A Light bulb Moment with my Sensory Intense Child and her PJs

October 29, 2013 by 1 Comment

As our evening temperatures drop, I have been putting my children in warmer jammies at night. Not footed jammies, but light weight pants and a long sleeved t-shirt or night gown. My youngest, who has Sensory Processing Disorder wasn’t handling this. She wasn’t getting rest which meant I wasn’t getting rest. She also only had one pair of pants that would fit her.

Buying Clothes for the Sensory Intense Child

I went shopping for some new jammie pants and could not find anything. Then my seven year old found some leggings. Now, I am not one to put my children in leggings, but knowing that Hannah was struggling with the pants we had, I thought, they are rolling or sliding up her legs and bunching up about half way between her ankles and knees. (there were always little indentations one her legs there). Leggings are tapered and probably wouldn’t do that. Guess what? It worked. She has slept well for the last few weeks. So, I am soon off to buy a few more pair of leggings for her to sleep in.

Purchasing clothing for your Sensory Intense Child:

  • Cotton or nearly all cotton
  • No tags on the clothing
  • None of the bling on the clothes that will irritate sensitive skin
  • Stretchy, so they move with your children
  • layers, so they can shed as needed through the day.
  • No turtle necks or anything tight around the neck, arms etc.

Please note, many of the cotton pants will not meet the code for fireproof pajamas for children. You MUST decide if this is something that will bother you as you sleep.

As the holidays are just around the corner, our sensory intense children will have more struggles. To help them, and to make this season easier, I suggest getting a plan together, having some pages for them to work on and be sure to have some down time for those days that you and your children just need a break. To help you gather those resources, don’t forget to grab the Inspired Holiday Bundle with 25 eBooks to help you get a head start on it all.

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Helping your children learn to live with their little sensitivities will help them be able to live a full life as adults.

Filed Under: special needs homeschooling Tagged With: ,

From Cloth Diapers to Herbal Medicine, Help for the Natural Mother

June 10, 2013 by Leave a Comment

The longer I am a mother, the more I want to use better, safer, less chemically infused products in our family. The eBook bundle I am telling you about today, will offer you a great bundle of resources to get your started on moving your family to more natural, less chemical products in your home. For use for or with your children to using them to clean, cook, and care for your family, these eBooks will guide you along the way to safer, healthier ideas and recipes for a cleaner, happier, healthier home.

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Filed Under: babywearing, Breastfeeding, cloth diapers, garden, Health, homemade cleaning products recipes, homemaking, special needs homeschooling Tagged With: , ,

Sensory Processing Disorder in Our Family

June 9, 2013 by 2 Comments

Last week, VBS and Hannah brought me to tears. When she hits her overload, most don’t get it. She has sensory processing disorder or Sensory Processing Dysfunction…AKA SPD or Sensory Integration Disorder.

Sensory Processing Disorder in Our Family

Too much noise, too much activity, too much color, too much light, too hot, too cold, too much change, being unsure, not knowing what to do, it all leads to…. MELTDOWNS. Meltdowns are not tantrums.

Meltdown vs. Tantrum, What is the difference?

Well, in the early stages it can be hard to tell. But, as it progresses, the child will lose more and more control. They stop making eye contact, they don’t care what is going on or who is watching them. They most likely won’t remember what exactly set them off. The child can get hurt, as they thrash around, run into things and lose more an more control.

What Sensory Processing Disorder Looks Like for Hannah

Hannah has Meltdowns…she has tantrums too, but I have learned to see those meltdowns coming from miles away. I see her triggers, before she even knows something is happening. She gets antsy, clinging, she will need to potty, potty again, and soon starts crying. Many times a meltdown will start out much like a tantrum, but then it escalates, and people begin to think to themselves, or many times out loud or in their body language, that she is the most spoiled child around.

For instance, this past weekend, we attended the Teach Them Diligently Convention in Omaha, she attended the children’s program and handled it pretty well. She had her older sister step in to help her along a couple of times, but never did I have to go take care of her, never did she reach a full meltdown.

Vacation Bible School, didn’t work. She hit meltdown two out of the four days, and was near it the other two days.

Hannah has tight heal cords which result in an awkward gait, she wears braces at night to help her overcome this. The wearing of braces at night tend to set us up for more sensory issues during the day.

Hannah has some speech challenges. That may be a result of medication she had to have when she was born.

She has vision challenges, but the SPD plays a part in helping that, as her glasses really bother her.

Hannah doesn’t like to wear hats much, but will let me tie a scarf around her head to cover her ears.

Hannah likes her bed full…full of blankets, full of stuffed animals and full of books. If there is nothing in it, she isn’t sleeping there and will be found in my bed between hubby and I smooshed, just like she likes it.

She struggles wearing the seat straps of her car seat correctly.

Shoes are a huge bother, as are socks, shirts, pants.

Potty training was well good, until she got sick at not quite 2.5, and then well, it took us for ever to get her re-potty trained. In fact this is the first week she has worn underwear successfully since she was 2. She is now 4.5.

Hannah only likes some blankets. She loves Minky, she loves fuzzy things. Silky things are a bad, bad thing.

Cotton clothes are all she wears…anything else and well, you will see her stripping no matter where she is…last summer we had a lesson at church.

Hannah doesn’t eat hard to chew foods (most of her meat it cut into very tiny bites). She won’t eat cheese on anything, but loves cheese sticks. Chips as far as she is concerned are a food group.

You know how a warm to hot bath feels great to you? Not for Hannah, she likes them…almost ice cold. It took us a long time to figure that out.

Hannah IS a gift from God. She blesses our family daily. She has taught us compassion on a level many never learn.

Hannah has beat the odds. She survived an extremely low blood oxygen saturation of 21%-24% in the first 1.5 hours after birth. She walked at 9 months, she talked around 12 months, she writes, she draws, she loves. Hannah LOVEs her family. She LOVES babies. She LOVES animals.

first day nicu

God has a plan for Hannah, HE is going to use her to build His kingdom for glory.

When Hannah has a bad day, or even days, they are bad. She looks normal, you can’t tell by looking anything is “different”. See, 25-50 years ago, a baby born with Hannah’s trouble at birth…wouldn’t have lived, or would have been so brain damaged, they would never have had the opportunity to go to “normal” activities.

Hannah on a good day, is normal. You won’t see anything different.

When Hannah gets sick….SHE GETS SICK!! That is one reason you won’t see Hannah out and about with other children during the worst of the cold and flu season. Her lungs are a little weaker than yours or mine. She gets a cold, she very often will end up with pneumonia.

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How to Help the Child with Sensory Processing Disorder

Parenting a child with Sensory Processing Disorder will either have you bawling all day every day or bring you to your knees. You do almost anything to prevent a meltdown, while trying to help guide your child to accept new situations, textures, and other things they will encounter in life, without hitting the point that they meltdown and learn nothing from it. You nearly always feel like you are riding the narrow edge of a fence.

Some are able to get their children into Occupational and Physical Therapy and that helps their children with Sensory Processing Disorder. Some take it day by day and allow God to guide them in what they do. We are relying on God to help us know what and when to do different things with Hannah. We have done brushing. She has lots of “sensory” type toys. At this time, it is new situations that can send her into a meltdown. Most anything else we are able to ease into or easily adapt/avoid.

On a bad day, you will think Brad and I are the worst parents ever. You will think we spoil her rotten. You will see us remove her from a situation, and think we are spoiling her. No, we are doing what is BEST for HER. Every new situation is a struggle. It is very scary for her. This is probably the time I should tell you that special needs children DO hear those comments, they DO feel that body language, they DO see those looks. Me, well, I am used to it, but it does hurt me to see it. Why? Because it seems society has forgotten that God, yes, God as in the God in the Bible, created these children in His image, just as He did you and I.

Filed Under: Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Homeschool Convention, Christian Mothering, Christian Wife, homeschool, special needs homeschooling, Teach Them Diligently Tagged With:

Teaching Special Needs Children to Read

April 17, 2013 by 3 Comments

One of the biggest challenges for homeschool parents is teaching reading, and for a homeschool parent with children who have special needs, that big challenge can seem almost insurmountable for many. Teaching Special Needs Children to Read in the Homeschool can have extra challenges too, as you need to understand what the learning block is, and you also have to learn to over come it. I have so far, taught two children to read, only one with special needs, but their needs were not hugely preventing them to learn to read. However three more of my children have needs that are making this a huge challenge.

Over the last month or two though, there has been a huge LIGHTBULB moment. I started using more than one Phonics/Learning to Read curriculum at a time. In fact each day, my children are using three to four throughout the day.

Why more than one curriculum?

Why do I believe this is working?

  • They see that letter sounds are used in more than their phonics books
  • They are seeing many of the same letter taught a little differently in each of the programs, but used the same way in the same or similar words.
  • The different programs reach different areas of the brain, utilizing the different learning gates.
  • By spreading it through the day, they are thinking about it more than the typical 15 minutes that a single program would have them.
  • By learning more than one letter a day in different settings, they are seeing how the whole alphabet works together to form more words.

This approach takes time, quite a bit of time actually, but I am teaching four at a time, at four different levels using the same basic three to four curriculums each day.

What Curriculums am I using to teach my Special Needs Children to Read?

We are using All About Reading and All About Spelling with all four, teaching the same thing to each at the same time each day. This is working wonderfully, and I am planning to purchase the next levels in May or August at one of the Teach Them Diligently events I am attending.

Both of these programs use hands on, auditory and visual learning gates to help the children gain and learn the concepts you are teaching. It is somewhat teacher intensive, but with the way I have set it up to keep all four at the same level and using them in a group setting, it is only taking be about 45-60 minutes a day to use both programs.

All About Reading is wonderful for those children struggling to learn to read, who have vision . The letters on the pages and the pictures are large and clear for them.

Teach Your Child to Read Online

While I work with two of my children on their math, two of my children are using Reading Eggs on either a tablet or computer. This keeps them practicing phonics/reading skills, and learning, while I get a little one on two time with my children who need a little extra time to go over other concepts. Reading Eggs is a computer based program, and online, but I have noticed that my children are learning not only new words phonetically, but many sight words we haven’t covered in their other lessons. This saves me a bit of time and umm, shall I say frustration?

Explode the Code has been our family’s long standing phonics curriculum. However, with several with special needs all needing to learn to read at about the same time, I have found that they need Explode the Code and the above curriculums mentioned. Explode the code makes it fun, and helps me work with each on a more one on one level, but also gives us a little extra practice.

The special needs we are working with while I am trying to teach reading are:

  • Amblyopia
  • Strabismus
  • Suspected ADHD
  • Speech challenges. (Both All About Reading and All About Spelling are helping with this as we learn isolated letter sounds and blends.)
  • Advanced learner
  • Fine Motor delays

What our Day Looks Like

Each day we start out with All About Spelling, and work for about twenty minutes together. Then we move to All About Reading, working together, taking about twenty to twenty-five minutes. We then split up and the first and second graders do math while the Pre-Kers do their Reading Eggs. Then we swap or many times it is lunch time or time to make lunch and break until after nap, and swap. After nap we will start in with math and Reading Eggs or move on to Explode the Code, if we had already finished math and Reading Eggs.

Explode the code takes us about 25-30 minutes, as none of the four children are on the same pages, so I instruct one, move on to the next while the previous works on their own, then check, move on and so forth.

Between four children, I am spending about 90 minutes a day teaching them to read. However, that 90 minutes is split up into two to three segments each day. Many programs on the market say it should take about 30 minutes a day to teach their program. So, considering I am teaching four at the same time, 90 minutes is actually pretty good time.

Over the last couple of months, that we have been working on phonics/reading in this manner, I have seen more improvement than I did all year. We have had each of the above programs for more than one year and though we saw progress, it wasn’t what I wanted to see.

If you are struggling to help your child learn to read, I highly recommend trying to combine more than one program together and see how it goes.

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Filed Under: ADHD/ADD, Homeschool Computer Use, Homeschool curriculum review, Homeschool Preschool, special needs homeschooling, Teach Them Diligently, vision therapy Tagged With: , , , ,

Eye Patching Fun? Yes it is!

March 19, 2013 by 2 Comments

What is eye patching? Eye Patching is where a child wears a patch over their strong eye to help correct vision in their weaker eye. There are a few different reasons a doctor prescribes eye patching, and I am not going into that here, but I am going to give you a few ways to make eye patching easier for you and a little more fun for your child.

Making Eye Patching for Visual Health Fun

If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know that I have four children with glasses…FOUR. One of these sweet blessings was legally blind when she got her first pair. As in, 20/600 just for fun the Ophthalmologist said..

“Wow, at her last appointment, in August (which was just 4 months ago at the time) she was 20/30?”

“Yes, sir”

“Just for fun, since she is already legally blind, let’s see how far on the scale she is… We stop at 20/600, and she is there”

“OUCH, can you fix this”

“We can make it better, but you are going to be working very hard for the next several years. She is going to need to wear an eye patch on her good eye for several years, an hour to hour and a half a day.”

And so the time is now over three years later, and with glasses she has 20/30 to 20/40 vision. Unless you are asking her to read, you probably wouldn’t notice a thing was wrong, but when you are diagnosed as legally blind at the age of three and you are walking around with a patch on your good eye a good part of the day, you fall behind on a few skills. Reading is one of those. She is at a kindergarten level right now and making leaps and bounds. If you happen to make a comment to her about being behind, this momma bear comes out in full force. She doesn’t understand that the patches are NOT causing her to be behind. In her mind the patches kept her from being able to learn to read, when really it is the amblyopia that has caused it.

So, imagine if you will, last summer going to Sunday School after “finishing” your first grade year at home and you are asked to read aloud something from the paper in class. You can’t read, and know some letters, but when you look at that page, the letters are bouncing all over, and now you have tears running down your face, you ask to go potty and you actually go find your mommy because you can’t read and don’t want anyone to know it. You tell your mommy you aren’t wearing the patches anymore, because they make it so you can’t read.

Now, imagine being the mom of this six year old little girl, who hates wearing these patches, even at home, and trying to find a way to make them fun. You know that reading is the least of your concerns.

So, I dug out the craft supplies and we went town learning what would and wouldn’t work to decorate her patches. Let’s just say she has some of the snazziest blingiest patches around.

What works to decorate eye patches:

  • Sticky back foam shapes…get the girls some with glitter.
  • Sticky backed jewels
  • Glitter Glue
  • Scrapbooking stickers (they are “stickier” than regular stickers
  • Markers
  • Rubber Stamps and Ink Pads
  • Sequins and Glue

Decorated Eye Patches for Visual Health

Be creative, there are many ways to allow your child to decorate these. Boys would have fun making crazy faces on them with paper, glue and googly eyes.

How to get your child to wear the patch. This is where screen time and special activities come in. This is not the time for bike rides, and Physical Education classes. Their vision is not going to be that great while patching, and we don’t want them to get injured.

Making Eye Patching for Visual Health Fun

Activities we do while Eye Patching:

  • Reading Eggs
  • Decorate the patches for the next week
  • Coloring pages
  • Math Apps on our tablet
  • Angry Birds—This is awesome to help them track with their bad eye.
  • Watching a Movie
  • Playing board games
  • Computer Games or Education Computer activities, many times they don’t know they are learning.
  • For the older child, have them do math and phonics, even copywork, but go easy on the messy handwriting, and have them go over the answers orally, in case they missed something due to not being able to see it very well. Winking smile Making Eye Patching for Visual Health Fun

Make a patching box of activities they can only get out while wearing their patch

We buy our eye patches from Krafty Eye Patches. They have kits for decorating, and that is how we started the whole decorating eye patches. However, she wanted more variety and fun the older she got. We are still eye patching nearly daily and she is nearly eight years old. She doesn’t mind near as much now, as she used to. However, during allergy season, patching doesn’t happen much, as she soon looks like a raccoon due to her eyes swelling and face turning bright red. Her doctor understands and works with us on this.

This is another area we use technology in our homeschool to help her have fun while wearing her eye patch. To learn more about technology use in homeschool, check out Sidetracked Sarah and Raising Arrows

Do you have a child who has to wear an eye patch? What do you do to make eye patching fun?

Filed Under: Christian Home, Health, homeschool, Homeschool Computer Use, special needs homeschooling, vision therapy Tagged With: , ,

Technology in Home Education & Beyond

March 11, 2013 by 1 Comment

The use of technology in home education and beyond is a relatively new idea. As the world around us becomes more technological, we as homes educators have a responsibility to make sure we teach technology in our children’s home education, to help them compete in the technological age.

Teaching technology in home education does not need to be challenging. Children don’t have to know how to run every little gadget or piece of software, but they need to know a few basics in computer use.

Basic knowledge needed for students and computer use:

  • Setting up a simple spreadsheet
  • Saving files
  • Basic email
  • Email and Social Media etiquette
  • Typing and formatting word-processing documents
  • Simple photo editing
  • Ten Keypad input
  • Basic Research
  • Purchasing from online stores

Technology in home education can really help the special needs child excel in academics and other areas. Our dysgraphic child has made leaps and bounds using the computer for school. His spelling, sentence and paragraph structure have improved tremendously. However, we also have him use pen and paper for more than half of his work.

Ways we use technology in home education:

  • Streaming movies online, history, science, Bible and more, from YouTube, Netflix, and more
  • Wondermaps~I use my PowerPoint Project to project maps on a white board, and then have my kiddos label.

Bright Ideas Press, also has monthly specials and Freebies to keep an eye out on.

  • Teaching Textbooks~takes the headache of teaching math off my shoulders.
  • Reading Eggs~Re-enforces skills and helps them learn new skills. Great for days, we don’t have good phonics days with our visually challenged kiddos.
  • We do some vision therapy on our tablet, though not as much as we used too.
  • Apps on our Android Tablet that help practice skills and train or fine tune skills such as math drills, handwriting, reading comprehension, spelling and more!
  • eReader on our Tablet, helps me save money on books, by allowing me to get tons of free books. Watch Free Homeschool Deals for tons and tons of free eBooks and other great homeschool deals. Many of which you will need a computer for.
  • I use my printer ALL the TIME!

Ways I use Technology to keep myself organized:

  • Motivated Moms’ Planner~This planner helps me keep my home more organized. If you struggle, be sure to check it out!!
  • Scholaric ~Use this link to get SIXTY full days in your trial, vs. the normal 15 day trial. I am LOVING THIS! It has helped organise my kiddos school work and given them check list in with their assignments, so no excuses!!
  • Pinterest~I gather tons of free homeschool helps here
  • I am able to spread awareness for homeschoolers, God and more by blogging. Blogging, also helps pay for my trips to conventions!
  • I find tons of healthy recipes online. I also learned to can some new items this year through a canning Facebook Group.
  • I design spreadsheets for our bookkeeping needs for our Farm, saving me tons of time.
  • I have an online photo album to keep grandparents up to date on our happenings. (They aren’t in to reading blogs, but will look through our pictures)

We do limit the amount of time our children spend in front of the screen. When it comes to research, they must look through books and try to find needed information there, before going online. We only allow “fun” approved movies a couple of nights a week. We also have K9 Web Protection on our computers with strict limits. I set limits on our other programs as well. We encourage lots of hands on projects, reading, and playing together instead of using the screen as a form of entertainment.

Would you like to hear more about technology in home education? Amy, Sarah and I will be on a Technology Panel discussing our use of Technology in our Homeschools at the Midwest Parent Educators Conference April 4-6 in Kansas City.

How do you use technology in home education in your home?

Filed Under: Christian Family, Christian Mothering, dysgraphia, homeschool, Homeschool Convention, special needs homeschooling, vision therapy Tagged With: , , , ,

Hard Days in Homeschool~Facing the reality of special needs and learning disabilities

February 15, 2012 by 2 Comments

This is hard to write, but there are days that homeschooling is so hard, you want to crawl in a hole. 

Why?

Some days no matter how you explain a concept, you feel as you are failing, as a teacher in teaching your child something new.  If you happen to ask someone else who isn’t homeschooling how to maybe explain it differently, you many times will be told to just do the easy thing and send them to public school. 

What people don’t understand, is that homeschooling isn’t just a choice, it is a calling from God for many of us. 

I have had several of these hard homeschool days.  Many in a row.  For me the hardest is to decipher when a child is struggling:

  • Are they sick?
  • Are they being lazy?
  • Are they truly not understanding?
  • Am I being that confusing?
  • Am I setting up a power struggle?
  • Is something else up?
  • Is this related to something that they are worried about?
  • A change coming in the family?

So, as we are struggling through many hard days, I am asking myself these questions.  My current thoughts are:

  • I am leaving for a week in one month and that may be causing unsaid stress.
  • Because I don’t like the attitude with chores and other things around the house from one child, I may be causing a bit of a power struggle.
  • I haven’t ever left for more than 24 hrs other then to have a baby.

Taking this all into consideration, I believe that I do have to push through these days, but take into consideration that we are adapting to a change they aren’t used to. 

Doing school until 9 pm is not something I like, but, in order to make sure my children understand that in real life, you still have to get things done, we do push them to finish a days work, completely, correctly, and learn to do it in a timely manner. 

If our children were in public school and had a day where they didn’t get their work done, they would be bringing it home as homework.

If they have a job and don’t get their work done, it doesn’t go away, they will have it after hours, or the next day, and could even lose their jobs.

Teaching these hard lessons at a young age, will help our children be better prepared to be adult members of society.

However, as a mom, this can be very discouraging, and at times even depressing.  As a homeschool mom, we are expected by “other” parents to always have it together, for our children to win the spelling, geography bees, and score perfect on the SAT or ACT.  Reality though, is homeschool children struggle too, homeschool children are just like other children and not perfect, they make mistakes and some of those mistakes they learned from their imperfect parents.

The pressure from society, who believe that homeschool is always easy, and these children are all geniuses is well, a little tough to think that we must live up to, and I know several who struggle to face the reality that they might have a child who does struggle.  In fact five years ago, it was a taboo to admit that your child might have a learning disability, and well, honestly in some areas it still is.  This is honestly only hurting the children worse.  They never get the help they need. 

I know homeschool parents still today, who say that learning disabilities are not an issue in a homeschool, because the parent can modify everything to meet the child’s needs.  But…

Doesn’t the child still have to learn how to work without modifications some day or with less or self made modifications?  Isn’t our goal still to help our children become functioning members of society?

The reality is, children everywhere need to be accepted for who they are, and as parents and teachers if a child is struggling, we need to find out.  By not finding out, and learning how to help these children succeed, we are neglecting a need they have.  This need many times can be just as important as a medical need. 

So, next time you see a homeschool mom who is struggling, who has a child that might be having a rough day, don’t assume that it is because mom isn’t doing her job.  Many times this is the true reality at home, this mother is working and working hard to meet the needs of her children, but they don’t always have the support they need.

Many homeschooling moms of special needs children get their support online.  There are several places on line to get some help!

 
 
Homeschool Legal Defense Association Special Needs Helps
 
When you see a mom who is struggling with a child, lead her to people who can help, offer her an ear, give her a hug and pray for her.  Hard days are normal, but the result is so worth this sacrifice.

 

Filed Under: ADHD/ADD, Christian Family, Christian Home, Christian Mothering, dysgraphia, encouragement, homeschool, special needs homeschooling, vision therapy Tagged With: , , ,

Math Mammoth Light Blue First Grade Series

November 12, 2011 by 1 Comment

Math has always been one of those subject that has been hard for me to teach, but I get most of it.  I have found something that works well for my older students, but for my younger students, I had been struggling. 

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Math Mammoth has changed all that though.  I am reviewing the Math Mammoth Light Blue series grade one.  It is a complete math program.  There are levels for students grades 1–6.  Each grade level includes two work text, A and B, which covers an entire year.

cover for Math Mammoth Grade 1-A Complete Worktextcover for Math Mammoth Grade 1-B Complete Worktext

Math Mammoth Light Blue Grade One:

 

The two student books (A and B) for 1st grade cover the following topics:

  • addition and subtraction concept and basic facts within 0-10
  • place value with 2-digit numbers (a.k.a. tens and ones)
  • some adding and subtracting within 0-100
  • some geometry and measuring topics
  • reading clock to the half-hour
  • counting and using coins (US, Euro, or Canadian)

Some main features of the Lightblue Series books are:

  • focuses on understanding of mathematical concepts
  • uses clear explanations, lots of visual exercises and pattern exercises
  • mastery oriented: concentrates fairly long on a topic, with fairly few topics per grade
  • emphasizes mental math and developing number sense
  • very little teacher preparation needed

You will need the following manipulatives, which are easy to find:

  1. A 100-bead abacus (for 1-B; especially in the place value chapter)
  2. An old-fashioned alarm clock or other analog clock where you can turn the minute hand and the hour hand will turn as it is supposed to (for 1-B).
  3. A ruler that measures in inches (for 1-B).
  4. A ruler that measures in centimeters (for 1-B).

Math Mammoth Light Blue has been a wonderful thing for our first grader.  The lessons can be as long or as short as you want them to be.  The pages are not cluttered and therefore are nice for a child with vision challenges.  She loves to work through the pages. 

There are some links to games and extra activities to further help your child gain the confidence in new concepts needed to continue on in their math journey.

The teacher instruction pages are not overwhelming for the teacher, they have simple yet effective directions to help instruct your child through new concepts.

Sample pages are available for you to look through as you make your purchasing decisions.   There are also placement test to help you figure out which level your child is ready for.

I am thoroughly impressed with this program so far.  I have found that my daughter is really understanding new concepts and is also able to recall previous concepts.  For the small price ($34), this is one of those , I can’t believe it really works type of programs, but it does, and it is does not seem to leave a bunch of holes like many of the other early math curriculums I have tried.

Click below to see other reviews from the crew!!

 

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As part of the TOS Crew, I have received this program free for my personal and honest review.

Filed Under: homeschool, Homeschool curriculum review, special needs homeschooling, vision therapy Tagged With: , ,

Educating the Strong Willed, I don’t need to know this Child…Creative Unit Studies

October 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

First, be ready to get creative.

And by creative, don’t let them know they are learning something unless you have too…Grammar is going to be one of those.

Now, I am not saying that all educational activities should be fun.  In fact, children must learn to not be entertained. 

However, history, science, geography and Bible really have no excuse to be boring.  By making these subjects fun, you can alternate the more “boring” subjects in.  In fact many times I try to have those fun subjects spice up the boring:

For a “boring” writing assignment, we would watch a documentary on the Pythons taking over the Everglades, and then I would have my “Nature Boy” make an outline, then write about it, and what his thoughts on gaining control of the situation are. 

Subjects covered:

  • Science
  • Grammar
  • Writing
  • Spelling
  • Geography
  • Possibly History
  • Math~distance between us and this area. Winking smile
  • Bible~Being a PBS show…I suspect there will be some evolution.

I have taken four or five “boring” subjects and made it into a interesting assignment.  Most likely my strong willed child will not realize what I have done. Sneaky, I know.  But, as a homeschool mom who wants to break out of the public school mold, this is a great way to get on the same level as your child. In fact this type of a lesson is great for our special needs students.

With my dysgraphia child, we can also add computer science to the mix, as he will be making a PowerPoint, and using the computer to type out his “report”. 

I am also working on putting together a Thanksgiving study using products for A Journey Through Learning, and The Learning Parent.

What creative ways have you been able to “educate” your children?

Filed Under: ADHD/ADD, dysgraphia, homeschool, special needs homeschooling Tagged With: , , ,

And Another Change…Another Child with Vision Challenges.

September 11, 2011 by 5 Comments

In December 2010, we found out our then five year old had amblyopia and strambismus.  She had been to the optometrist at the age of three, so she was due for an exam.  Her condition at the time left her with 20/400 vision, which is legally blind.  At her last exam in April, she had with glasses 20/40-20/60.  We have a goal to improve her vision to 20/20 without glasses, however, that is purely a goal, and up to God’s healing.

Well, this past week, we had more vision exams for our children.  Our soon to be 12 old got new glasses, and we found out our now five year old, who was screened in March, likely has the same issues, plus a few more then our now six year old mentioned above.  We go back to the optometrist on Wednesday for more testing, and to get an idea of our treatment plan.

What does this mean for homeschooling?

  • I made a change in our school almost immediately that I would not add our 3.5 yr old to the K-1st grade group.  There is a huge blessing to that, as it is my K-1st who have the vision challenges.
  • They will be able to use the same curriculum, and will most likely be able to do vision therapy together.
  • I had always planned to school them together, and this just keeps it a little more likely
  • We will be doing lots more hands on learning then originally planned
  • Lots of Dry Erase Crayon Use on homemade printables that have been laminated
  • We will be doing lots of lapbooks, some of which I plan to make myself, and send back to my ladies at AJTL to possibly sell. 

I am not finding any materials on the web for these children.  This means, I will be creating a lot of my own.  If you know of some, please let me know.  I appreciate your prayers as I head into this next journey God has chosen me to follow.

Filed Under: Christian Mothering, Health, homeschool, Lapbooking, special needs homeschooling, vision therapy Tagged With: , , , ,

Discouragement in the Homeschool Trenches~Really in only week 3? Digging out!!

August 30, 2011 by 3 Comments

 

This week hasn’t quite gone like I wanted it to. Between appointments and baling hay we haven’t been able to start school in the mornings, and well, school work in the afternoons doesn’t seem to be working out. And if not getting school isn’t enough, chores are all messed up too.

If I make a schedule or routine, I really like to stick with it. Our days just flow better…But, does that mean it is the best for our family? I mean, I used to be so spontaneous, but why not now?

  • Old Age?
  • Larger Family?
  • Set in My ways?

I don’t’ know, but I do know that cooler temperatures and getting dark earlier, really can’t come soon enough. Yep, I said that out loud. But, that isn’t best for our family either…That will mean the hay harvest is over and we really can’t afford that quite yet, See, we have been in a drought and well, the hay has been super slim this year. So, nope not the solution…

See, the thing is, during all this discouragement, you can find your way out. It is in that big book the Bible… in fact, as I was looking over a couple of my recent devotion lessons from a book I will be reviewing in a couple of weeks, I remembered a lesson on discouragement while homeschooling. In fact, it really has helped me understand that these challenges and frustrations are all part of the journey we will have this side of Heaven.

He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. Jonah 2:2

See, here is probably where I went wrong so far this week, instead of calling out to God, I called my husband. That is not to say that my husband doesn’t care, but exactly what can he do when he is 5 miles from the house?

When we are distressed, we need to call out to God, then if we feel the need to talk to someone call on them.

These challenges that we face here on Earth will build us, mold us and prepare us for the future that God has planned for us.

So, as I get ready to put my children to bed, and prepare for tomorrow, we are going to have a do over. We will have a better day because my attitude will be better, because I will allow God to guide me.

Even though Satan seems to have invited himself in, I say get out. Honestly, I would love to go out on the range with my hubby’s 20 gauge and pretend my target is Satan and blow him away. Nothing like the kick of the butt of a 20 gauge to make you feel better…at least until morning when you can’t move your arm.

So, when the homeschool trenches seem to overwhelm you and bury you in discouragement, grab hold of your faith, the word of God and pray about it all. The answers may not be there right away, but I can say that the little changes that you are called by God to make will add up to a better year in the end. This is a marathon, not a sprint.
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Filed Under: Bible Study, Christian Family, Christian Mothering, homeschool, large family homeschool, special needs homeschooling Tagged With: ,

Goal Planning Monday

August 29, 2011 by 1 Comment

This week I have several goals…most all go along with finishing up some homeschool organization ideas.

Organizational Goals:

  • Put imagetogether five book cases
  • enter all new books into library database
  • Put stickers on new books
  • Put all books on shelves in an organized manner.
  • Finish organizing the dining room.

My Job Related Goals:

  • Make a list of blog post ideas
  • work on project ideas
  • Keep up on Twitter, Facebook and Blog comments and updates

Homeschool Goals:

  • Complete all family subjects
  • Help Oldest develop a better attitude
  • Work on homeschool projects
Filed Under: Goal Planning Monday, homemaking, homeschool, homeschool organization, household organization, special needs homeschooling Tagged With: ,

If it isn’t Working, Fix it…Don’t be Owned by Curriculum that isn’t working…

August 25, 2011 by 5 Comments

As a fairly seasoned homeschooler, I have had to learn this.  Sometimes it is a hard lesson, other times it is fairly easy to take.

Already into our second week, I am having to make a couple of changes. Character Quality Language Arts is one of those changes.  This is the second time I have tried this and really, it just is too much for our family.  I can see how it would work ok for a smaller family or a family who has mostly older students.  However, it is not a good fit for us.

So, I am now back to trying to find a writing curriculum for my third grader.  I am debating a couple of different approaches.  Write my own plans or,..hunt down something that will work? Praying, for now, as she is only beginning third grade, and is able to write sentences. 

What do you use? 

The other is one of our lapbooks.  Even though my son is in sixth grade, with his dysgraphia, he is just not ready to research, write the information down and build a lapbook.  So, we are doing a few things to make this better, because I LOVE the A Journey Through Learning TruthQuest supplements. They are wonderful and will benefit the family.

Here are the changes:

  • Student will help me find the information. 
  • I will type it or write it down on a separate piece of paper that they will then glue onto the booklets.
  • This will help them learn the steps of research and such.

My students on their own, will be completing some other lapbooks from A Journey Through Learning that will correspond with our history lessons.  These lapbooks have study guides or use only one book to complete each booklet.

Many times when a curriculum isn’t working for our family, I will modify it or eliminate parts of it.  However, with Character Quality Language Arts, it just seems that eliminating or modification for our family would be extremely time needy.  Time for me is an issue, so, I am hunting.

So, have your found something that just isn’t going to work as planned?  Is Modification possible?

Filed Under: homeschool, Lapbooking, large family homeschool, special needs homeschooling Tagged With: , ,

Creating a Creative Writing Center

August 24, 2011 by 1 Comment

The pictures in this post will be familiar, but I wanted to show how the supply organization has crossed over to our Writing Center.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my plans to put together a writing center. As I was thinking through how I would put together a writing center, I kept in mind that I have a very reluctant writer in my homeschool. I wanted to create an inviting organized area that would shout to him and say…come write. You don’t have to have an assignment.

This past week, I put it together and organized our writing center. I really like how it turned out, and with the new book shelves that I shamelessly have not put together yet, it will be even better.

First, I gathered all of our papers together and put them in an electric mixer box that I had saved sometime ago. (seriously covering this box with something would really pull this together).

We have several different types of paper:

  • Primary Lined
  • Intermediate Lined
  • Half Lined half blank for drawing and writing
  • Wide Ruled
  • Blank
  • Art drawing paper

This box sets on top of a dresser in our dining room where we do most of our written work.

Next I gathered every sort of writing utensil I could find. I sorted them and put them in a hanging shoe organizer. I also gather rulers, paper cutters, water color paints, stapler, hole punch to put in this organizer.

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I have glue, tape scissors and other sticky things hanging in a higher more out of reach organizer on the other door in the room.

My hope in having all the writing utensils out and available is to spark more creative writing without having to assign them.

Do you have a creative writing center?

Filed Under: dysgraphia, homeschool, homeschool organization Tagged With: , ,

Setting Realistic Long Term Goals for Your Christian Homeschooled Children?

August 2, 2011 by 2 Comments

We all have goals we want our children to obtain, but, are they the same goals that God has? 

When setting your goals in your homeschool, it is important to think outside the academic box. 

Is your ultimate goal, getting your child into an Ivy League University? 

or

Is it helping your child gain a firm foundation in their Christian walk, being ready to serve when they leave your home?

Now, I know there are tons of goals for you to have for your children, but many times, I hear way too much about some big college where they will most likely work very hard to un-teach the many moral and Biblical values you have spent years instilling in your children being a big goal for so many families. This kind of goal seems to go above the goals that God may have planned for your child. 

How can I say that?

Well, for beginners, if you are setting a goal of getting your child into a college/university, have you considered the God given talents and abilities your child was born with?  Do the goals you have planned for your child take advantage of these talents?

I highly recommend parents carefully pray about the goals they set for their children.  I have a child whose goal in life is to be a missionary along the Amazon, while studying the animals, plants etc., while ministering to those he is working with.  Honestly, I am not sure my goal for him would be to be that far from home.  However, his love for animals and all of God’s creation is strong.  He wants to also help those in remote areas find God.  His goal is definitely realistic.  Therefore, I am supporting his goal.

As parents our goals for our children should be broader then just academic.  Academics have a place, but goals for their heart and soul are so much more important. 

As I plan goals for my children, I am digging deeper then the academic goals I see so many pushing.  I am setting goals for their long term heart and soul issues.  Their Christian beliefs and foundation.

How are you setting long term goals?

Filed Under: Christian Family, Christian Mothering, encouragement, homeschool, large family homeschool, On my heart, special needs homeschooling Tagged With: , ,

Watchminder 3 Review~Helping your child stay on track.

July 31, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Do you have a child who struggles staying on task?

Do they get “lost”?

What about you?

Watchminder 3 ($69) may be a little gadget that will help. It is a watch that you are able to set to alert or remind you or your child to the tasks ahead of them or that they should be doing.

My son loves this watch, in fact, I struggle to get it off long enough to be able to charge it each week. Watchminder 3 will help keep your child or yourself on track. My son’s favorite reminder I have set are the couple of reminders I set for him to come tell me. Winking smile I think that boost his confidence knowing that mom needs reminders too. Winking smile

 

Pros:

  • Helps child stay on track
  • Child loves wearing it.
  • Interchangeable wristbands
  • Rechargeable

Cons:

  • Can not fully customize reminders…I would like to have it tell student to do math now, or language arts, wash dishes etc. Instead I have it say the preprogramed sayings..homework, chores etc. You are not able to add your own sayings.
  • The battery needs recharged every week or you lose all settings.
  • It does take some time to set up.
  • I would like to be able to program it from my computer.

My son does stay on task better. It is nice to not to have to constantly remind him of what he should be doing throughout the day.

If you need something that is portable and able to physically remind you of your next task, Watchminder 3 may well be able to help you out.

I received one Watchminder 3 free in return for my honest review. I will receive no further compensation.

Filed Under: ADHD/ADD, homemaking, homeschool schedules, review, special needs homeschooling Tagged With: , ,

Organizational Week~Getting the Homeschool Ready

July 20, 2011 by 3 Comments

We all have them, days when we walk through the house and want to turn tail and run because there are messes everywhere. 

As we move through the house, we notice there is very little that can be done with these messes…

What?

Where did it all come from?

Typically around here, it means we haven’t been home much or have been busy on the farm.

This week, I have been working in our office, as I got new shelves and that has made a huge difference.  I also have been pulling out the tubs I used when we did Workboxes.  We are again going to do this for our homeschool, though a little differently.  I am putting together student assignment/record keeping notebooks for my oldest children this year.  I have also made a daily schedule for our family.  It will be included in the student assignment/record books.  

I have also been printing off all our eBooks, Lapbooks, and making copies for the first few weeks of school.  I still need to rewrite our lesson plans, but I am feeling oh so much better about them right now.  Many have been asking how are organize our eBooks.  To begin with, I have folders in my documents on my computer set up.  Then when I print them, I laminate the covers, bind them with my comb binder, and write on the spines what the title is, then they go on a shelf, or in a workbox, or family box.  If they will be used later and don’t fit in one of the above areas, they go in a file cabinet drawer.

My lapbooks, are printed and placed in file folders, then in a file cabinet or the appropriate workbox.

I have also organized my computer desk and work area.  I have a new shelf (found at a garage sale) that all new books go into until I have time to enter them into our Home Library Database, and upcoming review items, curriculum catalogs and such all go there.

On top of that shelf I have a file organization center (another garage sale find) that eBooks that need bound go, our speech, and other therapy manuals are here, and our sketch books are here.  All my blog things are here too…notebook, ledger, review schedule and such.  My most used CD roms are stored on the side with a  book end.  On the top is a basket that holds all our family school materials.

I organized our baker’s rack in the kitchen and straightened my baking area on my kitchen counter.

I am working on our writing center tub right now…I need some ideas for it though.  What do you keep in your creative writing area? 

I need to figure out an accessible, but out of reach from little fingers for our games.  My oldest two are playing games quite a bit, but then there are those little fingers that are causing a few problems with lost pieces, scattered cards and such.

How are you organizing for the up coming school year?  Are you overwhelmed?

Filed Under: homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool planning forms, homeschool schedules, household organization, large family homeschool, Large family homeschool planning forms, special needs homeschooling, vision therapy, Workbox system Tagged With: , , ,

Preparing for the New School Year…Drawing up some advanced biology lessons…

June 20, 2011 by 1 Comment

My oldest son, AKA Nature Boy here in these central Kansas parts, is a bit of a zoology/biology nut case. In fact, last year, he read my college Zoology text. I am not so sure he got much out of it, but it did keep him busy.

I honestly have yet to find something that is age appropriate for him for this year. Yes, there are GREAT highschool science courses, but I am not ready for him to take them. In fact, I am going to be using some elementary and middle school resource, but I will be beefing them up.

First, I will be requiring him to read some more advanced supplemental books. Christian Kids Explore Biology has a wonderful additional resource list. Many of them include items from Answers in Genesis. We will also be using Considering God’s Creation and Biology 101. We are also using Apologia Science materials.

Secondly, I am making and downloading worksheets to further challenge him. I will be having him do some experiments and maybe even a few dissections.

Places I have found some worksheets:

www.edhelper.com

http://teach.genetics.utah.edu

http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets.html

Do you have a child that is advanced in a subject for his age? How are you using age appropriate resources, but still challenging them?

Filed Under: homeschool, large family homeschool, special needs homeschooling Tagged With: , ,

Jumping Ship from the Institutionalized Educational Mindset in the Homeschool~Part 1 Grade levels and Start Dates

June 14, 2011 by 9 Comments

Over the years of homeschooling, I have become braver in getting away from the school at home mindset. However, I have also known, I needed to get farther away from that mindset in order to be able to attain our goals with our children.

Grade levels is one way I am doing that this year. I will be teaching two levels when it comes to math, and language arts (spelling, phonics, grammar, writing etc.). Everything else will again be taught as a family.

In years past, I have tried to teach three to four levels of math and language arts…this is tough, when it is all younger children. It seemed all I did was answer question, confuse myself and my children. In the end we were all grouchy and none of us learned much of anything.

So, I am making some changes, and actually making lesson plans ahead…as in I have two weeks planned for the next year. I hope to get around 6-9 weeks of school planned before we actually start. I bought one level of grammar instruction to use with my older two students. They will both be doing writing assignments also. The younger crowd will be doing phonics and math together. I know my 2.5 year old will not be grasping everything, but I imagine I will be surprised at what she does get.

Let’s think about this for umm, 39 seconds (as Dr. Voddie Baucham would say). Our babies and toddlers learn to talk, walk, crawl, eat, potty, and many other things by watching and following and participating within the family structure. Why wouldn’t they grasp some basic math, phonics, grammar, and spelling concepts during a preschool through first grade class set up? In reality, I am teaching kindergarten to my five and six year olds and will be having the two and three year olds sit in on the lessons and do similar worksheets and such.

We may not start our normal planned school as early as we normally do, and actually we are not schooling through the summer as I had planned…why?

Because this summer has been a bit busier then I expected. I don’t want homeschool to get in the way of our lives…fun family memories, or lifelong lessons.

We are learning lots through life learning…from farming, gardening, ministry with VBS, and many other activities.

We have company coming the beginning of July, then our county fair, and Bible camp. We also hopefully have lots of food to preserve during that time too. So, for now my plan is to hold off on starting our normal planned school until mid-August or September. We will be doing math and some lapbooking activities, and as always lots of reading and Bible discussions.

As homeschoolers, we have the ability to customize our calendar, lessons and grade levels to meet each child’s unique needs. By not letting the institutionalized school system bind us to their mindset and actually taking the unique needs of our family and children into consideration, we will be able to move ahead and make more progress on our own schedule then we would on the schedule set by someone else. We are able to set a schedule and plans and curriculum for fewer students in a unique setting, why do we allow ourselves to be bogged down by the four walled setting that society has adopted as the one and only form of education?

*Please note, I am speaking on homeschooling, not how the public school system should adopt my educational routines for my students. I am not producing mass numbers of students out of my classroom each year, therefore, I have more freedom in my educational choices for my family.

Filed Under: Christian Family, Christian Mothering, Farmwife, homeschool, homeschool organization, Homeschool Preschool, homeschool schedules, large family homeschool, Lifestyle of learning, special needs homeschooling, year around homeschool Tagged With: , ,

New Series Starting Up Next Week for those with Struggling Learners. Helping Your Learning Abled Child.

May 26, 2011 by 1 Comment

I am excited to let my readers know about an opportunity that my family has been blessed with. 

I contacted Learning Link Technologies after another blogger contacted me explaining the company was looking for review bloggers with struggling learners.  Since I have three with different issues, I contacted them, and we are now on our way to incorporating their activities into our daily routines.

Over the next several months, I will be blogging about our experience.  I am going to be showing the improvements or lack there of that we experience. 

I encourage you to follow my Facebook Page, and Twitter—links are in the sidebar for near daily updates.  I also encourage you to subscribe to my blog so you can follow along. 

Learning Link Technologies has resources for many different types of struggling learners…vision processing, Asperger’s, autism, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dyslexia, ADD, and ADHD among others.

I encourage you too look around the site and take note of the many resources offered.  The program we will be using is the online version, valued at $600. 

I am anxious to get started.  I may try to do a bit of vlogging as we go…hmm, maybe… someone might have to break my arm…

Filed Under: ADHD/ADD, dysgraphia, homeschool, special needs homeschooling, vision therapy Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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