Meditation

In order to curb some of the behaviors the "bug" has been exhibiting, I have decided to start introduce him to yoga and meditation to relax him before bed.

With his cast on, we'll start with some REALLY easy stretching and avoid the broken arm and once he's in his pj's and in bed, we will do a bit of visualization before letting him say his prayers and go to sleep.

"Let's go on an adventure... But instead of rushing up and out the front door, we'll take a journey into our imagination, a beautiful place in our thoughts. Lying on your bed, stretch you legs out to a comfortable position, resting easy like a doll, gently close your eyes. Although you are staying still and lying in your bed, imagine standing up and walking right out your door onto the beach. Feel the sand between your toes and smell the gentle ocean breeze. Hear the waves crashing slowly onto the shore, and the birds gentle chirp in the sky above you... Find a nice comfortable spot on your imagination beach to sit and watch the waves crash, the birds sing and the sand circle you..Now, nice and relaxed, drift to sleep."

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ADHD & Med Free

Once you discover your child may (or has been confirmed) to be afflicted with ADHD, the whirlwind CONTINUES! I would say begins, BUT knowing a child with ADHD, the whirlwind had begun YEARS before the diagnoses.
I am a FIRM believe in our natural world, for hundreds of years people survived the SAME afflictions we have today WITHOUT medication, of course this was either because the medication did not exist or the diagnoses did not. REGARDLESS, we survived!
I do NOT like any medication, I find that our bodies were constructed to fight off, pain, discomfort and to some extent illness. I am not a radical-naturalopathic-hairy-hippie-femisnist-christian-homeschooling mom,, . I do vaccinate my children when necessary, Tylenol them when they are ill, and feed them junk WHEN I want too. I just don't take ANY medications myself, or have them prescribed unnecessarily to my family.
We plan to manage our son's ADHD medication free. And here is the plan....
Give shorter lessons and more of them, which makes it easier for children to stay focused. Focus is so limited at this young age anyway!
Acknowledge even partial success and extend approval generously. We have a marble jar that is WONDERFUL!
Compliment even in mid-assignment to encourage continued focused performance.
Make corrections with a light hand. Instead of “try harder next time,” try – I see how hard you tried. Keep up the effort. It’s really paying off.
Lots of smiling, make eye contact with child, or pat him on the back.
Alert child’s attention with phrases such as “This is important.”
Break down longer directions into simpler chunks.
Allow physically hyperactive children out of their seats for FREQUENT movement.
Compliment a child, publicly, at least once daily, on some organizational or attentional task or effort.
Take a moment or two once or twice daily to speak privately; give a two-second pep talk, mention something positive you happened to notice regarding his work, behavior, self-control, focusing, etc.
I am also planning a somewhat Buddy system for cooperative learning both at and above level.

I will not make excuses for him, but rather encourage him strongly to manage his own behaviors and succeed despite the challenges ahead.

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An Uncommon Decision

Our Story

The decision to homeschool comes about differently for every family. While we knew that our children would never attend public schools, we only toyed with the idea that homeschooling would become a part of our family while our firstborn child, Jonathan, was still an infant.

As a certified teacher, it seemed wrong to us for me to leave him with a sitter in order to go teach (and essentially raise) other people's children. In the short time I was with Jonathan (vacations and snow days and such), he would grow leaps and bounds, but once I returned to work, he would slide backward again. As my hours got longer and my pay did not increase, we decided once my third year within the school system was complete, I was done.

As soon as my first official stay-at-home-mom day came, it was clear that Jonathan was/is brilliant. His language exploded and became quite precise.
As a certified teacher, I had access to the state assessment tests and began testing Jonathan at age two. He tested into kindergarten at 2 1/2 years old and out of kindergarten before age 3. I began to explore our options for schooling in the private sector, but was quickly turned away soly based on his age. Frustrated with the thought of him being completely bored and thus misbehaving after roughly three-years of review, we made an uncommon decision.

Now, we firmly committed to homeschooling each of our children. I teach on a year-to-year basis, never committing to more than one year at a time. Of course, I cannot foresee any reason why any of our children would rejoin the public schools but we'd like to see them enter the private or Montessori sector in the not-so-distant future.

The decision was stressful, the community/extended family back-lash harsh and financially a strain.


My husband and I, just about a year before we were married.

Our little "Bug", Jonathan (Jack), the true adventurer - hands-on eager to learn mentality. A true first born.

Our little "Beana", Katrina (Trina), the constantly moving, girly-girl with no fear, eager to do anything her brother is doing. So easy-going you'd think she was a middle child (no one tell my husband 'wink').


If at any time you have questions, please feel free to contact me.

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