Autumn seems short and I realized that as of Saturday we have 10 weeks left in 2011! That is the official point where Mason is no longer considered preterm. Our current goal is staying pregnant at least until then. I go next week for another Level 2 ultrasound to check his growth. Hopefully we’ll see no signs of hydrocephalus yet,(fluid backing up in the brain), which is the one big thing that would push us into an early delivery.
All of these realizations have also pushed to the front of my mind the fact that I need to evaluate where we’re at in homeschool and where we hope to be at the end of these 10 weeks. Once Mason is here school will be on hold indefinitely. We just don’t know how long his hospital stay will be, if there will be complications, and how long it will take to adjust to having a seventh child (who happens to have special needs).
One of the blessings of homeschooling is the flexible schedule, which we plan to take full advantage of. Our year doesn’t always end June 1st and begin September 1st. As a matter of fact, most years is doesn’t. I am trying to decide what ‘learning things’ I can prepare ahead so that school becomes grab and go once we’re home and settled with Mason, but I can’t really decide all that until I know where we’ll be in 10 weeks with current academics.
So what am I doing to figure that out?
1. Praying – That’s right, my #1 tool right now is prayer. I’m seeking the Lord’s guidance in where we need to focus our efforts for the next 10 weeks, what goals to reach for. I know that if I set my own goals we’re bound to fail. God’s plan is always the one that works best.
2. Evaluating where we’re at in current curricula – How many lessons into math books are we? Have we mastered that material? How are my beginning readers doing? What is the next step on that path? You get the idea….
3. Making the most of our time – As the answers to prayer begin to come line upon line I’m acting on them, instead of waiting around to have the whole picture laid out first. This is one of the harder things for me to do. I like to know the plan in full before I step out on a path. I don’t like uncertainty, surprises, or partial explanations. Yet God seems to delight in giving me directions without explanations, sometimes at the oddest moments, when I’m not actively thinking about homeschool or goals.
Can you believe there are only 10 weeks left in the year?
3 comments:
Our baby's due December 25th (#8) so, yes, I can believe it... I've been counting the weeks and days for some time already :-)
Our third child was born with trouble at birth... quite the heart defect, and he had 3 open-heart surgeries in his first couple of years to get to something that was going to work for the long-term. Unlike you, we had no warning... no ultrasound in that pregnancy to prepare us for the news. I've always considered that a blessing... waiting for the uncertainties you are dealing with doesn't sound easy.
Well, in those first few weeks I hung onto the scripture that reminds us that God doesn't allow trials that are more than we can bear, and truly He is faithful with His promises because it was never unbearable. We managed just fine. It just becomes the new reality and you just live with it and even an unhealthy baby, you will realize too, is such a wonderful blessing in your life.
Don't worry about home schooling either. My eldest is 18 now and she is doing her final year in public school (to get some lab experience in her science credits... she wants to be a paramedic) and she is doing just FANTASTIC... all the teachers are all so pleased with her. (btw, she learned to read when she was 8). So I have to tell you, we had quite a few times throughout the years where the home schooling was really hit-and-miss, sometimes for months and months on end. Often they were just doing math, reading books, read-alouds from historical fiction (aka bedtime stories and in no particular order at all) and easy to do stuff like penmanship or a grammar workbook page. These things take very little planning and very little teacher time, and they've done just fine apparently. Don't stress about it at all, okay? This disruption to your home schooling won't be a problem at all.
I hope you make it to around your due date (although secretly we all wish they'd come just a little early, huh?!) I'll be praying for you and your family.
Christine
(Ontario, Canada)
You are so calm and so good. I hope Mason makes it to January for you. I will keep you in my prayers.
Tristan, I think you are going to be just fine! You are so well organized and have such a solid faith in God. The Bible says He is our fortress and we shall never be shaken, and I believe your family will deal very well with what lies ahead with Mason's arrival. Christine's comment was so wonderfully encouraging (even to me personally!) and I hope it helps you to have that wisdom at this time! Praying for you, the family, and the littlest one!
Post a Comment