Learning as a Special Needs Family

This week we've had to do things a little differently. We've had to do a more relaxed school schedule due to Baby Girl's needs. She is having a hard time and is very needy right now...still needing to be held the majority of the day. So what do I do? I hold her. I reassure her. I comfort her. And I love her. Doodles and Bug have been wonderful about helping. They are such wonderful kids. They are learning compassion, love, and sacrifice in a way that most kids don't. I try to see all of the challenges that come with raising a special needs child (and in my older children's case--being a sibling of a special needs child) as opportunities for growth and spiritual maturity and the reminder that we need God's strength each day. We are, as the post title is written, a "special needs family." We are all in this together. We are all taking on the challenges and the blessings that come with it. We've done most of our schooling in the living room this week-on the couch, in the recliner, lying on the floor. It's been very relaxed, but we still got most of our work done. I haven't stressed about the schedule. I haven't fretted when we didn't get to read every book that I'd planned to read. Instead, we did what we could (which was actually quite a lot) and enjoyed learning. And you know what? The lessons my kids are learning about loving others the way Jesus does far outreach any academic goal I have for them. Plus, in spite of the difficulties, we still had fun learning. We even took Thursday and Friday to learn more about subjects chosen by Doodles and Bug. Their topics were quite varied, from Bug's interest in China, volcanoes, cloud bursts, the moon and the planets, all the way to Doodles' interest in fashion, makeup, art, origami, and Twilight. We watched a couple of movies that sparked some of their interests, and then we also read books and found more information about their interests by going online. I have a running list of topics they're interested in that we'll use for part of our summer schedule. This is the list we have so far:
All:
Swimming
Filling Baby Girl's little plastic pool with bubble solution and using a hula hoop to make giant bubbles
Dog training
Bug:
Kung Fu Panda
bugs
God
sun
moon
stars
planets
Call of Duty
electricity
Star Wars
Legos
Halo
technology
helicopters
astronauts
space shuttle
meteor showers
using his telescope
Doodles:
tornadoes
fashion
art
origami
baking cakes, cupcakes, and cookies
Twilight

The list is ongoing, of course. We'll add to it as more interests arise. We are still working on completing Sonlight Core D+E and finishing our math books for the year, and we are looking forward to starting Core F in either August or September. But there is no pressure! We just enjoy taking our time and learning at our pace, and we are so blessed to be able to do that.