Play Happy! - Homeschooling - Autism - Organization - Frugality

Sep. 6, 2007

A Sad Day: Pavarotti Dies at age 71

Posted in Its A God Thing

"I think a life in music is a life beautifully spent and this is what I have devoted my life to. " Luciano Pavarotti

Have you ever heard an angel sing? Have you ever listened to the sound of God's voice in song? Many think of a woman's voice when they think of an angel singing. I think of Pavarotti.

His voice spoke power. His voice spoke softness with strength. He seemed to be able to sing anything, anytime, with anyone. He could make the hair stand up on the back of your neck with fear and trembling, and a minute later cry like a child. His voice held the muscle to move mountains even if they were only the mountains in ones heart. Often those mountains were bigger than the physical ones around us.

I will miss my friend Pavarotti. Though I admit I haven't listened to him in a long, long time, there was a time in my life when he was a dear friend. He kept me company when I was alone in college and he was my secret opera star in high school.

Thank you Lord for giving us a glimpse of what the angels must sound like. Thank you for Pavarotti. I hope he knew you, because one day in Heaven I'd like to sing next to him.

Janelle

Sep. 5, 2007

Yahoo! I got the photo insert to work!!

Posted in Its All Part Of Life

Its true! Perserverence pays off! I got the photo insert to work!

Below is a picture off of our Cabana at Silverwood Theme Park in Northern Idaho. If you ever go, rent the Cabana for a day! It was worth every penny!

Now I can post pictures of projects and stuff. Cool! :)

Janelle

Sep. 5, 2007

Works For Me: The Brand-Loyal Edition

Posted in Works For Me Wednesdy's

Wfmwheader First let me say that I'm really digging this Works For Me Wednesdays. If you use the link back to Rocks In My Dryer, who sponsors this event, you will find a ton of other bloggers offering you their great advice and tidbits about things they do to make their lives easier.

Admittedly, I am not a brand loyalist. I love cheap and cheap is good. Cheap keeps me in my budget. In fact I have cheap envy for those of you who live near a Walmart, Aldi's, Winco, or a Sonic Burger joint. I wish I had that kind of savings at my fingertips! But alas, those of us out here in Western Washington don't have Sonic or Aldi's at all, and the Walmart and Winco are an hour or more away. With gas prices that doesn't work out so well. Yikes. So, I give a hearty thanks for Costco and will now move onto the topic at hand.

Brand names. Okay, I admit with age there are a few brands I've becomed attached to.

Mary Kay Cosmetics. I got sucked into a party in my early twenty's and have been hooked on their skin care system ever since. Too bad I have to sell my hair to buy it, but thanks to the powers of ebay I get what I need for about half the price now.

All Free And Clear Detergent. I gotta blame Costco for this one. I was brought up on Tide but it makes many folks in my family sneeze (even though it cleans like a dream!). All's Free And Clear is a close second without the sneezing. I admit that Costco now has their own Free and Clear brand, but its not as good as All's.

Chrysler Vans. We have a Chrysler Town and Country Mini-Van and I tell you it is the best van I have ever owned. It has never given me a hint of a problem and I just love that thing. I am partial to Toyota's, though I haven't owned one in years, but when it comes to American made you can't go wrong with this van.

Well my list is short compared to others but you know I love off-brands! I hope you enjoy this version of Works For Me! Check out the other bloggers too.

Janelle

PS - Happy First Day of School! Also, THANK YOU for all of your comments! I love getting comments and I will start commenting back. :)

Sep. 4, 2007

3, 2, 1....

Posted in Homeschooling - general

Well its here - finally. Its the last day before we start our school year. Fittingly for the day, its raining out. This of course is fine with me since I am a founding member of the HWW Club (Hot Weather Wussie Club). Yeah I know its a bit vulgar, but I am surrounded by folks of the HWW whom most are in my family. We find it strange when we hear of folks who enjoy the heat. Yikes. Get out of Washington, will ya? We live here because it rains and it only gets above 70 degrees for about 10 weeks a year. That is the most we can handle!

Anyhow none of that pertains to my post today. Tuesday is my Homeschool Happenings day. Its suppose to be the day that I post some cool idea or thought on our homeschooling journey, especially if related to homeschooling special needs kids.

Well folks, I have nothing to say. Shocking I'm sure, but the truth is I have no comments right now on this particular subject. This seems wrong and all since I am starting school tomorrow. I know I'll have things to say after we jump back into our school year and get the flow going again. In the meantime, I will spend my last day of summer doing this and that around my home. No big plans on the schedule beyond that.

Well I'm off to once again work on my picture posting dilemma. Maybe by the weekend I'll have it figured out!

Happy first week of your homeschool year -

Janelle

Aug. 30, 2007

Special Sites for Special Kids

Posted in Homeschooling - special needs

Since I have been working on homeschool projects and prep, I thought I'd highlight my current favorite site for visual schedule making.

Do2Learn is a great resource for homeschool or public school families alike. On this site you can make the best picture schedules for your kids who fall under the Autism Umbrella. Typical kids love picture schedules too, so don't feel your left out if you haven't been blessed with an Autism kid.

Do2Learn also offers free materials and basic schedules, on line games geared toward learning and sequencing (a biggie for autism kids), free picture cards and other items.

Check them out! I don't get paid a cent for saying so, I just love this site and all the time and money it has saved me by being able to make my own picture schedules at a reasonable price.

Janelle

Aug. 29, 2007

Works for Me Wednesday

Posted in Works For Me Wednesdy's

Wfmwheader This is a new feature here at The Special Needs Homeschool Family. Hosted by Rocks In My Dryer, the point of Works-For-Me is to share tidbits we've discovered that have made our lives easier.

I used to carry around a diaper bag. Even though I'm nearly past this point with the current blessings we have, I still have the need for a pull-up, some wipes and a change of clothes on hand. Having carried a diaper bag for 10 years, I was ready to let the whole idea go for a while. I also was noticing the need for some other items in our van, though I got tired of carrying them back and forth from the van.

I went to Target and bought a 3-drawer plastic dresser unit. One drawer contains diapers, wipes, pull ups, changes of clothes, snacks and juice boxes. The second holds child-size blankets (I think there are 5 or 6 in there). The third holds an emergency kit, flares, jumper cables and other emergency items.

This little 'kit' has saved me big time. No longer do I carry a diaper bag. I just get what I need from the van. The emergency snacks have saved me many drive-thru dollars as well. When my daughter cleans out the van once a week, she also checks to make sure the drawers are stocked up. Works-For-Me!

Janelle

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Aug. 28, 2007

The anticipation of things to come and Frugal Tuesdays

Posted in Frugal Friday

We will be starting school in 8 days. At day 21, I put a note on the chalkboard that said '21 Days Till School Starts!' The kids and a few cousins were faithful to add to the sign with their little 'yahoos!' and 'Oh yeah!' and other things. Everyday I have changed the number. Today it says 8 days. Yikes.

I am feeling ready. I am ready for the change. School is the season of changes. Fall is coming. Here in the NW it feels like fall already. The days highs last for about 2 hours at the most and the mornings and evenings are getting colder. The sun is up later and down earlier. All things I love. I love living here.

Fall is my favorite season. I am looking forward to decorating my porch in all its fall splendor. My girls are already talking about how they'd like the porch to look. A few more weeks, girls, and we'll decorate it.

I am definitely a fall junkie. I planted corn just for the stalks to put up on my porch and fence, and pumpkins for their fall look. Sure the corn tastes good but the stalks look great all bunched up! Pathetic, I know.

Along with all of this change of seasons comes the change in schedules around here. We are finalizing everyone's activity schedules and I have our daily schoolwork schedule in place. Everyone's books are organized, the last of the curriculum is bought and we are ready for day 1.

Even with all of my ducts in order, I am still feeling that old anxiety creep in. I am homeschooling four kids this year - all four of our blessings. Our oldest will be in 4th grade and so I am feeling like I need to get more 'serious' about her studies. Consistency is key here.

Then there is our son Noah. This will be his first year completely home with no outside help. Remember he is my son with autism. I am nervous about how he will do. I was praying about that some this morning when my dear sister pointed out what Noah did in Sunday School last week. He pointed at a word - a big word - on his bible cover and asked his auntie "Auntie what word is this?" He knows the word Bible, but the Bible he had also said "Adventure" on it. He wanted to know what word it was. I have seen him do this a lot lately. I wasn't making the connection so much between this and his eagerness to learn to read. My sister made that connection for me and it really encouraged me. It was a good reminder that yes, home is where he belongs and the boy will learn! I have been so caught up in my worry that I haven't seen the progress going on right in front of me. It has been a good reflection to step back and observe my children. Something I hope to do more of these 8 days before starting our school year out.

With all of these changes I hope to make a few updates to my blog as well. Check out on the left the Jane Austen quiz on which character you are. If you have yet to see "Becoming Jane" you must! Wow it was great and I can't wait to add it to my movie shelf.

I've also added a frugal blogger button. If you know me I love to be frugal. I have gone through phases of downright tightwad-frugal when we were laid off, to being just stay in my budget frugal when there is money. So, in celebration of my new button on my sidebar, I will share a frugal tip!

Frugal Tip Tuesday: Burning Wood for heat

Okay I'm sure there are some environmentalists out there who will get after me on this, but hey, I live in wood country and we all burn wood here! If you don't, well then your not a local! (okay at least your not a lifetime local!). Here is my list for why wood is a great frugal buy.

1. Wood is cheap. You can get it for free from folks off of freecycle and craigs list, who don't know that they are handing out free gold.

2. Wood is great exercise. I don't want to count how many cords of wood I have stacked and loads I have hauled into my house over the years. Plus have you seen my husbands forearms and chest?! Yeah that stud didn't get that way just turning on the furnace!

3. Wood will keep you warm when the power goes out. Not only that, it'll give you some light too! We had a huge windstorm last December and had no power for 8 days. Yeah, that will make anyone thankful for a wood burning stove! My family stayed warm!

4. Wood smells good. Seriously, there is nothing that brings up more urges to cuddle up with a good book and sit in front of the fire than the smell of cut, seasoned wood.

5. Wood is so Washington! Being the native of Washington that I am, it should be a requirement that all Washingtonians own at least one cord of wood and use it at all times.

Feel free to share your frugal tips with me! Gotta love that stuff. Oh here's a great new blog I discovered on frugality: www.frugalhacks.com Great stuff!

I'm still working on my pictures problem. Hopefully I'll have conquered it this week and you'll see some pics up soon.

Happy school planning!

Janelle

Aug. 22, 2007

I want to just delete the entire thing!

Okay I've had it and I'm hoping someone else who reads my blog and has their own blog here at homeschoolblogger can help me out. I followed the directions to upload a picture into my file here on this site, but it says I have too much memory used. I don't have anything in my memory, so how can I have too much? I want to add pictures but I'm finding what should be an easy process difficult. Help anyone? I want to figure this out and post some pictures of the home organizational projects I've been doing.

Help!

Janelle

Aug. 6, 2007

Class Reunions, Weeds and Writing Projects

Posted in Its All Part Of Life

I have so many subjects I've wanted to post about that I have become overwhelmed and not posted at all. I am sure you can relate to that.

My summer to-do list in my previous post has changed a bit. It always does. The big item, to paint our outbuildings, has been dropped. My husband decided it would make more sense to do them when we do the house next spring. That is fine with me. Less to do!

We are getting ready around here to take a week's vacation so I must admit I am close to being completely shut down to all projects. I would rather be in vacation mode right now, but alas some things must get done. So I have made a very small goal list for the next few days before we depart. We'll see how far I get on it.

The main thing on that list is to weed my flowerbeds and garden. They are out of control. We had a weird week of rain about 2 weeks ago and my garden has yet to recover from it weed wise. So I hope to get out there today and make some progress.

I also have a writing project that I feel I am suppose to finish up by the years end. That is taking some of my time as well. I had thought of closing down my blog so I could devote more time to this project, but have decided that I'll just blog when I can get to it.

The other biggie that has happened since my last post is that I attended my 20-year class reunion. I was on the planning committee so this reunion has been on my to-do list for some time now. I had a wonderful time. It was great to see old friends, catch up with familiar faces and hang with my old group again.

I am learning to post pictures on this site again (they have changed some things) so once I do that I'll post some from my reunion. I took a few.

I learned a lot about myself from this reunion. I discovered I still had some healing to do from a past relationship and I am thankful that I feel so much better about that situation now. I also have renewed an old friendship with my longtime bud. We've kept in touch but the reunion has gotten us together a lot more than in the past few years. That has been a nice surprise.

I hope to post some pictures tonight. Otherwise we'll see you after our vacation! Its time to start planning the school year and I hope to do a lot of posting about that.

Janelle

Jul. 19, 2007

Using Our Summers Wisely

Posted in Homemaking

As I write this, we are midway through our summer. We have been enjoying some great family time, days lingering in the backyard, watching the kids play in the pool while I read through a stack of magazines and books. These are the kind of moments that summer is made for.

Here in Western Washington we rarely have hot days that draw us inside to air conditioning. Our summers are mild compared to other parts of this country, so we can and do spend them outside. I have a brother in Missouri and believe me they don’t go outside much in the summer! It is just too hot. We are fortunate here to be able to use our summers the their fullest as we know it won’t be long and the rains will return.

Even though I love lingering outside with my children, I still see summer as my season to catch up on many tasks. Here is my summer to-do list and what I’ve done thus far.

Put on new front and back doors - done

Reorganize all bedrooms and go through clothing - done

Deep clean kitchen: clean all appliances in and out - done

Deep clean kitchen: wipe outside of all cupboards - to do

Deep clean kitchen: reorganize inside cupboards, make area for bread making - to do

Deep clean kitchen: clean all items on two shelves and dejunk - to do

Deep clean kitchen: all countertops and counter items scrubbed - to do

Deep clean kitchen: all walls scrubbed - to do

Deep clean kitchen: reorganize all drawers - done

Deep clean dining and front rooms - to do

De-cobweb entire house - to do

Scrub entry walls - to do

Home school planning - ½ way done

Make new chore charts - ½ way done

Add another flowerbed and keep up on all gardening beds - ½ way there

Plan fall flowerbeds - planting of bulbs - done

Start Christmas planning/lists - ½ way done

Paint outside buildings - to do

Paint fences - decided to wait on this one

Sew - two skirts and two shorts for girls - ½ way done

Basic de-junk of all rooms - make eBay and give away piles and do that - done

Now you may think this is a daunting list. But some of these items take 30 minutes total, others take a regular 2 hour slot a week. Its all a matter of spreading it out over the summer so that the work is balanced with down time.

When planning projects for the summer, I like to approach it by having a larger project every-other week. That way we have down weeks for outside fun, walks, park trips, vacationing and the like.

I put smaller jobs sprinkled in throughout the summer in every week as well. But only the smaller ones. I also put those items that I really need to think and concentrate on, like home school planning, for times when my kids are at a Vacation Bible School (they attend two each summer), in the evenings or when my kids have a play date. That way any interruptions from them are not interfering with my thinking.

I also get my kids involved with these projects. With my kitchen cleaning in particular, my kids have and will be involved in getting this vital area of my home spanking clean. Not only does it make for a nice time for us to talk and to train them, but it also is teaching my girls skills they will need when they have their own homes.

I hope this has inspired you to have some summer goals. Even though summer is half over, you can still get started on some projects now! Its never too late.

Janelle

Jul. 7, 2007

I'm back - a catch up on the last month

Posted in Weekend Organizing

I'm back! I spent June getting the outside of my house ready for our 4th of July bash. We got it done in the nick of time and managed to have a great party. We finished cleaning up from the 4th yesterday. What fun and what memories for my kids.

A few updates to report. We went to an adoption meeting and though we are not ready to pursue adoption quite yet, we are praying about it and have agreed to talk about it again after Christmas.

On the homeschool front, we took all of June off. We are starting read-out-loud sessions on Monday. We'll do this through July and August, and begin formal school again in September after Labor Day.

In the remodel front, we've got the outside done for the year. I still hope to add another flowerbed and possibly paint our outbuildings and maybe even our fence, but we'll see how time and energy match my plans. I have a new front and back doors now which were oh so needed. My husband also took down the ugly entry - you would have had to seen it to know how ugly it was! Next is doing a few little things, then onto finishing our furnace installation. After that is the girls' new bedrooms which will be in converted garage space.

Tomorrow I'm going to talk about summer projects and what mine are and my progress on them. I think having some down time is great and much needed, but I also believe that our summers can be used to catch up on deep cleaning and other projects in our home.

Until then, enjoy your family today!

Janelle

Jun. 11, 2007

Blogger Break

Posted in Its All Part Of Life

Like many great bloggers before me, I am going to take the rest of the month of June off for a blogger break. We are busy getting ready for our 4th of July party and need some down time for just hanging out.

We'll see you in July after the 4th!

Janelle

May. 31, 2007

Help I've fallen and I can't get up!

Posted in Its All Part Of Life

I took a spill two days ago. I was at the gas station filling up - more like throwing up all my money for that stinkin' gas. (We're up to $3.49 a gallon on average here now).

Anyhow after getting my pump in place I foolishly stepped over the hose and didn't quite make it. I've stepped over those hoses a hundred times and each time telling myself, 'one of these times I'm going to trip and fall on my face'. Well, today was that day.

Yeah, I hit hard. Right down on the pavement, face first. An elderly gentleman came over and helped me up. I was totally embarrassed and humiliated. I had to sit for a while in my car to stop my head from spinning. I skinned my knee badly, bruised my foot and my entire upper body aches. My arms and left shoulder are the worst.

After a bit I was okay and managed to hobble home. My kids were with me and concerned for me. My daughters have been wanting me to rest a bunch the last two days to recover. But I also know the aches in me will only get worse if I don't use my muscles, so I have been forcing myself to do things and garden.

Today I am not as sore but getting out of bed was much slower than normal. Yeah, I'm not as young as I used to be.

This little experience has been a good reminder for me. I have slowly, ever so slowly, been losing weight. I've lost about 20 pounds over the last 2 years. Recently I lost another 4 and gained it back. I've lost 2.5 of those 4 again, and am looking forward to going beyond that to more of a loss.

Taking a fall is a good reminder that I'm striving to make lifelong changes in my diet not only to look better and have better health, but to improve how my body moves and handles physical stress. I know if I was 50 pounds or more lighter right now that this fall wouldn't have been so stressful on my system. It was a bit of a wakeup call for me to keep striving to lose weight.

About 12 days ago our church entered a 40 day fast. Some folks are fasting sugar, some tv, some video games. I prayed and God asked me to fast gluttony. Yeah, gluttony. No more overeating. I tell you it is hard to not overeat. When your mind is programmed to overeat and has been since you were a wee child, it is hard to break it. Its not like smoking or drinking where you can just quit the habit, as you need to eat to live. You have to find a balance between nourishment and indulgence.

I have been doing a bible study at the Setting Captives Free site. http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com/home/our_courses.php

I've started this study before but never finished so my goal is to finish their study on biblical eating. Their entire focus is on not overeating and eating only when your body is physically hungry. Sounds good, huh? Well it is, but hey, its hard! Thankfully God is strong when I am weak and he is helping me through.

Enough on that for now. Monday I'll do a review again and I have a plan to start my Home Management Series - finally!

Janelle

May. 24, 2007

The Special Needs Sorority

Posted in Homeschooling - special needs

To You, My Sisters

by Maureen K. Higgins

Many of you I have never even met face to face, but I've searched you out every day. I've looked for you on the internet, on playgrounds and in grocery stores. I've become an expert at identifying you. You are well worn. You are stronger than you ever wanted to be. Your words ring experience, experience you culled with your very heart and soul. You are compassionate beyond the expectations of this world. You are my "sisters."

Yes, you and I, my friend, are sisters in a sorority. A very elite sorority. We are special. Just like any other sorority, we were chosen to be members. Some of us were invited to join immediately, some not for months or even years. Some of us even tried to refuse membership, but to no avail.

We were initiated in neurologist's offices and NICU units, in obstetrician's offices, in emergency rooms, and during ultrasounds. We were initiated with somber telephone calls, consultations, evaluations, blood tests, x-rays, MRI films, and heart surgeries.

All of us have one thing in common. One day things were fine. We were pregnant, or we had just given birth, or we were nursing our newborn, or we were playing with our toddler. Yes, one minute everything was fine. Then, whether it happened in an instant, as it often does, or over the course of a few weeks or months, our entire lives changed. Something wasn't quite right. Then we found ourselves mothers of children with special needs.

We are united, we sisters, regardless of the diversity of our children's special needs. Some of our children undergo chemotherapy. Some need respirators and ventilators. Some are unable to talk, some are unabl e to walk. Some eat through feeding tubes. Some live in a different world. We do not discriminate against those mothers whose children's needs are not as "special" as our child's. We have mutual respect and empathy for all the women who walk in our shoes.

We are knowledgeable. We have educated ourselves with whatever materials we could find. We know "the" specialists in the field. We know "the" neurologists, "the" hospitals, "the" wonder drugs, "the" treatments. We know "the" tests that need to be done, we know "the" degenerative and progressive diseases and we hold our breath while our children are tested for them. Without formal education, we could become board certified in neurology, endocrinology, and physiatry.

We have taken on our insurance companies and school boards to get what our children need to survive, and to flourish. We have prevailed upon the State to include augmentative communication devices in special education classes and mainstream schools for our children with cerebral palsy. We have labored to prove to insurance companies the medical necessity of gait trainers and other adaptive equipment for our children with spinal cord defects. We have sued municipalities to have our children properly classified so they could receive education and evaluation commensurate with their diagnosis.

We have learned to deal with the rest of the world, even if that means walking away from it. We have tolerated scorn in supermarkets during "tantrums" and gritted our teeth while discipline was advocated by the person behind us on line. We have tolerated inane suggestions and home remedies from well-meaning strangers. We have tolerated mothers of children without special needs complaining about chicken pox and ear infections. We have learned that many of our closest friends can't understand what it's like to be in our sorority, and
don't even want to try.

We have our own personal copies of Emily Perl Kingsley's "A Trip To Holland" and Erma Bombeck's "The Special Mother." We keep them by our bedside and read and reread them during our toughest hours.

We have coped with holidays. We have found ways to get our physically handicapped children to the neighbors' front doors on Halloween, and we have found ways to help our deaf children form the words, "trick or treat." We have accepted that our children with sensory dysfunction will never wear velvet or lace on Christmas. We have painted a canvas of lights and a blazing Yule log with our words for our blind children. We have pureed turkey on Thanksgiving. We have bought white chocolate bunnies for Easter. And all the while, we have tried to create a festive atmosphere for the rest of our family.

We've gotten up every morning since our journey began wondering how we'd make it through another day, and gone to bed every evening not sure how we did it.

We've mourned the fact that we never got to relax and sip red wine in Italy. We've mourned the fact that our trip to Holland has required much more baggage than we ever imagined when we first visited the travel agent. And we've mourned because we left for the airport without most of the things we needed for the trip.

But we, sisters, we keep the faith always. We never stop believing. Our love for our special children and our belief in all that they will achieve in life knows no bounds. We dream of them scoring touchdowns and extra points and home runs. We visualize them running sprints and marathons. We dream of them planting vegetable seeds, riding horses and chopping down trees. We hear their angelic voices singing Christmas carols. We see their palettes smeared with watercolors, and their fingers flying over ivory keys in a concert hall. We are amazed at the grace of their pirouettes. We never, never stop believing in all they will accomplish as they pass through this world.

But in the meantime, my sisters, the most important thing we do, is hold tight to their little hands as together, we special mothers and our special children, reach for the stars.

May. 22, 2007

Wiped Out and a Late Review Monday

Posted in Homeschooling - general

I was hit by a bad cold 4 days ago. I thought I was well into the mending stage yesterday when I woke up this morning. Ouch! I feel awful. Of course I haven't had any medication since yesterday afternoon which isn't helping. I love how cold medication can give you the illusion of feeling good when really your body is being beat up by the playground bully. What a delusion!

Therefore I am thankful for the rain today, as it gives me a good reason to not be gardening which is something I probably shouldn't be doing right now. My body needs me to rest and well, I don't always do well at resting. So I will try to keep my activity to a minimum today, though I may mop and vacuum my floors with the help of the kids.

Due to my cold and icky feeling, I missed my Review Monday. Late it is, but here it is!

With my first child we used 100 EZ Lessons to give her a good phonics foundation in reading. It worked well and she is a great reader today. For our second child, she didn't take to 100 EZ Lessons so well. I had to figure out her learning style and once I accomplished that I was able to find a phonics program that worked for her.

What I found that didn't cost me my first born was the program Happy Phonics. The Homeschooling Family at Love To Learn www.lovetolearn.com sell this fine product. Mom Diane Hopkins, homeschooling mom for 20 plus years of her large crowd developed the program for a son who refused to learn with books and the like.

The Word says that we grow from adversity, and I for one am one happy mom that Mrs. Hopkins didn't throw in the towel when she had a child who needed a different approach to learning. Her adversity produced a wonderful game-based, hands-on program that works well with the hands on learner and as a bonus works really well with special needs kids too!

I have been using this program for a year now with my three youngest children. I will be honest in saying the last few months we have had a very loose homeschool, but when we have pulled out the books it is always the first thing that my youngest daughter and her brothers ask to do. My troubled learner is beginning to read and my boys are right behind her.

If God blesses us with more children then this will be the only phonics program I use for them. Its easy to do, fun and it works!

Have a blessed day with your families!

Janelle

May. 14, 2007

Back from vacation and Product Monday's

Posted in Book and Magazine Reviews

Well we made it! We are back from our trip to Missouri. We have a wonderful time enjoying our family. I was very nervous about our kids flying but they did a great job. Noah only got upset once during the flying process, in security. When I said he has autism, the guards were very kind and patient with him.

Being from the NW, the heat came as a shock to my kids. I kept telling them we were getting off easy because it was unseasonally rainy and cold. We really only had one hot day, but with the humidity it feels so much hotter.

This week we are going to try and hit the schoolbooks again. I have been lax lately with schoolwork, so my goal is to get a good 4 weeks of school in before we take a summer break. I also am in the process of reorganizing my school materials and supplies in hopes to have a jump on summer math and reading, and on next fall.

I am going to make Mondays now Product Mondays. I hope to review some homeschool or homemaking product on these days. I love to hear how other folks liked or disliked certain products so I hope these reviews are helpful to you.

Here is my first review:

Here is a great resource that I found for helping your autism kids, Do2Learn, www.do2learn.com . I subscribe to their schedule maker and I also ordered their materials for fine motor skills improvement. So far I am very happy with their products.

The schedule maker is very easy to use, adaptable for both home and outings, and is consistant with the style of picture cartoons so as not to confuse your child. Though the pictures are not as block styled as the typical ABA schedules, I find it to be just as effective with my autism child and the others too!

I used the schedule maker to make a schedule for our vacation. Though intended for my autism child, all of my kids enjoyed using it. Our 3 year old in particular found it useful to see what we were going to be doing next. A+ rating from me!

Apr. 30, 2007

A bit of a break....

Posted in Homemaking

We are heading out for a week's vacation here in a few days. So realistically it'll be about two weeks before I post again. In the meantime have a great May Day tomorrow, and get your gardens in!

Janelle