Reunited with My Blog!
Posted by Candace
So hello, blog, it's been a while! I have missed you... I've just been, well, kinda busy.
As you all well know (from my 50,000 Facebook posts...and if you're not on Facebook you might not "well know"), Katherine Hope had an accident six and a half weeks ago and broke her upper femur. The break was right below the place that her leg had been broken in China and healed incorrectly. Thankfully she had a Mommy and Daddy for this break and when it was xrayed yesterday, the doctor was super pleased with how well it had healed.
YES! Yesterday she finally had the cast that covered her entire left leg and most of her stomach and chest removed! I cannot even tell you how excited I was. Just the thought that soon she would be sitting in an upright position made my heart leap for joy. You don't realize how incredibly God created the human body to work together until one of the parts is not working right. In our case, we endured six weeks of a two year old who could only lay or lean. Needless to say, it was a long six weeks and yesterday was worth celebrating.
The doctor's assistant used a cast saw to cut the cast off and we were able to video the entire thing! Kate was not happy when she saw the saw and heard the noise it made, but despite the loud protests, she shed no tears. When it was finally cut away and removed, she just stared at her leg for the longest time. We had forgotten that it was still there :). She lost 15 lbs instantly and today when I weighed her, I realized that she has gained NO weight. She is the same size she was 6 weeks ago and still barely filling out 18 month clothes. She is a tiny, tiny girl. I just love miniature things, don't you? ;)
Not only did Kate need extra attention these last few weeks, but so did the boys. Let me just say, teaching is NO JOKE! And I am extremely grateful, now more than ever, for every invested teacher I have ever had. By invested, I mean teachers who put their whole heart into their job because they care about their students and their futures. Teachers who spend long hours planning and replanning until they know that their students will be able to grasp the concepts. Teachers whose hearts sink when their students turn in work that could obviously have been better. I have become one of those teachers...teaching 2 different grades my first year, no less.
I am learning a lot about education. It is not necessarily measured by grades or questions answered correctly. Sometimes it is measured by mistakes and the correcting of those mistakes. It is not necessarily the information that you are teaching that matters most. Sometimes it is simply the skills of listening, repeating, understanding, and obeying that will be used later in life. It is not necessarily the love of the current concept that we are learning about that is most important. Rather, sometimes the crucial thing is the love of learning and the willingness to stay positive through the difficulties and challenges.
I have realized that no matter what curriculum I am using and no matter what fact we are currently memorizing, I am teaching my children so much more than book smarts. They are learning how to face a challenge head on, how to adjust to all things not ideal, how to be flexible and open to change, how to maintain relationships in close quarters day after day after day, and how to be responsible and self motivated. They are also teaching me. They are teaching me how to share knowledge and information, how to be patient when concepts are not being understood, how to manage my time wisely, how to take definite breaks, how use the smallest of life's moments as a lesson, and how to give myself credit for the tiniest advances in my abilities as a mom and instructor.
When God called me to homeschool, I was sure that it would be no big deal. After all, I was getting a video curriculum that would teach my children for me...all I would have to do is babysit them. Now I realize that God tricked me into this ;). The videos did not work for my two boys with focus issues and a 2 year old little sister. It was quite clear after a couple of weeks, that if I wanted them to learn anything this year, I would need to do it myself. So here I am teaching and learning right along with my children, and loving every second of it (Okay, so maybe "every second" of it is a stretch...there is still math time after all). I was called to this and for this and who knows how many years I will attempt it, but I am so grateful for the privilege right now of being the greatest influence, mentor, and teacher of all my children.
In other news, well, I can't give the other news yet...and it's probably a good thing because this post has become long-winded already, but there is other news.... STAY TUNED :)!
As you all well know (from my 50,000 Facebook posts...and if you're not on Facebook you might not "well know"), Katherine Hope had an accident six and a half weeks ago and broke her upper femur. The break was right below the place that her leg had been broken in China and healed incorrectly. Thankfully she had a Mommy and Daddy for this break and when it was xrayed yesterday, the doctor was super pleased with how well it had healed.
YES! Yesterday she finally had the cast that covered her entire left leg and most of her stomach and chest removed! I cannot even tell you how excited I was. Just the thought that soon she would be sitting in an upright position made my heart leap for joy. You don't realize how incredibly God created the human body to work together until one of the parts is not working right. In our case, we endured six weeks of a two year old who could only lay or lean. Needless to say, it was a long six weeks and yesterday was worth celebrating.
The doctor's assistant used a cast saw to cut the cast off and we were able to video the entire thing! Kate was not happy when she saw the saw and heard the noise it made, but despite the loud protests, she shed no tears. When it was finally cut away and removed, she just stared at her leg for the longest time. We had forgotten that it was still there :). She lost 15 lbs instantly and today when I weighed her, I realized that she has gained NO weight. She is the same size she was 6 weeks ago and still barely filling out 18 month clothes. She is a tiny, tiny girl. I just love miniature things, don't you? ;)
Not only did Kate need extra attention these last few weeks, but so did the boys. Let me just say, teaching is NO JOKE! And I am extremely grateful, now more than ever, for every invested teacher I have ever had. By invested, I mean teachers who put their whole heart into their job because they care about their students and their futures. Teachers who spend long hours planning and replanning until they know that their students will be able to grasp the concepts. Teachers whose hearts sink when their students turn in work that could obviously have been better. I have become one of those teachers...teaching 2 different grades my first year, no less.
I am learning a lot about education. It is not necessarily measured by grades or questions answered correctly. Sometimes it is measured by mistakes and the correcting of those mistakes. It is not necessarily the information that you are teaching that matters most. Sometimes it is simply the skills of listening, repeating, understanding, and obeying that will be used later in life. It is not necessarily the love of the current concept that we are learning about that is most important. Rather, sometimes the crucial thing is the love of learning and the willingness to stay positive through the difficulties and challenges.
I have realized that no matter what curriculum I am using and no matter what fact we are currently memorizing, I am teaching my children so much more than book smarts. They are learning how to face a challenge head on, how to adjust to all things not ideal, how to be flexible and open to change, how to maintain relationships in close quarters day after day after day, and how to be responsible and self motivated. They are also teaching me. They are teaching me how to share knowledge and information, how to be patient when concepts are not being understood, how to manage my time wisely, how to take definite breaks, how use the smallest of life's moments as a lesson, and how to give myself credit for the tiniest advances in my abilities as a mom and instructor.
When God called me to homeschool, I was sure that it would be no big deal. After all, I was getting a video curriculum that would teach my children for me...all I would have to do is babysit them. Now I realize that God tricked me into this ;). The videos did not work for my two boys with focus issues and a 2 year old little sister. It was quite clear after a couple of weeks, that if I wanted them to learn anything this year, I would need to do it myself. So here I am teaching and learning right along with my children, and loving every second of it (Okay, so maybe "every second" of it is a stretch...there is still math time after all). I was called to this and for this and who knows how many years I will attempt it, but I am so grateful for the privilege right now of being the greatest influence, mentor, and teacher of all my children.
In other news, well, I can't give the other news yet...and it's probably a good thing because this post has become long-winded already, but there is other news.... STAY TUNED :)!
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