Since I love my loyal readers, I will spare you all I learned about bladders, kidneys and ureters on our visit to Madeline's urologist yesterday. I'll just leave it at this: Swollen kidneys; agressive, but not to aggressive, dealing with it; Ditropan t.i.d. (bladder relaxant three times a day); cath 4 x day (we were doing three); UTI not gone; new antibiotic t.i.d.
So anyway, I was just writing Maddy's new schedule--here's today's:
8:30 cath
9:15 all meds (now 4, plus she has a fever, so Advil too)
9:15 feeding pump (first feed, I mix everything up, get a new bag, etc, so it takes a bit longer).
12:15 feeding pump
1:30 cath
3:15 two meds
3:15 feed
6:15 feed
6:45 cath
9:15 all meds
9:15 feed
12:00 feed/cath.
On Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday she has therapies, and I need to incorporate a little therapy every day on my own. We rarely get through a week without at least one doctor appointment. She was just approved to add Speech therapy. We've been approved to feed baby food and drink from a nosey cup. She sometimes is on a breathing treatment schedule.
So this is an SOS to anyone who homeschools and/or has a child with special needs. I need ideas on putting together my days, especially when we start homeschooling in a week or two. I am doing Abeka with Carli, and it shouldn't take all day, but I would like to add some structured/creative activities for Olivia too. I can start Maddy's schedule a little earlier so that I'm not trying to do breakfast, start homeschool and do all the beginning of the day stuff with Maddy.
I'm super excited to get started, but if anybody has any ideas for me to organize my days, including morning routines, I'd appreciate it! I love structure, but this is stretching my brain a bit. I know it's not more than most of you deal with--babies just take work, toddlers need entertained during homeschool. But it's all new to me! Help!
3 comments:
You do not know me but I knew your parents when I was a kid. I do not have any special needs kids but I do home school our 4 kids and have a foster baby. Have you heard about Sue Patricks workbox system. It is a nice way for kids do work on their own more. You set it up the night before and they can work through their day. If you do a google search you can find alot of blogs and forums about them. Hope this helps.
I'm Sumana's mom. She, too, has spina bifida and is getting the VEPTR surgery next week. We've homeschooled for 13 years, often with foster babies and the last 5 years with Sumana. It looks like you already have a routine with Mady. I'd encourage you to continue that with your homeschool. For us, a schedule keeps us on track; without it we really flounder! 'In the Hands of a Child' has some neat ideas, as does 'My Father's World'. We also have done well with Lauri 'toys' and Legos/ Duplos to keep the younger ones busy. Reading out loud is a great way to include all ages of kids (and it helps train the little ones to sit for a bit!!) Good luck!! :-)
Pam, The schedule you already have can be worked with your homeschool. The recommendations of Lauri toys is excellent. That's what Daniel works with while I work with Allan. A Beka has a reputation for taking a lot of time (particularly if you're doing the DVD program) but remember, you don't have to do everything they recommend. My Father's world has a whole set of both toddler and preschool Lauri toys. I found mine on ebay for much cheaper (just took longer) and Lauri replaces all lost pieces for free! That was the selling point for me :o) Blessings! It is a busy life but you just pair it down to the necessities and add frills when time and energy allow.
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