Yesterday my sister-in-law came to visit. She is a long-time teacher who sometimes questions but mostly supports our homeschool decision. This year she is teaching various grade nine subjects and one she and I were very surprised at, Forensic Science. It is a new option in her Catholic school for junior high students, grades 7-9 and there is no curriculum at all. She is considering different options including leaning on taped footage of CSI.
Having never watched, or cared to watch, CSI I can't comment on the series per se. However it was truly ironic that a commercial came on sortly after she left of an upcoming CSI Miami episode featured a pregnant woman who was raped and her baby killed (I assumed shot given the footage, but it didn't specify). Wow. Like I would want my son or daughter watching footage like this! I trust my sil who is the consumate professional with high integrity to teach this subject well, but the thought of forensics being taught to my children at that age leaves me shaking my head.
I acknowledge this occupation as a very important one as most of the work is learning why a person died to better support the grieving family, and almost always it is not under the auspicious circumstances of the aformentioned CSI Miami episode. We as a culture are afraid of death and very often shy away from the subject and learning about forensics is good. However, I question teaching this material to 11 year olds where it is much better material for high school students who are more focused on future occupations.
To close this blog post, I have a question for you. What is the number one reason for maternal mortality in North America?
Tragically it is echoed in the CSI Miami episode: the number one killer of pregnant women is murder by the baby's father and/or the mother's significant other. Case in point - in July of this year, very close to home, a pregnant mother of a two-year-old daughter went missing. Her body was found when her husband and his family/friends searched the outskirts of their fair city on their own. Shortly thereafter her husband and the father of her children was charged with her murder. Forensic scientists could not determine a cause of death because her body was so badly decomposed... not the forensics I am wanting my children to learn, not yet anyway.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Monday, August 29, 2005
Tenting en famille
Well the good news is we survived, including my sanity and we had an awesome time. A few good lessons learned about camping in Alberta in late August, the top three being: 1. You can never bring enough blankets, 2. Bring toque's to wear while sleeping as 40% of your body heat escapes from your head, and 3. You get a REALLY close shave when your legs have goosebumps. I don't think I was ever warm the entire week, especially so at night. My mother-in-law, bless her, brought three wonderful quilts which kept us much more comfortable the last night we were there.
We camped with Allan's older brother Lyle, his girlfriend and his two children. I am just getting to know Leiha and we have so much in common. I have been really missing his ex-wife who left him for another guy and it is nice to see the healing Lyle and his kids have done... and get to know the new 'Mom' in their life.
We were also blessed with the descending of most of Allan's entire clan (four of his five siblings, their entire families and his parents) upon our campsite the last night we were at the lake. Allan and Lyle had started that ball rolling with Allan asking his parents and Lyle asking their two sisters to come out. This was no easy feat as we needed a cell phone booster and the caller to hold the phone in just the right direction to get the right cell tower, but before we knew it everyone knew and all coordinated their schedules to come out. It was wonderful to see the few who didn't make it to our home in early August for Papa's (Allan's Dad) birthday celebration, he turned 77 this year.
But it was a great time despite the weather, it didn't rain but it wasn't overly warm either. The kids had a blast with their cousins and were rarely grumpy which is no mean feat with lack of sleep and being so busy.
We almost have all of our "camp stuff" now, with few gaps. This year we added a new camp stove, new sleeping bags for three of us six, and a new air mattress that doesn't work against us in trying to stay on-board... the last one we slid off constantly. Next year we only need to invest in a new tent to accomodate the two oldest who are growing SO much and we will be set. Mental note: tent in June or July only unless we are going to BC or south and don't forget good scrubby pads to clean the cast iron fry pan.
We camped with Allan's older brother Lyle, his girlfriend and his two children. I am just getting to know Leiha and we have so much in common. I have been really missing his ex-wife who left him for another guy and it is nice to see the healing Lyle and his kids have done... and get to know the new 'Mom' in their life.
We were also blessed with the descending of most of Allan's entire clan (four of his five siblings, their entire families and his parents) upon our campsite the last night we were at the lake. Allan and Lyle had started that ball rolling with Allan asking his parents and Lyle asking their two sisters to come out. This was no easy feat as we needed a cell phone booster and the caller to hold the phone in just the right direction to get the right cell tower, but before we knew it everyone knew and all coordinated their schedules to come out. It was wonderful to see the few who didn't make it to our home in early August for Papa's (Allan's Dad) birthday celebration, he turned 77 this year.
But it was a great time despite the weather, it didn't rain but it wasn't overly warm either. The kids had a blast with their cousins and were rarely grumpy which is no mean feat with lack of sleep and being so busy.
We almost have all of our "camp stuff" now, with few gaps. This year we added a new camp stove, new sleeping bags for three of us six, and a new air mattress that doesn't work against us in trying to stay on-board... the last one we slid off constantly. Next year we only need to invest in a new tent to accomodate the two oldest who are growing SO much and we will be set. Mental note: tent in June or July only unless we are going to BC or south and don't forget good scrubby pads to clean the cast iron fry pan.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Homeschool Decisions
It is coming to that time of year where I am geared up and focused on the new homeschool year. I have been doing a fair amount of research into High School options with Eric entering grade nine this year and the search is far from over. I am glad to be homeschooling in Alberta right now because we are light years ahead of many other provinces, and even countries, regarding governmental support and our options. However, at times it seems even more difficult because with more options sometimes comes more confusion.
The same cannot be said about support for the developmentally delayed. Brendan, our five-year-old has been assessed as having severe receptive and expressive language delay which technically allows him full funding for supportive resources. Ironically, most of those support programs are full with lengthy waiting lists or he has to be in daycare/preschool full time to qualify. Well that is not happening so we have two options, a specialized preschool two days a week specifically for children with delays and one-on-one support with a speech pathologist.
We declined the former last year because upon visiting the program I seen it as a good program indeed, but with far too few staff and I am not sure if a child with his type of delay (needing strong one-on-one language support) would benefit more in a classroom setting where others with delays also need constant attention. Thus we chose the latter and though I had great expectations of his progressing well, I am not sure his speech pathologist is providing the skills he needs. She has more than once thrown up her hands in frustration at not knowing how best to support and teach him... leaning on my knowledge to continue his support. I understand the need for input from me, but given that input she should be able to provide a stronger program than she did last year. We have decided to continue with this one-on-one support, but I will be requesting a different pathologist this year. This is his last year of full funding and next fall we will turn to our school board for support.
Which means we will be leaning on our school board more than ever next year. We have decided to stay with our current homeschool board, Wisdom Home Schooling, this year and will discuss at length with our facilitator our need for strong high school support AND program support for Brendan's delays... and reassess from there.
The same cannot be said about support for the developmentally delayed. Brendan, our five-year-old has been assessed as having severe receptive and expressive language delay which technically allows him full funding for supportive resources. Ironically, most of those support programs are full with lengthy waiting lists or he has to be in daycare/preschool full time to qualify. Well that is not happening so we have two options, a specialized preschool two days a week specifically for children with delays and one-on-one support with a speech pathologist.
We declined the former last year because upon visiting the program I seen it as a good program indeed, but with far too few staff and I am not sure if a child with his type of delay (needing strong one-on-one language support) would benefit more in a classroom setting where others with delays also need constant attention. Thus we chose the latter and though I had great expectations of his progressing well, I am not sure his speech pathologist is providing the skills he needs. She has more than once thrown up her hands in frustration at not knowing how best to support and teach him... leaning on my knowledge to continue his support. I understand the need for input from me, but given that input she should be able to provide a stronger program than she did last year. We have decided to continue with this one-on-one support, but I will be requesting a different pathologist this year. This is his last year of full funding and next fall we will turn to our school board for support.
Which means we will be leaning on our school board more than ever next year. We have decided to stay with our current homeschool board, Wisdom Home Schooling, this year and will discuss at length with our facilitator our need for strong high school support AND program support for Brendan's delays... and reassess from there.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Addendum...
Met the new family that is just moving in... or should I say waved to the Mom as she unpacked her car and her kids spent the afternoon at our house. Two boys, aged 12 and 7ish... my boys didn't ask how old he was. Very excited bunch though, a total of 11 boys (and one girl, that being Breanna) in my yard all afternoon!
Friday, August 12, 2005
Neighbours
Did I mention I love my new "community" in the tiny, yet rapidly growing, subdivision? As the first family to move into this new area last May, it is exciting to see the growth thus far. Yes, the construction noise is annoying, but as it retreats further and further from our home, it is now easy to ignore most days. I feel sometimes like an ambassador here being that we were "the first" to arrive and everyone points that out it seems to the new arrivals, "Oh, you were the first," is a common introductory comment it seems. There are many young families here though we have several newly married (sans kids) and retired couples too. At least two Moms are pregnant and one just had her son before moving in six weeks ago, and he is adorable! I would say there is at least 10 kids under 5 in our cul de sac, so it is a busy place. Let me introduce some of our newest neighbours...
A month ago our next door neighbours moved in, a great couple from Fort McMurray with three boys, aged 13, 6 and 4. Our collective kids are already spending tons of time together, mostly in our spacious sand box or runnng around our house (we have lawn, they don't yet) playing games.
The same weekend a couple, newly retired, moved into our builder's showhome and promptly hired Eric, our eldest, to mow and care for his front lawn. They just laid sod last week in the back yard so Eric will be working harder once it is established.
Two weeks ago a couple moved in directly across from us and they have two girls aged 7 and 4. Our 5 year-old son loves to hang out with the 7 year-old. We helped them lay their sod a few days after their arrival and their yard is looking amazing already. They are flipping the house as they are already building their next house in Stony Plain and already we know we will miss them. They are a great family!
At the same time a Muslim family moved in down the street. They have been gone a lot and have had tons of family come and go. I regret to say I haven't stopped by to welcome them yet, but plan to try tomorrow. I hope they are home this time.
A week ago a couple from Winnipeg moved into a gorgeous bi-level three houses away. He is a flooring installer and she is a stay-at-home mom with two daughters aged 11 and 13, the same ages as our two oldest. The Dad has already been by our home twice, once to say hi and the second time to fix the grout on our fireplace. I dropped by this morning to introduce myself to Mom and the girls, they are loving it here.
And this weekend we are anticipating the arrival of a new family as another company's showhome was sold and readied for the new owners. We look forward to meeting the new arrivals soon!
A month ago our next door neighbours moved in, a great couple from Fort McMurray with three boys, aged 13, 6 and 4. Our collective kids are already spending tons of time together, mostly in our spacious sand box or runnng around our house (we have lawn, they don't yet) playing games.
The same weekend a couple, newly retired, moved into our builder's showhome and promptly hired Eric, our eldest, to mow and care for his front lawn. They just laid sod last week in the back yard so Eric will be working harder once it is established.
Two weeks ago a couple moved in directly across from us and they have two girls aged 7 and 4. Our 5 year-old son loves to hang out with the 7 year-old. We helped them lay their sod a few days after their arrival and their yard is looking amazing already. They are flipping the house as they are already building their next house in Stony Plain and already we know we will miss them. They are a great family!
At the same time a Muslim family moved in down the street. They have been gone a lot and have had tons of family come and go. I regret to say I haven't stopped by to welcome them yet, but plan to try tomorrow. I hope they are home this time.
A week ago a couple from Winnipeg moved into a gorgeous bi-level three houses away. He is a flooring installer and she is a stay-at-home mom with two daughters aged 11 and 13, the same ages as our two oldest. The Dad has already been by our home twice, once to say hi and the second time to fix the grout on our fireplace. I dropped by this morning to introduce myself to Mom and the girls, they are loving it here.
And this weekend we are anticipating the arrival of a new family as another company's showhome was sold and readied for the new owners. We look forward to meeting the new arrivals soon!
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
ICAN do it
I have been busy with ICAN stuff a lot since our board meeting last week. Maybe I should say proficiently busy because some of the projects I have been working on... and off... for a while are coming together nicely. I have been working on the International aspect of ICAN since or Strategic Planning Retreat last fall and hitting a lot of road blocks along the way. This week, however, a lot of those roadblocks dissolved suddenly with a phone call from an ICAN member who is also an intelectual property and non-profit lawyer and a long promised fax from Hedy Nuriel, Executive Director of LLLI. Now we are getting somewhere on this project and hope to soon have that support in place for our non-US chapters.
Also this week a women expecting her fifth child and wanting a VBA4C called ICAN. Being in Ontario, she couldn't find a caregiver to "allow" her a trial of labour, so she was wondering if we could help. In case you don't know, midwifery is funded in Ontario and unfortunately one of the factors that midwives conseded on in order to obtain funding was to give up automomy. This means that if a midwife is unable to find a physican who will back her on "high risk" clients like they percieve VBAC to be, then they are not legally able to attend the birth. This then rules out the two neighbouring provinces as well, so she needed to (and was willing) to travel to a caregiver who was willing to attend her.
I called around and found her four midwives who were willing to help, one in Halifax, one in Regina, one in Edmonton, and one in the US. She was so happy to hear she had options like this and has tons of family in Halifax so chose to go there for this baby's birth. She is due in September and I can't wait to hear how everything goes.
On the educational side of things, given that my official title is Education Director, we are working on four major projects at the moment. Our accreditation program, a new main brochure, a cesarean recovery brochure and a VBAC fact sheet are all in various stages of completion. My new assistant Claudia Villeneuve has taken the accreditation program to run with and Laura Maples, the most amazing graphic designer I have had the pleasure of knowing, has said yes to helping with the design of the two brochures! That allows me to focus on the VBAC fact sheet which we have needed updating for too long. Lots of work but when it is something you love to do it certainly doesn't feel like work!
Also this week a women expecting her fifth child and wanting a VBA4C called ICAN. Being in Ontario, she couldn't find a caregiver to "allow" her a trial of labour, so she was wondering if we could help. In case you don't know, midwifery is funded in Ontario and unfortunately one of the factors that midwives conseded on in order to obtain funding was to give up automomy. This means that if a midwife is unable to find a physican who will back her on "high risk" clients like they percieve VBAC to be, then they are not legally able to attend the birth. This then rules out the two neighbouring provinces as well, so she needed to (and was willing) to travel to a caregiver who was willing to attend her.
I called around and found her four midwives who were willing to help, one in Halifax, one in Regina, one in Edmonton, and one in the US. She was so happy to hear she had options like this and has tons of family in Halifax so chose to go there for this baby's birth. She is due in September and I can't wait to hear how everything goes.
On the educational side of things, given that my official title is Education Director, we are working on four major projects at the moment. Our accreditation program, a new main brochure, a cesarean recovery brochure and a VBAC fact sheet are all in various stages of completion. My new assistant Claudia Villeneuve has taken the accreditation program to run with and Laura Maples, the most amazing graphic designer I have had the pleasure of knowing, has said yes to helping with the design of the two brochures! That allows me to focus on the VBAC fact sheet which we have needed updating for too long. Lots of work but when it is something you love to do it certainly doesn't feel like work!
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