Saturday, July 25, 2020

5 Year Journal Day 67

     Today's prompt is "It's not a good idea to experiment with ____" My first reaction is to say illegal drugs. Nothing but trouble can come from it.

     Today was a good day! It is now 2:30am here. It is nice and cool in my house, very comfortable. I took a really good shower yesterday. We went to Walmart and bought our groceries with the EBT card! I bought a cart full of groceries for $150, that's a good deal for us. Sometimes it's closer to $300. I bought some canned foods for hurricane season. I feel I am well prepared in case we don't have electricity for more than a week. I still need lots of water though. That and some flashlights and batteries, and a way to charge our phones.
     I wore my hair natural yesterday, just shampoo and conditioner, no styling products. It dried in such a way that I had a single curl in the middle of my forehead! LOL
     I have to find a way to pay for the electrician to put in a permanent solution to our window unit. I am looking at my budget and I am not finding a way this month or next month. It is just going to have to wait.
     Bella didn't even follow me out of the room this morning, like she normally does. She must be really comfortable on the bed. Caleb is asleep. Sponge Bob is on the tv in the living room.
     My Aunt Lisa and I discussed about how I am going to manage homeschooling Caleb. I don't have all the answers. I just know it is the best option for us, and I have to make it work. I have faith that Caleb and I will be able to find a way to make it work. I don't know why I am so optimistic, but I am.
     Caleb and I will make a code of conduct and rules to follow if he fails to live up to the code conduct. We are going to work a free form, fluid schedule that incorporates our basic living needs and appointments. We will take days off when I am not feeling well enough to teach. We will take days days off when he is not feeling well enough to learn. We will work weekends if we have to. We will not wake up early and we will not stay up late. We will not sit in one place for hours at a time. We will incorporate learning from the tv, the internet, books, and from my personal experiences. We will take breaks, and eat when we are hungry, and drink when we are thirsty. We will go to the bathroom when we need to. We will socialize with others daily. We will exercise in some form daily.
     We will work from where Caleb is right now, not from the 6th grade placement forced upon him. We will start with the workbooks I have collected over the years and refresh his memory of the basics in math and English- his weak points. We will spend a lot of time reading and writing from the books I have collected over the years. They are mostly National Geographic books for kids. I highly value the information included in them, and bought them on subjects I knew would interest Caleb. I will use all the resources available to me. When I run out, I will go to the library to collect more resources. I will find out how to access the library online as well. I will join homeschool groups and get more ideas as we go along. I think this is a long term solution, and not just because of the Covid-19, but because his school system has failed to educate him on his level, at his pace.
     Caleb is very talkative, so I will use to that to our advantage to discuss everything we are trying to learn. He will not have to be quiet all day long. He will not have to wear gloves all day. He will not have to wear a mask all day long. He will not have to sit all day long. Even though he should be in middle school this year, he will continue to have a recess period in homeschool. He will learn to cook as a part of food science. He will learn to wash dishes and wash laundry as a part of home economics. He will learn to budget his money, and count money. He will learn to care for an animal (Bella) in animal science. He will conduct experiments and build things in science. He will learn to divide and learn fractions by cutting food and eating it. How much did you eat? How much is left?  He will care for plants and learn to follow the care instructions. He will learn some military history and training. He will learn the importance of strength training and cardio, diet, and exercise. He will learn of diseases common today. He will continue to learn personal hygiene and the importance of personal space and cleanliness. We will spend time reading the blog2print books I have printed so far, and he will be able to process his own history and family history. We will learn photography, and I would like him to get involved in coding. This is just the stuff off the top of my head. Growing up means knowing how to care for yourself and keep yourself safe. We can discuss current events and he can write how it makes him feel.
     I am not afraid to tune in to his needs and assist him where he is. I think going to school was stressful for him to begin with, because he didn't understand because he was so far behind. His school administrators kept pushing him in to the next grade level even when he had not mastered the grade he was in. He has been behind since first or second grade and never caught up.
     Will it test my patience? Absolutely. Will it test his emotional control? Yep. Will we both emerge better off for it? You bet!
     I think that overall it better for both our health and well being to stay at home and learn what we can with what we've got access to. I already learn on my own from  home and set an example. He just has to follow my lead.
     I put a blanket of love over my household, family and friends. I secure our wellness in the light of the universe. I access the energy of the Earth and heal our traumas to be able to move forward in our learning. I open our minds to possibilities as those were in our forefathers who were able to predict the great secrets of the stars.

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