I see a trend when I look at photos from this week. Nathaniel continually has his head down on the table or is laying down. He is still not feeling well. I have been advocating for a clear diagnosis of a respiratory infection for three weeks. I think we finally have a treatment plan. However, it is late Friday afternoon and I'm still working with the pharmacy and doctor's office to get the medication we need in a form that is easy for Nathaniel to take. We have not needed his g-tube for anything, including medications, since early June. It seems this illness might require using the tube again.

Nathaniel's medical conditions stole time from being a student this week. He has recently experienced some complications with his trach stoma, and we think he might have a respiratory infection. Thankfully, we've managed at home, which is a huge improvement for this kid who used to need ICU support for minor viruses. But we've been to the doctor a number of times and have added additional treatments to our routine. He hasn't been sleeping well, which means I haven't slept well.

When I posted My AAC Immersion Homeschool Kindergarten: Week 2 on Nathaniel's Facebook page, I said something like, "I can't promise these will be weekly..." But then I received a message from Laura in Texas.

Her daughter has complex communication needs and was under served by her public school district last year. Laura is hoping to use the summer to boost her daughter's AAC exposure and use. "Can I buy your curriculum?" she asked. Problem. I don't really have a curriculum. I have made eclectic selections of other people's stuff and supplement it with materials I own or create depending on Nathaniel's needs. Often an idea on how to use a core word in tomorrow's math lesson occurs to me at two in the morning when I'm awake checking on Nathaniel's oxygen levels. I have nothing to sell to Laura.

Last week seemed idyllic compared to how this week felt as I moved through it. We got off to a weird start on Monday due to a mid-morning physical therapy appointment. The appointment went fantastic, but morning appointments derail our day. Monday morning appointments can derail more than a day.

When I planned our kindergarten homeschool schedule, I purposefully put bible, math, phonemic awareness/phonics, occupational therapy/fine motor work, and our augmentative alternative communication (AAC) lessons in the morning. These are my highest priority for Nathaniel right now. I placed enrichment lessons - literature, science and culture, music, and art in the afternoon. For the last few months, I have been gradually moving all our appointments to after lunch. There is a natural break in our day if we spend the morning at home learning and head out after lunch for a PT, OT, speech therapy, or doctor's appointment. If we don't return to school after we get home, the enrichment lessons are easily accomplished after dinner or on the weekend.

I just completed the first week of my twenty-five year homeschooling. That is a sentence I didn't expect to ever write. Our seventh child, Josiah, graduated high school in the spring of 2016, and I anticipated for over a decade that his graduation would end my homeschool teaching. Decisions about our son Nathaniel's education have been a long (mostly kept private) wrestle over the last few years. Perhaps in time I will share more about the small decisions that landed us at last Monday - Nathaniel's first day of Kindergarten in our homeschool. But for today, I just want to share about that first week.