When Current Events Meet Our Curriculum

Back in June when I was planning our seventh grade curriculum for our oldest learner, I created a reading list to be used over the next 12 months.  One of the books on the list is Inside Out and Back Again, the story of a young Vietnamese refugee escaping the effects of the Vietnam War.  We began reading this free verse poetry novel in July and could not have predicted how much of the plot we would see mirrored in the situation in Afghanistan.  It opened a door to many discussions with our child and she was stunned by the recent images from abroad.  She looked at me and said, "What are we gonna do about it?"

That question sat with me for a short while until I decided to Google Afghan refugees in our city.  Sure enough, I found out that a family of eight was slated to arrive any day.  I contacted the local resettlement agency and asked how we could help. In the end, we decided to provide six baskets of mixed goods, one for each child.  Each basket included a complete bed in a bag, a variety of art supplies, some toys and books, toiletries and towels.  Our nearby cousins contributed a few of these things and our kids created welcome notes.  As I was choosing the items, I remembered how our children had walked out of their respective orphanages with nearly nothing tangible that had constituted their life to that point.  A rattle, a pair of underwear, a jacket with a broken zipper.  So I felt that giving each newly arrived child refugee something they could call their own might provide a tiny comfort in the overwhelming effort to start life in a new country.

After multiple email exchanges with the resettlement agency, they offered a tour of their facility - a field trip opportunity for our home schoolers - and we gladly accepted.  On our tour we met many different employees, several of whom had arrived here as refugees themselves, and between our family and the staff we were an impressively global group born in about a dozen different countries.  We learned that a total of 21 Afghan refugees, three families, were expected in our city for the time being.

If you'd like to help those resettling in your neck of the woods, start here.

Beach Vacation 2021

Just before the start of the school year, we were able to get away to enjoy some time at the beach.  We met up with friends and had ourselves a week of swimming, eating, watching movies, talking, golfing, and general good cheer.  Vacationing with our kids isn't always easy and we're thankful for our brave and true friends who leaned into this adventure with us.

Our home away from home...

A mere 39 steps to the white sand of a small and not at all crowded public beach...

And varying and beautiful vistas all around us...

Fun times...

Two of us even hiked the 5K to the Kindred Spirit Mailbox and back...

And at the end of each day a row of drying towels and swim suits to prove it was a good one...

Home School 21/22

We're already at the start of our second week of home school for the 21/22 school year.  We have six teachers/therapists coming into our home during the week to support our children's academic progress for a combined 43 hours.  From the looks of it so far, we're expecting another great year.

Sadly, our "Miss Honey" is no longer on Emilia's team as she has taken a new position to train school administrators and educators to become as awesome as she is herself.  This news was a big loss for us, but we know a dream come true for Miss Honey.  While Emilia misses her very much, she's quickly adapting to her new intervention specialist who's allowing her to learn in the way she does best.

No Two Are Alike

A college friend of mine recently wrote about her daughter who usually leaves her peers in the dust academically and athletically.  Here's what she said:

"(People) wonder where her strength, her resilience, and her tenacity come from.... they also come from (her) life experiences... Those experiences from her early, formative years are forever threaded into the fabric of her life.  (She) was born a fighter. A survivor. She has faced things that most of her peers never have, or ever will. She had to learn how to roll with the punches, from a very early age.  Though she has no recollection of her first two years of life, they most certainly helped shape her into who she is today.  She is a pillar of strength.  She is an overcomer.  She is an inspiration."

Like our daughter, this child was adopted internationally, two years old at homecoming and born with a congenital anomaly.  The girls are the same age now, growing up in the Midwest in upper middle class families.  But if I had to edit my friend's words to describe my own daughter, they would read more like this:

"(People) wonder where her fragility, her fears, and her hesitation come from.... they also come from (her) life experiences... Those experiences from her early, formative years are forever threaded into the fabric of her life.  (She) was born vulnerable. A barely survivor. She has faced things that most of her peers never have, or ever will. She never learned how to roll well with the hard punches life was dealing her from conception.  Though she has few conscious recollections of the first three years of life, her body has undoubtedly kept the score, which has most certainly shaped her into who she is today.  She's clawing against seemingly insurmountable obstacles that are largely incomprehensible to others.  She has her sights set on overcoming.  She is an inspiration."

Why is one child able to forcefully forge forward and succeed by the traditional definition while another is endlessly treading water against her past closing in?  Perhaps it's (epi)genetics, perhaps it's prenatal care, perhaps disposition and temperament are at play.  Maybe one child received comparatively better care at her respective orphanage or coped more healthily with the traumatic circumstances while the other dissociated.  Maybe one of the girls was able to form safe attachments amid the hardship while the other did not.

There are some answers from science and social studies about why people respond to and recover from adversity and trauma differently.  But these explanations do not make things easier for individuals who are severely affected, even debilitated, by the reverberations of their life experiences.  They don't lighten the load for those who are plodding along a path of daily struggle with someone shouldering complex trauma.  As a mother, all I can do is keep walking in love and acceptance with my daughter, no matter how different she is from her peers, even those whose lives' beginnings were very similar to hers.  

Ten Years Ours

It's been ten years since we walked Rex out of an orphanage and into our family.  I am at a loss for words to adequately describe the experiences and knowledge all of us have gained over the last decade. The feelings sit deep yet loom large; their complexity presses heavily and their intensity can be overwhelming.  We are changed to the core because of this child.  

It's been a journey unlike we could have ever imagined on this road less traveled which leads on.

You are the bows 

from which your children as living arrows are set forth.

The archer seeks the mark upon the path of the infinite,

and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as He loves the arrow that flies, 

so He loves also the bow that is stable.

~ Kahlil Gibran

Keep aiming toward your mark, most beautiful boy.

We love you, love you, love you, love you, love you.

Independence Day 2021

After so many months of keeping family safe by staying apart, we were thrilled to be able to gather together again this past weekend. We enjoyed a birthday party plus fireworks at Craig's sister's house and a pool party at our house, both with grandparents and cousins.

Red White & Blue

Grandparents and grandkids (ages 23 to 11)

Happy Birthday, USA!

Student Of The Week 3

This is our Student of the Week. Today he completed fourth grade.  He's never been a fan of going to traditional school and his progress in that setting was pretty limited, but we sent him for a social experience he himself neither sought nor appreciated and actually, in the big picture, wasn't even receiving.

When the pandemic hit, he became a home schooler and he has never been happier.  He loves working one on one with his teachers and enjoys the flexibility and freedom of truly individualized instruction. It's been such a joy to see his success as well as some interests emerge from academics.  For example, instead of receiving a stack of empty white papers we were told were his art projects at the end of each public school year, we had a student who liked arts and crafts and made many conscious choices while working on such projects.  No longer were we presented with empty canvases, but proudly handed colorful, often geometric-inspired creations instead.  Plus we noticed his creativity blossoming in something akin to found art.   

Being at home most of the time also led to much improved fine motor and self-help skills.  For example, without even practicing, our child began to get his own drinks and snacks, taking care of bathrooming, and picking up after himself and others.  And let's not forget to mention that this amazing boy taught himself (yes, himself through observation, trial and error, and lots of practice) to ride a two wheel bike and to swim since the start of the pandemic.

Here's to the end of fourth grade and to the beginning of what we hope will be a wonderful home school education.