Kids with sensory integration issues often go to two extremes. They experience too much sensory input and go into "overload", or they don't get enough and need some sensory input for their little bodies. T-Rex goes both ways, and we have learned some of his clues when he needs more sensory input.

When T-Rex isn't getting enough or getting too much "stimulation" from the world around him and he's feeling a little discombobulated in "space", here are a few of his signs:

1. Chewing on fists, fingers, clothing (his and family members).

2. Climbing and jumping off furniture (as he screams loud enough to be heard halfway across the world).

3. "Mouthing" objects (putting non-food items in his mouth, rubbing them all over his mouth)

4. Rubbing (with his hands and body) walls, furniture, people, pets.

When we see T-Rex doing these things, we know it's time for some sensory input. This means giving him what he needs to stimulate or calm his sensory system enough so he is able to feel calm and more connected with his surroundings. We have found that heavy motor muscle work works best for T-Rex.

If you're like me, sometimes it's difficult to carve out specific blocks of time for "therapy" activities. All the following activities allow your child to get the input he/she needs without actually feeling like they're in a clinical setting. After all, home is where most of the therapy takes place anyhow, in our day-to-day lives.

1. Chewing Gum. Even though T-Rex is only three, I give him a small piece of sugar free bubble gum (I like Double Bubble because it's a little harder and takes more work to chew). The heavy motion in T-Rex's jaws help him center and focus. I just make sure he knows to give it to me when he's done! (Saves me a lot of time scraping it off the floor) He has a chewy tube, but if we're in public, gum is much less conspicuous- hardly anyone stares at a child chewing gum.

2. Yardwork. We have a small pile of bricks that often need moved. (wink, wink) 

T-Rex loads those up in his little red wagon and pulls them to a spot designated by mom and dad. If Dad has to dig a hole for planting, etc., T-Rex has his own shovel and helps move the dirt. Sure, it's a little messy, but it's great work for T-Rex. Plus, it gives Dad and him some quality time together. Raking leaves and grass clippings is also a great activity.

3. Household Chores. I have T-Rex help me sort clothes, load the washer, then load the wet clothes into the laundry basket to hang on the line. I let him help me push and pull the full laundry basket to the clothesline. He will hand me the wet clothes, one at a time, to hang on the line. Vaccuming is a great chore - lots of pushing and pulling. He helps me make the bed by pulling a corner of the bedspread. I pull on my end to give him a little resistance.

4. Mini-Trampoline. I found a brand new one at a yard sale for just $15. It's one of the best investments I've made! The mini-trampoline provides controlled resistance for him to jump while he's holding onto my hands. Some mini-trampolines have handles built onto them.

5. Big Dump Trucks. A good pile of dirt and a few dump trucks turn therapy into play. T-Rex loves to fill the trucks with dirt, push them all over the dirt pile, dump them, then start over again. If you don't have any dirt, maybe Mom, Dad, and the sensory seeker can dig their own pile together.

6. Cooking. If you don't mind the mess, let your little one do some messy play in pudding, jello, or cake batter (without the eggs added). I give T-Rex his own little bowl of batter (egg-free) and kid-size baking pan when we are baking. He likes to squish his fingers around in the batter, then help pour it into his own pan. So what if the cake doesn't turn out perfect because it has no eggs in it? T-Rex feels a sense of accomplishment, and some of his sensory needs have been met.

I'll admit, sometimes it's hard to get T-Rex to cooperate if he's having a really bad day and won't engage much with us. But, patient persistance, picking your battles, and giving the child small choices can help. For example, we give T-Rex two choices. (Ex. Do you want to move bricks or play with the dump trucks?) If he doesn't engage, we will put a wagon and truck in front of him and say, "which?". We will then see which one he looks at the longest, then we will say, "Ok, dump truck. Let's go play dump trucks."

Even if he's a little reluctant at first, if he sees siblings or Mom and Dad doing the activity, he will generally do it himself after awhile. Now it is getting to the point that he welcomes these activities because he realizes he will feel better after doing them.

One step at a time. . .

Back in the days before I had children and became a stay at home mom, I never listed "organization" as one of my strengths on my job applications.

Even now, after 15 years of parenthood, and 4 years of homeschooling, I really try. . . but for the most part, I'm just not super organized.

When I saw the new Schoolhouse Planner was available, I really wanted to try it, but I balked a little at the price of $39.00. After having a chance to review the Planner, I can tell you, the price is worth it!

You get a year's worth of helpful forms for all aspects of running your home and homeschool in 375 packed pages. The first thing I noticed when thumbing through the planner was the weekly planner for 4 children. I've always wanted to have something like that, but never could figure out how to do it without the page being too busy. This is a great "at-a-glance" page to help me organize lesson plans and assignments for the week.

Attendance charts, records of library books (what I checked out and when they're due), and many more helpful pages and forms will really help me keep my homeschool in better order this year! Even if I don't use all the forms, I have gotten some great ideas to put into practice in my homeschool and home management.

Another favorite in my homeschool forms is the preschool section. Since I have only homeschooled for 4 years, I have my first homeschooled preschooler this year. I need ideas for a relaxed approach to introducing concepts to him. Jolanthe Erb's ideas for a preschool box are incredibly helpful, affordable, and easy to do! The preschool planner, list of educational activities to do with your preschooler, and practice forms round out a great start to teaching your preschooler!

"Hummingbird", my scientist child, loved the pages about weather, clouds, and planets. These pages are going to be a great springboard into some interesting science unit studies that I am planning to do with Hummingbird this year.

I also found the lap book instructions extremely helpful and easy to follow. I think lap books might be a tremendous help to Hummingbird. She loves anything "hands on".  I am glad I have an entire section walking me through each step of lap booking.

"Rocker" loved the history and government pages. I think these may be a good start for independent study projects for him. I also found lots of helpful information for myself. This treasure of pages helped me brush up on long-forgotten facts. Very interesting!

"Sport"  loves to cook, so she can't wait to try the recipes in this planner. With recipes for each month from July to June, she'll have plenty of practice! The GFCF Teriyaki Chicken Recipe on page 59 is my favorite, so far. It caught my eye because we are trying to shift "T-Rex" to a GFCF diet and it is sometimes difficult to find affordable, good tasting foods for this diet. T-Rex loved it - and if a 3 year-old gives it a thumbs-up, you know it's good!

The 2009 - 2010 Schoolhouse Planner is an e-book, which means you save paper and energy since you can pick the pages you want to print. Very convenient!

I could go on forever about this great planner! It is well worth the money spent, because so much of the information contained within the pages can be used year after year. It's so much more than just a calendar - it's a personal assistant!

You can get your own "personal assistant" by visiting The Old Schoolhouse Store. Hope you enjoy your 2009 - 2010 Schoolhouse Planner as much as I do!

I had so much fun guest blogging for Kelli on her fantastic blog, 3 Boys and a Dog! I blogged about "You Might Be a Homeschooling Family If. . ."  Humorously based (sometimes a little loosely) on some of our actual experiences in our four years of homeschooling four kids, this list will probably have most other homeschoolers nodding their heads and saying "Oh, yes" to at least one experience on the list of 15.

So, check it out! I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it!

M. gets really tired when she writes. It was a constant source of frustration and anxiety for her, and I really didn't know what to do about it, except let her take frequent breaks.

At her last OT session, her OT evaluated M.'s handwriting. As M. sat at the table, busily copying words, the OT leaned over and whispered to me, "Look how hard she's pressing." It was true. M. leaned over the paper, putting all her weight into the pencil as she wrote. Suddenly, all those broken pencils and dark smudges all over her papers made sense. No wonder she tired so easily.

A true sensory seeker, M. does everything with an exclamation mark. She writes hard, she runs hard, she points to things on paper hard, she jumps hard. . . you get the picture.

"A mechanical pencil with a fine lead will help," the therapist advised me. "At first, she will probably break the lead all the time, but it will eventually train her to lighten up on her strokes, and she won't be as tired."

We've tried it for a couple of weeks. M. still hasn't completely gotten into the habit of not pressing down so hard, so we've gone through a lot of broken lead, but she's improving. I'm hoping she will be trained by the time we resume lessons in August or September. I'm sure that will help her tremendously in maintaining her energy while she writes.

Hope this tip helps! (It's been a great help to us!)

Well, it's official. Another school year has truly passed. The kids' academic test results arrived from the Christian Home Educators of WV (CHEWV) last week.

I can breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone did very well, and I can happily forward those results to the County Superintendent's office.

In our state, home educators are required to give a progress report, either in the form of approved testing (our family uses the Iowa Test of Basic Skills through CHEWV), or a portfolio reviewed by a licensed educator. We have to send those to our county Board Office by June 30 each year.

I'm a little ambivalent about the whole testing thing. On the one hand, it can be a helpful tool in determining areas of strengths and weaknesses, so that we can work on those areas the following year. On the other hand, sometimes I feel a little "hemmed-in" when it comes to teaching. I feel pressured to teach subjects that I KNOW are going to be covered on the test. Most of the time, I just want to relax and go with the flow of where our lessons are heading.

Guess what? I did that this past year. I relaxed a little. If, in the course of our lessons, something came up that really sparked a child's interest, I let that child pursue it. I tried not to worry about deadlines, completing a textbook, or the looming "testing date." And, two out of the three actually did better, score-wise, this year. (One remained the same - which is still a good indication of progress considering she's scoring at levels two or three grade levels above her actual grade.)

I have to say our testing environment is outstanding, as well. We test in a  fellowship hall of a church. The administrators are all college graduates, and the test groups are extremely small (my ADHD child was the only child in her grade level - the quiet environment helped her tremendously). Test administrators are excellent at presenting a very relaxed approach to testing while adhering to strict testing standards and encouraging all the children to do their best.

So, if we must test, I think we are blessed with one of the best testing groups a homeschool group could have.

That being said, thank God the testing is all over, at least for the next 10 months! :)

My 3-year-old, N (autism spectrum)., and my 9-year-old, M. (ADHD), are sensory seekers. N. has a few sensory avoidance issues related to his autism, but he craves sensory input, nonetheless.

Here's an activity that I have found (through OT) that really helps them calm, focus, and feel like their little bodies are in the right place in space.

I made a very affordable "mountain" out of a zippered mattress cover and donated pieces of foam from a local furniture store. I got different sizes of foam, zipped them in the mattress, and laid it on the floor. The uneven surface really encourages large muscle movements, and helps sensory avoiders overcome that fear of uneven surfaces.

I gather some puzzles (a simple puzzle with matching shapes like farm animals, etc.), have N. and M. choose the puzzle they want, then I place the pieces into a zippered or button-up bag and take them across the room. Each child chooses a piece of the puzzle to bring back. They then have to "cross" the mountain (by rolling or crawling, "wheelbarrow" walk (hubby and I or siblings hold their legs while they walk on their hands) to the pieces, get the desired piece out of the bag, zip or button the bag again, and run back to place the piece on the puzzle board. We do this until the puzzle is complete. It only takes about 10 minutes or so, and that small amount of time is just right for keeping them on task without wearing them out.

Heavy muscle work is great for sensory seekers, and the fine motor activities help N. practice his motor skills (which he sometimes needs help with due to developmental delays).

It's so fun, the kids don't even realize they're working (or "doing therapy")!

We had a lovely walk in the woods last Sunday. N. was still tired from his previous week full of illnesses, but he enjoyed the ride in his jogging stroller (that thing can go over ruts, bumps, tree roots like a monster truck!)

We only walked a mile on an easy trail at a local state park, but it was still a beautiful walk. The clean smell of the forest makes me feel so close to God.

K., our 13 year old, is really into sports - and she's good at it, too! She recently finished her regular season as "first base-woman" in softball, and she was invited to play on an all-star summer league. If it doesn't rain this evening, they will play their first game - a double header.

A., our 15 year old, is wanting to work part-time this summer. He's been earning money working with his dad, who owns an eco-friendly cleaning business. (More on that in my homesteading blog)   A. has been teaching himself to play electric guitar for the past few months. He has been trying to earn money for various "bells and whistles" for his new Fender Stratacaster (hope I spelled that right, I'm a little guitar-illiterate).

M., our 9 year old, just wants to PLAY! Isn't that what the beautiful summer days are all about? I remember when I was a kid: we didn't have cable t.v., I grew up on a farm, and we gardened. All summer was a great memory of riding bikes, playing in the fields, putting up hay, climbing trees, and enjoying fresh vegetables from the garden. Another fond memory I have is putting on my boots, jeans, and long sleeves, and going blackberry picking with Mom. She strapped my youngest brother in a backpack on her back, and the four of us kids (and Mom) spent a great day combing the woods and hills until we came home with brimming buckets of sweet, juicy berries (not to mention stained hands and faces)!

Simple fun, busy days. . . those are my fondest memories of summer. I hope I can help build memories like that with my precious foursome. Happy Summer days, everyone!

Finally! Summer break is here! Achievement test scores are in, books are done, and we are relaxing (sort of). Lots of things have happened since I last blogged. Storms have knocked out my internet service for a while :(, I made the Homeschool Crew (Woo-Hoo!)  :), and God has been teaching me lots of things as I walk with Him daily.

We've had some more health scares with N., which I am blogging about in my homestead blog (www.homesteadblogger.com/wyldhousehomestead). I'm simply learning to trust in the Lord more and to try not to lean on my own understanding.

But - I'm so glad that the summer break I've been so desperately needing is finally here. We're a family of hikers, so the woods have been calling to us all week. We'll probably go on a nice afternoon hike tomorrow if N. is feeling up to it. He will ride in a jogging stroller instead of walking.

I feel so much more relaxed in the summer, that the learning just seems to happen without any prodding from me. I am wondering if I should approach the next school year with the same relaxed attitude instead of constantly worrying if I'm doing it right. That's food for thought that I need to really consider over the summer.

On a positive note, a couple of months ago we had received a preliminary diagnosis of Asperger Syndrome for our 8 year old daughter, M. After further testing and a second opinion, we have been told that she actually has ADHD, and that sometimes the symptoms of ADHD and Asperger can look very similar. We are currently exploring therapies for helping her concentrate and focus while giving her the sensory diet she needs. Any suggestions or links to helpful websites would be so appreciated! I have all summer to work on this as well...

As I learn more therapies for M., and for N., I will share them here. I have been taking N. to a great Occupational Therapist (OT) since his other OT moved - she was fantastic and I miss her so very much! I was really blessed to find another OT just as wonderful as N.'s previous OT. I'm learning so much, but I have to sort it all out before I can blog about it. There's just so much to share! I appreciate other suggestions from my Homeschool Blogger pals. I still have a lot to learn! :)

Here's hoping your summer is wonderful! I can't wait to take the hike tomorrow! :)

I'm blogging about homesteading now! For the past year, our family has been moving toward a new, less toxic, more earth-friendly, simpler lifestyle. I decided to blog about it on Homestead Blogger!

I'll still be blogging here about homeschooling, homeschooling with special needs, and spiritual encouragement, but stop by my other blog to see our family's adventures in pursuing the simple life!

http://www.homesteadblogger.com/wyldhousehomestead

Thanks for stopping by and I'm looking forward to seeing you on both blogs!

Something is happening. . . The world groans as economic woes abound, crime runs rampant, and sickness permeates numerous countries. Families are under attack from every arsenal available: divorce, rebellion, apathy, and hopelessness - the list is endless. Even families who follow Christ are not immune to these attacks. What’s going on?

Sometimes it seems as though a black shroud is slowly covering the Earth in a slow, painful death. Fear and questions grow daily as we see the headlines and witness events that sometimes take place right outside our doors. Yet. . . In all the chaos, anticipation stirs.

Something is happening.

Psalm 91 tells me if I dwell in the secret place of the Most High, I shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. What is this secret place?

The secret place of the Most High is our relationship with Him, that place in our innermost being where He dwells with us and we dwell with Him. The secret place is that place deep within where you just know “whom (you) have believed” (2 Timothy 1:12), and you are fully confident that He will keep you and sustain you, no matter what you face.

Lately, circumstances in my life have driven me even more than usual to my knees and to the Word of God (a good thing, I assure you). I am finding a treasure of promises and help in my darkest hours. God is very real and He will never abandon those who trust in Him, even if they feel God has forgotten them. He hasn’t. Those times when He seems the farthest away are the times He is closer to you than ever.

Psalm 91 is a passage of scripture that I often turn to these days. This amazing chapter reassures those who rest in the Shadow of the Most High that they will, indeed, be safe within His keep no matter what storms they encounter. And that is why, even in the midst of the turmoil, I feel anticipation stirring deep within. Why, you might ask?

Something is happening.

You know the expectant silence that follows when someone clears their throat to speak? Well, in a manner of speaking, I feel that God has “cleared His throat” and He is ready to speak the light of His truth into a world cloaked in darkness. He already did it once when He sent the Light of the World (Jesus) to make the way for us to know and trust our Heavenly Father. And now, He reminds me that the Light of the World is still with me, and even if everything around me shakes, I can stand firm in the grip of His promise.

I hope and pray that current personal crises and world events will usher in the greatest harvest of people into the Kingdom of God, more than the world has ever seen. I pray that people will hear His voice, turn to Him, and become men and women of great faith and passion for Christ, the likes of which the world has never seen before.

We, as parents, can  be part of this as we endeavor to help our children have living, loving relationships with Jesus Christ. We, as individuals, can be part of this as we cultivate our own living, loving relationships with Jesus Christ and let those personal relationships with Christ overflow into every area of our lives.

May I have ears to hear what He is saying during these times. May I continue to place my trust in Him!

Praise God, something is happening!