A Nutritious Lesson...

Last year my son, P, had an allergic reaction to Amoxycillin--a REALLY bad reaction.

Ever since his stomach has really bothered him, and his cheeks and ears turn bright red among other symptoms.

I finally took him in to see what the problem was, and after a semi-traumatic bloodwork session, we found out that the child has a HUGE build-up of yeast in his small intestine all due to the antibiotics and the horrible reaction he had.

[This public service announcement is brought to you by...me.  If you or anyone in your family needs to be on an antibiotic, wait until the end of the prescription and then immediately start pushing a Pro-biotic into your/their system.  The result could save you/them from several different ailments!  And now back to your regularly scheduled blog post.]

So, the doc tells us he's got a yeast problem.

Remedy:  Put the child on a strict anti-yeast diet.

If you're like me, you might think, "Oh, okay--no bread!"

I was wrong.

He's not allowed to have carbs or sugar--that's what starves the yeast in his body and makes it die a horrible death.

Meal planning has never been so...complicated!

Uh, Delena?  How does this apply to homeschooling?

Ever since we got the "anti-yeast diet" news, P has been REALLY interested in food, nutrition, and diet.

We have even worked this into his science lessons lately.

While looking at a photo of the Food Plate (did you know the food pyramid is no longer in use?  I feel so OLD!), he now can tell you what he is not supposed to have, and he can identify whether it's "protein" or "carbohydrates" or "dairy."

While we were visiting my parents this last week, my dad had a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  P was VERY quick to start telling him that that was a carbohydrate, and that it was NOT good for him due to the fact that it breaks down into sugar.

I've created a nutritional monster!

This week he is learning about complex carbohydrates vs. simple carbohydrates.  He's five years-old, and he's fascinated!  We've went around the kitchen trying to identify complex and simple carbohydrates, and he's gotten REALLY good at it.


This whole experience has made me, once again, appreciate homeschooling.  The fact that we can take something real going on in our lives and learn more about it--he just wouldn't have that opportunity anywhere else.

Four Fast Fun Facts About Our Bloggers Featuring...Delena & Aurie!

Last week we started a series of posts to help our readers get to know the ladies that blog for Growing Your Homeschool a little better.  The writers were given a list of questions, and they had to choose four, in order to answer "Four Fast Fun Facts" about themselves. If you missed the first one, you can check it out here.  This week we are featuring Delena & Aurie!

DELENA

What is one little known fun fact you would like to share about yourself?


I have an endless supply of random trivia floating through my head about serial killers.  I graduated from college with the idea that I would go on to get my PhD (pause here for laughter) in the Psychology world and then sit down with serial killers and pick their brain.  What can possess a person to do something like that?  What as your childhood like?  What's going through your head now?  So, I studied serial killers so much for three years that my brain is overflowing with facts.  Gacy, Bianchi, Gein, Fish...it's really fun to bring up at dinner parties with people you barely know.

What is your favorite funny movie?


My favorite funny movie of all time has to be "Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation."  It doesn't matter how many times I've seen it, I still crack up every year when I watch it.

Do you have a favorite fun food combo?


Homemade Macaroni and Cheese with homemade ranch dressing drizzled over the top once it's on my plate.  It makes people take a second look, but it's DELIGHTFUL!

Where is one fun place you would like to go?


I would love, love, LOVE to go to Italy.  Anywhere in Italy would be fine.  Preferrably when I'm not pregnant or nursing so I can have a glass of wine in my hand the whole time while we travel.


To learn more about Delena, or to read her blog, you can visit her at itsonmytodolist.

AURIE

What is one little known fun fact you would like to share about yourself? 


I am a first degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. 

Can you share a little about one of your funniest life moments? 


We were down by the river last year and Sophie was sitting on the bank splashing her little feet. Some ducks glided by and Sophie tried *talking* to the saying {more like yelling} "quack quack!".  The poor ducks were so unnerved that they changed direction and went the other way. Not to be deterred, Sophie got up and ran along the rover edge yelling "Quack Quack". It was so cute :)

What fun activities do you like to do in your "free" time? 


I like to scrapbook or knit. We also love running/biking on the towpath along the river.

What one fun place would you like to visit that you have never been to before?


England!! We have been talking about London and Sophie knows all about Big Ben, Parliament, and the Royal Family. She is really into all things London right now - so we are thinking long term how to get there :)


To learn more about Aurie, or to read her blog, you can find her at Welcome to our good Life.


We hope you are enjoying learning more about our writers here at Growing Your Homeschool.  Please check back next week when we will be featuring two more bloggers!  Have a super weekend!

Child, you just got schooled!

This post is written by Delena, published by Sam due to technical difficulties.


Right now we have three (soon to be four this summer!) children, and our oldest is in Kindergarten.  P is five.  D is three, and E is 16 months.
 
This was my first year to homeschool, and I made sure I was ready.
 
I researched different curriculums.  I attended the Catholic Homeschooling Conference in our area.  I had the books, the supplies, the fun stuff to make school "exciting."  
 
I did not, however, anticipate what it would be like to homeschool one child with two other children at home.  
 
I know a lot of moms who start school at 8:00 on the dot.  When we started school in September, I tried this 8:00 approach.  I quickly realized that Miss E needed a little more time and attention from me than I expected.
 
So, we now start school at 10:00--otherwise known as "when the baby naps."  This allows the boys to eat, get dressed, and play for several hours before P starts school. 
 
I then realized that my three year-old, D, was NOT happy that his big brother was going to be taken away from playing with him for an hour each day.  I have tried giving him coloring books, alphabet books, and number books--he's not interested.
 
I have given him an entire book of stickers and a stack of paper and told him to go to town.  This worked for three days.
 
He went back to being unhappy, and I am now adding "stickers" to our grocery list.
 
I made homemade playdough for him--only to find that this distracted P while he was trying to HIS work.  This would cause me to mutter out loud, "How did people do it in one-room schools?!"
 
 
Sigh.
 
 
The other day, just when I thought my patience was gone because P couldn't concentrate, and D was doing everything he could to get our attention, a tiny little bit of light was shown on the situation.
 
D was playing with his animal figurines when I suddenly heard him say, "Tyger, tyger, burning bright.  In the forests of the night.  What immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?"
 
Yes--my three year-old can quote poetry now.
 
And he can write lower case letters--something I've never worked with him on at all!
 
While he's running around the dining room table causing my blood pressure to escalate, he's also LEARNING.  He doesn't realize he's picking up on the same stuff P is learning, but he is retaining information.
 
 
So, I quit contemplating taking my blood pressure for the moment and smiled.  There can be frustrating moments while homeschooling your children.  I think there are even MORE frustrating moments when you have one in school and two...or three...or four...who haven't reached school-age yet.
 
To know that your kids are still learning and retaining information just from hearing what goes on at the dining room table every morning--well, it makes it all worth it.