Mercy Every Minute

Burn Out, Informative, Parenting, Special Needs

 

Written by Deborah Wuehler, The Old Schoolhouse Senior Editor
www.TOSMagazine.com

 

We have written an abundance of articles about special learners over the years, through The Homeschool Minute™ email, and through The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine. Here is just one article of many titled, “Ten Reasons to Homeschool Your Child With Special Needs.”

Rather than talking about these special, struggling, and different learners, I want to talk about their special, struggling, and different teachers. I have found in teaching my special learners, that I need special grace. Some days I struggle more than they do. Some days I am overwhelmed with feelings of inadequacy for the task–to the point that my inadequacies seem even larger than theirs. I struggle with having to meet so many different needs and feel that maybe my needs and theirs are just not being met. I believe that someone else could certainly do a better job teaching these children. I think that perhaps I wasn’t cut out for this special job after all.

What helps me keep these discouraging thoughts at bay and answer these questions is to ask a few more. (more…)

READ MORE

How Do I Do Science Labs at Home?

Burn Out, Classroom Help, Informative, Just For Fun, Projects

Written by Gena Suarez, Publisher of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine
www.TOSmagazine.com

Hey Mama,

For our homeschool, the kitchen is usually our science “lab.”  After all, cooking is basically a series of chemical reactions. Plus the kitchen is usually the best room in the house for experiments and the messes that go with them. Here are some articles with ideas for your budding scientists, “Kitchen Lab: Edible Experiments and Other Mad Scientist Recipes” or “Ultra-Cool Science Experiments to Mystify Your Kids.”  If you’re looking for something less messy, Andy Harris tells how to build a virtual science lab with free resources in his article “Build a Virtual Science Lab With PhET.

Now here’s a quick message, I want to share with you. It’s ironic. I don’t know; I just found it funny and had to tell you.

You know how you have been kinda down on yourself about certain things lately? You look at your friends (and then in the mirror) and feel inferior. They can homeschool better, you say. They have a cleaner home, you lament. But guess what? You are going to crack up when you hear this . . . .

Just as you are looking to them as some sort of model or something, they are looking at YOU because they feel the same way–only in different areas. (more…)

READ MORE

Good Job, Mama

Burn Out, Just For Fun, Parenting, Preparing for College, Preschoolers, Single Parents, Special Needs

Taken from http://www.itakejoy.com/good-job-mama/?utm_content=buffer5a1b9&utm_source=buffer&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=Buffer

 

 by 

 

Pregnant Mama with little boy

I watched my kids weave through the pumpkins, enjoying the sun on my face and the brisk autumn air. From the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a mama, belly ready to burst, buying pumpkins with her little one. He was near 3 years old and a cute little button of energy. I observed as she maneuvered around pumpkins with her pumpkin-sized belly, hand holding her sweet, lively boy.

He asked for something, she told him no, and two seconds later he was on the ground flailing in the dirt, letting her know *exactly* what he thought.

I saw the exasperated look in her face, the desperation, the exhaustion, the overwhelmed feelings sweep over her.

And, quick as that, the Lord whispered to me, “Joy, go over there and put your hand on her shoulder. Whisper to her, tell her she is a great mom, encourage her heart right now.”

My immediate response came just a fast, “Lord, she and everyone else here will think I’m nuts! This is America! You don’t just walk over to someone stranger and put your hand on their shoulder!” (more…)

READ MORE