What’s your passion? What do you know a lot about? Is it a craft, a school subject, a hobby, a lifestyle choice, or . . . ?

The Swap is looking to add specialists in a variety of areas who will each monitor ONE forum thread about their specialty. The initial post in the thread will be a short article YOU write, designed to help a beginner get started doing the thing in which you specialize. (Short or long is fine . . . help is available if you aren’t a writer.) Then, you would just need to check the thread on a somewhat regular basis, to see if anyone has posted questions for you to answer. To make sure you understand, you would be monitoring only one THREAD on a forum, not an entire forum.

Each specialist will be promoted on a regular basis on our blog, Facebook, and Twitter. All you “get” is a bit of publicity, and the knowledge that you are helping others enjoy something you enjoy. When it’s time to promote your specialty, we’ll add a link to your blog, website, or whatever you would like to draw attention to.

Yes, you may specialize in more than one area (and then you would have more than one thread to monitor).

Ideas are endless: couponing, cloth diapering, home birth, getting started homeschooling, homeschooling high school, building birdhouses, organizing a closet, collecting stamps, etc. The only requirement is that it’s an activity you LOVE and have experience with yourself.

Hopefully, this can grow to be an enormous resource of many specialties. There is no substitute for experience, and The Swap includes members with a variety of talents and abilities. Please contact me if interested, by clicking the little “Email Me” icon at the top, left of this page.

Along with our active members, new members or lurkers are encouraged to consider doing this, as a way to get more involved in the forum. You don’t need to be a professional writer. This is intended to be one parent to another, and should be approached in a lighthearted and personal manner.

Congratulations to Amy, who won the blogging course in our latest giveaway! Thanks to everyone else who entered.

They do offer a free pre-course: Free Blogging Course

If you are interested in taking the full eight-week course, it’s actually very affordable at just $25.00:  Blog Writing Course

~by Kel

This is the online blogging course I took several years ago. I was discussing it with a Swappie who asked about learning to blog recently and, coincidentally, they are offering a contest to promote the new, fully automated course design. I  just might have to take it again!

The great thing about the lessons is that you have a blog started with several posts and maybe even a few followers by the time you finish. This is a terrific opportunity to take the course for FREE! Just leave a comment here that explains, in 75 words or less, why you want to take the course. (To learn how to blog from scratch? To update your current blogging skills? Just because you’ve always wondered how blogging works?)

Entries will be accepted through Tuesday, February 15. The entrant whose comment best convinces judges that the course will be utilized and completed will be the winner. Judging will be done by a group of three Homeschooler’s Curriculum Swap members (who are prohibited from entering). Anyone may enter; you do not need to be a member of The Swap. The winner will be notified and posted here on Wednesday, February 16.

Here is a description from the developers of the course:

Blogging 101 is a fully automated 8-week online course that covers everything you need to know to plan, start, write, and build an audience for a brand new blog. The eight units of Blogging 101 (which can be completed in less than eight weeks, if you choose) include:

1. Introduction to Blogging (all the basics for the beginning blogger)
2. Laying Your Cards On The Table (blog titles, platforms, and start-up instructions)
3. It’s All About Me (blogging safety, “About Me” pages, and blog design)
4. Build That Content and Make It Snazzy (writing quality posts, commenting, and adding media)
5. It’s The Little Things That Count (sidebars, widgets, categories, and static pages)
6. Mi Blog es Su Blog – – Building Community (growing a readership, blog promotion, and blogrolls)
7. Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained (more blog promotion strategies and monetizing your blog)
8. Looking Back and Looking Forward (tips and strategies for continuing to grow your blog after the course)

~by Kel

1. Share a link to your own blog in a comment on this post, along with a brief idea of the kinds of things you write about.

2. VISIT and COMMENT on someone else’s blog.

3. To enter, email me by clicking on the little pink envelope at the upper, left of this page and tell me the name of the blog you visited.

4. A random drawing of all entrants will be held on Saturday, January 29. The winner will be posted here on Sunday, January 30 and will receive a BRAND NEW copy of Story of the World, by Susan Wise Bauer. (If you already have one, you can sell your prize in The Swap’s classified ads!)

~by Kel

I was made aware of a great offer from Mighty Book, Jr.  They are offering free subscriptions to homeschoolers! Just go to http://www.mightybookjr.com and click on “Subscribe Now”. Enter “learntoread” in the big Coupon Code box at the top. Choose the $99 Single Household Subscription and fill in the rest of the information. You only have to provide your name and email address and choose a user name and password. The payment fields disappear when you put in the coupon code. 

In addition to a huge selection of animated story books, there are printables and teaching helps. I was pleased to find some things that my son, Joshua, will enjoy in the Special Needs section.

It looks like they’re adding more content on a regular basis. This is really a fun site, and you can’t beat the price.

I was asked to do this post because they wanted a view from a “homeschooled adult’s” perspective. Having been homeschooled my entire life, I fit that description. But I’m not finished learning  just because my school years are ending. It just means that I’m finished learning that which makes learning easier.

Since I was homeschooled, my schedule has always been flexible. I had my first real job as a nanny at only sixteen years old. At seventeen, I volunteered at a zoo. After several different jobs, I have found the perfect one for me and at eighteen years old, I’m starting my own business; doing educational animal shows, a “Living Lab” where children can learn about animals to their heart’s content. It never would have been possible if I hadn’t been homeschooled.

Just because I’m moving to teaching doesn’t mean I’m finished learning. In truth, my education is just beginning. And I owe it all to my parents. Thank you for teaching me to love learning and how to learn from every situation. If it wasn’t for that, none of the things I’m doing now would be happening.

~by Ruth

This morning I read The Swap and then took my morning walk. As I walked today I pondered the seasons of life I have gone through while a member of The Swap  and how I posted differently during each of those seasons.

 When I first found The Swap, we were in what we call the “golden days” of homeschooling. We were at peace as a family, doing what we felt God had called us to do. My posting on The Swap was filled with “great advice” on how to achieve what my family had at that time. I was full of confidence and posted frequently and easily what was on my mind.

Then we entered a stage of life where my husband was working at home, finances were tight, and the children were starting to think for themselves and stretch the very strict boundaries we had set. My self confidence waned and my posting became a little more timid and less confident. I weighed posting advice more carefully.

The next season was one in which some of our children were going through rebellion. We were failing financially and there was a lot of stress and strife in the home. We went from homeschooling to traditional schooling and moved from the country to the city. I hardly posted any advice during those years because any time I posted advice it seemed that God gave me that exact same circumstance that I would have to deal with – and it was usually unpleasant.

I am now in a season of life that is not perfect but less stressful than the last season. My oldest children are in college and are pleasant to have around. My younger children are in traditional school, and I am working full time – certainly NOT the outcome I had envisioned in the “golden days” of homeschooling. My posting now days is measured carefully. I don’t have much time to read and post during the school year, but I’ve noticed that even this summer (when I check the swap almost hourly ), I still am very careful about what I post.

I have realized: 

-that I do NOT have the answers I once thought I had

- that there are usually two sides to a story and we often year only one side on The Swap

- that the written word can be taken in the wrong voice/tone/meaning

- that God is in control no matter what and that the best way I can help most often is not with my advice, but with my prayers.

That’s not to say I have arrived! Just that I realized this morning that I have changed.

~by Kel

Confession: I wrote this a few years ago, for another blog that I no longer use or publish. I saved the posts, so I’ll copy them over here on slow news days.

Blogging beats marriage counseling any day. I often blog about differences in my husband’s and my perspectives regarding a given situation. Writing is a terrific way to organize my thoughts. By the time I type the final sentence, I’ve usually managed to minimize the importance, find the humor, or determine that I’M the quirky partner. Even Dr. Phil couldn’t get better results.

It is with the above in mind that I seek to examine hubby’s sports obsession. When not at work, my husband can usually be found participating in, attending, viewing, or listening to some sports event. I know he isn’t the only male affected in this way. Even our pastor greets my husband with a shoulder clap and a gruff-voiced comment like, “Hey! How ’bout them Pit Bulls?!” (or some equally aggressive sounding mascot).

Although I’ve tried, I’ve never been able to understand the masculine interest in mastering the ball. That is the goal of most popular sports, after all. Participants attempt to whack a ball with a stick, stuff a ball in a net, kick a ball over a line, or coax a ball into a hole. I’ve considered checking out hockey, just for the novelty of the puck.

My spouse and I realize there are areas where we will never understand each other. Wrapping up a discussion destined to go nowhere, one of us will usually offer, “Well, I guess it’s just one of those Mars/Venus things.” The passion for sports does seem to be gender-related. Marveling at the sight of my mate, doing his victory dance in front of some televised sport, I’ve been known to sigh and declare, “Testosterone!” Wisely, my husband has so far refrained from looking heavenward and muttering, “Estrogen!” under his breath in return.

My own disinterest in sports is so severe that I’m ignorant of even the most basic rules of the game. When my husband and I were dating, we attended a football event where I resorted to watching him surreptitiously, so I’d know when to cheer. When he stood, I did likewise. When he shouted, “All right!”, I attempted to match his jubilant smile. When he offered a high five, I didn’t let on that I would have preferred quiet hand holding. Somehow, I failed to recognize the signs of things to come.

Driving by the local high school, I admit to being puzzled by the women populating the bleachers. I can only assume that they’re in attendance to cheer for their children. Moms cheer for anything their children do . . . Try a bite of vegetables, use the potty chair, bat a touchdown or kick a home run.

I can’t quite resolve the income discrepancy between a farmer (who fills empty stomachs), a babysitter (who cares for precious children), and a basketball player. (Remind me what they do again?) My own days are spent focused on activies that put meals on the table, fill drawers with clean clothing, and render the bathtub free of grime. A results-oriented person, I seldom make time for things with no practical purpose, and it’s difficult for me to acknowledge that entertainment value can translate to dollars and cents.

That, perhaps, is what I’ll take from this post. If life is about achieving balance, then I’m probably a bit off-kilter. At the end, considering what we’ve done with our lives, I imagine I will be able to provide a short list of accomplishments and a long list of things I wish I’d done. My husband, confident that he’s fulfilled his most important responsibilities, will simply grin and say, “I’ve had a GREAT time!”

The Amazing Birth Story of Elizabeth Grace

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As life continued, we continued to trust the Lord for our family size. Trusting in the Lord is the most restful way to survive LIFE!    

I had severe infertility caused by polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).  My husband, Mark, has infertility issues due to his mother taking the drug DES in attempt to not miscarry him.  In 21 years of marriage and no birth control, I gave birth to 3 children. It took 5 years to get pregnant with my oldest. Only 2 years later, I became pregnant with my son. Ten years of infertility went by when the Dr called to say after years of trying to get on Clomid, a fertility drug, that he felt that it was OK. The bad news, my insurance would not cover it. I cried for two weeks. It was just a few months after my broken heart of not being able to use a fertility drug, my preemie, Elizabeth Grace was conceived!   

I was high risk from the beginning. Being diabetic and over 37 years old and with so many years of infertility, increased my risks. My blood sugar was quite fine for the first few months.   

My problems began the day that I had visual sparks. I decided to check my blood sugar. It was fine. My sugar level did not cause the sparks. After thinking about it, I figured that I should check my blood pressure though I had never been diagnosed with blood pressure problems. It was 140/101 using an in home BP cuff. I immediately called the Dr. and went in for a BP check. They confirmed my BP as being high. That was Oct 10, 1998. I was just about 6 weeks along.   

My BP was only controlled for the first few days by the first medication regimen. By 20 weeks my medications had been added to and added to. I was taking the most medication the Dr’s had ever heard of for blood pressure control. I was in the hospital, on strict left-lying bedrest, blood pressure medications and insulin for the duration of my pregnancy. Each shift of the nurses, I was put on a fetal monitor to keep a close eye on the happenings within my womb. I had also been given steroid shots to mature the baby’s lungs and blood vessels of the brain.   

As I laid in the bed on my left side day in and day out I never felt lonely. I often prayed and read Christian books. One night I felt as if the Lord was cuddling me. I honestly felt His warm embrace. I spoke quietly with Him for a good long while. This was such an unexpected blessing. I write about it to help keep myself from forgetting.   

The Dr came in the morning Elizabeth Grace was born to tell me that there were some ominous monitor changes in the night of Feb 23rd. He told me to not eat breakfast and that an ultrasound was scheduled.   

I called my husband and laid in the bed wondering if I should take a shower or wait. Trusting in the Lord was the only way that I was able hold my sanity. I knew that the Lord knew my daughter better than I did. He created her! Even with the trust in the Lord I was unable to make the simple decision to take a shower. Wondering if Mark was going to make it to the hospital, wondering if my worrying was raising my blood pressure, laying and praying that things were going according to the Lord’s plan.   

The Dr wanted me to ask the technician to call him into the room when the ultrasound was done. As the US was done, SHE WAS HEAD DOWN FOR THE FIRST TIME! I was so excited, NATURAL BIRTH! BUT – Elizabeth Grace did not move. They tried to stimulate her with manipulations of my abdomen, then tried a loud noise and another attempt and one more … The Dr sped out of the room and returned to tell me I was to have surgery in 30 min. He then apologized that my husband was going to miss the birth. BUT, Mark did make it. Elizabeth Grace was delivered by emergency c-section a very hurried 20 minutes later.   

The delivery was so odd to me. I’d had a few surgeries in the past and as a nurse aid had prepped many patients. Glasses and other personal belongings just didn’t go into surgery but there I lay having had a spinal block of sorts in surgery with my glasses and pillow. (I’m unsure of what my anesthetic was since the Dr’s had to discuss and decide what would be best in our specific situation. They changed their minds along the way and I’ve forgotten.)   

I was quite surprised at the severe “pressure” I felt. I was informed that it was not pain….. I had to ask for some pain meds. It hurt! My husband was shocked. They did not slip the baby through a small incision as seen on television c-section births but pulled me open in a manner that created a CRADLE from my WOMB. In my cradling womb, the Dr cut the umbilical cord and did the first suctioning of Elizabeth Grace’s mouth and throat – ALL BEFORE LIFTING HER FROM ME! This was likely done to conserve body her heat.   

The biggest thrill of the morning was hearing my baby cry!!!!! Oh my, I did not expect that at all!   

Seen-as-how she was crying, I figure she was breathing so one little ten-second look would have been wonderful but was not offered to me. They did role my bed to hers after recovery but my pain was so bad that I could not get an angle to see anything. I was able to slip my hand into her Isolette and touch her. I later discovered why I could not see her through the glass besides the difficulty moving while in severe post-op pain. There is a BAD GLARE off Isolettes.   

 

I did not learn of her birth stats until later in the week. She weighed in at one pound ten ounces and 13 inches long.  Her head circumference was smaller than a baseball! 2 weeks went by before I could really see her as the Isolettes glare the room light so bad and we kept a dark cover over it so that light was limited in her bed. I so wanted to see her without any glare so I’d do a little peek through the Isolette’s armhole.   

She required every medical assistance available. She was on a ventilator with oxygen, hand bagged by the nurses when the vent was not sufficient, in an Isolette (incubator), smeared with Vaseline, wore a clear plastic shirt, frequent suctioning, monitors of several sorts, IV’s, TPN feedings and the best nursing and Dr care available.   

We could not pat or rub her but we were allowed to “hand swaddle” her. I went to see her every day that was possible. It’s hard to decide to allow yourself to heal or go see your baby. I cried every time that I could not hold my sweet Tiny. I would have asked the hospital to have a ‘cuddler’ spend some time with her if I’d have known it was available. I know that the gentle loving touch is important for people and felt it was so much more important for her since she was getting poked and prodded causing pain so very often. Just thinking that Elizabeth Grace had no one that had time to spend quality gentle touching time broke my heart. It was that very thought, of her not having someone to cuddle her that tore me up.   

We did not get to hold her outside of her Isolette for the first week. Then there was a 20 sec hug and kiss. AND – the first time I saw her without the glare of the wall of her incubator! We started “kangaroo care” at 2 weeks, the first time I got to actually hold her. The joy that overflowed in my heart was too much to describe! It was more than holding my first born for the first time. In fact, every thing that was been accomplished in her first 3 years meant so much more than for my children that came the ‘easy way.’ I do not love them less it’s just different!   

She did have all the problems expected for such a 27/28 week gestation baby born SGA, small for gestational age, or IUGR, intrauterine growth restricted, but the medical interventions all worked absolutely perfectly.  MY LORD SUPPLIED ALL HER NEEDS!!   

She had heart murmurs that had to be treated with medication. It took two doses to succeed with it but it worked and surgery was avoided. She went through respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) and bronchopulmonary disease (BPD). Elizabeth Grace had grade I brain bleed and grade I retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). I would dare say that there are diagnoses that I am forgetting or was not aware of.   

We enjoyed the time in the hospital in many ways. I used every possible way to picture her in ways that made it easier for others to depict her size. I knew if they could not understand how small she was in pictures that I would probably have difficulty remembering her size when she did grow. I took a picture of her with my size 6 wedding band on her arm. I took weekly pictures of her with a specific pencil bought just for her. I took the last picture of her using the pencil when she started kindergarten. I took a picture of the family in their Easter clothes then her sitting in her sister’s Easter hat. I took a picture of her hand and footprints with a ruler and toothpicks laying along side them.   

As she grew and began to show signs of being able to survive outside the hospital environment, my desire to have her home grew. The pain of having to leave her when I knew she really wanted me was terribly difficult. I wanted oh so to tuck her in my coat and go. The fear of the unknown was probably the main reason why I waited on the Drs.   

Often I would go to the hospital just to sit and watch her sleep knowing that touching her would burn calories so I sat and stared all the while filling in her baby book.   

When I was told that we were aiming for the day to go home and that all that was left for us to go home was for her to gain weight by breastfeeding alone with no supplemental tube feedings, I set my heart to get through it QUICKLY. I spent every available moment at the hospital. Three days of no weight gain followed by two days of weight loss … How long was it going to take to be able to bring my baby home?! OK, weigh the baby, breastfeed, weigh the baby add supplements then do it again and again. I knew I could do it at home (or could I?) I spent the night three separate times. I was going prove that we could do it. I wanted to get this baby home.   

I caught myself biting my lip, HARD. I pulled my own hair. I wanted to scream. I wanted to slug something. The frustrations that built up during the months of her hospitalization and having to divide my life from home and hospital was obvious. It was not enough to keep me away though. I couldn’t stay home. Even the days that I decided to eat supper with the family before leaving out to the hospital proved to increase my frustrations. The knowing that there was an end to the hectic running to and from the hospital helped.   

I was tired, frustrated and wanting my baby home. I begged the doctors to look over our situation. Please, just let us go home. One more week they had guessed. Again, I went home in tears. Then that very next morning the phone rang. It was Elizabeth Grace’s doctor, calling to let me know that she was being discharged the following day!!!!!!!! Oh the joy! The excitement! The tears!!!   

Elizabeth Grace was discharged on an apnea monitor & oxygen for feeds only! (The goal was to reduce weight loss while eating so the oxygen was only used for feeding time.)  I could handle that! She was assigned two home health nurses that took turns coming daily to check on us. We never had to look back! God is so Good !!!!   

As Elizabeth Grace moved out of infancy and toward toddlerhood, her health was not as ‘sturdy’ as her older siblings but pretty close. BUT -almost a year after her birth she began having episodes of cyanosis, turning blue, which ended up happening just a day or so before she became sick with a cold or virus. She was diagnosed with a heart murmur that closed itself by the time she was 2 1/2 yrs old. She had severe ear infections and even a ruptured eardrum. Getting tubes in her ears followed the rupture. THEN, she had an extra large hernia that her surgeon agreed that probably appeared due to the screaming from the ruptured eardrum.  The hernia was repaired 2 weeks after the ear tubes were placed. One more surgery just months later to have her tonsils and adenoids removed since she began experiencing apnea in her sleep.  A month before her 4th birthday, she had a 6 day stay at the hospital with pneumonia.   

Now she’s been very healthy with just a few more colds than her older siblings seemed to catch. She overcame an 18-mo speech delay and was daytime potty trained within the same age as her siblings (age adjusted).  

I called her my DOLLY along with many other terms that exemplified her continued tininess.  At a year she weighed just less than 12 pounds.  At 14 months she was 14.5 pounds and about 25 inches tall.  At 3yrs old, she weighed 24 pounds…  

Elizabeth Grace learned to spell and write her name before her 5th birthday. We started homeschooling her preschool/kindergarten.  She joined Girl Scouts as a Daisy though her troop mates were head and shoulders taller than her.  

We have continued to homeschool through 5th grade.  Her favorite thing to do is write stories.  She does not like math.  Elizabeth Grace has been in Scouts for 7yrs.  She earned the Bronze award, the highest award possible for a Junior, and is now a Cadette.  She loves to attend church, memorize verses and break attendance records.  

She continues to be in the 25 percentile in growth but she comes from a short family.  My mother two sisters and oldest daughter are 5ft or less in height.   Elizabeth Grace just might outgrow her oldest sister (who was also growth restricted at birth).  

 

 

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