Teaching the Challenging Child

(This article first appeared in The Canadian Homeschool Minute July 5, 2017)  

Have you ever had to deal with that kid who no matter what you do seems to just balk at everything? Have you both ended up in tears because you just can’t seem to connect? You talk and everything you say seems to go in one ear and out the other? When you are trying the tenth curriculum this year trying to find the one thing to spark this kids interest in learning? Well I sure have! In fact I seem to be faced with this problem every couple of years. Just when I think I have found just the right curriculum mix so I can sit back and coast, my little angel will show signs of boredom or start struggling with the material.

I always find the answer eventually. The pathway to the answer is always the same. I have to give it up. Not give up on my child and not give up on homeschooling. Give up my struggling heart to my Father in Heaven. Search the Scriptures and humble my self in prayer. When I lay it in His hands the answer we need will come. Many times the problem turned out to be something entirely different than I had expected. The only consistent thing has been how startlingly different the answer has been each time! And different for each child. For one child the problem was sensory issues with her clothes. She simply couldn’t focus on anything because the seams in her pants and the terry in her socks drove her to distraction. Another time the problem for my son was his energy levels made it necessary for him to move while he composed any essays or creative writing assignments. The answer was to have someone act as scribe for him as he walked around the room. My second daughter needed more time at home. She was overwhelmed with “extracurricular” activities. As I have gone through this process many times now I spend less time struggling on my own and more time praying for guidance for my children and asking God what His will is for each of them and our family.

Broken vehicle adventures are coming to an end!! I Hope.

A couple days after Boxing Day I went out to start my van and the weirdest thing happened.  I turned the key and it clicked and honked!  I tried it a few more times until it started acting Really strange.  Lights flashing and wipers going…. Even the wiper on the back window that hasn’t worked for over a year!

WHAT?!?

First stop was google.  No luck. 

Next I called the mechanic who fixed the leaky power steering and coolant fountain.  He said it sounded like maybe the cold snap had killed the battery and knocked out the security system computer. 

His suggestion was to try and get it to re-learn my key.  Apparently you get in and shut the door, then turn the key to start and let it fall back to accessory and just sit there for 8 to 10 minutes. 

Well all that accomplished was to Completely drain the battery!   

The next day I tried calling CAA.  It was right in the middle of the cold snap so it was almost an hour wait.  

And…

It didn’t help.

The guy got his battery booster all hooked up and we turned the key.

And it clicked and honked…. but would not start.

Sigh

Next day I went out and picked up a battery charger and hooked it up.  I left it on there for about 10 hours!  It charged! Yay!

But

I moved the van on to the lawn because someone actually came to buy Daynen’s spare trailer… and then we had another cold snap.

Poof! the battery is dead again…. Completely dead… The charger won’t even recognise it is attached to a battery at all.  Nothing!

After a couple weeks sharing the 2003 Cavalier mission car with B, my darling parents took pity on me and helped me purchase a new vehicle.

Lucky for me the Toronto Mission just happened to have the Mission President’s SUV for sale!

I’ll tell yo

 

College tour

July 20, Perth

Went with D tour Algonquin college Perth campus.

D has wanted to take the Heritage Carpentry program for a couple of years now. In fact, this program is the reason he is even considering attending college.

The people we met were very nice. They answered all our questions. D even got a free tshirt!

After the tour we spent some time walking around Perth. It is a very pretty town.

Wilderness Camp. Family style: part 2

This trip was truly about spending time together as a family.

K was the first one up each morning, naturally.   He gathered kindling and lit the fire with his tinder kit. To get it going for breakfast.

Burgers and Corn for dinner.

D and B planned the wilderness camp very well.  They chose the site and packed all the bedding and tent. They planned and organized all the meals.  They did a fabulous job!

Our home for four days

 

 

We quickly got into a daily rhythm;

We would have oatmeal and tea for breakfast.

Then we would all tend the fire and work at preparing meals.

Everything was cooked over the fire.

 

 

 

 

D spent the morning of the first day building a tripod to put over the fire so we could hang the kettle and the cook pot over the stove.

Then he worked on carving us a flipper for the burgers and a ladle for the soup out of nice hardwood.

 

The tripod has a really practical double hook affair that could be raised or lowered to control the amount of heat for cooking.

 

 

While we were cooking or carving or tending the fire B was reading to us from a Neil Gaiman novel.  It was quite nice. Even when she needed to pause for a few seconds to rework the story a bit to make it appropriate to read to her little brother.

            

Even the puppy lay down to listen,

Wilderness camping ⛺️ family style

What an adventure 😀

Wednesday June 21 to Sunday June 25. 

Halliburton highlands water trails park 

By time we all met up at the parking lot next to the boat launch it was getting dark.  

And

VERY, VERY buggy. Tons of mosquitos. Yuck. 😜

K and I had stopped at the grocery store for snacks but B and D had planned all the meals.  First the canoe came off the van. Then we had to quickly go through everything while under attack from the swarms. 

So we all piled in the canoe and headed towards the campsite. 

Out on the water was very beautiful.  The water was completely smooth.  All along the lake the shore was reflected in the water perfectly.  I wish I could’ve taken pictures to share with you how absolutely stunning it was. 

It looked very much like this;

http://www.eastshorervpark.com/home

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/ocala/recarea/?recid=40233


I think we learned going to a campsite we had never been to before in the dark was not the best plan… 

Maybe it was the stunningly beautiful scenery or maybe we were just tired, but We took a couple detours before we found our site. 

Once we found the right area D landed us at the right campsite the first time.  Because he is just that good. 👍🏻

B and I were left at the campsite with the tent, two chairs, K’s survival kit and the dog. While the boys went back to the car for another load of gear. 

In the dark. Oh yeah. We did have a couple hand flashlights to get the tent set up. 

Next we had to scrounge around in the dark looking for kindling and wood to light a fire.  At ’tis point we realized we had no matches or lighters.  Just K’s tinder kit….

It took a bit but we eventually got it going. 

Our signal fire.


We had to keep getting dried pine needles and small twigs to keep it going until 1:30 when the boys finally got back to us with the bedding and the rest of the camping gear.  

Apparently finding the boat launch went as well as finding the campsite. They paddled along the shoreline until they found it. 🛶🗺

D found some more wood and we had some oatmeal and went to bed. 

So tired. 

K and Mom back at Camp

Here we are at Kinark outdoor Center, again!  This is the second time for me and the third time go K this season already!!  Last month we were here with our friends from our Northumberland Family Autism network group and our ABA group. KOC is a great facility with nice staff and lots of fun activities 

K was excited to see we are in the cabin next door to the one we were in last visit and we were both surprised to see our name nest to the door!

This is the inside set up with the beds made 😉

K’s bed

Homeschool Track and Field day

Monday this week K competed in his very first track and field Meet!

Hosted and organized by OCHEC, there were homeschooled kids from all over Ontario.

I had pretty much never been to an event like this before and really had no idea what he was doing.   Not surprising seeing as he only attended under duress.  He didn’t want to because new things are hard for him.   So I basically bribed him.  I admit it.

Playmobil is his currency right now…. so a couple months ago when registration for the track meet was offered K and I picked up some second hand playmobil sets and put them in the shed.  We agreed he could have them if he attended and participated in the events at the meet.

                                 
Not only did he participate… he earned a couple ribbons!!

I’m so proud of him!

New business cards! Also, business card holders.

So this week my Mom and I both got new business cards to go along with the new site!

 

Of course I had to make a business card holder, So introducing the business card holder mark.2!  Made out of 1/8″ thick Maple with copper pins and finished with my beeswax polish, it works so far so good.

I’ll keep you updated 😉

 

Cheers,

Daynen