Happenings, events, meanderings and thoughts on our homeschool journey. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:31:00 -0500 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:31:00 -0500 My precious little seven year old has Apraxia. He didn't start vocalizing until at least two years old. He didn't start speaking words until about four years old.Even now, most of what he says, I cannot understand. He has been in speech therapy for a few years now, and I am sure has many more years ahead of him. "What is Childhood Apraxia of Speech? Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a motor speech disorder. For reasons not yet fully understood, children with apraxia of speech have great difficulty planning and producing the precise, highly refined and specific series of movements of the tongue, lips, jaw and palate that are necessary for intelligible speech. Apraxia of speech is sometimes called verbal apraxia, developmental apraxia of speech, or verbal dyspraxia. No matter what name is used, the most important concept is the root word "praxis." Praxis means planned movement. To some degree or another, a child with the diagnosis of apraxia of speech has difficulty programming and planning speech movements. Apraxia of speech is a specific speech disorder.” Taken from the Family Start Guide at Apraxia-Kids.Org Day after tomorrow, Steven and I are participating in a walk, to raise funds for and awareness of Apraxia of Speech. Won't you please join us with your thoughts, prayers, and support? You can learn more about Apraxia, and our walk, by going here.I'll share more with you, after our walk. The weather is supposed to be sunny, but rather chilly. I think it will be a more comfortable temperature for walking....and I am sure we will not be wearing shorts!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/736625/ Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/736625/ We will be following this blog over the next several days: Richard's Ride The two bikers are the pastor and a church member from the church we attended when we lived in Florida. Tim went on the bike trip in Virginia with them a year or so ago. Be sure to read the story about Richard.May the Lord speak to your heart through this story. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/736624/ Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:16:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/736624/ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/734228/ Wed, 7 Oct 2009 20:28:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/734228/ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/729573/ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:29:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/729573/ My youngest has Apraxia of Speech. I like the sounds of this bike ride, to help raise awareness!! MAC Ride '09 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/728637/ Sun, 20 Sep 2009 06:48:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/728637/ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/725987/ Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:55:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/725987/ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/725985/ Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:52:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/725985/ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/725796/ Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:02:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/725796/ http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/723195/ Wed, 2 Sep 2009 06:08:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/723195/ Pete Chagnon - OneNewsNow - 8/26/2009 A Christian homeschool girl in New Hampshire has been ordered into government-run public school for having "sincerely held" religious beliefs -- and the Alliance Defense Fund is troubled by the ruling. The case involves divorced couple Martin Kurowski and Brenda Voydatch and their 10-year-old daughter, Amanda. The couple split in 1999 when they were living in Massachusetts, and the proceedings moved to New Hampshire after Voydatch relocated to that state with her daughter in 2002.   Although Voydatch has primary custody over Amanda, both parents agreed to a parenting plan that included joint decision-making responsibility. A court-appointed guardian served as a mediator.   A source of contention between the parents has been the mother's decision to home school Amanda since first grade. Amanda's father believes she should be sent to public school, while the mother is adamant about home schooling. Since both parents have failed to reach common ground, the issue moved to the court.   The situation was then analyzed by the court-appointed guardian, who made a recommendation to the court. During the evaluation process it was determined that Amanda was excelling in her schooling and used curriculum that was approved by her school district. The curriculum used in her home schooling was created by certified teachers, and Amanda routinely took standardized tests.   Furthermore, Amanda attended her local public school to take art, Spanish, and P.E. classes. Her public school instructors also commented on the fact that Amanda was well-rounded in her social skills. But a sticking point arose concerning Voydatch's Christian faith.   The court order stated: "According to the guardian ad litem's further report and testimony, the counselor found Amanda to lack some youthful characteristics. She appeard to reflect her mother's rigidity on questions of faith." The guardian noted that during a counseling session, Amanda tried to witness to the counselor and appeared "visibly upset" when the counselor purposefully did not pay attention.   The guardian also noted that Amanda's relationship with her father suffered because she did not think he loved her as much as he said he did due to the fact that he refused to "adopt her religious beliefs."   According to the court order, the guardian concluded that Amanda's "interests, and particularly her intellectual and emotional development, would be best served by exposure to a public school setting in which she would be challenged to solve problems presented by a group learning situation and...Amanda would be best served by exposure to different points of view at a time in her life when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief and behavior." Furthermore the court order states that despite Amanda's mother insisting that her daughter's religious beliefs were her own, "it would be remarkable if a ten-year-old child who spends her school time with her mother and the vast majority of all her other time with her mother would seriously consider adopting any other religious point of view."   Although the court noted that it "is extremely reluctant to impose on parents a decision about a child's education," it ruled that Amanda must attend public school.   Alliance Defense Fund-allied attorney John Anthony Simmons has filed a motion to reconsider. He says this ruling is dangerous to home schoolers because it will set a precedent for other cases.   "Every time you have a court order that uses a wrong standard or misapplies constitutional law, everyone's rights are eventually at stake," the attorney explains. "Because what happens with precedent is it gets expanded -- it gets cited in other cases."   Simmons believes this case goes beyond the initial divorce and custody battle with this ruling because the standard used in the decision contained in the court order is troubling. He contends that the child's religion should not have played a role in the decision, and that the court should have focused solely on the academic merits of Amanda's education which proved to be excellent.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/721362/ Thu, 27 Aug 2009 17:22:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/WendyFL/721362/