Essays Fiction and Poetry by Andrea LeDew
For Random Learning Comes
Essays Fiction and Poetry by Andrea LeDew
Harvey, a Category 4 hurricane, plowed through Corpus Christi, Texas this past Friday. And reminded us all that hurricane season is upon us. The pictures and video, from Houston to Alabama, of the soggy path, where the remnants of the storm have lingered and dumped rain for the past week, horrify the soul. Images …
When your main occupation is schooling your children at home, sometimes it’s hard to decide what comes first. What should you concentrate your energies on? What is highest on the list, among so many things of great importance? When we first began homeschooling in 2010, it all seemed pretty clear to me. Just getting my …
Some of you may well be veterans of the special education system. By this, I mean parents whose children once had IEPs, but are now homeschooling. I am also such a veteran. And like you, I have battle scars. It is a relief, in a way, not to have to deal with the stress of …
{I first published this essay in August of 2017, in response to the Charlottesville debacle. At the risk of having this be perceived as little different than our President’s own comment, that “There are good people on both sides,” I tried at that time to convey my conflicted emotions on the subject of Confederate …
First Time Around Two years ago, my sons went to a First Lego League training class at the beginning of the school year. They showed varying degrees of interest: My younger, more scientific son, whose interests include programming and 3-D modeling now, was already starting to fiddle around with programming then. He very quickly took …
Every parent of a special needs child has been there. You know the moment. It’s when you realize that the therapy or activity you are considering, or the professional you have already hired, or the educational program you signed up for long ago, doesn’t quite live up to your expectations. When you know it’s time …
The other day I was going over my daughter’s college transcript so far. She is halfway through and getting ready to choose a major. The college has actually been pestering her to choose for over a year now. Ever since she was barely a sophomore. Probably because she passed the 60 credit-hour mark early, having …
Whenever parents of children with disabilities gather, you are bound to hear a few complaints. I was recently at such a gathering, impromptu. I was thrown together in a room with several strangers, people with whom I had nothing more in common than the fact that each of us had a child with autism. Our …
For about a month I have been AFK, as my gaming son would say, away from the keyboard. With good reason: I had hip surgery nearly four weeks ago and am only now beginning to turn my energies toward things other than physical recuperation. Naturally, this means I have watched a lot of TV, sitting …
{This post was originally published around Memorial Day, 2017, as a response to the WordPress.com prompt “Detonate”. I have included this is my series SIxty Days because it touches upon our relationship to the outside world, our sense of ourselves as heroes, and our terror of those who might seek to harm us. …
I found this scribble in an old notebook which encapsulates my year in a few lines: Another year has slipped away, Another year has gone. A slimy frog escapes my grasp Into a slimy pond. Slippery subjects The favorite homeschool advice of a friend of mine was to eat that frog. By this, she meant …
For a short while, I attempted to teach my kid to code. Of course, the student quickly outstripped the master in ability, and I retreated back into the humbler world of liberal arts. But in that short time, I learned to respect and stand in awe of the power of two, the amazing capabilities of …
A considerable part of the German intelligentsia…have taken up residence in the Grand Hotel Abyss… a beautiful hotel, equipped with every comfort, on the edge of an abyss, of nothingness, of absurdity. And the daily contemplation of the abyss between excellent meals or artistic entertainments, can only heighten the enjoyment of the subtle comforts …
This post I wrote back in 2017, when I was lucky enough to find a nice co-op for my boys and me to call home. Good luck to all homeschoolers as they search for the place where they belong. Updated April 2021 for formatting. Thanks for coming by to read! As we head into …
I remember getting my very first word processor—yes, I said word processor, not computer—in grad school. It was such a step up from the electric typewriter: I could actually see multiple lines of text at the same time in the little grey screen above the keypad. But one of the coolest features of this machine …
If only someone had warned me. When you first have a baby, you feel the intense desire to blend your experience into his. To become one with the baby. It is hard to sit outside the door, resisting the urge to go in, if the kid is crying. Even if it is for the …
(credit Art work: Madelaine LeDew) I experienced one of the defining moments of motherhood when my child was about 18 months old. I had worked for several years in my profession before I decided to stay home with my firstborn, and I was still trying to keep my hands in …
What is an autism-friendly city? UPDATE: (7/2/17) Here is a nice example of a pictorial social story type introduction to a place (the Riverwalk)in Tampa, FL, developed by University of South Florida Center for Autism and Related Disabilities. They have plans to do a similar presentation for other local destinations. I especially love the sensory …
Every week has its own joys and sorrows. But as we head toward the end of the school year, or at least the official public school year, we homeschoolers often end up scrambling to get the rest of the work done. Whether dictated to us by state standards, or by a book on what every …
This post about relaxing with friends away from the stress of raising a kid with disabilities was first written in 2017, when I was homeschooling both boys. I made a few alterations to the formatting in April 2021. Enjoy! Last week my son with autism spent his spring break at a lovely …
This was an interesting week in politics for the parent of a special needs child. One of my children has an autism diagnosis, and like many homeschoolers, I struggle to figure out what is appropriate for my child in the homeschool context. Pushing too hard can lead to tantrums or shutdown. Being too lenient leaves …
I submitted this piece in May 2017 to a homeschool blog (link below)that had a “Day In the Life” series. I tried to convey what life was like at a time when each of my four kids had his or her own agenda, and I was the one who had to magically make it …
“And what should they know of England, who only England know?” –Rudyard Kipling (“The English Flag“) If you are like me, you are a PBS Masterpiece junkie. Anything dramatized by BBC and taking place at least twenty years ago, with gorgeous costumery, will strike your fancy. So you must be as thrilled as I …
The title may be cliche, but I can think of nothing truer about homeschooling. You have to grab the opportunities (for learning) as they come. And man, they are coming fast and furious! I am, of course, referring to our new President and everything that has occurred in this past year or two. I know …
