Stacy went in for an evaluation on her communication device since her speech is real bad. She was using a device that was technically a laptop computer that ran Windows 98 with some added software for voice communication by Words Plus. It really didn't work to the way we wanted and the system is now over 3.5 yrs old. Alread outdated. She had to use switch scanning to use the programs which was really frustrating to her as it was too slow and sometimes not slow enough. Never could find the middle for it. Her evaluator is thinking about a system called Dynovox. I will have a chance to meet with a rep from the company (on December 1)  that makes these communication devices so I am sure that will help me get so many questions regarding the system answered. I am just wanting something that will help my almost 14 yr old communicate like she really wants to (kind of like us adults do) and also be able to participate better with all school classes too.

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Definitely been busy and going strong. The kids are doing well. I started working with Sean a little more with chapter books and studies. He is doing amazingly well. He reads with such fluency that I get overwhelmed. He stresses certain areas, and reads with lots of feeling. I am definitely a proud mom, especially since I actually did not teach him to read. We tried working with Teach Your Child to Read and also Frontline Phonics back in Kindergarten, but he didn't seem ready, so we put it aside for about 5 months. Then we began little bits again with Frontline Phonics. But we were not really progressing that well. All of a sudden, he just picked up on it more like on his own. I guess all the reading we have done with him just clicked in. It is amazing how different kids learn. I just let this one go at his own and he got it all.

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Just been full of work and tests. Poor Scott had a test in just about every subject this week already and it is only Wednesday. Things have been going pretty well for school. The kids are working hard, trying to keep everything going. I am real proud they have been going strong. I am trying to find things on the human body for all of the kids to do together right now. Time to get back to searching the web for some ideas.

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I started over with Becky... we are doing the Letter of the Week mixed with some other things to get her to do beeter with her letters. She really wasn't picking them up too well and just having a hard time trying to do some of the work I had prepared for her, so we decided to go back and rework things. This time around, she is progressing better. She is happier and working really well. Sean is doing excellent. He has just been booking along. It is amazing at how much he really loves to learn. His reading is surprising me and everyone else in the house. He reads with great fluency now. He is even stressing words and putting feeling into his reading. Scott made so many comments this past few weeks on it. He is really proud of his little brother. Stacy is slow going. I am constantly rethinking with her. Poor kid is probably wondering why I keep trying different things on her. I just want her to be able to get the best without frustrating her. Now Scott is doing well. This year, even Algebra is going better. He was doing ok with it before in Algebra 1, but this time with the Algebra 2, something really clicked. He has gotten it better that before. He is not getting frustrated or finding it hard to grasp. Our first quarter just ended, and he got his grades... He only recieved 2 B's, the rest were A's. He was very pleased.

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It has been about a week or more since I have posted anything. It has been a very busy past few weeks and I can't seem to get completely done. The kids are doing great with all their work. Everyone seems to be wanting to get things done and just working hard. Becky is doing better with her letters and numbers. We are still having some trouble with writing but I figure it will come when it does. Sean is moving along in everything. His reading surprises me more and more every day. Even Scott realized how well he does. He made a comment about how he noticed Sean putting emphasis and feeling into his reading. I do think we need to figure out a new way of working with money. He is having trouble with making change and adding up money properly. Guess I will be looking for some ideas online. Well time to hit the books with the kids.

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Sean had to do a model of the planets and of course he needed some parent help. So I let Jack and him work on it together. It was really cool to see them working together. They had a lot of fun just goofing off and laughing at everything, that it surprised me to see it actually completed. Halfway through the project, Sean started getting distracted though. His friend was in the front yard with Becky and he really kept wanting to go out there. But I had to remind him that this was a school project and he then settled back down and worked. He was really proud of his work and really made sure that all his friends got to see his model.

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