Sometimes we use dice for math (and grammar, but that's a differen post)

Here are some pictures of our math dice.

These are 10 sides dice with another 10 sided inside.(the '0' is the '10') So if the outside lands on 6 and the inside is 3, the number is "63"  They use 2 or 3 of these and add, subtract, multiply and sometimes divide. usually I use the 3dice divided by a 2dice

The top 3 dice here have 3 inside. These are the ones we use for dividing. There is also a 6sided inside of a six sided in the picture.

Here are our fraction dice and our math operation dice. Also shown are the decimal dice. Sometimes we use both types together and they have to change the decimal to a fraction or vice versa.

These are our 12 sided, 10 sided and 8 sided. For when I want them to have numbers bigger than 6.... or 66...

Here is an example of double 8 sided and the operation dice....

A more simple math sentence with dice......

and our many 6 sideds... I often just tell them to use 3 to make the BIGGEST number they can and then 3 to make the smallest number for subtraction (usually Ki) or division (the other two)

Double Doodles is an activity where you draw the same thing with both hands at the same time and they are mirror image of each other. It's good for getting the eyes to work with the brain and getting both sides of the brain to work together at he same time.

here is Connor-

Here is Gavin-

The Schoolroom after school today- we all cleaned up well today.

Here is Ki writing his story yesterday-

Connor and Gavin writing their spelling words yesterday-

I have written a little project book for my son with Asperger's Syndrome. I have emailed at least 6 copies to other moms with kids on the autism spectrum and have 2 more I am working on to send out!

It is a book he can fill (or a younger child can fill in with your help). It is all about him. His favorite food, favorite color, favorite animal, etc... and has pages for emotions. I took pictures of him making different emotion faces (not that easy... but we ended up with 4 emotions). "What makes him happy" with a picture of him smiling...."what makes me sad" with a picture of him frowning..... It is about 2-5th grade and a short simple project.

Connor made his into a Lapbook (click to see)

Anyway, if you would like to have a copy of this for your child, let me know. I can send you a copy (email the file) and I can substitute your child's name and either pics of your child, or emotion face clip art.

you can email me at KiTer5@gmail.com. If you tell me your child's name (just 1st name),   I can personalize the project more.

Games to improve memory- ("her/She" is used, but of course is for ANYchild)

1.Play the classic simple game of Memory Match- with the cards that you have to find matching pairs by remembering what you have turned over.. but start with half the cards. Or 5 pairs- something smaller- with less to remember.

2. Play ‘Repeat’ – Tell your child you are going to play a secret game. A game with a secret word and she can’t tell anyone else the word but you and she has a mission to tell you this word anytime you ask her. say a word  (like ‘cookie’)and have your child repeat it. Have a secret code word that whenever you say, shge knows to say her secret word. Like whenever you say “poppadiddle’ she says her secret word. . Tell her the secret word and have her repeat 5 times in a row. Wait 10 seconds –say YOUR secret word and have your child repeat HER secret word.  Increase the time between “Secret Word”. Go for 10 secind, then 15 seconds, then 45 seconds, then repeat it over and over and tell her you will ask her again in 5 minutes…… then 15 minutes…

Go as long as you and she want and have time for.

Later increased from 1 word to a 2 word phrase.

You can also use just SOUNDS.. have her secret word be the making the sound of a car or dog, or making the sound of a secret letter.

3. Play “Hidden Treasure”—hide 50 cents. Show her the money first. Then hide it. Tell her where it is. Have her repeat back where it is. Ask her to draw where is it according to what you have told her.  Wait 20 seconds (OR however long you think would be good for her) then tell her to find the hidden treasure by remembering where you told her it was.

Gradually increase elapsed time and details of where it is hidden (like instead of “under the blue pillow on the couch” have it be “ 5 feet from the cat’s bowl”… or “turn LEFT at the chair and walk 3 feet then turn right and measure 18 inches”…

4. Play the word Card game (or picture card or number card).. have a card with a word/picture/letter, etc…. show it to her, have her tell you what it is. Then turn it upside down on the table and have her tell you what it is and turn it over to show her. Then wait 20 seconds and ask her what is on the upside down card. Turn it over to show her. If she got it correct, wait longer next time, if she got it wrong, don’t wait as long for the next time.

5. Hand Letter- write the letter of the day on her hand. Frequently throughout the day ask her to look at her hand and go over the letter sound with her. Soon, JUST ask her the sound of the letter in her hand without going over it with her.

6. Put a little red X on one of her toes . Just one toe, either foot. Throughout the day ask her  which toe it is (without her looking), then she can take off her sock or shoe, etc to see if she is correct.

7. “What’s Next”

At the beginning of the day give her a small itinerary.

“after breakfast we will read a book. After we read he book we will go for a walk”

While you eat breakfast talk about what is next (the book) and what is after that (the walk). Then when breakfast is done, ask her what is next--- see if she can remember it is the book. If she can, ask her what is AFTER the book… the walk.

Increase your list as she gets better with it.

8. “what’s missing”—have a tray with 3-5 items on it (unless your child can handle more). Take the tray away- remove one item, show the child and have them tell you what is missing. As you increase, you can have 10 things and remove TWO and see if the child can tell you both missing items…..

9. “Sequence”—have 3-5 items. Call out the names of two items (make sure they are NOT next to each other) and have your child touch them (or pick up and place in front of them) in the order you called them out. Increase to saying 3 things in order, then 4 then 5…… We do this with letters and numbers and words, too. OR, instead of calling out the names of the items, have your child carefully wacth as YOU touch a sequence of items and then they have to touch the same things in sequence.

10.  “What did I say”? Say a list of 3-5 words to your child and have her tell you the FIRST word you said. Make sure you tell her how to play the game first- tell her- “This is a game where I say 4 words and you have to tell me the first word I said.” Then give her an example. “If I say the words ‘cat, bear, cup, ball’- the first word I said is CAT- so that is what you need to say back to me.” ---If 4 is too many, start with 2 or 3.

11. how to make a sandwich- Pick a task (making a peanut butter sandwich or making a bed) and have her describe EACH STEP involved. Write down the steps she says, then do them like she said them.  So if describing a sandwich and she says- get out the bread and put peanut butter on it” you would get out the LOAF of bread and set the peanut butter jar on top the loaf-  Then help her learn the specific steps in detail—you get the loaf of bread out of the drawer. Set the loaf on the table, open the bag, take out a slice of bread, put it on a plate. Get the jar of peanut butter out of the cupboard and put the jar on the table. Get a spreading knife out and set next to the jar, take the lid off the jar and set it down. Pick up the knife and scoop peanut butter out of the jar with the knife….”

I have written a little project book for my son with Asperger's Syndrome.
It is a book he can fill (or a younger child can fill in with your help). It is all about him. His favorite food, favorite color, favorite animal, etc... and has pages for emotions. I took pictures of him making different emotion faces (not that easy... but we ended up with 4 emotions). "What makes him happy" with a picture of him smiling...."what makes me sad" with a picture of him frowning, etc..... It is about 2-5th grade and a short simple project.(or for even younger kids if you ommit the writing portion, maybe have them taperecord their answers)

Anyway, if you would like to have a copy of this for your child, let me know. I can send you a copy (email the file) and I can substitute your child's name and either pics of your child, or emotion face clip art.

you can email me at KiTer5@gmail.com. If you tell me your child's name (just 1st name), birthyear and whether they have siblings and/or pets, so I can personalize the project.

**My son made his into a LAPBOOK_ you can see it here:
Pics of Connor's ALL ABOUT ME Lapbook

-I have had a lot of people tell me they read about our homeschooling, but don't leave notes (I have trouble leaving notes here,it is too time consuming- so I undertsnd)- So, let me know if you want on a mailing list of when I have a new entry-

IN OTHER NEWS-

I am filling out application and medical forms for my boys today. We have decided to enroll them each in one 'homeschool enrichment class' at a local private school. They will each need a school polo to wear the day they have class (Mondays). I am hoping the schol can hande LDs. They aren't core subjects, so the LDs shouldn't be a big problem. I think the auditory processing disorder will be the most trouble, as they will need to be close to the teacher and need good eye contact.

it's exciting. I think it'll be good for them to be taking a class somewhere else. It'll be a lot of driving for me, though. More than I wan, anyway.

Gavin is taking computer and Connor and Ki are taking art. Ki wants to take drama the second semster (so 1 semester of art and 1 of drama)

it's $350 a class. Not too bad I guess for a private school and all the art and computer supplies are covered.

Ki loves his word cards. They are index cards with words from the Dolch List and some words from his Dick and Jane books and his own wordshe has chosen to learn.  Each word is written on 2 cards- one in AL CAPS and 1 in all lower case. My kids with dyslexia had a hard time recognizing the loeer case and the capital of the the letter as being the one same letter, so this method helped. For Gavin I had to write in both those round straigt print and the 'newspaper looking' pring and script print. He got confused in school ( 1st grade) becuase hey TAUGHT kids to write D'nealian, but all the reading material was in either that  block letter print with round 'a's  or it was in a newspaper print with hooks on the a's and g's. I remember him almost in tears because the 'k' in the book didn't look like the almost cursive 'k' he was taught and refusing to belive it WAS a 'k', becuase "My teacher says a "k" looks like like  this________ draws a loopy 'k'.." It took me  whole school year to getpast that. He still had trouble with being able to name or give sounds for many letters in 3rd grade. I digress.....

Back to Ki. He just needed help with matching CAPITALS to lowecase, so he just got 2 sets of cards. I try to weed out old cards that he knows well, but it's hard. He hates parting with them. So I have to doit in secret a couple words at a time. (This is also the kid who cries when he outgrows his undewear and needs to replace them).  Ki gets to choose 2 games and I get to choose 2 games to play with the word cards  when we have word card day.

How the Word of the Week works:

Ki chooses a special word to learn onMonday. Like "archer". A word he likes that is an area of interest to him.  Here is a sample of what we might do:

Day 1: draw a picture to go with the word, use clay 'worms' to make the word. make new word cards and play word card games.

Day 2: Use toes/fingers/nose to fingerpaint the word and draw a picture. Copy the word a couple times on the White board.

Day 3: Play Hopscotch with the word. (Draw a hopscotch board on the sidewalk/driveway. Use the letters of the word instead of numbers. Have the child call out the letters as they hop). I read the story I wrote w/ thenew word.

Day 4. Ki reds the story and illustrates it. Writes the new word in a salt tray.

Day 5. Play toe-touch (post its with individual letters scatteres on the wal, he crab walks to the wall and uses his toe to spell the word. Both frontwards and  backwards) Reads his story to daddy and shares his picture.

these will be helpful for ANY child learnng to read. This is a REPOST, as it has been awhile since I have posted these....

Ideas for dyslexia letter fun- Choose a different activity each day! (let your child help choose which ones to play)

1. Writing in a tray of salt, shaving cream, sand.

2. Use clay to make the word. Then make a model of the word. (make the letters 'c-a-t', then make a little cat from the rest of the clay)

3. Use finger paint to spell words or practice letters, alternate hands, spell with toes, use you nose!

4. Use dry erase markers on the window. It is perfectly safe and wipes right off and kids LOVE IT!

5. Before starting the writing or spelling lessons, have the child make large infinity signs with their finger or on the chalk board. Have it so they cross the infinity sign in front of the middle of their body.

6. Use plastic textured letters. Have the child hold one letter at a time to get used to the feel. Have them close their eyes, place the letter in their hand (the correct direction), have them figure out what letter  it is. After they can recognize the shaper well, hand the letter to them upside down or backwards. Then do the same with simple words or sight words. Hand them the letters all at once, (while eyes are closed) have them figure out how to lay the letters in the right direction (not upside down or backwards) then open their eyes and move the letters ion the right order to make the words., when they can do that, have them figure out the words while their eyes are closed still. Some kids with dyslexia often see words in jumbled order or letters backwards, upside down. It helps when they can recognize letters and words no matter what direction or jumbled order they are in. It helps the brain learn how to process the information.

7.  Games like Scrabble and Boggle are good.  But with your own rules or none at all. For Scrabble, get a list of words, set aside all the letters that go to those words, have your child spell the words out on the Scrabble board and find the best way to organize the words to get the most points. For Boggle, you may want to spend the first few times arranging the cubes to make sure there are some easy words there. Show the words to your child and have them write the words down. My middle son likes to arrange the tiles to make words and have me fond the words. Then we make silly sentences with his words. The next time have them find the simple words (you previously arranged). Eventually you will be up to playing the game by the real rules.

8. The tiles and cubes can be used without the board. get letter tiles/cubes for an ending ( __ a t ) and take turns placing different tiles in front to make new words. Make 'cat', rat, bat..... Then ask "Which letter gets changed if we want to make 'bat' into 'bag'?" or “which part of the word gets changed; the beginning sound or the ending sound?”  Don't ask what the new letter is yet, just work on having them identify which letter  (beginning, middle, end) is different.  You can tell them it becomes a 'g', if they can't figure it out yet.

9. HOPSCOTCH- Make a Hopscotch board (with chalk outside or colored paper inside, each sheet a different box). Write a different letter in each square. Have the child call out the letters or make the letter sound as they jump along.  Use all vowels, or random letters. It's fun to use for spelling words, too. You can change around the amount and layout of the boxes to fit what you need.

10.  Throw/bounce a ball back and forth while you take turns spelling out words. Or Have the child bounce the ball to himself (against a wall or on the ground) while they spell out words.

11. Spelling words-Use Index Cards- use 2 cards for each word on the list. write the word in all lower case on card #1, write the word in ALL CAPS on card #2. Use the cards to play "Memory Match". My son also likes to play other games. One is "Five in a Row" I put out a row of 5 cards and he picks up the words as I call them. "Make a Sentence"- Put out 2-4 cards (start with 2 and work up). Have your child think up a sentence using the cards. To put less stress on them. Both of you think up sentences for the cards.  Another one we play is "Pick Up". I layout 6 cards and say four of them (making sure they are not in order on the table) and he has to pick up the cards in the order I called them. You can start with 3, or even 2 if needed and work up to 6 or more.   12. Write/draw on each other’s backs- have a guessing game. Keep score, if you want.   13. Make a photo/word book. Make words PERSONAL. Take pictures of your child’s mom, dad, pet, car, van, etc. rite the words LARGE under each picture (one per page). Take a picture of the STOP sign on your corner…….   14. Let your child use one of those Magnadoodle boards or a large dry erase board.   15.  Use beads. Have the child line the beads up to form letters/words.

** from our Occupational Therapist- Spelling. Write each letter of the word on a separate 2-3" square of paper. Tape them out-of-order and jumbled on the wall about a foot above the ground. Have child be barefoot and 'crab-crawl' to point to the letters in order (pointing with their toe)

The book has come. I have read it. It’s actually mostly drawings with a short paragraph on the bottom of each page to explain the activities. I still don’t get the “Thinking Cap” and the “Foot Flex” too well. I wonder if I could call their 1-800 # for more explanation.

Next step is to make my list of which activities I want to use and when I want to use them (before reading, before soccer, after writing, etc). Then I need to gather together my ideas for implementing Ki’s Occupational Therapy. Then I write up a schedule to integrate both activities. And if there is still time in the day we may do some ‘school’.

I know I want to start the school day with joint compression. The mini tramp should do lower body and spinal joint compression. I am still working on an activity for hand/arm/shoulder joint compression. Joint compressions help take Ki from low gear to normal functioning gear.

I also want to start each day with midline activities. The Cross Crawl (which we call Criss-Crosses) and just doing those simple hand clap games like See-See My Playmate (for Ki, esp) should fit the bill.

I want to use the SIT disk (our bumpy inflatable cushion) with math.

I want to try bean bag chairs when reading.

I want to buy 2 more beanbag chairs and 2 more SIT Disks, so each boy can have one.

When they are too hyper, we will use wall push ups. Wall Push Ups help Ki go from high gear back down to normal gear again.

** Our kitty is twitching in his sleep. It’s cute. **

Before Spelling Tests-

The Elephant

Lazy 8s

Alphabet 8s

Before Reading-

Butterfly 8s

Cross Crawl

Tracking

Before Math-

The Elaphant

Calf Pumps

Double Doodle

Brain Buttons

Before Group Lessons-(like reading history/geography/science, then talking about it)

Thinking Cap

Hook Ups

Before the discussion part of group time

Brain Buttons

Foot flex

Take A Break (as needed in the middle of lessons or activities)

Sip Water

Brain Button, Balance Buttons, Calf Pump, Neck Roll, The Energizer, The Owl

-- which ever one fits the break need--

I may start with less things and work up to the complete list here.

I am falling so far behind on writing in our school journal. Actually, though, this month is a quasi-vacation month. We are just doing reading & Bible daily and math and writing are about every other day. Today I had the boys make chew necklaces. Ki and Gavin need oral stimulation and I knew Connor would enjoy it. I had C&G braid those long clown balloons to make an oral stimulation device – a chew toy essentially. And the braiding was good hand-motor control therapy. I had Ki cut cord and tubing and then string the tubing onto the cord to make a necklace. He made 2; one with straws and one with tubing. Connor made one with tubing.

I am working on fitting more sensory therapy into our day. I think it will be very beneficial. I was talking to the new mom I met today; the one whose daughter also has sensory issues, and it motivated me to get going on all these sensory therapy ideas I have been wanting to implement.

We are doing a Christmas alphabet. Someone here suggested that. I think it may have been Chris, but I’m not sure. But the boys love it. Everyone gets a different letter to decorate for the page and they person of the day gets to choose who gives their word first. The also need to be able to give me a sentence as to why their word is a Christmas Alphabet word.

Here are some things we have:

A-    angel (The angel, Gabriel, gave the good news to Mary), Abraham (the forefather of Jesus), Anointed (Christ means anointed one), Adoration (the angels sang songs of adoration)

B-    Bible, Bethlehem, Baby

C-    Christian, Church, Christ, Child

D-    Delightful (the wise men gave delightful gifts), David, delivered, donkey

E-     East, engaged, earth, Emmanuel

F-     Friend, father, faith, frankincense

G-    Gifts, gold, glory, Gabriel

H-    Holy, halleluiah, Heaven, Herod

Then we had sheepherding races. Each boy had 10 sheep (cotton balls) and their own fold (a bowl) and a staff. They started at the same spot and blew through their staff (straw) to get their sheep to the fold, then sucked each one to pick it up and drop it in the fold. I forgot to explain that fast, short blows would cause a headache. Gavin did long, slow breathes and won.

That was another sensory therapy game. It worked oral stimulation and respiratory control.

And I made applesauce today! Applesauce can be used for a few different oral sensory therapies, but Ki can’t have store bought. I have been meaning to make my own, but never got around to it before. Ki got to SMASH the cooked apples (good therapy) and then we put them in the blender to make them extra smooth. We’ll let them cool overnight and play with them tomorrow.

     My 9 yr old is one of those kids that has a personality that demands as much control over his own life as possible. So much so that there are many times he has meltdowns if he doesn’t get to choose his own food for meals. We had a schedule change at the Y a couple weeks ago and he had a big ol meltdown the day of gymnastics. He gets confused when there is a schedule change and doesn’t know how to handle it or what to do. He was so upset and couldn’t figure out if he should go to gymnastics or work out with me (I gave him the choice, since I knew how hard changes are on him and he needs to have some degree of control). He refused to change out of his jean overalls- NOT a good outfit for gymnastics or working out. He finally decided he’d just sit and do nothing. I told him that even if he did nothing, he still had to change. I picked out his favorite comfy elastic pants. He changed, but was very upset. He had been in overalls for the past 5 days (he alternates between 2 pairs). It doesn’t take much for him to get in a rut and to be very comfortable in his rut and not want to change. I knew he needed to change his clothes because the longer we waited the harder it would be. After he changed I left him alone and he decided to partake in gymnastics eventually. (I have sensory integrations, too, and know what he is going through)

     I know he can’t always be in control, but I also know that he needs to have control. His sensory integration causes every day life to be frustrating and life often feels totally out of control, which is frustrating and scary for anyone, le alone a little kid. (again, I speak from my own personal experience with my SID)

 So I give him as much control as I can and teach him how to handle control and make good choices and how to organize things in a way that makes life easier.

     One thing we have done recently is make a chart for him for his school work. I used my pocket strip chart with sentences strip cut into pieces large enough for a couple words. About 6”. There is a card for each school subject; Bible, Copy work, Math, Reading, Science, Explode the Code, history, geography, lunch and a few extras Ki enjoys like his Second Grade Scholar, Mind Benders, cursive writing and I think there is another one. I put Bible and copywork up daily and a couple others sometimes. Then he chooses cards and puts them up where he wants to do them. Today I put Bible, History/Geo ( I should combine these cards into Social Studies) and copywork and cursive. He then choose cards from the two lists of cards (one is daily required things one is items he enjoys) and he added the following in this order:

READ

LUNCH

WORD CARDS

EXPLODE THE CODE

SECOND GRADE SCHOLAR

MIND BENDERS.

When he is finished with something, he goes and flips his cards over. He is now excited about getting his school done and when he’s done he checks to see what’s next. He also schedules breaks for himself. Today they were ‘art breaks’ according to him. He was drawing pictures of a lizard army for a lizard war. Different colored lizards had different functions.  He knows when he needs a break and takes a short break doing something fun, then gets back to his school work. He is doing so well with his school now. He looks forward to scheduling his day and he always includes everything required and makes good substitutions. Like for math today he choose Second Grade Scholar instead of his Miquon. He likes to choose what he does for subjects too, when he can. No more taking 30 minutes for a 2 minute math page. Me. I want him to do one math book, one page after the other, to build on concepts and be nice and neat in orderly. That’s because I have my own control issues. I guess this as close to unschooling as I’m going to get with a kid with multiple Learning Differences, LOL. It’s fun to watch him learn to organize to fit things into his life that he needs.

The boys have a Morning Routine chart. I made a chart using clip art on WORD. Ki wanted his own chart with hand drawings so the bed looks like his bed and the PJs look like his PJs. So he drew all the pictures for his own chart.

http://www.avko.org/

this is what we use for spelling with my older two boys (dyslexia and asperger's syndrome)

http://www.avko.org/Webstore/Books/SS/301.htm

Ki loves his word cards. They are index cards with words from the Dolch List and some words from his Dick and Jane books and his own wordshe has chosen to learn.  Each word is written on 2 cards- one in AL CAPS and 1 in all lower case. My kids with dyslexia had a hard time recognizing the loeer case and the capital of the the letter as being the one same letter, so this method helped. For Gavin I had to write in both those round straigt print and the 'newspaper looking' pring and script print. He got confused in school ( 1st grade) becuase hey TAUGHT kids to write D'nealian, but all the reading material was in either that  block letter print with round 'a's  or it was in a newspaper print with hooks on the a's and g's. I remember him almost in tears because the 'k' in the book didn't look like the almost cursive 'k' he was taught and refusing to belive it WAS a 'k', becuase "My teacher says a "k" looks like like  this________ draws a loopy 'k'.." It took me  whole school year to getpast that. He still had trouble with being able to name or give sounds for many letters in 3rd grade. I digress.....

Back to Ki. He just needed help with matching CAPITALS to lowecase, so he just got 2 sets of cards. I try to weed out old cards that he knows well, but it's hard. He hates parting with them. So I have to doit in secret a couple words at a time. (This is also the kid who cries when he outgrows his undewear and needs to replace them).  Ki gets to choose 2 games and I get to choose 2 games to play with the word cards  when we have word card day.

How the Word of the Week works:

Ki chooses a special word to learn onMonday. Like "archer". A word he likes that is an area of interest to him.  Here is a sample of what we might do:

Day 1: draw a picture to go with the word, use clay 'worms' to make the word. make new word cards and play word card games.

Day 2: Use toes/fingers/nose to fingerpaint the word and draw a picture. Copy the word a couple times on the White board.

Day 3: Play Hopscotch with the word. (Draw a hopscotch board on the sidewalk/driveway. Use the letters of the word instead of numbers. Have the child call out the letters as they hop). I read the story I wrote w/ thenew word.

Day 4. Ki reds the story and illustrates it. Writes the new word in a salt tray.

Day 5. Play toe-touch (post its with individual letters scatteres on the wal, he crab walks to the wall and uses his toe to spell the word. Both frontwards and  backwards) Reads his story to daddy and shares his picture.