Nursing Home Visits, A Guest Post.

This morning, I have invited Amber Paley, who writes about nursing home abuse at www.nursinghomeabuse.net to write a guest article here. Amber, in addition to her work at NHA DOT NET, is a frequent guest blogger and article writer. Today she is bringing to us tips for taking children to nursing homes. I asked her to do so for a number of reasons. One is that I have recently joined a home school adopt a grandparent group that is going to be visiting nursing homes with their children.

Let's give a very special HSD welcome to Amber Paley! Also Amber did not realize this but she is participating this week in Six Word Saturday at ShowMyFaceDotCom.



Her Six Words . . .

Nursing Homes: Tips for Taking Children

Visiting a loved one who lives in a nursing home with your family can be a great experience for all of those involved. Here are some tips for your trips:

1. Talk to You Children about the Facility in Advance.

Try to communicate to your children what they should expect at the nursing home. Explain that some people in the home have disabilities that cause them to need wheel chairs, walkers, etc.; also explain that some residents can become confused and/or unresponsive.

2. Plan Trips in Advance.

Planning trips in advance will not only give your loved ones something to look forward to, but also allow you to plan the time of day you visit. For loved ones with mental and physical disabilities, this is imperative. Certain times of the day are better while others are worse; make sure you find out which times of the day are best for a visit to your loved one to ensure the best trip possible for everyone.

3. Plan Fun Child-Loved One Activities.

Planning activities that will engage both your elder and children will make the experience fun for everyone. Some children can be shy; games help everyone be more comfortable.

Here are some ideas for what to do . . .

Play! Checkers, Chess, Card Games, Board Games.

Make arts and crafts. Holiday Ornaments and Decorations (Christmas tree ornaments, Hanukah decorations, etc.), Scrapbooks, Family Photo Books.

Read to each other. If possible, have loved one read to your child and or Have your child read to your loved one.

Engage each other.

1. Have everyone decorate your loved one’s room for the holidays.
2. Sing familiar songs or holiday songs.
3. If your child plays a small instrument, have them play it for your loved one.
4. Many facilities host events and activities, make sure to get a facility calendar so that you and your children can participate in these things with your elder.
5. Look through old family albums.
6. Try to bring items with you that both your children and loved one both love and can enjoy together.
7. Have your children do arts and crafts in advance to give to your loved one as a gift.
8. Share current events and experiences in your life and your children’s lives with your loved one; show him or her pictures of your pets, your children’s soccer games, etc.
9. Ask your loved one about the things going on in their life and be sure to listen intently.

Get moving. Take a walk with your loved one and children around and outside of the facility. If your loved one is able, take day trips. Some ideas are:

GO TO . . .

The park for a picnic.
A local parade.
Have ice cream or lunch.
To a family reunion.
To get his or her hair done.

4. Most Importantly, Be Affectionate!
Nursing home residents do not get much direct human contact at the facilities other than when they are assisted by facility personnel. Your loved one will love hugs, kisses, and when you hold his or her hand. Make sure to have your children be affectionate with your elder; it will make his or her day.


Thanks Amber for a wonderful post. I always am open to having a guest blogger here at HSD. You have to admit, Amber set the bar pretty high. So if you have a post that's got some game, get in touch with me. For More Six Word Saturday click here.

Next Time: Sunday's Cool for Spiderdroids.

11 11 11 41

Veteran's day always served a double purpose in my adult life. One was it gave me pause to reflect on how those in our military, lay their lives on the line to insure and protect the freedoms I often take for granted.

The other was actually more important, it reminded me of my brother's birthday. My youngest brother was born on November 11th. Having 4 siblings, I was grateful for anything that would remind me of their birthdays. Having one born on a holiday is certainly one way of doing it.


Keith loved being born on Veteran's day. He used to joke that people were getting the day off from school or work (although I don't remember getting the day off for either) for his birthday.
Having a brother with a birthday on a holiday was working for both of us. I remembered it and he basked in it. Then, in 2009, he goes and dies on me!

What good is a remembering a birthday if you don't have someone to celebrate with? So, I started celebrating Keith's birthday here, on my blog. In November of 2009, I spaced my posts 39 hours apart since he would have been 39. What can I say, the kid loved math. On his actual birthday I posted every 39 minutes mine and other's remembrances of him. Last November, I linked many of those remembrances at the end of my posts and on what would have been his 40th birthday I wrote this.

Keith would have actually enjoyed his 41st birthday better than his 40th. He was obsessed with math, and particularly enjoyed calendar math. This probably had something to do with being born on the 11th day of the 11th month. I remember in 1981 how he cherished turning 11 on 11/11. I also remember in the mid to late '90s how this 20 something was telling me what would happen on his 41st birthday. I mean hey this was before people were even worrying about Y2k!

Yes, today his 41st birthday is on 11/11/(20)11. The kid would certainly dig that. The only thing he might have wanted to change, if he could go back in time (a concept, he often thought about), would to be born 3 decades later and turn 11 on 11/11/11. I am not sure my Mom, who would have given birth at age 60, would have appreciated that.

In honor of Keith's posthumous achievement I posted this at 11:11 this morning. We all miss you Keith. The memories we have of you, and the knowledge that you are in Heaven, help us get through each birthday and every day we spend without you.

HSBA, COH, and ME

This weeks Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Under the Golden Apple Tree. My recent post about Birthdays and Homeschooling can be found there as well as many fine homeschooling posts that I am looking forward to sampling in the days to come.

I will be hosting next weeks COH and submissions can be emailed to CarnivalOfHomeschooling@gmail.com Be sure to include the following:

Title of Post

URL of Post

Name of Blog

URL of Blog

Brief summary of the post

You can also send submissions in via Blog Carnival

There is a carnival atmosphere around the internet due to the recent nomination announcement at the HSBA. I am excited that this blog has been again nominated in the Best Dad blog category as well as Funniest Homeschool blog. You can check out all the fine nominations and vote for my blog and the rest of your favirites by clicking here.

Besides shameless self promotion of the awards I will also be revealing which blogs I voted for in various categories during the voting period which ends November 17th.

In the first category, Favorite Homeschool Mom Blog I voted for Homespun Juggling. This is by far my favorie homeschooling blog that I don't write myself (see previous sentence about shameless self promotion.), As a reminder of why I like her blog so much read this.

So check out the carnival, submit a post for next week, check out the HSBA nominations and vote for your favorites *Hint Hint :)*

Next Time: HSD Rewind.

Birthdays and Home Schooling

Like many home school parents, I was not home educated. Unlike my kids I went to school rather than stay at home. One of my favorite days to "go" to school was on my birthday. I loved going on my birthday, bringing candy for my class. I also loved when it was someone elses birthday and they brought in candy.

At our home school we have a tradition of taking the day off school on our children's birthdays. Last week Spider Droid went all double digits on us.

When SD was younger he really enjoyed trains. He loved playing with trains, watching and reading Thomas the Tank engine stories, visiting train museums, riding trains. He loved all things trains. As he has become interested in other things like robotics, Lego's and soccer, his train love has waned a bit. Thomas is old news, and he only plays with his trains when younger kids come to visit. He still likes to ride trains, though.

So for his birthday we went on a short family train trip. 2 of his friends, brothers who had gone to Joplin with us, came with. We took a Chicago commuter train from one suburb to another. Our destination was a place called the Choo Choo Cafe. It is a real cool restaurant that serves your food on a model train.

Here are some pics or Spider Droids special day. . .

After we ate lunch the train brought out some ice cream for the kids.

Not all our birthday celebrations are so elaborate. This was a nice birthday/field trip. So I got to wondering how other home educators spend birthdays. If you are visiting from this weeks Carnival of Homeschooling please comment and tell me what you do for birthdays. To get back to the Carnival click here.

Next Time: HSBA Challenge