of phonics + reading + writing. E already knows all of the sounds of the alphabet & can write nearly every letter. We are beginning BOB books to help him meld all those sounds into letters forming words. Pretty exciting! We have some Preschool Prep Series DVD + workbook sets for sight words. We are also probably going to be using Phonics Pathways, too.
We will be doing lots of letter recognition worksheets, coloring, writing, drawing, art, & more. We are already planning a trip to the Kennedy Space Center (two of the science subjects focused this year at CC are physics & astronomy... PERFECT for the Kennedy Space Center!) in the next few months. We are planning to start/plant/harvest a garden. We will be adding chickens to our property which E will help care for.
One aspect I am very excited about is E's woodworking classes. My MIL is a master crafts(wo)man & has agreed to teach our little one once a week! He already has his own safety glasses, screwdrivers, hammers, hand-powered-drill, saw, & tape measurer! They will be working on building various projects at her discretion. She said initially they will be working on him sanding the wood pieces down, then sawing & nailing/screwing together. How awesome to be learning these skills at 4 years old!? And, he gets to spend time with his grandmother at the same time!!
For math, we will be concentrating on counting, multiplication/skip counting, clock/time recognition, money counting/recognition, & anything else we find! We will cook to practice math & reading. We will garden to learn math, we will use any opportunity we can to learn math & reading.
We will read a lot together. Most of this year will probably consist of me reading to E, but I'm sure the transition will slowly occur to him reading much of the books. We will get a membership to the much larger county library in the town near us so that we can access as many DVDs, books, & classes as possible.
We have a membership to a local museum that has several animals, an old homestead with buildings, a train caboose, a playground, & weekly homeschool lessons. We hope to attend as many of these classes for homeschoolers as possible (one or two hours per lesson). This a very hands-on museum & has been wonderful to visit. E already has learned the difference between cold-blooded & warm-blooded animals (among other lessons) because of walking around & talking about the animals.
I'm sure I'm forgetting lots, but we have lots of plans. I am a little overwhelmed at some of the tasks I need to finish before starting our CC in September, but I have a Mentor Mom that has been helping me & I think once we are doing it... it'll be easier & flow better. I'm trying to take it day by day & have been working on our homeschool cubbies. I'll plan out lessons & leave room for spontaneity & flexibility. There is also a weekly local homeschool group that meets at a playground each week & has a very active Facebook group. Lots of people to interact with & ask questions to... I hope we can jump right into that community meeting, too!
I plan to be sharing photos & details about our journey. And his little uniform?! Adorable... ;)
Much love to you all! Have a wonderful Tuesday!!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Been a While, Ehh?
Well, obviously it's been a while since I updated. I could describe all of the reasons/excuses why I haven't been updating, but I will just catch ya up on what's been going on.
Firstly, we are in a different stage of "expecting"! This week, our homestudy will be sent to the State for licensure to become foster parents. I'm sure our situation will change over time, but as of right now we are requesting a child under the age of 3. More specifically & initially, an infant under 12mths. We aren't sure exactly where this will lead, but we can no longer deny the calling for us to open our home, our hearts, to a foster child. I could go on & on about how this has developed, but I imagine I will do that later. And I'm sure God will intricately weave an even more beautiful journey than I can imagine.
{Just to hit some high notes... Yes, I'm anxious about having to give the child back up when family reunification occurs. I have to trust that God is bigger than my fears. I have to trust that there is some sort of purpose for the pain my heart has felt from a 7 year struggle with infertility; I feel that God is using the pain & unending heart-ache for His purpose & He will use this in me as a foster mother. For now, that is all!}
Since I was snapping a picture anyways, I thought I'd take a quick couple of the craft room. I was totally thrilled to be able to purchase this craft table from a friend & it is the center of attention in the craft room! :) There is still plenty I plan to add to this room, but it will be a slow moving process. Which is great, cuz it's always fun to add stuff while you find it!
Here's a corner in the craft room... Filled with Operation Christmas Child shoebox goodies! I've been saving some stuff up all year & our small group will be having a packing party this weekend, so I will update with more about that after it! I'm looking forward to filling them all up & getting them to the church.
We are anticipating to be licensed as early as the middle of November! That is a bit earlier than I expected, so I will be packing a last-minute diaper bag with bottles, a bit of formula, & some gender-neutral outfits in various sizes to accommodate any child we may get called to take in.
We definitely would appreciate your prayers & support as we begin this foster parenting journey!
Firstly, we are in a different stage of "expecting"! This week, our homestudy will be sent to the State for licensure to become foster parents. I'm sure our situation will change over time, but as of right now we are requesting a child under the age of 3. More specifically & initially, an infant under 12mths. We aren't sure exactly where this will lead, but we can no longer deny the calling for us to open our home, our hearts, to a foster child. I could go on & on about how this has developed, but I imagine I will do that later. And I'm sure God will intricately weave an even more beautiful journey than I can imagine.
{Just to hit some high notes... Yes, I'm anxious about having to give the child back up when family reunification occurs. I have to trust that God is bigger than my fears. I have to trust that there is some sort of purpose for the pain my heart has felt from a 7 year struggle with infertility; I feel that God is using the pain & unending heart-ache for His purpose & He will use this in me as a foster mother. For now, that is all!}
Since I was snapping a picture anyways, I thought I'd take a quick couple of the craft room. I was totally thrilled to be able to purchase this craft table from a friend & it is the center of attention in the craft room! :) There is still plenty I plan to add to this room, but it will be a slow moving process. Which is great, cuz it's always fun to add stuff while you find it!
Here's a corner in the craft room... Filled with Operation Christmas Child shoebox goodies! I've been saving some stuff up all year & our small group will be having a packing party this weekend, so I will update with more about that after it! I'm looking forward to filling them all up & getting them to the church.
We are anticipating to be licensed as early as the middle of November! That is a bit earlier than I expected, so I will be packing a last-minute diaper bag with bottles, a bit of formula, & some gender-neutral outfits in various sizes to accommodate any child we may get called to take in.
We definitely would appreciate your prayers & support as we begin this foster parenting journey!
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