4kids+1dog Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Hey all. I have been a lurker for quite a while, and finally decided to join. :001_smile: Is there anyone here that has a child whom is a cancer patient? I have four kiddos, one of whom has cancer. I find it VERY hard to school the others, while taking care of our 3-year-old little guy. I am kinda hoping I get no 'yes' responses, but would like to learn how others accommodate if they are going through the same thing. Our other children are 13, 8 and 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Welcome to the board! If there is nobody with this particular scenario, there will surely be someone with children who suffer from other debilitating conditions and you may find some parallels there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Welcome, and :grouphug:. I know there are at least a couple of others in your situation--hopefully they'll be able to give you some advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In the Rain Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Bumping for you because I know there are a few others in your situation. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I have four children, three living. At the time my ^dd^ was battling cancer, I was homeschooling two (my older son and her) and tending a toddler and a newborn. It is very, very challenging.... :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: We can give you general tips, but everyone has their own journey and circumstances. Do you have any support outside of your dh? We weren't allowed to bring our other children with us to radiation, chemo, or hospitalizations....so generally whoever was running childcare at home with the others took over homeschooling that day. I had all lessons planned out and materials set aside; I'd do grading and discussion when I got home. Keeping up our homeschool routine was a huge part of retaining normalcy and structure for our other kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denisemomof4 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Welcome, Brandi. It is good to see you here. I'm SO sorry to hear about your little guy. While I can't even begin to imagine how trying these times are for you, how difficult it must be to try to keep on top of everything, I do know what it's like to have a special needs child to deal with while trying to school three other kids. I had to enroll my kids in school for a period of time, but that is not what I recommend for you unless you need it. I wouldn't do it again. But, outsourcing is a wonderful way to remove some of the burden from you while keeping your family at home together. Your 13 year old should be pretty indepedent by now. Can you try any online pograms, cd driven programs, etc? Bob Jones, Abeka, Alpha Omega Lifepacs, to name a few? Would hiring a tutor for one or two subjects be a possibility? Our state offers free online school classes to all kids. Does your state offer this? This way you can do some subjects while not being responsible for all of them. Your other two are very young. I would only focus on the basics for now. Your 13 year old can even help if they have questions or if you want help correcting papers. At 6 and 8, you really can just cover the basics and they will be fine. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blueridge Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Hello and welcome, Brandi. I wanted to mention that Sandi Queen of Queen Homeschool Supply has written a book journaling their family's struggles and triumphs with their son's battle with cancer. I know their family is very supportive of others in this situation. Here is the link in case you are interested. http://www.queenhomeschool.com/productpages/Godandcancer/childhoodcancer.html Blessings to you and your family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swellmomma Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Oh my what a tough situation to be in. Your 13 yr old just turned 13 in the last couple weeks right? How independant is he? I think for your situation I would do cyber school or SOS/life pacs or something along those lines for your 13 yr old, and then FIAR with the others. That way you can knock school off the list quickly each day. Then recruit your oldest to be a mother's helper of sorts, to do crafts, or build forts or go for a walk etc with the middle two so that you can tend to your 3 yr old as he needs you. When the 3 yr old is sleeping (naptimes etc) spend some time working with or doting on each of the other kids. It is really easy for them to be lost in the shuffle when another kid has such extreme medical needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirth Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Hey all. I have been a lurker for quite a while, and finally decided to join. :001_smile: :grouphug::grouphug: Glad to "meet" you. Welcome. (I have no experience with what you're handling on a daily basis, but plenty of good wishes) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzyBee Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Try doing a search for Melinda S in TX's posts. One of her daughters is in treatment for cancer. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 We've homeschooled for that last 10 years. My 11-year-old son has Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, so we have faced a few challenges homeschooling with a child who has a incurable, degenerative disease. Just TODAY my daughter enrolled in the local high school as a second semester 9th grader. She had lots of noble, academic reasons for doing so, but as a young teen, I'm sure she was feeling a bit confined at home as it became more and more difficult for us to get out of the house. Ds has no desire to go to school, so I'm going to be schooling one student now. We had a good run with Dd, and I hope she loves high school, but I won't be sad if she changes her mind and wants to homeschool next year :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 We homeschooled through pediatric cancer, and I always wondered how people managed to keep their kids in school. Our little guy was diagnosed with ALL at 19 months, and we spent many full days (getting there before the nurses and leaving with them) in the beginning. Honestly, we took the semester off after his diagnosis, because I could not keep up (my other kids were school age). We did make up some stuff that summer, and I just packed up my bag with school work and hauled it to clinic, the ER while we waited for a room on the floor (the every fever = admit rule), and so on. I learned a great deal about myself during that time and how to be flexible. It was not easy at all at the time, but other people thought I had it all together. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooRho Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 I know of a couple of ladies at Sonlight who have children battling cancer right now. I'll put a word out that you are curious about talking to others. I dont think they are here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZooRho Posted February 25, 2012 Share Posted February 25, 2012 http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lukederksen Just talked to the mom, she said to post Luke's website. her email is on the site she said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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