Update Thursday morning 3/8

We are fairly excited about the upcoming  Red Cross Heroes Breakfast tomorrow morning.  I'm looking forward to the event while at the same time trying not to stress out over it.......something I do with frequency and skill!  I've made myself a list of things to take care of before we leave this afternoon and am enjoying striking through each task upon completion.  The only problem is......I keep adding new tasks to the list!  Eventually, my husband will have to throw me in the car in order to actually depart!!!

I'm so thankful for the dear church friends who have been so willing and helpful in getting my girls to/from school when I am unable to take them myself.  Sometimes Dale has appointments that run into the after-school hours or, in this case, we will be gone Friday, and these sweet ladies go out of their ways to fetch my girls.  I only hope I can be of service to them or others in turn.  The original "pay it forward" concept has been written in God's Word for centuries:  "Do unto others."  Funny how the world likes to take God's ideas and try to pass them off as their own.  If only we would realize just how much effort God put into setting this world running to perfection before sin began corrupting our very planet, not to mention ourselves.  Once again, His ways are perfect and right; we would do well to copy them.

Yesterday morning, I sat down with our school principal to discuss Dale's academic future and my own "in limbo" position as well.  I left that meeting feeling great about the upcoming months!  Bro. Minge assured me that Dale would not be left behind by his class (unless we find that necessary) but that we would all work towards bringing him up to speed in every subject.  Beginning the week after our Spring Break (March 19 - 23), Dale will attend school for the full day.  I am very excited about that, though Dale may not be!  Bro. Minge and I went through Dale's class schedule and decided to set some aside that are not as needed for him to advance (like literature---I know it's important but not as much as math) and allow Dale to spend more time in my classroom with me as his official tutor.  I received permission to teach Dale starting at the beginning of the books and administer quizzes and tests as we reach them.  I've already begun this process with math, but I will now add science, history, and English to our schedule.  Plus, I intend to change the format of our learning time together, making sure we learn science during Dale's regularly scheduled science period, language during the normal English period, etc.  Dale will be able to work at his own pace, taking extra time with math if he needs to, while still working steadily toward the goal of learning all his 7th grade materials---and retaining them.  We will work through the summer as well, so as not to lose the built-up momentum of learning we hope to achieve.  I fully believe Dale will be able to start some 8th grade subjects with his class come September, such as English, history, spelling, etc.  He may (or may not!) be behind still in math and science, depending on at what pace he progresses through his 7th grade books.  All in all, I am thrilled to have a definite plan in place for Dale's continued education......and I'm so thankful for the care and wisdom that our principal and school have for Dale and our family.  It's true that we are part of a bigger family than just the seven of us:  our church.  What blessings they have been in numerous ways even before Dale's accident but most definitely after!  They are strengthening our hearts here while laying up treasures in Heaven.

To return to the original subject, Dale seems to be almost fully recovered mentally from his drowning, with only some side effects such as difficulty focusing, being easily distracted, difficulty retaining recently learned information, etc.  SP has been working with him steadily to improve his ability to focus, to work through distractions, and to retain short-term memory.  I truly think he will do fine in school once he is fully caught up.  This may take longer than just this fourth quarter and summer school, perhaps even throughout his 8th grade year, but I think Dale will be fully caught up by the beginning of his 9th grade year.  Just in time, too, as that is when he starts accruing real credits needed to graduate high school.  Throughout his 7th and 8th grade years, Dale will simply be learning new material and building the foundations needed to understand the subjects taught in high school.  So, as Bro. Minge wryly put it, "This is the perfect time for Dale to have had his accident!"  He can make up the schooling missed without endangering his high school diploma.  Something else for which to be thankful!

Since Dale will still be attending PT and SP throughout the rest of this school year, all summer long, and most likely through next school year, I will not be available to teach full-time next year.  However, one of my goals is to help Dale study and learn independently (on his own) in some subjects like history, science, spelling.  That will free me to step out of the classroom and help in other areas like our Learning Center, perhaps.  That is the classroom where students go for study hall and to work on their PACEs

I'll let you all know how the Heroes Breakfast went and how well Dale did when I post again.  No matter what happens, God is good, and we have much to praise Him for!

Revelation 22: 3 - 5  "And there shall be no more curse:  but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him:  And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light:  and they shall reign for ever and ever."