Adding a Student

A new Adventure!

My Dbd was in need of staying on schedule and graduating on time next May.

She, along with her mother, came to me to see if I would be able to help her do so.

So after discussions, we three decided to set Dbd up. We took her transcript from public school, verified what she would need to graduate on the level *she* wants to, acquired her a planner (from: http://www.aplaninplace.net/ ), started pulling resources from my files and online (see additional information later in the post), and set a date for her to 'officially' start as well as goal markers and check in times.

She will be my first student that is not in my care 24 hours a day. She will be the first I write a full transcript for. In many ways, I feel it fitting. Her title is Dbd because she was my child well before I ever had children. Her graduating from our RoadSchool feels right. Like she has continued to blaze the path in our families.

She was in need of finishing the second half of 11th grade and all of 12th grade. 

Her focus between this May and the end of September will be on American Sign Language (ASL, foreign language), English III 2nd semester, Algebra II 2nd semester, Physics 2nd semester, World History after WWI (1 semester), and Theater (1 semester).

For this she will be what she is using the next 12-18 months:
ASL: http://www.start-american-sign-language.com/

    Dbd has .5 credits already in this language. She is going to refresh with ASL I (for .5 credits); then     ASL II and ASL III will serve as the remaining 2 credits for graduation.

English III: (.5 credits) Parts of AO Year 11 (trying to match it up with what she has already learned

     and not create too much of a jump); http://amblesideonline.org/11bks.shtml
     Reading Shakespeare plays, A list of Literature, Working through WriteShop

     II http://writeshop.com/product/writeshop-ii-student-workbook/ (this is for 11th & 12 grade. so it

     will be divided into thirds so that it is accomplished.

Algebra II: (.5 credits) Life of Fred's Advanced Algebra Expanded Edition & Zillions of Practice

     Problems http://lifeoffredmath.com/lof-aalgebra.php 

Physics: (.5 credits) She is going to read Joy Hakim's Einstein Adds a New Dimension as well as

     Ck12's Physics Textbooks (Still figuring out which one will be the best fit of what she already

     knows.) http://www.ck12.org/physics/ 

History after WWI: Pulling from AO's reading lists, having the focus be on first hand historical accounts of

     that time period. 
Theater: (.5 credits) She is going to combined Shakespeare from English with Theater and write a

     few comparisons between the types of plays. 

Excited and nervous!

Birthing Day Anniversary My Second Child

My oldest son is 12. Over a decade upon this planet. I have tried very hard to guide him, to teach him, to carry him when he cannot walk on his own... because I am his mother, and this is what mother's do. The memories of his birth are jumbled and sometimes I feel like they get lost in translation.

On a cold morning in May I kissed my daughter, Victoria, on her forehead. I made sure she was settled with our friends.

I felt sick to my stomach.

Joe and I checked in at Bayshore Hospital in Pasadena, TX at 5 am. I ticked all the little boxes. I cried a few times. I argued with a nurse or three. We went to our assigned room.

I still wanted to follow my birth plan. I wanted to move around. I was induced. The pain was like fire n my veins. The contractions just kept coming; no relief. I would scream and get told to hush. The details get fuzzy and then clear, and are almost all painful. I was uncomfortable. I was irritated.  There were moments that I thought I might die, and truthfully, who doesn't feel that way when bringing forth life?!

However, in the end, my son was born.

My Son was born at 12:44pm. He was red, and beautiful. His lungs were strong. He had fight. He kicked. He was life itself. Bright and shinny.

I demanded he be handed to me. I had to repeat myself several times. They finally gave him to me. I unwrapped him, placing his skin next to mine. He nursed like a champ.
For a whole year, I swear he smelled just like Parmesan cheese, no matter how many times I bathed him!

My son is 12 years old.
He has bright eyes.
He has beautiful long lashes, that are going to make many many people fall.
He looks over his glasses.
He has a dimple in his chin.
He asks questions that are sometimes hard to answer.
He established his own relationships.
He cares for his family.
He likes playing Magic.
He reads, everything.
He has trouble controlling his temper. (We are all working on that one.)

Today is his birthday. Today, he is wearing a button down shirt. Today his hair is wild. Today he is 12.

Birthing Day Anniversary

Breaking with Tradition, I am going to discuss my third born child first; because today he is 10. Double digits!

On my birthing days, I often feel a rush of what occurred; how each child made their own special entrance into this world. I think about what I have given them, what I still have to give, how much they grow in such a very short time. I worry. I think of the future. I sit in their dark rooms, listening to them breath and think "How lucky am I?!"

Today is Theodore James' birthday. He is 10.

10!?

Theodore was "due" on April 26th. I nested like an insane woman. I washed, folded, arranged, fretted... I was so very ready! Then.... April 26th came..... and went...... and no Theodore.

I finally gave up. I figured, he would come out when he was good and ready, and no sense in forcing him.
May the 7th, I ran a long list of errand, in preparation for Dominick's birthday. That night, after Victoria and Dominick had been bathed and were in their beds, I baked a cake. I was in my mother's home, downstairs... watching Law & Order: SVU. I had a contraction that made me burst into tears. I couldn't even breath. I had a few more during a commercial break. I called my mom, telling her I thought this was it; the real deal.

Joe was at work. My mom called a neighbor to stay with the older children. She called Joe and told him to hurry up. Then she and I got into my van and drove to Chapel Hill from Wake Forest (North Carolina). To the most amazing birthing center. :) The nurse midwives were helpful, loving, genital.

Joe drove like a crazy person, and I had not given birth yet. He smelled like cigarette smoke so badly I told him to take his shirt off. He had to strip down to almost nothing before the smell dissipated.

Theodore James was born just after Midnight, May 8th. Joe and I joked that, had we been in Texas, his birthday would be May 7th. That then Dominick and he wouldn't have to share the day.
Theodore was BIG!! Almost 9 lbs. he had dark hair and fat baby cheeks. My mother left shortly after the birth.
Joe and I curled up with our beautiful baby boy and passed out.

After getting some sleep and being cleared by the nurse midwives, I drove us home. I felt strong, solid and amazing. It was powerful. In few other things have I felt as accomplished.
Theodore nursed like there was no tomorrow.

We made it back to my mother's home and frosted Dominick's cake. We gave him a toy truck; from his new little brother. Explaining that he was born on his birthday. Dominick, the sweet child he is, claps his hands and says thank you. *tears
Now, they bicker as siblings do. They yell, they scream, they fight. However, when the dust has settled, you know they are there for each other.

My Teddy Bear is 10 years old.
I want to connect his freckles.
I love his shaggy brown hair.
His eyes, are like little pools of blue.
He gets quite.
He seems so strong and fragile all at the same time.
He wants to grow up to be a teacher.
He loves traveling.
He loves being roadschooled.
He says he channels dog's. And true to that, no dog he has met, has not been his friend.

My son was born today.