Posted in Homeschooling
|
This week the theme at Thirsty Thursday is where/how do you gather your school books cheaply. I buy some books brand new and some books used. I did buy a stack of brand new books this year from the state's homeschool convention. Most of the books are workbooks, math curriculum, and a few FIAR books that I wanted as keepers. When I am buying brand new books, I also use Amazon.com ($25 or more orders ship for free) and Rainbow Resource. Rainbow Resource is very helpful on the phone. I have been very pleased with their services over the last 11 years, and they have competitive prices.
We use history as our spine in our homeschool. All of our subjects (except language arts and math) build off of what is going on in the period of time that is being studied in history. For example we study the artists, scientists, musicians, and mathematicians from that time period as well. This makes my job very easy in the respects of knowing what is coming next. I can then start gathering materials that will help us in future studies. I watch for items at yard sales, used book sales, consignment shops, clearance areas in art stores, etc. If it will fit, I put every thing in a large, 2 gallon Ziplock bag. If I have large/bulky items, they go into my closet of future supplies. By using this system, I can gather items very cheaply months or even years before I need them. Here is an example of a few bags ~
This bag is incomplete because we are currently using it. This is our July/August unit study on Earthquakes and Volcanoes. We are reading stories about Mt. Vesuvius and its effect on Pompeii. Also, in the next week I will be gathering the books for the unit studies (free at homeschoolshare ) from the library. The science experiement materials will be gathered and placed in the bag as well.
Here is a FIAR bag based on Owl Moon. I have been gathering the materials for this bag for about 6 months. It has lots of clock work materials, index cards with lessons I want to do, a library list, Lapbook pages, dried owl vomit to dissect, workbook pages, recipes to make owl nests and owl face cupcakes. We will be doing this literature unit study in September with our FIAR support group which will include a field trip to the local nature center for an owl show.
Here is a unit study that we are starting in two weeks. Pirates ~ urrr! I was going to hold off on pirates until we made it to their heyday in history, but I have some very anxious little ones that want to start it sooner. Since, we learned last week that Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates for a few months and there has been so much talk about modern pirates, we decided to do it now. As you can see, we have lots of crafts and more unit studies from Homeschool Share. However, there is a lack of books. Since pirates is not my thing, we have very few books on them. I will be getting a big stack of pirate books from the library this week. As a side note ~ Another way I save money is to check out lots of books from the library on subjects that are coming up in the next year during the summer. I can preread them and decide if I "need" them as keepers or can put them on the library list of books for when we come to that topic. Hop on over to Thirsty Thursdays to see more great ideas. Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in Reflections and Blessings
|
Today was filled with professionals and their opinions. First, we were sitting in a doctor's waiting room this morning when a woman commented that I had 3 beautiful children. I thanked her and she said, "They are homeschooled, right?" I said yes but was very confused as to how she could know that. She explained that she worked in the public school system and that my kids looked too "alive" for public school kids and could talk easily with people who were a different age than them. Well, she is right about that! I never get why people think you are going to pick up more social skills in school than the real world. Then we saw Goldilock's psychiatrist for a follow-up. She has seen Goldilocks for years and we like her a lot. Today, she suggested that, because Goldilocks was falling so far behind her peers in reading, perhaps I should consider placing her in public school special ed! Ummmm....NO! She went on and said that the kids played so well together and that Goldilocks obviously enjoyed learning and was gleening many facts from her learning at home. However, her younger sibs were leaving her behind, and it could cause emotional scarring. Ummm....and 26 students leaving her behind would be no big deal? PLEASE... After we talked it out for awhile, she had to admit that with lower IQ kids the school system doesn't do much to help them, and they mostly get lost. I told her I was looking for a reading specialist, but frankly her being well adjusted and enjoying learning what she could get was more important to me. Also, who could better adapt lessons, watch over her progress, give one-on-one, and find other ways for her to shine -- her mother or an overburdened school system? I had her there. Besides, when Goldilocks was diagnosed with FASD, the geneticist was so pleased that she is homeschooled and literally begged me never to send her to public school! Lastly, we went to see Tom Sawyer's play therapist psychologist, where he is working on social skills and still working through his feelings associated with his near-death birth trauma. I was explaining some issues to her, and we were talking about the complications of raising several children with special needs and fitting their issues/personalities together. She said, "There is Parenting 101, which is the basics and many parents struggle with that and then there is high level, Very Advanced Parenting." She told me that was what I was doing with seemingly very little struggle. She went on to say that she was amazed by what my dh and I had been able to do for our children and that I was an extraordinary parent. She stood in amazement! (I stood in amazement at what she was saying.) She said God placed these children with us because we were a perfect family in His eyes ~ growing together. She agreed that my calling was to homeschool, love, and raise my beautiful children who were such special gifts. They were special children placed here on earth to get the rest of us to wake up and realize how blessed we are. That they were here with their own special misssion, whatever that might be. WOW! I knew I liked this lady!!! Of course, this made me feel really good and valued. Anyhoo, I did not write this to toot my horn but to remember it. I use the blog as my journal and want to keep the memories this way. When you are in the trenches all day every day, sometimes you forget that you really are doing a good job...that all is well and to stand strong in faith. It will be okay, as long as I stick to my calling and raise these children to the best of my ability. God will provide the strength and skills that I need when I need them. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On another note entirely ~ The new popular sport in our home is wheelbarrow rides.
and wheelbarrow tipping....
and all-out crashes....
Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in Charlotte Mason
|
Charlotte Mason advocated using living books in all of our studies. I love the idea and agree that our children should always read excellent books filled with creativity, challenging vocabulary, and firsthand accounts that will spark their imagination. So when it came time to introduce a new subject (Geography) to my children this year, I started looking for a good living book to add into our curriculum. I discovered an entire series that can be added into Geography and Science by Holling. Most people have heard of Paddle to the Sea, but did you know that there are many great books by this same author? Each of these living books offer insight to life in a particular geographic area through the eyes of an animal or plant. The reader also learns the life cycle, history, and habits of each main character, which is weaved throughout the story. We have the opportunity to go to the ocean this autumn for a week. This will only be the second time that my youngest three have ever seen the ocean and they were all under 4 the first time. So, we will be studying oceans, seashores, tide pools, sea life and shore life for two months before we go to the ocean. The Holling book Pagoo is perfect as a living book to add to our studies. This book follows the life of a hermit crab as he travels along the seashore meeting many other sea creatures. Each page of this book is filled with little tidbits of information that will most likely spark the interests of my children and lead them on a quest to know more. I love it when a book makes my job easy, hehehe... The pictures in the book are illustrated in a nature journal style which will give the children great examples when they are working on their own nature journals. Here is a list of 5 of Holling's books: Paddle to the Sea - This book follows the journey of a canoe from Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean. Pagoo - A study of tide pool life is introduced through the travels and life of a hermit crab. Tree in the Trail - A cottonwood tree watches history in the making on the Santa Fe trail. Minn Of The Mississippi - This story follows the journey of a turtle from the source of the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. Seabird - A carved ivory gull is the mascot of 4 generations of seafarers; a whaler, a clipper ship, a steamer and an airplane.
Dawn |
Blessings,Posted in Friday show and tell
|
Welcome to another Show and Tell hosted by Mary. Well, we had a bit of excitement around here. We have had several intense thunderstorms this week. I really love storms and took all the kids out on the back porch for the most recent one. We were all bundled up in blankets, watching the rain and then it started to hail. I thought it was getting a bit too wild and started to tell the kids it was time to go in. Right as I began to speak, the wind kicked up like crazy and stuff was flying/spinning all around us. I screamed for the children to get in and most of the children got safely inside, but Little Red Ridinghood was all tangled in blankets, umbrellas and the rocking chair. I looked out and am pretty sure I saw a tiny tornado and our Step Two Super Coaster coming our way. I yanked her through the mess, and we ran to join the others in the basement. As we sat on the floor of the basement praying for Daddy who was on his way home in the storm, the basement door flew open and water poured into the already flooding basement. While I was trying to close the door against the wind, the power went out. Yikes! When the weather died down, we emerged to find Daddy just coming home safe and sound. He had been in traffic, sitting next to a transformer when it exploded, so knew the electricity would be out when he got home. The backyard and back porch were a mess. The neighbor's tree came down into our yard, crushing the fence and covering some of our decorative trees and our peach tree was torn off at the top. The super coaster was lifted and carried about 15 feet across the yard. My husband using the axe to move brush:
The seesaw covered by fallen tree. The top of the peach tree. I must say, I don't need to find the ladder anymore to harvest the peaches. The super coaster where it landed. Still in one piece! Tom Sawyer standing next to one of the piles of limbs that is taller than him. Guess what we are doing for chore time tomorrow? It is going to be a big chore to clear the yard.
All around the neighborhood tonight, there are large limbs and powerlines down. The church up the street lost a major tree, which fell right into the street, blocking traffic in both directions. We feel so blessed to be safe and sound and to have great neighbors who were out helping each other before the storm was even completely over. Even as I type, neighbors are still out with chain saws cleaning up the roads. Thank goodness we are all safe and sound. Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in RAD FASD and Goldilocks Journey
|
Today my Goldilocks got her braces. It is somewhat unusual to put braces on an 8 year old with a mouth full of baby teeth but she really needs them now. Her mouth is so small and her adult teeth are trapped up in her gums. She also has teeth that have come in sideways, twisted perpendicular to other teeth. A couple teeth actually lay down, and her mouth is not big enough for her tongue. This is something genetic often seen in Appalachian as well as Chinese children. The orthodontist is going to have to guide her jaw to grow bigger and stretch things out so there will be some space in there. So, today we embarked on a 6 to 7 year journey of braces, retainers, and then braces again. At the end of this, however, she will be able to eat properly and have nice straight teeth. As I sat in the parent's chair rubbing Goldilock's leg during her procedure this morning, several things flowed through my mind. One thing is that it is amazing to me how God gives the strengths that we need when we need them. None of my other children could have sat through that procedure with such grace and cooperativeness as my dd showed. She seemed almost unaffected by all the things going in and out of her mouth while the braces were being placed. I was also struck with the sense that this was another opportunity for Goldilocks to know our love and for us to grow into a higher level of bonding as mother and daughter. We are embarking on this trial together. Somewhere deep inside her, this must be another reminder that she is a forever child. As the woman working on her told her, not every child is so fortunate to have parents that get them braces (even when there is a medical need). This is so ~ but also that many children and parents who would like to provide such things cannot, either because of finances or where they live. I am pretty sure they don't have braces available in most of the Third World. Also, our finances are not awesome. We have what we need but we are not rolling in it. However, we are very blessed that, even though her insurance will not cover braces (even when medically necessary), her adoption assistance will cover most of the cost. In our state, adopted children from the foster care system have a small pocket of money that they can dip into each year for things that insurance does not cover. By timing carefully, we were able to spread the next 15 months of payments over three year's pots of money. What a blessing!
Before braces!
Look how much they had to put in her mouth! What a brave little trooper!
Here she is with her new braces and bag of supplies! Now, I know that with a child with RAD and FASD, there is going to be some fallout in the next few days. There will probably be food issues ~ I already see the hint of that. There will be some angry moments because she feels all warm and fuzzy towards me at the moment, something that a RAD child absolutely hates to feel. It makes her feel out of control, to have depended on the comfort of my hand on her leg during the 1 1/2 hour procedure. This is to be expected, and I am building some margin in my life to make the next few weeks easier. But, for now, I am very proud of Goldilocks and am enjoying my own warm and fuzzy feelings towards her. Blessings, Dawn
|
Posted in Friday show and tell
|
It is time for another Show and Tell with Mary. We have had lots of nature experiences this week. We went to our local Bird Sanctuary this week. The kids love going to this park because of one particular climbing tree. They love to climb this tree and find the perfect place to watch the wildlife.
It is a perfect place to hang out on a really hot summer day. The shade of the sanctuary must bring the temperature down by 10 degrees. Once the children stopped giggling and climbing and settled down, we started spotting some wildlife. We saw lots of turtles, squirrels, tadpoles, ducks, geese, and Cardinals. We also heard a bullfrog that was really making a ruckus. We never could see him but we sure could hear him for about 10 minutes.
The kids can't wait to go back later this summer and see if all the tadpoles are changing. I think they were bullfrog tadpoles which take a long time to change. We also finished up our unit study on butterflies. The kids loved watching the stages of a butterfly's life cycle.
 
Now go see some great show and tell's with Canadagirl. Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in Homeschooling
|
I have seen lots of entries around blogdom lately on whether or not to homeschool year round. I thought I would weigh in with my opinion on the matter. For us, homeschooling year round in just natural, like breathing and sleeping. In our home, homeschooling is a lifestyle in which learning takes place all the time. However, it looks different from year to year and season to season. If you pop into my home in late Summer to early Fall, you will find us hard at work cracking the books. We will be in full swing with all of the fresh and new curriculum. I will be covering all of the subjects we will be learning that year. There will be stacks of books everywhere. I will be busy getting everyone out the door to our out-of-the-home classes and field trips. We will look almost frantic in our quest for learning and exploring new subjects. But, if you arrive in the heart of Winter, you will find that not all of the classes will still be in full swing. Something will be put aside, or wintered over until Spring ~ my guess ~ it will be Latin and or Music this year. We will be slipping deeper and longer into chapter books, arts and crafts and history projects. We will be baking and doing unit studies about Christmas. We will be picking and choosing our out-of-the-home activities based on how much sickness is going around our community. With our son Timothy, who is a high-end, medically-fragile person, keeping illness out and away from us is important. (Not easy when your dh works in a hospital!) If you roll through our home in the Spring, you will find us wrapping up SOTW and FIAR for the year. We will be busy with nature studies, playing outside, preparing for end-of-the-year dance recitals and end-of-year testing. You will probably hear some whining over math and copywork. Depending on their progress, those books will probably be shelved for a few weeks while we do outdoor math games and dabble more in living math books (a bit of a stuggle for me, but I respect the idea a great deal). Assuming that no crisis strikes this year, we will be well done with our required 180 days of recorded school. But that does not mean the learning stops. With the arrival of Summer, you will find that we are still at the books. However, it will be different, lighter, and more limited in scope. We will be covering the 3 R's in a gentle way for a little while each day (30 to 45 minutes). There will be no formal curriculum being used, much more of an unschooling style. The teacher will no longer be me, but the children will step in and take the lead on what we want to be learning. There will be hours of water fun outdoors, playdates with friends, messy arts and crafts, crazy science experiments that should only be done outdoors, lost mini-unit studies that sat around on dusty shelves all year because they didn't fit in, many caught and gently released critters, gardening and lots of So do we homeschool year round? You bet! But that is because learning can not be boxed into just sitting at a desk studying a textbook. There is a place and time far that, but it is far too limiting to say that education happens in one particular way. Learning goes on every second of everyday. It is constant! So we have our structured times of years and our relaxed time of year. By the way, I did not address the changes in life: new baby, job change, house move, surgery, other health issues, aging parents and all else that life throws at us. All of these also offer many opportunities for learning. Check out more Thirsty Thursdays here. Blessings, Dawn |
 Welcome to "Not Me" Monday! In an attempt to release a bit of my silly, witty side, I am joining "Not Me" Monday. This is a fun meme in which the point is to reveal some of the funny things you and your family did in the past week and keep it REAL on your blog. Please go see some other "Not Me" Monday's at My Charming Kids.
I did not take 15 shots and make my dd jump again (when she wanted to move on to other things) so that I could get this sequence of three pictures...No, not me!
  
I did not encourage my children to have as much "messy fun" as they wanted with the chocolate fountain, so that I could get these shots for my blog...No, not me!
Furthermore, I am not so crazy as to have bathed the children and put them in clean sleepers before having them "play" with the chocolate fountain...No, not me! I never do such ridiculous things. I always plan everything out in a very organized way. Also, my oldest dd (8) did not go sit on her bed and mutter for several minutes about how horrible my anniversary gift was from my dh. He gave me dirt to fill a really large raised bed. It is just what I wanted. She did not suggest that I demand a horse or diamonds instead...No, not her! I did not then worry about whether or not I am raising a girl to become a high maintenance young woman...No, not me! I did not give my children spice cake for breakfast this morning and tell them it was spice bread....No, not me! I did not let my children do extra chores this morning so that our home would be baby proof for my friends baby, even after I knew that said baby was not coming over....No, not me! Now, hop on over to My Charming Kids to see more "Not Me" Mondays. Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in Friday show and tell
|
Our summer plans for $70 or less.... I want to really find as much free fun this summer so that we can quickly empty our credit card again. After 2 years of having no credit card debt, several situations all at once forced us to end up with close to $1000 on our credit card. I want it gone by September! We will be cutting corners all over the place to make this happen. So we will be having as fun and as cheap as possible summer. Why $70 you say? That is what came in a check of forgotton earned money last week. So here is my overall plan. First, we will continue learning time and tea time each day. For learning time, the kids will be working in their summer workbooks (I tore up old workbooks and put them in a three ring binder in accordance with each child's weaknesses), play lots of learning games and continue reading lessons.
Do ignore the chocolate on dd's face. We worked on writing our address in chocolate soy whip cream right after breakfast!
I picked up most of these games from back-to-school sales at Walmart last year. The kids love them. We will also be doing a one day unit study for Flag Day, a study of butterflies vs. moths, and whatever other rabbit trails my kiddos lead me down. LOL! For tea time we are reading ~
We will also be playing outside a lot doing this~
and catching things like this to study~
I have a long list of out of the home activities~
Lastly, we will be concentrating on the garden and doing chores with a happy spirit! This is more challenging for one than for the others. Anyhoo! we will muddle on with the chores thing. They will all have good work ethic by the time they are grown up -- even if it kills me! So what are you all doing this summer? To see more great Show and Tells, hop over to www.homeschoolblogger.com/canadagirl. Blessings, Dawn |
Our next book will be Five Little Peppers and How They Grew.
Posted in Little Red Ridinghood
|
My dd performed in her dance recital this past weekend. Her class this year was a combination of tap and pre-ballet. In the recital, her class performed two seperate dances, one for tap and one for ballet. Little Red Ridinghood (5) did a pretty good job of remembering the steps and keeping a smile on her face. Last year it was really hard to get her on stage, and this year she just pranced right out! She is really enjoying dance and can't wait to start her third year in the fall. The first pictures are of her in her tap routine. They did an original song called, "This New Man" to the tune of "This Old Man He Played 10".
She much prefered her ballet costume because it looked like a fairy tale costume. She did not have the routine down as well in ballet but hit the different positions pretty well.
She kept looking off stage at her teacher to see what to do next. This has been such a good experience for her. She really likes the teachers at our dance studio, and I like how they are so relaxed and careful about keeping the kids modest. They are reminded weekly that they are dancing to glorify God, not to show off in any way. Now that the dance recital is over, we can begin summer break in earnest! Yeah!! Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in the big teen
|
It is time for another Show and Tell with Mary. Wow! On May 23 my son passed through the major milestone of high school graduation. We were suprised to find that there were so many ways to graduate as a homeschooled child. Many have private home celebrations and others graduate with their local homeschool group. We decided that our son would graduate with the state homeschool organization because we liked the offical diploma, and we all liked the idea of a traditional graduation. NCHE (North Carolina Home Education) Association put on a wonderful graduation at the convention in Winston-Salem last weekend. They were very well organized and everything was smooth and easy. They ended up splitting the graduates into two different graduations, since there were so many of them (about 300, while others received their diplomas through the mail). Since our son is now an adult, he will go by his real name on this blog for now on. Here is Timothy in his cap and gown waiting in the hallway to come into the graduation hall.
Isn't he HANDSOME! The way NCHE does their graduation is with an adult commencement speaker and then each set of parents are called forward to present the diploma to their graduate. It was just lovely, warm and family friendly just as a homeschool graduation should be.
Here dh is handing over the diploma.
My poor husband, David, got caught in the back. This picture does not depict what an important impact my husband has had on our homeschool. I am so grateful for his support and agreement that our children be homeschooled. It has been filled with sacrifice, lifestyle change/expectations and two years that were particularly hard finacially to keep me at home instead of in the workforce. However, he never waivered in his belief that we were doing what was best for Timothy (and later our other children). THANK YOU, DAVID! Here's to 12 more years of homeschooling and a great 10 years under our belts. When the graduates were filing out of the hall, Timothy threw his cap to Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer was a very happy boy with the cap on. He is our most likely next graduate in 11 years. Goldilocks is supposed to go next, but with her severe academic delays, she may be held back a year or so somewhere along the line.
A few family shots ~
After graduation, we went to dinner at the Sweet Potatoes Well Shut My Mouth restaurant. It was delicious! Hurray, Son! We are so proud of you! Blessings, Dawn |
Grandpa Dean, the photographer, was also in attendance, but is always on the opposite side of the camera!Posted in Homeschooling
|
We are back from the homeschool convention in Winston-Salem. I have so much to tell and even more that I need to process in my thinking. What a unique weekend. I spent half of my time moving my teen through another step toward adulthood by way of the ritual of high school graduation and the other part of the weekend So for today's entry, I am focusing on books. In many ways, books explain the huge change that is taking place in my life. There will be no high school books next year! WOW! WOW!!! wow.... A new chapter in our life with books that is a great relief and a bit of a shock. Next year all of my homeschooled kids will be within a grade level or two of each other. Next year there will only be one severely delayed child to teach .... Is this stack of crisp books not one of the most exciting things you have ever seen? LOL! So filled with promise .... My head is thinking, "This year I made all the right choices.... There will be no tears over this or that. School is going to be GREAT!" Oh, how the mind plays tricks. I know there will be tears and that these books do not hold all the answers. However, I do think I have some great finds here! There are some oldies but goodies, some changes and some additions.
We are sticking with the next year of SOTW. We all loved it last year, and we are looking forward to the Middle Ages. (However, I do need to reopen school to complete the Romans for one week before we can crack the new books.)
I love this series of books! They will make a great additon to SOTW. I have a few more to buy to cover some of the great people of this time period.
I am really excited about this little book. My ds has been demanding that I teach him Latin for the last few months. He got this notion from playing with other homeschool kids while waiting at his sister's ballet class. That's what I get for letting him hang out with homeschooled children. LOL! Anyhoo, I found this gentle program that just teaches some words and connections of Latin without getting into the grammar. Hopefully, this will satisfy him for another year while he gets older and I get braver.
Next, we have these lovely copywork books from Queens homeschool supply. I love Charlotte Mason's veiw on copywork but had trouble sticking with it last year. I am hoping that the easy layout of these books will keep us on task. Also, copying down proper manners can't hurt any either!
We are switching to Horizon Math from Miquon Math. I am really looking forward to the switch. The kids for the most part tested in the middle of grades. I like the way Horizon breaks their workbooks into semesters so you can start in the middle if you wish.
We are sticking with Explode the Code. These books are very popular in my home.
We also will be moving from Spellingcity.com to A Reason for Spelling .... I really enjoyed this series with my big teen and will be returning to it for the littles. I just can't keep focused on sending them to the computer. A little plug for Rainbow Resource. I have loved this company for the past 10 years. They are always so helpful and cheap. Most recently, they saved me lots of money by figuring out that my teaching manuals from the big teen were not outdated and could be reused with new spelling workbooks. They were more than happy to call over to the warehouse and compare copyright dates and pages. We also intend to keep up with FIAR this year. I am planning to start a FIAR field trip group in the fall. This should provide some socialization that my Tom Sawyer craves and be a safe, low key environment for my two special needs kiddos (in which Tom Sawyer is one). Now to think about those Workboxes! Hmmmm!! Do I want to add that into my homeschool? I do want my Tom Sawyer to become indepedent as soon as he can because I know that he is going to need to separate much of his studies from his slower sisters in the near future. However, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. I like most of the way we homeschool now. Hmmmm. I also shy away from trends .... Is this a trendy new way of teaching or the answer to my prayer? Much to ponder ... Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in High school transcripts
|
I am recording the Big Teen's high school summaries here. To read more of what he did in high school, see high school transcripts above. The Big Teen did Algebra in the 12th grade. For Algebra I, he used Teaching Textbooks. I really liked this program. It was very well laid out and helped him work somewhat independently. Certainly, a child without special needs would have no trouble using this program independently. In additon to Teaching Textbooks, we used several algebra computer games and drills on the internet. He also enjoyed the Living Math book, A Gebra Named Al. He survived Algebra and learned enough to have a general understanding of the concepts. It was by far the toughest course for him to get through in his entire high school career. We are both so glad he is all done! Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in Friday show and tell
|
Welcome to another Show and Tell with Canadagirl. I have struggled for some time now to establish a schedule/routine for our family. The main problem is that every day is different in our home. I kept getting stuck with the time thing. We can't do the same thing at 10 am everyday because we are not in the same place at 10 am everyday, or any other particular time either. We are not a family that has the luxury of staying home day after day. We have doctor/therapy appointents several days a week and, during Tomatis loops, every single day for hours on end. Then there are the classes in which this year each child had a choice of one class outside the home. We often find ourselves struggling through a hectic day in which I have to force one of my children through many transitions. Did I mention that transistions are very, very difficult for two of my kiddos? Anyhoo, I finally struck on a schedule chart that is working for us. Each night I check the weather and calendar for the next day. Then I pull out the 36 cards that I made (so far) and put them in order on our schedule for that day. Then during breakfast we review the plans for today. During the day, the kids can go back and check the chart. It is really helping them know what is coming next. It really helps to reduce reducing fussing about what they had thought up to do versus what we need to do. Everyone is much happier and things are going much more smoothly.
I made them by using cardstock and velcro on the back. This was so simple and cheap. I think it cost me $3.00 for everything. Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in High school transcripts
|
This was by far one of my son's least favorite subjects. Writing and typing come very hard to my dear son. Everything is difficult about it, from the thought process to the spelling to the cramps it give his hands to write anything more than a sentence. However, it is important to be able to put your thoughts to paper. Listed below are some of the ways we found to help him express himself through writing.
He also completed the Apples to Apples Spelling and Handwriting without Tears - Cursive with his OT therapist. Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in Field Trips
|
We had a fun time going to Education Day at the Tourists Baseball Field. This small, mountain town, minor-league baseball team has a history to it, having hosted some of baseball's most influential stars: Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Ty Cobb, Warren Spahn, and even Babe Ruth have graced this field with their prowess. Cal Ripken Jr. was a bat boy there in the early to mid 70s, while his father managed the Club. The famous author, Thomas Wolfe (Look Homeward, Angel and You Can't Go Home Again), was a bat boy back in 1915. Portions of the classic film "Bull Durham" starring Kevin Costner were filmed there during two days in October, 1987. I was unsure on how the kids would do at a baseball game with all the noise. Once they had the hang of what was going on and we moved to a calmer section, they enjoyed it. We were lucky to find a calmer section between a group of homeschoolers from a different county and a group from a nursing home. They were not nearly as wild as the public school kids were in our first seats. Interestingly, the public school kids were being riled up by their teachers. I guess they were trying to wear them out or something.
I was surprised how hot it was in the stands. I had brought a picnic lunch of organic hot dogs, potato chips, and fruit, but I ended up buying a snow cone for them to share.
They liked meeting Teddy the Tourists's mascot.
They also enjoyed hitting a few balls of their own. The little educational packets they handed out were pretty good. They were mostly math and were too hard to concentrate on there, but we did learn some from them. I was proud of them for making it through 5 innings and behaving themselves. Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in Muffin Tin Monday
|
It is time for another Muffin Tin Monday! The theme this week is building a muffin tin meal around a children's book. My kids love the book, If You Give a Pig a Pancake.
Going clockwise ~ We had sausage, gluten-free pancakes, maple syrup, pineapple and strawberries, more gluten free-pancakes and a wipie. I added the wipie because if you give a pig pancakes and syrup they will have sticky little paws. It was pointed out to me by my teenager that eating pig (sausage) in our muffin tins was not very friendly to the storyline. LOL! I suppose he is right, but it rounded out the meal well. Luckily, none of the other kids caught on to that fact.
Blessings, Dawn |
Posted in Friday show and tell
|
It time for another Show and Tell Friday. The big teen finished his last subject today and is officially done with High School!!!!!!!! You just can not imagine my excitement and relief! We made it!! He will be having a big graduation ceremony with many other homeschoolers from around the state on May 23 at the homeschool convention. However, I just had to do something to celebrate tonight! We dropped the big teen off at Fencing class and scurried off to the store to buy a cake and some balloons. I used to drive my poor dear husband crazy doing things impromptu like this, but he is used to me now.
Get him children!
CONGRATS, SON! We are proud of you. To see more Show and Tells, hop on over to Canadagirl Blessings, Dawn |
After cake and ice cream (another cheat on the special diet), we went outside to 
Posted in Adoption Awareness
|
Today is World AIDS Orphans Day. Did you know that there are 15 million children orphaned by AIDS living around the world right now? What a shocking number! It is estimated that in this year, 6,500 people will die from AIDS every single day. YES, EVERY DAY! Of those who die daily, 6,000 of them will leave children behind. What is worse is that AIDS is completely treatable now. A child diagnosed with HIV who receives treatment has the opportunity to live a full life. There are several organizations that help orphaned children of AIDS around the world. Two great ones are listed below ~ To learn more about HIV+ children, please go see my blog friend, Erin. She is raising some darling HIV+ children and has written a wonderful post about World AIDS Orphans Day. If you can, please go learn about HIV+ people from her site and maybe make a donation. The stigma associated with AIDS is preventing care from getting to all those who need it. Imagine what this world will be like with 15 million children growing up without parents...without guidance, a safe home, proper nutrition, education, and LOVE. Rich Stearns, President of World Vision, US said: "I believe that this could very well be looked back on as the sin of our generation. I look at my parents and ask, where were they during the civil rights movement? I look at my grandparents and ask, what were they doing when the holocaust in Europe was occurring with regard to the Jews, and why didn't they speak up? And when we think of our great, great, great-grandparents, we think how could they have sat by and allowed slavery to exist? And I believe that our children and their children, 40 or 50 years from now, are going to ask me, what did you do while 40 million children became orphans in Africa?" This is for you mom! I have mailed out a donation in your name to Hardthaven (a home in Ghana that cares for children affected by AIDS). Happy belated Birthday! You can follow this link to see the adorable children that you will be helping. Blessings, Dawn
|
Posted in High school transcripts
|
The big teen studied U.S. and British Literature for 11th grade. He enjoyed a large selection of books, some challenging for him and others more for enjoyment. Besides reading the books listed below, he also did narrations of the books. In additon, he used the FIAR Above and Beyond unit study with the book Hitty~Her First 100 Years. Surprisingly, he really enjoyed this unit study, even though it is based on the travels of a wooden doll. Here is a list of the other books he read:
Blessings, Dawn |