• Feb. 7, 2010 - A Practical Guide for Parents of Late Talkers
Copyright 2008-2009 Sweetpetunia.
Dr. Jim MacDonald posted this short guide on an email list I'm on. I thought I'd share it here since his methods make a whole lot of sense:
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Responds to people’s contacts
WHAT IS IT AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Your child connects with you by responding to your actions,
communications and emotions. When a child does not respond, others
tend to interact with him less and he learns and communicates less.
In preparing him for the social world, you need to make sure he
responds immediately and in a friendly way when others contact him.
This is much more important than many think and can make the
difference between a social life and an isolated one.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP.
The best way to teach your child to respond to you is to respond to
him. This means responding to his actions, play and sounds, not just
his words. Remember that he needs to interact habitually before he is
ready to talk much. You can also give him enough time to respond by
waiting and showing you really expect something. Even gently keeping
him with you will show him that responding is necessary.
PROBLEMS THAT INTERFERE
Believing that you need to respond only to your child’s words is a
real danger; you will be discouraging those actions and non verbal
communication that are needed to build to words, especially if a child
is a late talker. Another major problem is talking a lot and not
giving your child quiet time to respond. If you do it all, he will
learn to be entertained and not contribute.
THINGS TO TRY
Your child needs to know others are interested, even hungry, for any
responses he can give. This will make him the habitual social person
he needs to be. Try the following:
Match what he does: do and say things he can do or say.
Wait silently with a clear sign that you expect a response.
Avoid taking over and making him passive.
Be animated and interesting so he wants to stay with you.
Avoid expecting a particular response most of the time.
Accept any responses without criticism
If you want a particular response be sure to give him good cues.
THE MORE YOUR CHILD RESPONDS TO PEOPLE,
THE MORE THEY WILL NATURALLY HELP HIM DEVELOP.
COMMUNICATING PARTNERS
Copyright 2010 James D. Mac Donald
Tink and I finished ECC right before Christmas. We took a wee break and did a lapbook project on The Christmas Day Kitten from Homeschool Share. We started it, but didn't finish it. Lapbooks are a little difficult to do when you don't have a hard surface to work on and we didn't think Grandma would like our working on it at the dining room table.
So we proceeded to use the Sonlight Core 3+4 that's been sitting in storage. Surprise, surprise, I really like it. Tink and I finished in a smidge over an hour today. I'm so excited because we're treading in new territory. We've gotten past the point where we stopped using it last time.
I was telling Daddy-O that I can't understand why we disliked it so much two years ago, but then after I thought about it. It was pretty clear: Last time, Ninja was involved and she didn't like it. The Language Arts sheets were a bit past Ninja so she was really struggling with them. Tink was not ready to sit that long and listen to me read at that time and she had a very hard time answering the questions in the Instructor Guides. Plus the Dude and Princess were both two years younger than they are now and both much more clingy and needy of my time.
Tink has really blossomed since then. Instead of asking all the questions in the History Guide, I've been having her narrate the chapter back to me and she's doing a great job. I also cut down the questions in the reader guide unless I think she should know that particular bit of cultural literacy. I do use the vocabulary exercises because I think they're really good.
I also repurchased the redesigned Language Arts worksheets and I like them a lot more than the old ones. These are much more doable and Tink finishes them in no time.
Ninja is still loving on MFW's High school curriculum. I haven't seen her this excited about the Bible since her teacher Mark was teaching her Sunday School class back when she was in fourth or fifth grade. Very cool. It's also sparked a big interest in Greek and Roman Mythology and ancient history.
The Dude is just finishing up the reading list in 100 Easy Lessons. We're taking it slow through Dinosaurs Before Dark since he doesn't understand a whole lot of the language in it. It took him about 20 minutes to read through chapter 1 today. He's such a smart little feller! He also loves listening to his Sing the Word CD every night. We got it after Carole Joy Seid recommended it and he's really soaking it up just like she said he would. If all continues to go so smoothly with Tink and Sonlight, Dude will start back up with MFW K very soon. Daddy-O doesn't want him getting behind.
Princess is enjoing being read to every morning. Usually Beatrix Potter or A. A. Milne. This morning the littles really enjoyed listening to Read Aloud Bible Stories, all of these are recommendations by Carole Joy Seid.
So far all is going well. It's nice to be delighting in school again.
• Nov. 23, 2009 - Beginning to Feel the Wind on My Face Again
Copyright 2008-2009 Sweetpetunia.
Freedom!
I've once again caught the scent of freedom in homeschooling. Over the last couple of years, I've been in a panic about the kiddos being "behind" in their homeschooling. I've been so stressed about it that after all these years of loving learning with my children at home, I'd begun to hate it. I nearly gave up entirely several times but God headed me off and reminded me that homeschooling is His path for me each time so I knew He still meant for me to homeschool them however, I knew I was missing something. Homeschooling had become this huge burden.
About a week or two ago I went to a seminar by Carole Joy Seid and I'm so glad I went. I'm beginning to feel free again. I'm so glad I went and I'm sure the rest of my family is too. I no longer feel this huge burden to "catch up" and I'm researching ways to help my children explore their interests to the fullest.
Carole even gave me specific advice on how to work with the Dude on his language delays. The only thing that makes me sad is that she really does not come to this area that often so I may either have to travel down to southern CA to see her again or pray really hard that she comes back this way. She was discussing it at the end of her seminar.
I feel as if I've been set free again, perhaps something like the feeling of the wind on my face while running in an open field. This is one happy mama.
• Oct. 31, 2009 - It All Started With A Field Trip
Copyright 2008-2009 Sweetpetunia.
So we're taking it a bit easier with our school schedule lately. Dude doesn't like Leaf so i just stopped using MFW K at all for a bit. I'm just focusing on finishing up 100 Easy Lessons and he's doing great. The only thing I think he's really missing out on is the math in MFW K. It's just so stressfull to pull everything out, drag it all to the table, keep Dude's attention and keep baby Princess and grandma entertained all at the same time while keeping the house clean as required. So, for this season in our lives, we'll have to fall behind again, but I don't know what else to do.
We did have a fun but severly stressfull week last week.lol. It all started with a field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. That part actually went well... a little too well perhaps and the kiddos didn't want to leave. My plan was to meet Daddy-O in the town he was in on business and spend the night with him since we weren't going to see him for a few days. For some reason the kiddos didn't like that idea and I think Ninja was tired out from the concert she'd attended the night before.
We hit several snags. There was traffic on the way out of Monterey that was backed up very badly, then I got lost in Santa Cruz, I kept stopping to look for extinct pay phones to update Daddy-O on our slow progress and then the fog rolled in. I don't think I've been that stressed out driving in a long time. It was pea-soup thick and my wipers weren't working which lead us to breathe heavily which fogged up the inside of the windshield and I couldn't get the defroster to work properly!
Thanfully we made it out of the fog but since I wasn't smart enough to print out a map or even write down directions first, I got lost again in San Franciso. But at least the kiddos got to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. LOL!
Needless to say we all did a lot of praying on that trip and we found Daddy-O at Peir 39 and had some lovely clam chowder.
Next time though, I'll let Daddy-O enjoy his business trip alone.
I've been so unbelievably tired lately. We're really struggling to get all our school work done these days. It's a huge blessing that Ninja is loving and doing her own curriculum but I'm battling to get Tink and the Dude's work done. Little Princess is still extremely demanding and it's taxing to work around my extended family's schedules as well as our own.
I've been trying to "socialize" the Dude. I know, I know that's a bad word to homeschoolers, but I think my boy needs it. He seems in a much nicer mood when he's been out and about interacting for short periods of time with others. My plan is to take him to tot class at the zoo and an art for youg learners class with our homeschool group every other week. I was really stressing about that. I couldn't see getting in those classes and getting all our other school work done for the day but I realized that for him, interaction and spech therapy will be more important and useful than academics so I'm simply going to do a reading lesson from 100 Easy Lessons on those days. While it may take us a bit longer to finish his kindergarten curriculum it'll be well worth it if he can pick up some skills that are more useful in the long run. Now the trick is to make it through the long waiting lists for speech and occupational therapies.
We've been waiting for speech therapy since May 14th and occupational therapy since the middle of June. I called the local university because I heard they do speech therapy for their graduate speech pathology program at a greatly reduced price but that's also a 6 month wait. I'll turn in the paperwork soon so we can at least get our names on the list.
Day one of Dude's homeschooling went well despite a rocky start. Instead of sleeping in this morning as Grandma and I went off to the gym, Princess woke up and was very upset that I was leaving and she let the whole house and half the neighborhood know it. So of course all the littles woke up and I had to drag Ninja out of bed to watch them. When I came back, Dude and Tink were playing their own spin-off of Bolt they've titled "Bolt and Storm" and Dude did not want to come do school. I think he may have thought I wanted to send him off to preschool again because he made some hand motions indicating he was thinking about traveling to his last preschool and I tried to explain to him that we're homeschooling now but it took several tries at it before he understood what I was saying. He finally started to get it when I told him that Ms. Falcon was not his teacher anymore, but I am. He then spied the box I keep the MFW K worksheets in and he briefly stopped protesting. He remembered that box from last year when we'd begun including him in with Tink as she finally finished up her turn through MFW K.
Dude begged to open the box. I finally let him after we were done covering his ABC cards with contact paper. He happily pulled out the ABC flash cards and began naming everything on them. Yay! He remembered them. :)
We still had a few kinks to work out but we got through it. I read the scripture reading to Dude out of the teacher's manual, but he wasn't following. Then I read about day 1 of creation from the Read With Me Bible and the illustrations caught his eye. Immediately after, we watched the segment on creation from Volume 1 of the Read and Share DVD Bible. I got it at a really good price at CBD, knowing I might need it to introduce the Dude to Bible stories since my reading them to him doesn't seem to hold his attention. Tomorrow I'm going to follow directions and read about day 2 of creation directly from the Bible. That might help the Dude understand he needs to listen up. If not, he's still getting the gist of the story from the Read with me Bible and the DVD Bible.
I really like the set-up of MFW K's creation lessons. Since we covered the story of day 1 of creation several times, the Dude appears to be getting the concept. By the time we were on to our last project, the creation book, Dude was saying, "Light and dark!". I think this is going to work.
Princess had fallen asleep while Grandma and I were gone and she woke up in the middle of our school session so we included her in our crafts. She liked using the glue sticks and wanted to cut things out.lol. I'll have to find her some safety scissors so she can do just that.
I know I have a children's CD of songs and hymns but it must be packed away so I had to play This Is My Father's World online. This version was pretty so we listened to it. Hopefully the Dude will learn it.
Right now he's watching the rest of his DVD Bible.
Tink starts back up next week. I think my schedule is going to work well. If my mom and I can get to the gym and back home a bit earlier, Tink can get dressed and start on her individual school work while I do K with Princess and the Dude. Since we'll be done by 10 or 11 a.m., Tink and I can then finish off her school work and probably be done by 3 or 4 in the afternoon.
Once Tink and I get done with ECC, we're going to use Sonlight Core 3+4. This should go better without Ninja and we'll take it nice and easy.
• Aug. 23, 2009 - Starting MFW Kindergarten Tomorrow
Copyright 2008-2009 Sweetpetunia.
The Dude starts homeschool tomorrow. I really hope he likes it. I'm thinking that after my mom and I get home from the gym, I'll get The Dude and Princess ready for the day, leaving Tink on her own to laze about for another week since she only got a short summer break and Ninja starts her second week of school, this time all on her own, checking in with me at the end of the day to make sure she got it all done.
I still can't believe it when I hear Ninja say she's excited about school. She surprised me again with those words tonight. She also thanked me for continuing to homeschool her and her siblings despite all the discouraging words from her grandparents. That was so sweet. I really appreciated her saying that and I told her so. Her comments were really nice to hear after a bit of negativity from MIL tonight. MIL thinks homeschooling will be bad for the Dude and she's sure to tell me so approximately every other week.
I'm slightly nervous about how well the Dude is going to handle school and having to sit and listen to me for a couple of hours. This is going to be a bit different from when I taught Tink. Since we started so late teaching Tink, (she was 7) she and I had already completed 100 Easy Lessons so the MFW K reading instruction was all review and I think it really helped to reinforce her reading skills. The Dude is still only on lesson 66 because of all the public preschool (and Princess and other) interruptions but I do have to say he has a pretty good grasp on the idea of reading. He's constantly sounding out words on his own. Perhaps it won't be a problem if I do Dude's Kindergarten instruction in the morning and try teaching him reading with 100 Easy Lessons in the evenings after dinner.
The plan is do start off with Princess, reading a Bible story book to her and listening to some Bible songs, then maybe some other preschool songs or nursery rhymes, then I might include her in the Dude's learning, having her participate in the crafts or using Tink's leftover worksheets or a preschool workbook. Then I'll work with Tink while the babies play. I may ask them if they want to participate in any of Tinks activities like coloring flags or John 3:16 coloring pages since she's not quite through with ECC.
After looking at the Dude's curriculum for tomorrow, it looks like I should be reading about each day of creation for the first week or so of school, then we'll jump into the weekly lessons covering the topics laid out by MFW. I was a little worried about whether or not he would understand the language presented since it can be a bit lengthy for him and it's directly from the NIV translation of the Bible. I remembered a small purple children's Bible we've had since perhaps Ninja was a tot and after looking at it, I think I may either substitue reading from it or read it in addition to the scheduled scriptures. The stories are much shorter, sometimes only a short sentence about each day of creation and the illustrations look like they may catch the Dude's attention. Of course the visual help is probably exactly what he'll need.
I'm not quite sure, but it looks like this little Bible is out of print or has possibly been revised because every time I searched for the exact title, something slightly different came up. Not that it matters so much to me. I think all the pages are intact so I won't need a replacement. It's called the Read With Me Bible: An NIV Story Bible for Children.
If the littles can follow it well enough, I may continue reading it to them as a sort of devotional every morning. Or I could start off with a simpler Bible story book set I have so they can get familiar with the stories, then read through the Read With Me Bible once we're done.
So it's late and DH is telling me it's time for bed, he's done watching the Princess. Gotta run.
So which is it? Am I loving homeschooling or losing my mind in frustration over it? Sometimes the choice is not so clear.
If you'd have asked me a few years ago, I probably would have gushed forth with why I love homeschooling and that I wouldn't have it any other way. Today, I would still say I wouldn't have it any other way, but sometimes life gets hard, confidence wanes and in those times, you find out who your true supporters are. Unfortunately, those who never supported you may be sure to rub your face in it as well.
I know that last week, there would have been no doubt in anyone's mind. I was definitely losing mine. Pulling my hair out at the thought that I would have to not only find but implement four different curricula, I was snapping at people and feeling extremely beaten down. I kept trying to tell myself that it would all get better once I started in and I just needed to calm down, but self wasn't listening.
So, Monday rolled around and Ninja and I started school. It was amazing. She loved it, I loved it. God spoke to us through His word in Ninja's assigned Bible reading and we were both giggling the whole afternoon over it all. We really dug into the Bible questions and had so much fun searching for answers using our Bibles, a Greek interlinear New Testament, and several different versions of the Bible.
The lessons were so personal. Ninja shared with me how cool it was that she was being directed to study the Old Testament just like Jesus did, especially after our pastor's sermon Sunday was on being more like Christ. I shared with her how I'd been feeling so unbelievably discouraged about homeschooling and had nearly given up, but after reading about Satan waiting to come back and pester even Jesus at a more opportune time, I didn't feel so alone anymore. I felt strengthened for the battle and ready to hang on till all my children have graduated from our homeschool. Satan tempts everyone to do the wrong thing and all I need to do is use my sword (of truth) to defend not only my position on homeschooling but defend my children and their walk with God.
Monday was a good day.
There's even more good news. The Dude's language seems to be improving. He's slowing down at times and really trying to speak clearly. Yesterday, he said, "[Tink] said, 'The batteries are getting low.'" What a beautiful sentence. He's been trying to speak to his cousin this morning and everything makes sense. Right at the moment he's scripting, but at least it's in context.
I've been giving him probiotic powder in his applesauce and rice milk, even on ice cream. That seems to help his mood. I was also instructed by Dianne Craft and more recently a commenter on my blog to supplement with omega oils to improve language skills. I tried giving Dude a wonderful supplement from Nordic Naturals however, even though Princess loves them and begs for them daily, I couldn't get him to swallow the little soft gels so I got some Coromega packets. For some reason he wouldn't take those either, even after I tried stirring them into his smoothies. Finally I figured out if I pour his smoothies and the Coromega packet contents into a shaker cup with one of those ingenious little inserts to help break up the product being shaken, he drinks them down in seconds. As long as he can't see "the green stuff" he's absolutely fine with it.
Oh, and speaking of Dianne Craft I really need to review the lovely products she sent me but I loaned the reading program to my sister before I got the chance to look at it. I hope she didn't lose it.
The Dude also willingly ate one of his therapy foods today! I was so excited I had to call DH at work to share the good news. I guess I should explain: The Dude has serious texture issues and self-limits his food a lot. We got him in to Children's Hospital Outpatient services for an Occupational Therapy assessment in order to get him past it. Obviously I want him to eat fruits and vegetables, right? So Dude's therapist instructed me to introduce one new food per day and present that food to him 5-6 times a day in different ways, encouraging him to taste, touch, and lick them.
Today's food was zucchini. I shredded it, stirred it into his gluten-free pancake batter and also sliced a piece for him to handle and talk about. He ate half a pancake befor he realized there was zucchini in it. I'm not sure if I should have warned him about it or not, but it turned out okay. Once Dude realized there was (horror of horrors) something unauthorized in his food, he was a bit grossed out and began picking the tiny pieces of green out of his pancakes. I thought they smelled delicious, and to show him, I began munching on the shreds of zucchini he'd picked out. I don't know what got into him but I heard him say behind me, "Oh, I ate it." At first I didn't understand, but then realization dawned. He took two large bites out of the next pancake without first extracting the zucchini. Joy!
Here he is in his Teddy Roosevelt/Buzz Lightyear get-up enjoying his pancakes.
It seems he can't help remaining a tad suspicious.
Oops, mom got distracted and overcooked a couple of pancakes, but Dude doesn't appear to mind much at all.
So, I've had a very encouraging week so far and my mom and I even joined the gym to boot. Yes, a very good week so far indeed.
Yes, I'm shamelessly blogging to win curriculum again.lol. My Four Monkeys is giving away Itty Bitty Bookworm curriculum and this time it's I have a shot at the Bailey curriculum, perfect for Princess.
• Aug. 9, 2009 - Short summer break, need encouragement
Copyright 2008-2009 Sweetpetunia.
We finally broke down and are taking a short summer break. A month total. We'll pick back up August 17. I think Tink really appreciates just getting up and being able to play and read. So far the children have not complained too much of being bored. I think they are well aware that if they do, I'll find some nice school work to keep them occupied with.lol.
I've actually been enjoying the mini vacation as well. I'm trying to catch up on some reading: Mother Warriors and Engaging Autism are the two books I'm currently working on, but I'm still having trouble tracking the lines on the page so I have to keep my reading sessions short or it doesn't sink in. I really need to try out those tracking exercises Dianne Craft recommends. If they can help children, I don't see why they couldn't help adults.
I'm managing to read aloud, mostly to Tink, with no problems though. She doesn't seem to mind it when I mix up my words when my eyes jump. In fact I think she quite likes it. She and Ninja used to have a notebook with the funny things I would say while reading aloud to them. We all get quite a laugh out of it sometimes. I picked up some classics from the library and right now we're reading through Peter Pan and Pinocchio. Since we stopped in the middle of our study of Japan, I'd checked out Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun but Tink prefers fairy tales to history and it sits on the shelf. I checked out Shipwrecked! by the same author as Commodore Perry. It's also set in Japan (partially) so maybe we'll get a little reading in about Japan after all.
I'm very excited about starting a new school year. I just ordered Dude's MFW K worksheets and a replacement Classical music CD so he can start his kindergarten year. I also ordered Ninja's curriculum. I hope I can eek out the time to read her books after her. They look so interesting. I don't recall much about the Illiad and the Oddesy if I read them in high school but I really don't think I read any of the other literature books she's going to be studying.
DH and I discussed it and I think we're going to sign Ninja up for ALEKS online math. I'm hoping it'll fill in the big gaps in her math skills and hopefully help her catch up there. She loves Math U See and refuses to give it up so I'm going to let her continue on with it, however ALEKS will have to be her main priority. The only downside is she'll have to be online to do her work, so I'll have to have her do it while I can be in the room watching her to make sure she doesn't wander off to check her email or the Skillet website.
One of the reasons we're going to try to use ALEKS is that she's very behind in math and our parents have been really discouraging us in the homeschool department lately. I wish they would realize how very important it is to me to homeschool my children, that they get a Christian education and that they are not exposed to so many sinful temptations that are out there. If all those temptations were so blatant when I was a teen, I know they're a thousand times worse now. I want to do everything I can to help my children resist and be victorious in their walk. I also want to give them every advantage of being raised in a Christian home. I want them to know God better than I ever did when I was their age. Our parents are worried about college and careers, I'm
worried about their relationship with God and whether or not they'll be equipped to live their lives for God.
Well, we've altered our summer school schedule again.lol. Big surprise. Tink is simply too interested in China, Japan and Russia to spend only a week on each of them. She asked to spend the full two weeks scheduled in the ECC manual and since I'm very interested in these countries as well I thought she was right.
We're currently in the second week of China and we're reading Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. We also checked out the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, but we may not get to that one quite in time and that's okay since we own that book. It's in storage right now though, so it's a bit of a pain to get to.
Now for the Aloo Gobi:
We bought the ingredients last week and were finally able to cook the Aloo Gobi this week instead of two weeks ago when we were studying India. I got the recipe from the DVD extras on the Bend It Like Beckham movie.lol. I'm not saying this is a good movie for your children to watch, so please do your own movie screening. My children did not watch the movie but I did let them watch the director cooking Aloo Gobi in the DVD. It was pretty funny watching her aunt and her mother correct her. Again, please do your own screening first. The director let a word slip out that I missed until the girls were watching it.
So here is the Aloo Gobi in the first stages.
Tink wanted to take these first two pics so I let her do it. I wanted her to take a picture at this stage because of the pretty color the Turmeric gave it. Unfortunately under the fluorescent lights, it doesn't quite look true to life.
This is a shot of an interesting little spice mixture I had a bit of a time finding. Luckily DH remembered there was an Indian store in our old neighborhood in Fresno and since we happened to be in the area at that time, he was able to find it for me. It's called Garam Masala.
This is what the package looks like.
And here is our finished dish.
I think it looks very pretty with the chopped cilantro on it. Or coriander. From what I've read, they're the same thing?
It wasn't bad. I didn't know what else to serve with it so I steamed some green beans and we heated up some tortillas with it. I figured they were close enough to chipattis.lol.
Hmmm, wonder what we're going to make on Friday for our study of China?
Checking in here from my in-laws' computer. They graciously let us hang out at their house for 10 days while they dog-sit at my sister-in-law's. They literally saved us in more ways than they know. I'm sooo grateful to be here where there's air-conditioning and the only bickering is from my stubborn little Dude and equally stubborn little Princess. :)
Our summer school schedule has been progressing nicely. I asked Tink if she would mind doubling up scheduled days so we can attempt to get the year finished in 7 weeks instead of 14. So far it's going really well. We're now half-way through India. I don't think we're taking any more time to finish than we normally do but that's probably because we've been skipping the art portions and the experiments. We'd already been doing that anyway because of our lack of funds so Tink doesn't seem to feel too slighted. I'd really like to add the art back in now because I know how much she likes it but we're still trying to save up for a rental deposit and the "new" van is a serious gas guzzler so that makes it hard to get out.
I don't think I mentioned earlier that Ninja is no longer doing the majority of her schoolwork with us. She does not work well with us we'd all come to dread school time so I finally decided she should work on her own. She's only been doing math, science, language, remedial spelling and the extra reading for MFW ECC 7th & 8th graders. She's zipping through it pretty quickly.
It seems once these girls decided to put it in gear, they stopped messing around! Ninja has finished one Apologia Science book and is ready for the next. She's finished 1 1/2 math books, the first year's worth of language workbooks and one remedial spelling book. We purchased new language and spelling books for her and she immediately dug right in. Tink finished one year's worth of Singapore math and is ready for the next one. She has also finished her first language book and is about to wrap up her spelling book too.
I've decided to stick with Queen Homeschool for Tink's Language but I'm still undecided about which spelling program to use. Tink loves Rod & Staff spelling but I already have 4 entire levels of All About Spelling (AAS) that I reviewed last year with the Crew. It would make the most sense financially to switch to AAS but Tink didn't like it. Maybe we could give it another try and if she hates it, we'll return to Rod & Staff. Thankfully R&S is very affordable.
Since DH has a new job, I'm hoping to save up enough for Ninja's curriculum. I had to spend some of it while he was away in order to keep from being overdrawn on our bank account. It's going to be a tough choice we'll have to make: either stick it out at my mom's and save up for school and rent, or take a blind leap now and hope we make it. Of course, we have no money for a security deposit, so I guess that means we have no choice but to stay.
I really hate to do that. The girls and I have noticed that the Dude has relaxed and is using longer sentences again since we've been staying at the In-laws. It's painful to think that he'll probably regress again once we go back to grandma's.
If anyone's reading this, I'd really appreciate some prayers. I've been getting migraines which is completely out of the ordinary for me. I don't normally get headaches at all much less migraines. We'll need lots of prayer to get us through this stressfull season at grandma's.
Soooo I think I'll try to keep this entry simple while updating a bit.
-DH is away, training for a new job. It sounds like a great opportunity and an increase in pay is more than welcome. If we can hang on here at grandma's house a bit longer, we should be able to catch up with some bills, pay the in-laws back for the van and save up enough for a rent deposit and curriculum. Much much easier said than done but maybe if we pray and work hard enough, we'll get there.
- The Dude has officially been evaluated and found to be without autism. That's good news and bad news. Good news is, well, he doesn't have autism! Bad news is: how do I help him get past all these symptoms that really look pretty autistic to me. I know he makes eye contact and interacts with people but how does one explain the language delays, echolalic speech, repetitive speech, repetitive actions, severe distress when routines are broken, etc.? More good news is we found a Hanen More than Words program that will hopefully train us to give The Dude speech therapy at home. Some might frown upon do-it-yourself speech therapy, but since he was only regressing in preschool here in CA anyway, I don't see how it could hurt.
-Oh! I don't believe I mentioned that I was asked to participate as a First Mate in the TOS Crew's second year but my family was not okay with that so I had to give up my position. While it makes me sad, I'm okay with it because that means I'll have more time to work with the Dude and Baby Princess, trying to develop their speech a bit more.
- After much wrangling, arguing and tears, Ninja has finally settled on MFW high school as her curriculum of choice. I know, I know, that was the original plan to begin with, but since she and I are both battling hormonal mood swings, we'd changed our minds about how she was to be schooled about a dozen times, even applying for and being accepted at a local charter school. However in the process of praying for direction, I "happened" to find a link on the MFW site with a sample lesson and schedule for their first year of high school- Ancient History and Literature- and Ninja really really liked what she saw. It was simple, organized and to the point. Everything she'd been looking for. I about cried tears of joy when Ninja actually said, "I'm almost getting excited about this." And I nearly fell over after she clarified for me that she was talking about her curriculum.
So, those are some of the most recent happenings here. My eyes are refusing to stay open any longer so I shall bid you good night.
So after this entire last year of wondering if my 5 year old son has autism, we finally got the results back from his evaluation. I received a phone call on Friday from our counselor at the Regional Center who read me the findings and the verdict was: He does not have autistic disorder so the Regional Center was closing his case and they will not be providing any services for us. I believe I failed to share here that my 20 month old was also evaluated at the Regional Center and her case was closed as well.
I know, I should be jumping up and down with joy, right? Well, obviously I am happy to hear that my children are not severe enough to warrant an "autism" diagnosis, but there's still something on my Mommy radar.
In my son's case, the psychologist did find that he has some language delays that put him in the "retarded" range and for that they suggested speech therapy and I believe they had planned on referring us to Children's Hospital for a speech evaluation. The funny thing is our less than friendly pediatrician had already referred him for speech and hearing evaluations so we've already got those under our belts and they've begun the paperwork. Plus I'm working on finding a more caring pediatrician.
The speech pathologist at the Children's Hospital Outpatient office gave us some wonderful tips on how to work with our son but she did let us know that it would be at least 6-8 weeks before we could be seen. It should work out nicely though because Dude will get out of school in two weeks, we'll have time for a short break and then he can start speech therapy at Children's Hospital over the summer months.
While I was very happy with Dude's latest speech eval, I was left a bit lost as to what to do to help him with his other seemingly autistic traits. I realize I'm no expert, but I know what I've seen, heard and read. I'm not the only one who suspected that my son might be on the spectrum. The school psychologist back in NV and his former teacher both thought so as well.
So what now?
Where do I find the proper help for my son?
Isn't it funny how God times things? ...
This last year, we spent a whole lot of time reviewing products for TOS and because of that and our move, we had to put aside our regular curriculum for a while. Technically we are "behind" for the year, whatever that means.lol. The review period is over and we picked back up studying missions and geography where we left off. So we're just now finishing up reading about George Muller in our study of My Father's World- ECC.
I've been deeply touched by the faith George Muller had to trust God for his needs when there was simply no way humanly possible to have these needs met. Like George Muller, I'm going to have to hand it all over and trust that God will provide healing for my children and the exact therapies, teachers and doctors they will need to help them function well in life.
I would greatly appreciate any and all prayers for my family.
This is one of Apologia’s elementary science courses. Tink loves it. She’s bundled it up right along with her daily math and spelling books she does with me every day so she’s sure to have regular lessons. The book is extremely easy to use. I simply read a few sections to Tink every day (or she could read them to herself) and we’re done. There are several sections along the way that dictate experiments, but not so many that mom gets tired of them and all the experiments are done with common household items. Not only that, but there is a list at the front of the book that names each item you’ll need to perform the experiments, just so you can be sure to have them on hand at the time they’re needed.
There’s also lots of help offered. At the front of the book, are listed several ways to contact the company in case you need help, plus there are website helps you can use throughout the book if you want. They’re not required to do the course, but they add a bit of extra information.
Exploring Creation With General Science- $85 (Two-book set, text and solutions & test manual)
I already knew we liked this one when it arrived. Ninja’s been using it since the beginning of the school year. She regularly spouts off information she learned from her science text book and I love that she’s learning so much from a Christian perspective. This text is designed to be used by the student in a more independent way. The instructions are written to the student as is the rest of the book. Like the Flying Creatures text, this volume’s experiments are also done with common household items that you most likely already have in your home, so there’s not much extra expense where experiments are concerned. Also like the elementary book, the Genera Science book gives lots of ways to contact not only Apologia, but the author of the textbook himself, so if the student runs into anything s/he doesn’t understand, they’ll be sure to get the answers straight from the source. We received the two-book set which comes with a solution book and test booklet. The student is tested on the material after each module which lasts approximately two weeks.
These are lovely texts; nice, hardback books that certainly rival any public school textbook but of course written from a Christian perspective. In my opinion, they would work for nearly any homeschool family.
I can't believe I was lucky enough to see Third Day on their Revelation Tour at the coolest little theater in downtown Fresno. The downtown Fresno part was a tad scary, but after running into the Dude's favorite former special ed preschool teacher and the post-concert high of having worshipped and prayed with a few hundred other believers, I wasn't afraid of downtown Fresno at night anymore.lol.
I have to say it was totally freaky bumping into the Dude's former teacher!! Ninja and I walked out of one door and "Miss L" and her family walked out of another door facing us at the exact same time. It's like "Miss L" said: God arranged that meeting!
Ninja was completely star struck when she got to meet Brandon Heath and get his autograph. It was so cute. She said she had to let her new friends, who she'd met in line, go ahead of her so she could compose herself.
I missed out though. I think Revive is my new favorite band these days, at least for now anyway and I didn't find Ninja till after she'd met them so I couldn't get my CD signed by them. :( I'm going to be so bummed when they make it big soon and I won't be able to show off my autograph that proves "I knew them when...".
The show was so cool and so much fun. All the bands were extremely entertaining and Third Day and the lead singer from Revive were very funny.
If they ever come back this way, we'll have to see them again. I think I very much needed the boost to combat all the troubled waters afterward. Life here at Grandma's is severely stressfull. All those guys really encouraged us in our walk.
Check out Revive if you can. They're a new, struggling band, some young guys with cute little wives who are transplants to Georgia from Australia.
Gotta go, we need to get out of the house to relieve some tension.
I’d heard for a long time that the study of Latin is fantastic for a person’s vocabulary, and as I’m sure Ninja would very willingly tell you, I’m constantly reminding her that she needs to work on her vocabulary skills, but I don’t know that I saw my children and myself actually studying Latin. I mean, I knew that we’d eventually use some curriculum covering Greek and Latin, but I don’t know… it seemed a little too formal for us. So when I was contacted by Memoria Press and they told me they were sending Latina Christiana I and Famous Men of Rome, I was a bit worried about whether or not we could handle it.
Latina Christiana I is a Latin program for students in grades 3 and up. It’s designed for the parent or teacher with no background in Latin.
When the box arrived on our doorstep I looked over the products and was amazed that Memoria Press sent us so many products. Not only did we receive Latina Christiana I, along with the teacher’s manual, but there was also Famous Men of Rome, (FMOR), with it’s accompanying Student Guide, Teacher Guide, an audio CD for practicing our Latin Grammar and conjugations, plusinstructional DVDs for Latina Christiana 1!! Cool, huh?
Latina Christiana I is very affordable. The set of Teacher Manual, Student Book & Pronunciation CD is $39.95. You can always buy them individually if you need to, say, if you have an extra student, the individual price for the student book is only $15.00.
The teacher’s guide for Latina Christiana I is easy to use and it also contains a study guide for lessons 1-13 of Famous Men of Rome. There are reproducible pages for your student and/or yourself to practice writing your conjugations, Latin sayings and vocabulary. And the index has many useful lists. I was amazed when I saw how many English words derived from Latin we’ll be learning. In the FMOR books, besides the exciting stories, there are maps and charts with hints to help remember characters and their traits.
Famous Men of Rome is a nice compliment to your Latin studies. I gives a history of Rome and therefore a way for your children to relate to the study of Latin much more easily. Tink really likes this book. Lately she’s been making sure that we read more or even work on the study guide every day. Now I do have to insert a little warning here: The stories don’t exactly make clear that the mythical gods were not real people. Honestly, never having studied the history of Rome myself, I’m not exactly sure where the mythology leaves off and real historical characters come into play in this book. Also, please keep in mind that there is discussion about battles and characters are slain so if you have a sensitive child who could handle maybe the Latin for example, but might be bothered by characters in the stories being killed in battle, use caution. There certainly hasn’t been anything gory but I know what it’s like to have a child that’s sensitive, so I wanted to be sure to give fair warning.
Now for my very favorite item that arrived in the box: the Latina Christiana Instructional DVDs. These are lovely! Instead of having to be sure I understand how to teach the lesson before presenting it to my students, I simply pop in the DVD and the lovely Ms. Leigh Lowe presents the lesson for me. Now, these are not an absolute necessity when teaching Latina Christiana, but they sure to make life very nice for the teacher. I love simply being a student with Tink. The price for this five DVD set is $55, but I for one would certainly scrape up the extra money to purchase them, without a doubt.
Tink and I are thoroughly enjoying our study of Latin and the Famous Men of Rome. I had no clue learning a dead language such as Latin could be so fun and I’m very pleased that Tink is so motivated to learn about historical Romans. This will be a nice foundation for her when she studies more about Rome later.
Be sure to read what the rest of the Crew had to say about their choices from Memoria Press. Not all of us received the same products, so if there’s something you’ve been eyeing from Memoria Press, someone else on the Crew may have reviewed it.
• Apr. 23, 2009 - TOS Homeschool Crew Review~ Lampstand Press: Writing Aids
TOS Homeschool Crew Review~ Lampstand Press: Writing Aids
When Lampstand Press sent out Tapestry of Grace (TOG) to the Crew for review, each of the Crew Members was given not only a full TOG unit to review but a supplemental product to try along with it. When I asked the girls what their choice was, they both chose Writing Aids. They’d both been struggling with their writing program so they wanted a change. Only a limited number of Writing Aids handbooks were being given out to the Crew and we were among the lucky ones.
Writing Aids is a handbook written specifically for use with TOG curriculum but it can also be used alone. Used with Tapestry, it meshes beautifully with the weekly writing assignments as topics are drawn from what the student is studying in the main curriculum. Like everything else TOG produces, it builds on the topics already being studied in the curriculum. Used alone, the teacher would need to provide the topic the student will be writing on, or perhaps the student could be allowed to choose it themselves.
As usual, TOG tries to make life easier on mom (or the teacher) by presenting specific skills to more than one age group at a time. For example, Ninja and Tink both “oohed” when they spied the newspaper writing choice listed among the writing assignment pages. Since the newspaper project was available for levels 2, 4 and 7, it was very easy to offer both girls assignments at or at least near their grade levels. Ninja refused, however, to work with Tink and even though it would have been easier if they had worked collaboratively on their newspaper, I didn’t make them, yet I was still able to save time and stress since I only had to read up on and find one section on the Writing Aids CD to print worksheets from.
Writing Aids is not just a book, it also comes with a CD-ROM which contains Talking Points- a teaching guide which becomes a reference for the student after the initial instruction on the genre has been presented, Grading Strategies, and Supplements- worksheets or graphic organizers to aide in instruction.
This one book and CD-ROM set is used for all grade levels. So while the $50 may seem a bit steep at first, you’re saving money in the long run as you use it year after year and even more so when used with multiple children.
Even though Writing Aids is an optional, supplemental product, I think it would really be worthwhile for families using Tapestry as their main curriculum.
Lampstand Press is the name of the company that has produced Tapestry of Grace (TOG) Classical Christian curriculum. Let me quote them on exactly what TOG is:
“Tapestry of Grace is a homeschool curriculum: a plan of study that helps parents provide a Christian, classical education using a guided unit study approach, with the history of the world as the core organizational theme. From Grades K–12, all students cycle through world history every four years, with all ages studying the same slice of history each week, each at their own learning level. Detailed lesson plans and discussion outlines enable parents to be their children’s primary teachers and mentors and shape their students’ biblical worldviews.
Tapestry covers the humanities: history, church history, literature, geography, fine arts, government, philosophy, and writing & composition.Tapestry does not include a phonics program, science, math, grammar, spelling, or foreign language. Lampstand Press does, however, recommend complementary logic, spelling, and grammar programs.
Week to week, Tapestry integrates all subjects: people, events, and movements are studied in the time period in which they were most influential. Lessons are presented from all modalities: visual, auditory, and tactile. For younger children, a variety of hands-on ideas are provided each week. A range of educational options are presented, from which students and parents choose the best content and quantity for their unique families. Although the teacher is in control of the students’ assignments, rich weekly studies are always provided for each individual family.”
Does that sound like a lot? Well it should. It is. I had actually looked at TOG’s website a few times over the last year or two, but because there was so much information on the site, I abandoned the effort. I’m going to try to keep you from doing the same by asking you to stick with me while I review this great curriculum because after getting the chance to try it out with my own family and personally making it through that notorious TOG “four week fog”, I really like it and I think it would be a shame for a large family with a Classical Christian orientation to pass this one up. Fair warning though, if you haven’t figured it out yet, I can be quite the rambler. ;) I’ll have to split this review up into two blog posts, one for the TOG unit itself and one for Writing Aids, the supplemental product we reviewed.
The lovely people at Lampstand Press offered each member of the entire Crew our choice of one unit of their new Digital Edition (DE) plus our choice of one of their supplemental products that help to enhance the Tapestry experience. Lampstand Press offers several optional choices in the “extras” department: Writing Aids- TOG’s own writing guide, Map Aids- outline maps custom designed for TOG by Terri Johnson of KnowledgeQuest!, Evaluations- that’s just what it sounds like, an optional product designed to test your child(ren)’s knowledge of what s/he learned. Pop Quiz- a neat way to bring Dad into the mix after work and enhance the children’s learning, Lap Book Templates- a way to incorporate more hands-on learning for the littles. There are a couple more supplemental products available on the site as well. Some of them are a one-time purchase for the entire four-year cycle but most correspond to each year and sometimes each unit. All these and much more can be found at the Lampstand Press online Store.
By some grand miracle of God, my girls agreed on not just the unit, but also the supplement. Halleluiah!! They chose to study Year 1, Unit 3- “Preparing the World for It’s Savior” and the supplement they chose was Writing Aids.
When I attempted to download the Digital Edition there were a few glitches because the DE had very recently been launched at the time of our review, so that meant we were able to test Lampstand Press’ wonderful customer service and tech support. After a few emails, phone calls and technical support sessions, it was pretty clear that the Digital Edition was not going to work on my computer so those sweet, sweet people sent me a dinged copy of the unit in print! I was floored at their generosity as the print unit is a $60 value and they’d already agreed to send me the Writing Aids book and CD, a $50 value. Oh, and if you’re worried about downloading the DE onto your own computer, don’t. Once all the major kinks were worked out on their end, they sent the whole Crew a link to download one of their free 3-week curriculum samples and downloading it is now as easy as falling down. I very much encourage you to try one of their Free Tutorial Samples for yourself and get a feel for the curriculum.
So let me try to explain pricing:
One year of TOG costs $225 in print or $170 for the Digital Edition which you’ll only ever buy once. TOG Digital Edition will automatically be upgraded when revisions are made. All you have to do is regularly check the website for updates. And if you’re one who likes to resell your curriculum, you’re out of luck. Reselling DE is not allowed and with TOG’s Lock Lizzard software, you’re only granted one license per family. You can arrange to put it on multiple computers within your household by calling the company, but that’s it. You’ll have to factor in the cost of printing to the DE, whether you want to take it to an office supply store to have them print (Which may be a problem when having to deal with Lock Lizzard, and it really is best in color which can get pricey.) or you want to print it off yourself on your own printer, but beware, even one single unit (1/ 4 of a year) is about 400+ pages, so keep that in mind when making your decisions. You also have a few more options if you’d like to get both the DE and the print version or if you want to pick up a couple of their supplemental materials. Here’s the link to the store page. Also, you need to know that the prices I listed above do not include any books. As stated above in Lampstand Press’ description, it is just the “plan of study” plus the Loom CD (a guide for the whole year) and this price does not include any of the books needed. But,Bookshelf Central.com, an online store once operated by Lampstand Press carries just about all of the titles needed to complete your study of TOG, or you could find as many of the resources as you possibly can at your library, or a combination of both. What’s great about Bookshelf Central is the search feature. You can select the specific year plan, level, unit and subject you’re working on and it will list the title, price subject, and length of time the title is used in your TOG studies.
I found most of my book titles at the library, utilizing both what I could find on the shelves and inter-library loan, which costs 50 cents per book at my new library. Yes, I’m whining and grumbling. I apologize. I was horribly spoiled by the amazing library I had in Minden, but I'll be quiet about it now… Anyway, my mom very sweetly offered to purchase one title for us while she was out shopping, which was nice because the girls really liked God King.
I believe many families choose to us a combination approach when finding books to accompany TOG, electing to first buy titles for the oldest student in the house as funds are available, especially those in the rhetoric or dialectic stages who would be able to benefit from the worksheets and discussions provided in the teacher’s notes and the Loom CDs that are designed for use with the history, literature, church history or read-aloud selections listed in the TOG curriculum.
Another nice option when purchasing TOG is the choice to buy TOG by the unit. DE units are $45 apiece and print units are $60.
I have to be very honest here and say that I would spend the extra money to have the printed editions, particularly if it was my first time around using TOG because while TOG is much simpler to use than you might think at first glance, using a curriculum as thoroughly laid out as TOG on a computer screen would be too much for me. My eyes would go crossed. Like I stated before each unit is over 400 pages long, and while I’m sure a TOG veteran could probably figure it out on a computer screen, I experienced major confusion trying to figure out the printed version. I can’t imagine what I would have done if I’d had to figure it out on the lap top.
You also need to remember that this curriculum is not, I repeat, not a pick-up-the-teacher's-manual-and-teach curriculum. If this was something I was going to teach to my children, I'd want at least the entire summer to figure it all out. When we received the unit, it took me a full month just to feel competent enough to dive in and I still didn't quite understand it. In fact, to be quite honest, I really don't think I've discovered everything there is to know about Tapestry. The authors have poured so much into it, there's a lot of digging to do to unearth it all.
I also have to mention that sometimes the book selections TOG chose made me feel a bit uncomfortable. When talking to the other Crew moms, there was mention of nudes being presented in the study of art and our own reading selections had some wrong attitudes displayed by the characters in the stories, but most of the time, these issues, at least in my own personal experience with the unit we chose, were confronted head-on in the teacher’s notes and the students were asked to tell why those attitudes were wrong. So again, I encourage you to try out the free samples of the curriculum to see if TOG would be right for your family.
Now, let me tell you what I liked about TOG for my family. My children are 15, 10, 5 and 18 months. With 15 year old Ninja who hates to work with slow pokes like 10 year old Tink and myself, it would solve the problem of Ninja having to wait for Tink and me to figure everything out every week. I simply meet with them both, hand out their printed copies of their assignments, have them highlight the ones I choose for them to do and Ninja’s off working on her own. Tink, on the other hand gets to learn at her own level, which sometimes gets bumped down to lower grammar, yet she never has to feel bad or that she’s behind because she’s still learning the same subjects her older sister is but it’s never too challenging for her. And the Dude (5 years old) and Baby Princess (18 months) enjoyed being dressed up by Tink after she made them crowns during our study of King Solomon’s time.
Even the writing assignments were fun. Once again a miracle occurred and both girls chose to write a mock newspaper, chronicling the time period they chose to study but Tink got to work at level 4 (approximately 4th grade) and Ninja worked at level 7. Walah! No fighting, no arguing, I just printed off their own level-specific instruction sheets and graphic organizers, read them out loud, and they both went happily off to do their own assignments.
Reviewing TOG was a real eye opener. While I love learning history and very much want to fill in the gaps in my own education, I never saw myself as a mom who could teach classical curriculum to my children, especially since they’re either high maintenance or special needs, or both. I finally felt that just maybe I could pull off giving my children an excellent education and have fun at the same time. I didn’t have to worry about teaching three or more different areas of study in order to teach to all my children at their own level effectively.
This is my family's journey through homeschooling, using My Father's World curriculum. We've done some reviewing curriculum for TOS Homeschool Crew so there are several product reviews. We're now back on track and diving into MFW once again.
My children are
Ninja- 16: teenage black belt extrordinaire. She's using MFW's Ancient History and LIterature;
Tink- 11: sweet girl schooling with ADHD symptoms and dysgraphia (?). She's just started Sonlight Core 3+4
The Dude-5: handsome little man with language delays/probably on the autism spectrum. He's no longer in preschool for speech therapy and special ed. Now using MFW K; and
Baby Princess- 2: beautiful busy baby girl. Tagging along with The Dude and whatever else I think might interest her.
I'll turn in the paperwork soon so we can at least get our names on the list.
Her comments were really nice to hear after a bit of negativity from MIL tonight. MIL thinks homeschooling will be bad for the Dude and she's sure to tell me so approximately every other week.
