Exceptional Homeschool

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2011-01-14T13:42:00.002-07:00

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Holistic Health

2010-01-25T17:30:00.001-07:00

Holistic Health

When addressing illness or wishing to maintain health many people look to take a holistic approach. Technically, holistic medicine aims to address the needs of the body, mind and soul. But in general practice the focus seems to omit the needs of the mind and soul. Thoughts about actually using the mind and soul to help create health seem to be few and far between, as well.

I believe the mind is our most powerful tool toward perfect health. The human mind has the ability to make or break your health. Negative thoughts erode physical, mental and spiritual well being while positive and empowering thoughts fortify. I believe you can have the healthiest diet, exercise regularly, and keep a healthful Ph level, but if you are negative in your thinking, that negativity will seep over and drown your health.

On the opposite, if a person focuses on positive thinking, uses imagery, and strives to have banish all negativity from their thoughts, then good health will follow.

You may wonder how a person can attain health if they don't focus on diet and exercise. Th answer is simple. By spending your energy envisioning your perfect health, you will be drawn to do, and eat those things which will give you health. When you visualize what you desire, you are letting Spirit (or God, or your subconscious--whatever you choose to call it) know what your goals are.Then all you have to do is listen. Spirit (or God, etc) will happily guide you to your greatest health.

Math - My Way

2009-10-24T17:31:00.001-07:00

Math seems to be a subject many homeschool parents stress over. I'm not sure why though. I mean, sure, math can be a tough subject for some kids to learn, but there are so many creative ways to teach it. Arithmetic is a skill we use every day, and as such there are ample opportunities to work math lessons into daily living.

Gotta run to the store? Give your kid a list of items you need and ask them to keep track of how much each item costs, and keep a running total. Then, while you're waiting in line, ask your child to calculate the amount of change should recieve if you give the cashier a specific amount of money.

Paying bills? Tell your child how much you pay for electric per kilowatt hour and then have them look at the bill to see how many KwH your family used to figure out how much the bill is. Consider teaching your child how to read the electric meter. Let them keep a running total of how much electricity your family is using each month. If you want to make your child more aware of money, tell your child how much money you make per hour, and have the calculate how many hours you have to work each month to pay the electric bill.

Meal planning? Teach your child about serving amounts, and recipies, and have them calculate how much of each ingredient you will need to prepare thier favorite meal. Have them do this for each meal for a week, and then estimate the grocery bill for that week. See how close they can get.

These simple tasks cover the basic use of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

Webinar: How to Stay Healthy This Winter

2009-10-11T07:37:00.004-07:00

msquill will be holding an informational webinar on Friday, November 6 from 8pm to 930 pm Central time.

The topic is "How to Stay Healthy this Winter."

She will include information on:

Vitamin D3

H1N1 Vaccination

Herbs that build and support the immune system, and how to include them in your diet

Vitamins that build and support the immune system and how to increase these vitamins in your diet

Foods to help you stay well

The role of meditation and attitude in health

Cost is $5.

Participants are encouraged to take screen shots of slides for their personal use.

For more details, or to sign up, go to www.msquill.com/webinar-information

Bringing Her Back to the Fold

2009-10-09T14:48:00.001-07:00

We 'unenrolled' my step daughter from school this morning. I was expecting the school office staff to make things difficult, and we were supposed to be at homeschool co-op by 9am, so I grabbed stepdaughter and the other 4 kids and headed out to our co-op. I sent my husband over to deal with the school.

Good thing, too. They kept him there for over 20 minutes, telling him how sorry they were to see her go, and how much they'd love to have her back. Somebody even suggested we give it another try. Um.... NO!

These are the same people who bullied me into letting her go on a field trip that her counselor suggested she skip. This is the same teacher who made it obvious she does not read our Communication Log by asking me if there was a med change one week after I told her about the med change in the same communication log AND took copies of the pharmacy printouts to the office to be given to the teacher. This is the same school who called CPS because the child as an eating disorder. It seems the it wasn't good enough that kiddo's psychiatrist and I both told the school of said eating disorder. Or maybe the school officials just didn't understand that 'eating disorder' could very well equal "underweight and on a special diet.' We gave it 2 months and frankly putting up with the school's constant incompetence and interference was almost as bad as stepdaughter's psychotic behavior at its worse.

If my choices are those two stressors, I'll place my bets with the kid.. thanks.

After 2 months of school, she has regressed in reading and math. Her handwriting has improved a little bit, and she's learned that a school has the right to over ride whatever her parents, counselor and psychologist say. She's learned that she doesn't have to eat at all away from home... nobody cares. And let's not forget the wonderful 'socialization' she received. Let's see... she learned it was okay to lie to her teacher because the teacher wouldn't even tell her it was wrong, She's picked up a few gross kid habits that she didn't have before her 2 months in school, too.

Know what? I've learned something too. Elementary schools are not what they used to be-- I'm starting to wonder if all the extremist anti-government propaganda has some real truth to it. This school has done several things that schools in 'my day' could never have done.

Example-- Stepdaughter's counselor told her she was not to attend a specific field trip if certain behavioral goals were not met. Kiddo did not meet those goals. I let the teacher know kiddo would not be going, and explained why. I offered to come get her for the 30 minutes the class would be gone. Teacher went to the principal and complained. (after telling me it was no big deal a week before hand) Principal called and tried to bully me into letting her go. Finally he threatened CPS and legal action. I was "interfering with her education" by not allowing her to tour the local police station.

I guess signing a field trip permission slip is no longer optional for parents, huh?

Oh.. a child's medical records are no longer between parents and doctors either. The school demanded we release ALL stepdaughter's medical records... from time of birth. I offered to hand deliver them copies of information relevant to her mental illness and eating disorder for the past two years. But that wasn't good enough. They wanted them ALL. My husband refused. Because of his refusal, the school called CPS... accused us of physical neglect. CPS deemed the charges unfounded, but the stress put upon our family over this was huge. I felt violated.

When we were kids, heck.. a few years ago, when I managed CPS and therapeutic group homes in Phoenix, "Physical Neglect' meant starving a kid, possibly refusing to get a kid medical treatment etc.. but.. not giving the school complete medical records from the day the kid was born... THAT is a parent's right to maintain a child's privacy.

I am relieved to be done with this school, and that principal. Never... and I mean NEVER again will I enroll one of my kids in public school. I used to be one of those 'middle of the road' homeschoolers. You know the parents who feel homeschool is best for all kids, but that public school really doesn't do much damage, because "after all, I turned out okay.

Thanks to this one school, this one principal, and all the similar stories out there I find myself wondering if my experiences are the norm, instead of the exception.

Comedy is Required

2009-10-05T14:05:00.003-07:00

I have come to the conclusion that parenting a mentally ill kid requires one to become a comedian, or at the very least develop super-human abilities to find or create humor in each and every situation. No matter how serious.

I envy people who have this skill. It's a skill I very seriously need learn.. by next Tuesday.

Stepdaughter's psychiatrist wants us to bring stepdaughter back to homeschooling with her 5 siblings. We enrolled her in school at the beginning of this school year because of some very serious behavior issues.

Because stepdaughter's dx is now Bipolar plus Reactive Attachment Disorder and possible Oppositional Defiant Disorder the psych. believes having stepdaughter in school is actually doing more psychological damage (because of the RAD).

So.. her last day is next Monday. The boys are stressing over it..... even my 13 yr old has reservations about this... all with good reason.

Stepdaughter tends to target her brothers when she's angry, and being oppositional defiant means she will argue and argue and ARGUE with me and her dad over everything and nothing all at the same time. We have known her to stand by the sink and scream for over an hour because I asked her to put a plate in the sink.Getting her actually work on ANYTHING at home is difficult to say the least.

Things have gotten better with the most recent med change, and her psychiatrist's and counselor's goals are to use medication to manage the behaviors and weekly counseling to teach her better ways of doing things.

My part in all this is to keep peace and impart a little bit of knowledge and understanding.

I've decided to do this with humor. I'm not much of a comedienne.. So this may be interesting. I'll let you know how it goes

The Value of Co-ops

2009-09-19T09:38:00.001-07:00

The Value of Co-ops

I love our homeschool co-op. We meet most Fridays so the kids can take classes and the moms can socialize. We have a great group. My kids take various band classes, a string class, drama, and wrestling. I'm teaching American Sign Language and Creative Writing.

My ASL kids have decided to put on a play in Sign. We'll be performing Little Red Riding Hood for parents and siblings sometime in December. It's going to be a blast, and the kids are just so cute.

The creative writing kids are working through the Nanowrimo Young Writer's Program. They will be writing novels of their own as we work through the program.

But, more importantly than the classes is the chance to meet and hang out with other homeschool kids and parents. We live in a small town now. The people here seem to be very traditional and not so keen on homeschooling, which makes my kids, and especially me a bit of an outcast here. The co-op meets in a larger city 30 minutes away. People there seem to be more accepting and supportive of homeschooling It's a nice break for me to spend the day with people who get it.

Since I spent 20 years in the huge city of Phoenixh, and homeschooled my older daughters there, I'm not used to having to 'homeschool discretely." The idea of doing most of our school work inside is foriegn to me. My older kids learned at museums, parks, friends' houses, the grocery store.. ... where ever we happened to be. Here, in small town USA, a lot of people think me a bad mother because I choose to teach my own kids. But then, those same people critisize when they find out that one of our children attends the local public school. They can't seem to understand that my husband and I make the decision that is best for each child, individually. And for one kid, that choice is public school right now.

But, the parents at the co-op.. (yes, there are some fathers there) get it.. because many of them have made the same kind of decisions. From year to year, they evaluate thier education options and choose the one that is best for each child, and the family as a whole. Having been there, and taking the responsibilty to make real choices regarding thier children's eduction instead of just doing what everyone else does seems to be the defining factor.

Whether you choose to homeschool, use a private school, unschool or use public school.. let it be a CHOICE you make for your children based on thier educational needs, and your goals for their education. Don't just enroll your kids in school because they reach school age.

Flu vaccine prison camps?

2009-09-19T09:02:00.003-07:00

I don't know how true this is, but this article was sent to me by someone I trust. I've also heard this kind of vaccinate at gunpoint rumors from other places, as well.

http://blogs.healthfreedomalliance.org/blog/2009/09/18/police-and-military-train-to-intern-swine-flu-vaccine-refusniks/

Long overdue update

2009-09-12T19:22:00.002-07:00

A lot can change in almost 2 years. Around here everything has changed, and most things have stayed the same.

Kiddo #1 is 15.. has her driver's permit, and is a Jr. in college. She's earned a slew of scholarships that will pay for most, if not all, of her graduate studies. She's still playing clarinet and oboe, and is adding english horn.

Kiddo #2 picked up trombone and is learning piano. She's in 2 homeschool bands and we do a hs co-op now, too.

Kiddo #3 is progressing wonderfully. He's at grade level and learning flute. He loves going to our homeschool co-op every Friday. Oh.. he's taking wrestling this semester.

Kiddo #4 is now in school fulltime. She started in the middle of August. She needs the structure and routine in order to function at all. She's not thrilled, but adjusting well.

Kiddo #5 is showing that he's gifted and advanced just like his older sisters. I'm letting him work at his own pace, and focus on things he's interested in. So far, that's reading, science, and music. He just turned 7 in August and he's working from 5th grade text books and is learning violin and loving it. He's taking wrestling through our homeschool co-op as well.

Kiddo #6 will be 4 yrs in November. Were DOES the time go? She's slowing working up the desire to learn to read. She's most of the way there, just needs to build confidence. But, she has time.

I'm teaching American Sign Language and Creative Writing through our homeschool co-op and loving every minute of it. I've picked up my music again and started hauling out the clarinet and sax semi-regularly. Oh.. I bought a chanter and I'm teaching myself to play bagpipes. I"ve gone back to school, too. I'm taking classes to become an herbalist. My first book was published this past August.

And my husband does all he can to keep up with us. He's still writing and submitting regularly. Unfortunately, he's working almsot 2 hours away from home, so time is at a premium these days.

Until next time.. (and I'm hoping that is fairly soon... )

Musical homeschoolers

2008-02-25T16:38:00.003-07:00

All of my kids are musically talented. My 13 yr old plays clarinet and oboe for her college, my 12 yr old plays trumpet, baritone, and tenor sax. Both play piano/keyboard and are learning organ. Our other 4 kids are under 7, and so, too young to start formal instrumental lessons. Everyone gets the instrument of their choice and instruction on how to play it on their eight birthday. Personally, I play clarinet and saxophone well enough to preform. I still have functional knowledge of flute, cello and bassoon. In the spirit of trying to fit in with this musical family he married into, my husband is teaching himself to play electric guitar- with our help.

Since my 12 yr old came back to homeschooling in January, she's been missing the daily band thing. Sure, she practices her trumpet every day and she pulls out my tenor sax a couple times a week, but there's something special about making music with a group of friends. So, we started searching for a homeschool band. The closest group meets 4X a week for an hour each day -- 2 hours from us.

That's to much driving for me.

So, we've decided to do a couple of things - first off we're forming our own trio. 12 year old on trumpet, 13 yr old on clarinet or oboe - depending on the tune, and me on either tenor sax or clarinet, again depending on the tune. We've got a handful of local coffee shops and town events where we can preform.

Finding music for our little group has been a challenge. So- we decided to write our own. I did a lot of writing in high school and college, I've taught my kids a bit of theory and this is the perfect opportunity to teach them to compose. I'm looking forward to this. I gave up performing when I had kids - couldn't make the time commitment anymore. Since the day my oldest was born, I've dreamed of making music with my babies and getting back in front of an audience to share our love and talent with anybody who wants to listen. And it looks like I'll get my chance. Both girls are excited by the idea of performing with mom.

I'm also thinking about starting a community band for other homeschoolers and parents in our area. We live in a small town, though and I'm not sure how much interest there will be.

More Homeschool Regulation!?

2008-02-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Recently in Nebraska LB1411 was introduced to the state legislature by Senator DiAnna Shimek of District 27 (Lincoln) .

Here is a link to the 12 page bill: http://uniweb.legislature.ne.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Intro/LB1141.pdf

If it passes, this asinine bill will require, among other things, that homeschoolers in Nebraska be forced to take and pass to the state's satisfaction, the same standardized tests as Nebraska's public school kids. Kids who do not pass the state mandated testing can be forced into public school *against the wishes of the parents*.

Hello?!! I thought this was the United States. I was under the impression that we, as parents, have not only the right, but the *responsibility* to decide make decisions for our children based on what is best for them. The Nebraska Constitution ensures liberty for all citizens. When were parents excluded from that?

There are some who argue the law is intended to protect those kids whose parents claim to homeschool, but don't. Okay, I suppose this happens. Although in my 13 years of homeschooling I have never met a family who claimed they homeschooled and then neglected the education of their children.

Some say that all children should be held to the same standards and accountability methods. I think we, as a society, have forgotten that it is the *schools* who are supposed to be accountable to the *parents*, not the other way around. When I made the decision to homeschool my kids, I chose not to give the state authority over the education of my children.

Some claim that parents are not qualified to educate their own children. Raising and educating your children is the definition of parenting. Giving birth, or fathering a child does not make you a parent. *Parenting* makes you a parent. Who are you to tell me that I am not qualified to parent my child?

I, alone am responsible for the growth and education of my children. I spend many hours each week planning and researching our curricula and the materials we use. I know exactly what concepts each of my children understands, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. I hand pick our topics, curricula, and materials based on the educational needs and abilities of each child. I don't need to subject my kids to tests in order to assess what they know and don't know. And I will allow no one, including the state to dictate how my children should be raised or what and how they should be taught.

My 6 kids all have their own strengths. My 13 yr old is a full time college student, in a top ranked school. She holds a 4.0 GPA. She was homeschooled. My 12 yr old recently scored in the 95 percentile and higher in every subject tested by the Stanford Achievement Test. And my 5 yr old reads and does math at and end of first grade level. These three kids could take any standardized test and do well. However, my 6 yr old stepson has moderate language and learning delays, most likely caused by things his bio mom did during pregnancy. My stepson struggles for each and everything he achieves. Granted, he is reading and doing math on a solid first grade level. He has demonstrated to me that he can do first, and sometimes even second grade work. But put him in a testing situation and it is very likely he'd have trouble following the directions, let alone completing the test in a way that demonstrates his true ability. Same for my 5 year old step daughter.

Why should my challenged kids be forced into school simply because they do not test well?

Let's look at the state of young people today. In a generation practically raised by state in context of the public school system, drugs, teen pregnancy, crime, and blatant disrespect for others is common.

It's time for the government to stop trying to raise our kids for us and let parents *be parents*

Starting the Countdown

2007-12-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

My 12 yr old dd comes back to homeschooling next Tuesday. I have to admit, I'm a little nervous. She's in 6th grade but, like her older sister, operates at a much higher social, emotional and intellectual level.

The first thing I'm going to need to do is evaluate her strengths and weaknesses in reading, spelling, comprehension, math, geography, and sciences. She's a straight "A" student in school and just scored in the 99 percentile in all subjects on the national standardized tests she took at the beginning of this school year. So, it's important that I find her strong and weak points so we can address them.

There are two projects the boys are waiting to start with her.

First, each kid will make their own books about the different continents. The smaller kids will include continent, location, list of countries in that continent, languages spoken, and any other information that interests them. My older daughter will include things like types of governments on the continent, customs common to the continent and a little about the history.

Later, we'll do books and presentations on each country.

We will also be starting our dinosaur/ prehistoric board game. We're planning 2 or 3 levels so that the game gets harder as you play.

I guess I'm most concerned about keeping her in band. My 12 yr old plays trumpet, baritone and saxophone. She's in band at school, but will not be allowed to continue band, because of state law. I'm working with one of our homeschool groups to form a homeschool band. We're also looking into college band next year sometime. I'm not sure how that will go just yet, though.

She's already started taking Chinese through an online program, although she's not had the time to dedicate to the language that she'd like.

One week from tomorrow will be her first day back to homeschooling. She's been in public school for almost 4 years now. I wonder how much she remembers about our old homeschool routine and how much she knows about the routine we have now. Her brothers adore her and will be thrilled to have her home with them.

Although, I worry about my 5 yr old step daughter. She will remain in school, perhaps indefinitely. Her negative behaviors are so much less at school that we've decided maybe a school environment is better for her, at least through high school. I'm concerned about how she will feel being the only child in our family who is not taught at home. She tends to be very jealous of the other kids as it is, especially when it comes to academic things. Things are liable to get more difficult with her as she starts to understand that my 12 yr old is really going to homeschool.

Gluten Free and MSG Free Recipes

2007-11-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

Just a note for those who are exploring the gluten free and msg free lifestyle... I have put together a booklet of 10 recipes using gluten free and msg free ingredients.

The featured recipe of this booklet is my GF Chocolate Drizzle Cake. This is the perfect chocolate cake for anytime you need an an elegant and delicious gluten free cake. Also included in this booklet are recipes for GF Tuna Burgers, Enchilada Pie, Yummy Chocolate Mousse, and 6 other kid tested and approved gf and msg free versions of everyday foods.

This booklet Gluten Free and MSG Free for LIFE! booklet 1 is the first in a series of booklets to help families avoid gluten and msg for optimal health.

Booklet cost is $5. payable through PayPal.
If you are a member of MW, TWM, low dose naltrexone or mscured on yahoogroups, please contact me for discount information.

To order, or for more information, send an email to orders@atlanteanproductions.com

Homeschooling meets politics

2007-11-13T11:07:00.001-07:00

For those who are interested, (and those who are not) .. I am now blogging on various homeschool topics and how they relate to Presidential Candidate Dr. Ron Paul.
You can find the blog here http://www.ronpaul2008.com/homeschoolers/

I hope to see you visit there. And if you have a specific topic you'd like to see covered, feel free to leave a comment on THIS blog about it. Comments are not enabled on the Homeschoolers for Ron Paul list, and I have no control over that.

In the meantime, what are you doing to use the upcoming primary elections to teach your children about the process? Political ideology aside, our system works best when we all get involved. The future of America depends upon how well we teach our children now.

... and back to homeschooling...

I've discovered that 6 yr old may have a problem retaining what he's learned. During our morning reading I started asking the boys about dinosaurs and planets.. we learned about herbivores and carnivores and theories on why the dinos died out, along with the names of all the planets about 2 months ago. When we finished those units, both boys could define several history words associated with dinosaurs and they could name all the planets in order (including Pluto.. bad mommy....lol)

This morning when I quizzed them 5 yr old spouted off the dino stuff like we'd done it yesterday, and he remembered all the planet names, although not in order.

6 yr old.. not so much.. he was totally lost.. like he'd never heard any of these words before .

I felt so bad for him. I could see on his face that he KNEW he should know this but he just could not remember a thing...

So.. we're going to back track just a bit and do a joint project. My boys love playing board games... so we're going to design and create our very own board game about dinosaurs. After it's made, the boys and I can play it repeatedly until 6yr old starts retaining some of this.

I think we'll do something similar with the planet studies.. maybe a trivia game of some sort.

Math and reading are going well. 6 yr old does really well learning reading from a spelling point of view. He's becoming more fluent every day.

absolutely hilarious

2007-11-09T10:58:00.000-07:00

my husband just sent me this link

http://www.lewrockwell.com/fisk/fisk29.html

ldn for Autism

2007-11-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

LDN or low dose naltrexone is a medication that helps regulate the immune system. Personally, I take it for my multiple sclerosis and have seen wonderful, life changing results.

There is a theory that some Autism and Autism-like disorders are caused or contributed by an unregulated or over active immune system. That is why dietary changes can help reduce the symptoms of autism in some people. There are several doctors throughout the US who regularly prescribe ldn for their patients with autism.

We've started my 6 yr old stepson on ldn. (he has either Asperger's or Autism with ADHD and impulse control difficulties) And he's doing wonderfully! His speech and general language has improved tremendously, as has his ability to concentrate and pay attention to his school work. Even his reading abilities have seen improvement. He seems to understand more, is able to follow conversations better and has better impulse control. His negative behaviors have decreased dramatically because he can now understand and communicate with us a lot better.

Before ldn, he was hyper, with almost no attention span. He had almost no impulse control and I had to watch him do everything and provide verbal prompts to help keep him on task. Eating breakfast and brushing teeth used to take him over an hour because he would get so side tracked. If he eats gluten or msg it's even worse. Since he started the ldn he gets up, gets dressed and comes down for breakfast. Makes his cereal and eats it. Then simply puts his bowl in the sink and goes off to brush his teeth and hair. Sounds like a simple thing, doesn't it? And for most of us it is, but for my stepson morning routine was difficult and took real concentration to accomplish. Most pre lnd days he could not do this without lots of verbal prompting.

There are a couple doctors specializing in Autism who use ldn to treat it with wonderful results. There have been cases of "cured Autism" with ldn and dietary changes. For more info check out Autism_LDN@yahoogroups.com

Easy, Yummy Gluten free cupcakes

2007-11-04T13:54:00.001-07:00

Since our family is gluten free, we look for unique, tasty treats to celebrate birthdays. In the past we've had birthday fruit mountains, gf birthday desert pizzas, birthday ice cream cakes (molded and decorated ice cream), just to name a few. I don't do gf cakes because I haven't found one yet that everybody likes.

I did, however, find this wonderful recipe for gluten free cupcakes. These were so good they didn't even have a chance to cool before they disappeared. I've made few adjustments to the recipe I found on Fitness Freebies to suit my family's taste, but this is just a great recipe.

Ingredients -

1 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate morsels (make sure the brand you use is gluten free)
3/4 cup butter
6 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar, divided
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 deg.

Line 12 muffin cups with baking liners. You may skip this step if using silicone muffin pans.

Cut butter into slices and place in microwave safe bowl, add chocolate. Microwave on full power for 45 seconds, stir. Repeat at 30 second intervals until chocolate and butter are melted and well blended.

Add Vanilla and cinnamon,. Set aside.

In a small bowl mix egg yolks and 1/4 cup sugar. Blend well.

Gently stir chocolate mixture into egg yolks. Mix well. Set aside

In large bowl, beat egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar together until hard peaks form. This should take about 2 minutes with an electric mixer on high.

Gently fold chocolate mixture into egg whites until well blended.

Fill muffin cups with a scant 1/2 cup of batter.

Bake for 30 min.

Cool completely before removing from muffin tins.

Frost as desired.

Makes 12 cup cakes.

Gluten free for Autism?

2007-10-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago, my husband started researching diet and illness. Originally, he was looking for dietary ways to treat and control my multiple sclerosis and in doing so stumbled across several articles and books that suggested using a gluten free diet to curb some of the symptoms of Autism and mental illness.

So, the whole family (all 8 of us) embarked upon an interesting journey. We started the path toward becoming gluten free. We were already meat and (mostly) dairy free. My husband and his kids adopted that lifestyle when we combined our two families. My kids and I have had been meat and (mostly) dairy free since my children were very young.

I will freely admit that after almost 15 years working with children and adults with Autism in group homes, mental health facilities, and private homes, I thought the whole idea was stupid. But, I do, and always have, firmly believed in treating illness with nutrition and herbs first and foremost. So, I jumped in with both feet. - what's the worst that could happen.....

We've experimented with gluten and gluten containing foods over the last 2 years and I have come to the conclusion that there really is something important to the idea of avoiding gluten if you have Autism.

Occasionally, we'll slip up and decide to let the kids have 'regular' pizza, or something else with high gluten content in it, and we regret it for days.

Our 6 yr old becomes absolutely unmanageable when he consumes anything with gluten in it. He goes from a sweet, gentle mostly caring little man to an angry, wild, aggressive, unreasonable wild child.

Several hours after eating high gluten items he gets angry at almost nothing. He'll throw temper tantrums and break things, just for the sake of breaking it. He throws punches at me and his close in age sibs, and has even been known to take things from our 2 yr old. He'll kick the walls and stomp on the floors and slam the doors as hard as he possibly can.

In few hours the storm passes, but the symptoms continue. Homeschool for the next several days is almost impossible for him. His attention span is gone. He becomes incapable of following even the simplest of directions. I have seen this mostly independent child become incapable of the simple act of feeding himself for 2 days after the gluten rage.

For someone who has eaten and enjoyed homemade bread all her life, it is truly difficult to believe that the effects can be so serious.

So..of course we experiment a little here and there, let him 'break the rules' as it were.. like this past weekend.

I took the boys to a college football game with my eldest daughter. She plays in the band, and because of her age the band director asked me to go with to their only away game. He told me the kids were welcome to come along on the band bus and he would order lunches for them and spring for dinner, too. I brought along fruit and veggie snacks. My husband and I discussed the lunches and pizza party dinner. We decided that since we've been very strict about the diet lately, we figured one sack lunch sandwich and one slice of pizza probably wouldn't do too much damage.

Boy were we WRONG. When we got to the stadium everyone had lunch. By the time the game started 30 min later, our 6 yr old was more hyper than he's been in a long time. Unable to hold still, jumping everywhere, screeching at the top of his lungs.

I chalked it off to the excitement of the football game. He loves attending these games and I think he feels a part of the action since his older stepsister is in the band.

Right around half time he just wilted. He curled up on my lap and just sat there with is head buried in my shoulder. He reported to me that his "legs feel funny, like they won't hold me." He was miserable and acting very strange.

By the time we got home, he was starting to get angry and aggressive. He spend a good part of Sunday morning screaming, breaking things and throwing tantrums. Monday was better, the aggression has stopped, but the poor child was in a brain fog, unable to think clearly, unable to speak most of the day. Today, he is recovering and almost back to normal.

I'm sure MSG had a hand in the severity of his reactions this weekend. The sandwiches contained lunch meat, which are all loaded with MSG.

Never again will I break our gluten free, msg free diet.

Teaching civic responsibility

2007-10-24T07:17:00.001-07:00

I've made it no secret that I'm a Ron Paul supporter, in fact, I am the official coordinator for the Nebraska Homeschool Coalition and I will be blogging on the Homeschoolers for Ron Paul website
but, regardless of who you support in the upcoming primaries, the bigger question is what are you teaching your children about our political system and their rights and responsibilities as and American citizen?

Here in our house, my husband and I have made a conscience effort to discuss each candidate with our older kids. We've asked them to read bios and records of each of the candidates, both Democrat and Republican. And, we've discussed the various issues in depth with our kids. We've been known to have a good, old fashioned political debate with them, as well.

I think our young teens need to see the different sides of each issue, and it's good for them to hear close family debating complex aspects of political issues in a friendly way. The kids not only learn that there are many different opinions, but also that people who love each other can discuss and debate politics without it becoming a story on the evening news. Who knows, the kids might see things in yet a different way and cast an interesting spin on the whole conversation.

When I was young, politics were not discussed. Both my parents voted, and my mom was particularly active, but she would never discuss her views, or opinions with the family. To this day I have no idea where her true political ideas are. So, from that, I learned that politics was something to be avoided, that political issues were very private and never to be shared or talked about.

And yet, how else to you broaden your depth of knowledge, your scope of understanding of other people's views? Good policy can only be achieved when you consider and respect the opinions of others and remember that someone with a different background is likely to have a very different, yet equally valid, take on the same topic.

We, as homeschooling parents, have the responsibility to teach our kids how to debate without insulting, how to analyze an issue, and most importantly to research and learn about the candidates and the issues before they cast their vote.

cough and cold remedies

2007-10-23T06:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it's made major news in your area, but here in middle of nowhere Nebraska there has been a story running for days about the FDA and cough and cold meds for kids.

http://www.winknews.com/news/consumer/10476382.html

Seems there's been a medical panel investigating the effectiveness and safety of standard cold meds in children under the age of 6. This FDA related panel has recommend the FDA no longer allow cough and cold medications to be sold or marketed to kids under 6. And all those medication who claim "Recommended by Pediatricians" must remove that endorsement. This panel is saying the under no circumstances should children's cough and cold remedies be given to kids under 6. They claim the medication is not safe. There have been several deaths.

I've never been on to give my kids cold meds at the first sniffle. I know many parents who do. Heck, I've even been accused (by a relative) of child neglect because I refuse to stuffy noses and coughs with otc meds. The only time I ever treat is if one of my kids is miserable and stuffy or coughing a LOT in the middle of the night. I will give meds so they can sleep.

So, the other night, one of our kids had a major coughing fit in the middle of the night. She's 5 and very small for her age - I don't like to give her anything at all. Out of habit, I reached for the same children's cough med I've used since my 13 yr old was little.

And then I stopped. Remembering the news story, I reached for my herbal recipes book instead. And I made a cough remedy that's been used safely and effectively for thousands of years.

15 minutes later the coughing stopped and my daughter was able to sleep quietly for three or four hours.

This was a solid reminder to me how far we've come from using the natural safe herbs this planet gives us on a daily basis. The medical community has forgotten where it came from, and what their purpose is.

First do no harm, is supposed to be the goal of modern medicine. I think sometimes, in their desire to heal and help medical researchers make decisions for us about acceptable side effects and what constitutes harm.

But... that's a topic for another blog, another day.
For now, here is the recipe I used for my daughter's cough:

2 tablespoons dried Thyme
2 cups water
1 cup honey
5 cloves garlic

Place thyme, garlic and water in small saucepan.
Bring to a boil
Simmer until liquid is reduced by half.
Let cool until cool enough to work with, but still warm enough to dissolve honey
While mixture is cooling, pour honey into a glass jar (you'll need a lid).
With a small strainer, strain thyme mixture into the glass jar.
Put the lid on jar and shake well.
When the honey is dissolved and mixed through, remove the lid and add 2 or 3 cloves of the garlic you boiled it with.Garlic is a natural anti viral and anti biotic. leaving some garlic in the cough syrup to sit, will help boost the anti viral properties of the syrup.

Give 1 - 2 tablespoons every few hours as needed for cough.

Learning Languages

2007-10-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

I think every child should have the opportunity to learn a second or even third language. Early exposure to foreign language learning is like early exposure to music. Both foster a love of the topic, and a deep respect for the culture of other lands and stimulate parts of the brain not always used, raising IQ and making learning easier.

However, it's difficult for parents to teach a language they don't already speak, and language teachers are expensive.

I found this language teaching resource over the weekend. It's a web based program that teaches Russian, Mandarin, French, Spanish, German, Greek and Japanese for native English speakers. Students move through the lessons at their own pace, so it's great for kids and adults of all levels and abilities.

When you sign up for a free account, you have access to all language lessons, so one child can learn Mandarin Chinese, while another learns German and mom learns Russian.

All lessons are written and spoken by native speakers.
There's also a forum so you can practice your newly acquired language skills.

I was also impressed by the fact that the site programmer is a 17/18 yr old kid who started working for the company right out of high school. Check out the staff bios, you'll be as impressed as I was.

My kids and I spent most of the day playing with this program and the different language lessons. It really is a lot of fun.

http://www.mangolanguages.com/

Curricula for special needs

2007-10-15T08:30:00.001-07:00

It seems everywhere I go homeschool parents ask where I get my curriculum and materials. Some seem very surprised to learn I write my own lesson plans, curricula, and create a lot of my own materials for all of my kids.

It's not difficult. Personally, I think it's easier to do it myself than to use someone else's ideas of what my kids should be learning. After all, no one knows my kids' strengths and weaknesses better than I do.

Of course, I do have an extensive background in special education, so maybe it's easier for me to see how to teach around challenges and to strengths than for a lot of people.

Given that this keeps slapping me in the face, I'm seriously considering writing specialized curricula and lesson plans 'for hire', if you will. Clients can tell me their child's grade level, and give me a strengths and needs list for me to design the lessons around.

hm.. what do you think? I'm wondering if this is an alternative to me going back to work full time. Since the move my husband and I have been 'discussing' the need for me to return to work. I left the majority of my writing clients back in Phoenix, and therefore, the majority of my income, as well. And while we don't necessarily need my income, it was certainly helpful to have. My husband has a good job, in a decent career field, but we DO have six kids, and so what is a very decent income for most, just keeps the bills paid and the house running for us. And I feel like I should be doing more, and I've been having a difficult time establishing writing clients here in Nebraska. This may be a good way to reinvent my writing biz.

something to think about.

Getting out of the rut

2007-10-03T06:43:00.000-07:00

I'm looking over our last couple weeks of homeschooling and finding that I've started becoming very routine. Seems I've fallen in a rut and we're doing the same kinds of activities every day. My boys need variety, interest and excitement in order to retain the most information they can I also think I've been putting too much emphasis on basic skills and not enough time exploring.

I think part of the problem is that I've spent a lot of time worrying about keeping up with what the public school is teaching - making sure my boys are "at grade level", and yet, I did an evaluation on both boys last week.

A, my 6 yr old is easily doing middle first grade work! This is a huge accomplishment for him, as he has language, developmental and emotional delays that look a lot like Asperger's.

My 5 yr old is also preforming at the mid first grade level.

So, it seem to me that I need to back off and have more fun, plan more projects and listen to my own advice a bit more, and do a lot more child directed learning.

I've finally done it

2007-09-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

After 15 or so years of swearing I would never get involved in politics again, and declaring anyone who was involved to be corrupt-- I've gone and gotten myself involved.

It started as simple research into what each primary candidate thought about homeschooling. That led to an article idea involving a request to each candidate for an email interview about the many homeschool topics and issues.

..... which led me to decide on jumping both feet into the Ron Paul effort. I've not received responses from any of the candidates yet. And that's okay, because I'm no longer neutral and will have to remove myself from the assignment.

...... but, that's okay, too. because I've found a candidate homeschoolers can stand behind without worrying what hoops the feds will make us jump through next, in the simple act of homeschooling our exceptional kids.

Ron Paul has voted to protect the rights of all homeschoolers. Not just the ones who can pass standardized testing. (which we all know is often impossible for kids with developmental delays, mental illness or dyslexia) And, not just the homeschoolers who teach a standard curriculum, or for the standard amount of hours or in the approved way.

but for all of us.

and he's willing to back it up with money in our pockets, in the form of a $3000 tax credit to all parents for whatever WE decide our kids need in order to gain the best education possible. You can read about the bill at Ron Paul Speeches and Statements

Read his thoughts for yourself.
Ron Paul 2008 Hope For America

2007-09-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

Life around here has been busy. Between homeschooling, writing projects, homeschool field trips, public school field trips and the countless other "mommy" related things I find myself doing, I have little time to breathe.

And, I must say, organization is NOT my strong point. I find myself spinning my wheels trying to decide where to start, what is most important at that given moment. It's not working well. I am not one of those gifted with the inborn ability to manage my tasks. People and projects, yeah.. I can manage those without thinking.... but my own tasks? Forget it. That is serious work. And something I struggle with each and every day. I don't understand how you born organized people make it look so easy. My hat is off to each and every one of you.

What does this have to do with homeschooling? Gifted or delayed kids? Ill parents? At first glance - absolutely nothing.

But, have you ever considered the effect your personal organization methods have on the children you are leading? This is something I've been looking at over the last week and I'm realizing I could be a much more effective homeschooler and business person if I could find a way to organize my projects and my day better. I'd also like my kids to learn to be more organized. I'm hoping that if I learn organization, then I can teach them to overcome their natural tendencies to disorganization early. It may make them more productive in the long run.

Where does my lack of organization come from? That's an easy one. I was never taught HOW to plan my time or my projects. It was always assumed I knew how, because I used to be great at keeping massive amounts of info in short term memory. However, that's to the Multiple Sclerosis, I have tough time doing that anymore. So now, at... 36 I'm finding I need to learn the paper and computer methods of project management.

What do YOU do to manage the smallest details of homeschool, work, and life?

ldn for autism?

2007-08-29T11:49:00.000-07:00

Recently, on one of the alternative medicine email groups I'm on, someone mentioned they are trying a low dose naltrexone lotion to help treat their child's autism. Has anyone else tried this, know anything about it? I have a like to an email group started by the doctor using this treatment, but I'd like to hear from other parents who've tried ldn lotion their child's autism.

The importance of being flexible

2007-08-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

My dss6 is just SO hyper and scatterbrained today. We sat down to read a book this morning after breakfast and he just could not sit still. He fidgeted, he squirmed, he played with his feet. I tried to give his brain something to do by having him read every other sentence to me. That only caused him more frustration because he was so scattered he could barely talk.

So we all went outside and played fetch with the dog for half an hour. While we were out there, 6 yr old checked on the bird food, decided where to hang the bird houses we made last week, and worked on spelling words. My ds4 helped clean up the yard, and found a blue jay in the tree across the street. We brainstormed ways to attract the blue jays and cardinals to our yard.

Meanwhile,DD13 did an experiment with aspartame and ants. My husband read somewhere that aspartame was originally developed as an ant poison. DD13 is testing the theory with the ants that keep invading our front porch. I'll let you know how that goes.

After the boys had tired themselves out, we came in and picked up where we left off.And the boys did wonderfully. The free time to play and learn on their own was just what they needed to be able to focus on this morning's school work. While we were reading their social studies book, ds4 saw a story about American Indians several chapters ahead. He asked if we could read that one, too. It's not something we've planned for this week, or even this month, my son loves learning about American Indians, so I skipped ahead for the story. Both boys enjoyed the story and learned about some of the different tribes across America. We talked about how they're the same, and how they're different, and why. And they learned how Indians used animal skins to make their clothes. After lunch the boys are going to make a tent from sticks and fabric (in place of the hide).

Flexibility in the homeschool routine, and even the curriculum is so important. Especially with special needs kids. When we parents stay flexible it makes it easier on our kids, and ultimately on us as well. The kids are happier, feel like an important part of the planning, and learn more when we let go of the reigns and let them lead us whenever possible.

Invented Spelling?

2007-08-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

My husband sent me this link this morning.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/shore/shore13.html

All I can say is WOW! If this is really the way the schools are teaching our children, it's no wonder our country's literacy rates are so low. Teaching a child to express themselves is wonderful. I fully believe that all kids have important things to say and even to teach the adults around them.

BUT -- kids need to learn to spell correctly. It is impossible to express your thoughts accurately or completely if your vocabulary or spelling are weak.

I can see letting a child "invent' a spelling in a rough draft, but they should be required to look up each misspelled word in a dictionary and learn the correct spelling. Student built spelling lists are wonderful things.

Have the child write a story, or a report. As you read their first draft, circle all misspelled words and have them look the word up in a dictionary. Depending on your child's age and ability, they may need help doing this.

Then, have the child write down the correct spelling, and study the list. Make sure they correct the misspelled words in their second draft.

We keep a running list of words and I test on five to ten words per week, depending on the child.

Teaching phonics also helps kids learn to spell correctly.

The "see, say, write, test" method does not work for every kid. There are many fun, engaging ways to teach spelling. We play spelling games, write spelling words in chalk on the driveway, practice spelling lists with bread and pastry dough, and even practice with soap crayons in the bathtub.

Autism, mental illness, and gluten, OH MY!

2007-08-16T07:13:00.000-07:00

Gluten. It's a vital part of the American diet. Breads, cookies,breakfast cereals, breaded meats, pastries, pastas, prepackaged foods. You'll even find gluten in some ice creams.

Those who eat gluten free (GF) due to Celiac disease have a difficult time finding packaged foods they can eat. Going out to eat is almost impossible unless you live in NYC.

And yet, many people don't realize that you can be gluten sensitive without having the standard symptoms of Celiac.

Gluten sensitivity can show itself in many ways. Autism, mental illness, behavior problems,and slow thinking, muscle weakness, tingling, and dizziness can all be signs of gluten sensitivity.

While there have been very few 'official studies' on gluten and the above symptoms, thousands of families have found out for themselves the negative effects of gluten on loved ones.

Both my step children are good examples of this.

My 6 yr old step son (A) is on the autism spectrum. He doesn't have a formal diagnosis, because we, and his doctor, haven't seen a need to have him evaluated and labeled. Since we homeschool, it's just not that important. Along with various therapies, and nutritional supplements, we keep him gluten free.

Since we started living gluten free, there has been a marked improvement in A's thinking process. He has a much easier time communicating his thoughts to us, and his school work has improved by leaps and bounds. Before we adopted a gluten free eating plan, he was usually unable to put together simple sentences. He would leave off the first syllable of most words, making him almost impossible for anyone to understand. His behavior was hyper and aggressive, with daily temper tantrums, inability to follow directions and impulsive, destructive behavior.

Then we went gluten free. A still struggles with communication, but he is able to form sentences, and speaks most words completely. The tantrums, aggression, and destructive behavior have completely disappeared. He's still mildly impulsive, but is much easier to redirect, and easier to reason with.

Occasionally, one of us will test the theory by allowing A a sandwich with regular bread, or pizza with a standard crust. Within a couple hours A regresses and shows his previous behavior problems.

Teaching Math

2007-08-09T06:43:00.001-07:00

I'm surprised by how set in their ways math teachers seem to be. Whether they are traditional school teachers or homeschoolers, so many who teach math are unwilling to break with tradition and teach math in an alternative way. And I find myself wondering why.

Let's face it, American kids aren't exactly excelling in mathematics.

It's not the teachers' faults. Most American school teachers are good people who do the best they can with the resources they have.

It's not the kids' faults. Children are hard wired to explore and learn about their world. They will absorb knowledge as fast as their teachers can hand it to them.

If that knowledge is presented in a way that makes sense to the child.

So, if it's not the fault of the teachers or the children, then we need to look at the method, or system of teaching.

Are we using the best, most intuitive method for teaching math. More importantly, are we teaching in a way our child can most easily grasp the information. We as educators need to make the information relevant to the child. Children pay attention things that are meaningful to them.

So, how do you make arithmetic meaningful to a child with learning difficulties? Make it a special point to illustrate to your child how you use math in everything you do.

As you're setting the table for dinner, ask your child to bring you the correct number of plates, or forks or cups for each family member.

Have your child help you plan the weekly menu and grocery list. They'll learn meal planning, organization, and problem solving. Not specific math skills, but skills that will come in handy when figuring other, more obvious math problems.

At the grocery store, have your child figure out how many packages you need of a favorite food item. Tell your child, "We need 2 boxes of your favorite cereal every 3 days. Can you help me figure out how many boxes to buy for a week?"

And of course, the grocery store is a great place to use newly learned money skills. Pay in cash, and have your child count out the correct amount of money to give the cashier. Allow your child to count the change.

Let your child cook with you. One of the best ways to each useful, arithmetic is cooking. There are cups and teaspoons to count, items to measure, minutes to keep track of and at the end, a tasty treat to share with family, and the pride of "I helped!"

Folding laundry is an excellent way to teach math skills. Let your child fold a towel in half, or in quarters. Teach your child to sort clothes by color, type or family member.

For older kids, home repair, craft or home decorating projects can be used to teach topics like perimeter, area, volume, average, medium, basic geometry and trigonometry.

Gifted children will benefit from an alternative approach, as well. I taught my eldest daughter math up to college level Algebra using a method that made sense to them. She moved quickly and easily through addition, subtraction, multiplication and exponents, then, division and factoring. From there, we tackled fractions, decimals and percents together. After that, we moved to linear measurement and area, perimeter, volume and such. The whole program took only two years. After going through arithmetic with me, she started high school level algebra - and excelled - at the ripe old age of nine.

Every child can learn math to the best of their abilities if we, as educators, are willing to break with tradition and tailor the program to the child and find ways to make the topic relevant to the child's life.

We're moved - I am SO glad that's over

2007-08-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

We made it! The move to Nebraska is complete. The kids love it here and the opportunities for new and different homeschool projects surround us.

All 6 of our kids were born in Arizona. Nebraska is a whole new world. The younger set are having a blast learning about the multitude of bug, insects and plants that share our front yard.

We're planning an organic herb and veggie garden for next growing season.

They're learning to prune roses, pick rhubarb, and that raspberry plants have thorns. We learned the difference between 'jelly grapes' (Concord grapes) and 'table grapes', thanks to the grape vines which grow in our yard.

History came alive when we explored clothing customs of the 1890's. All the kids got a kick of learning what people wore when our 120 year old house was built. Next 'house history' project will be learning about building methods of the late 1890/1900 era, so they can learn how the house was built.

We've started back to homeschooling and the kids are enjoying being able to to math in chalk on the sidewalk, and reading in the yard. Our geography project for the next several months will be to learn the differences in climates around the world and why Phoenix is so much warmer than Nebraska.

My language delayed step son is READING!!! I scrapped teaching him straight phonics and started on memorizing spelling words in an attempt to get around his language delays. And it worked. He can read or sound out any 3 letter words and most 4 letter words with little frustration, now. It's been a struggle for him to put the pieces together and figure out reading. He still has a long way to go, I have to control the vocabulary that's used and monitor his frustration, but he's getting it.

And, my 4 year old son is reading as well. He his thriving with his phonics lessons, and having fun. We spend 15 or 20 minutes a day sounding out words together,and he's doing great.

On a personal note, I am working on writing a one stop math curriculum for basic arithmetic. For those of you who use grade levels, that would be preschool through 7th or 8th grade. I'm explaining the methods I used when I was teaching my now 13 year old. Who, incidentally graduated from high school this past May and is starting a well known university in a few weeks.

technorati notice

2007-02-24T09:39:00.000-07:00

Through the power of google analytics I've found myself listed on techorati .. so.. here is the code I need to claim my blog.

Technorati Profile

Causes of Autism

2007-02-19T10:47:00.001-07:00

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/02/19/autism.study.reut/index.html

phonics and sight reading work together

2007-02-18T11:16:00.000-07:00

Has it really been a month since I’ve posted? Doesn’t feel that long.

The best way to teach a child to read is phonics. Understanding phonics gives the child a method of attack for decoding words they have never seen before. It gives them the ability to decode, make mistakes and learn to decipher the language on their own.

Independence breeds confidence.

But, kids who have language delays or learning disabilities may be slow to make the phonics to word connection. Their brains work differently and sometimes, even though the child knows and understands sounds the letters make it just doesn’t click. Some kids, like my step son, can sound out almost any work they encounter. The glitch comes when they try to put the sounds together.

When the child feels like they can’t read or they will never get it, soon they’ll stop wanting to read because it makes them feel bad. This will only make the problem worse.
In cases like these, it’s best to switch to sight reading before frustration and feelings of failure set in.

Yes, it’s rote memorization, and it certainly isn’t going to teach your child to read above the number of words he/she can memorize.

What it will do is give your child a way to begin reading to help boost their confidence. Reading confidence means the child will be more likely to enjoy reading and try harder

Start with a handful of words from your child’s favorite book. Ask your child to help you choose words they would like to learn. Use index cards to make a flash card for each word. Make sure your printing is clear and use a dark, easy to see ink. If possible, draw a picture on the card to help the child remember the word.

If your child can write, ask them to write each word on the other side of the card. Doing this will help your child feel more invested in learning, and the simple act of writing will help reinforce both the words, and the phonics that create it.

Practice reading the cards together several times a day for only a few minutes. Let your child lead the way. They know how much time is too much.

As your child memorizes the words, continue to work on phonics. The combination will help the elements of phonics ‘click’ for your child.

Eye opener.....

2007-01-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

This morning, I took my 4 kids to the local playground. While we were there, a kindergarten class from the adjoining school walked over to spend their recess at the playground.

I was amazed by the inconsiderate and plain rudeness of most of these children. I lost count of the number of times one of them pushed one of my kids out of the way. One of them even ran into me as I pushed my 14 month old in the swing.

A couple of boys approached my 5 yr old and asked if he would play tag with them. My stepson looked to me for approval, which I gave. The boys played well together until my child opened his mouth to speak.

"oh.. he talks funny." One of the boys said. Then he turned to his friend, "We don't want to play with that retard."

And they ran off. leaving my 5 year old confused and hurt.

These same boys then ran over to where I was playing on the playground equipment with the baby. They almost knocked her over, because as they put it, "she was in out way."

The other kids in this group, pushed each other out of the way, elbowed past each other, and were just rude.

One girl pushed past my 4 year old son as he was making his way up the stairs to one of the slides. Instead of going down the slide she sat down, blocking the way for my son.

Politely, my son said, "excuse me."

The girl ignored him.

Again, he repeated, "excuse me, " a little less polite this time.

She still ignored him.

It wasn't until the teacher came over and told the girl to move that she got up and went down the slide.

I was appalled by the behavior of these kids. But, I was even more upset that the teacher allowed it.

So much for 'socialization'.

This is supposed to be one of the better elementary schools in our district.

they surprise you...

2007-01-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

Just when you think it'll never click, they do something to completely surprise you.
My stepson is 5 yr old, has moderate ADHD, has some major language delays -- at 5, most strangers still can't understand him.

He knows his letters and basic phonics, but can't put the letters together in his head to make words.. ask him to sound out cat, for example, and you get "c" ..... "a"..... "t" and no amount of helping gets him to see that is 'cat'.

He's also been working on writing the letters and I made a handful of flashcards for reading practice basic words.. hat, cat, mat, sat dog, and a few others. We've been practicing those flash cards several times every day for about a month. He still can't read the words.

so.. today I thought I'd try something different. "take the chalk and go write cat on the chalkboard"

he did it.. with no hesitation. I tried another one.. "mat" again, no hesitation. I went through the cards and he spelled each word from the flash cards. perfectly, and without help.

He still can't put the words from the cards together in his head.. mat is still "M"... "a"... "t"..

but he's making progress ...

slow going

2007-01-11T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'm in the process of putting together the first Exceptional Homeschool newsletter and also the first issue of the Exceptional Homeschool Ezine.

If you'd like to take a look at my progress go to.. www.exceptionalhomeschool.com

Yvette

2006-08-29T18:49:00.000-07:00

I tried to log into this blog through blogger. For some reason it didn't want to let me do anything. tesing to see if it posts this way. Maybe my acct was transfered to blogger in beta when I did the writely test.

The importance of games in education

2006-07-15T06:47:00.001-07:00

Learning should be FUN. All kids learn faster and retain more when they are engaged, involved and having fun. Carefully selected games can have a positive impact on your child's learning.

My 3 year old loves playing UNO. Uno reinforces color and number recognition and matching skills, and helps teach pre-reading skills like matching and object identification. It's simple to learn, he picked it up quickly,and now plays his own hand, and he loves it. We play Uno Attack, and he just loves when the machine spits cards out at him.

We also play a lot of Candyland. My 3 yr old step-daughter has bipolar disorder. She has a hard time following directions and staying on task. Candyland helps her learn colors and the concept of first and second. It's an easy, quick game so she can practice taking turns and following directions without getting frustrated.

My 5 year old step-son has ADHD along with language difficulties. He loves to play Uncle Wiggley. It's a game that both boys enjoy playing. My step-son practices repeating the rhymes and sounding out words, while my son practices number recognition up to 20 and simple phonics.

Of course all board games give children a chance to practice counting how many spaces they get to move and it's never too early to learn good sportsmanship.

The next time you're looking for a fresh way to teach a new skill, or reinforce an old one, consider finding a board game. With literally thousands of games out there, you're sure to find something that you and your kids will enjoy. Or.. make it a family project or design and create your own.

Until next time,
Happy Homeschooling

Unschooling - An Overview

2006-04-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

I've noticed a lot of confusion on the topic of Unschooling. People seem to believe that an unschooled child sits in front of the television all day and
learns nothing. In my experience, that simply isn't true.

Unschooling is letting your child explore and learn about his world at his own pace. There is no planned curriculum, but the parent is always available to play
a game, read a book, go to the park or do a science experiment. The child usually helps the available parent with simple household chores. While not planned, these are still learning activities. The difficulty of the activities are adjusted based on the child’s age, ability and interest level.

The typical unschool day for a small child may look something like the following:

Parent and child get up, get dressed and make breakfast together. The child learns how to prepare a simple bowl of cereal or an elaborate cooked breakfast. Cooking teaches basic chemistry and fractions.

After breakfast, the child perfects personal hygiene skills, and does simple chores around the house. Being responsible for things like feeding the pets and watering the plants teaches responsibility. Caring for plants or a garden opens opportunity for physical science lessons.

When morning chores are complete, the child may ask to play a game. Let's say, for example, the child wants to play a simple board game. There are many skills
needed to play - counting, taking turns, or identifying colors and numbers. There may be cards to read or directions to follow. The child has now worked on several important skills and no formal plan has been followed.

It's almost time for lunch, so parent and child head into the kitchen. Depending on the age of the child she may choose what to have for lunch. Doing simple menu planning allows the parent to teach good nutrition and choice making. Parent and child make lunch together and the child gains more experience in the kitchen. After
lunch chores may include washing dishes or loading the dishwasher and cleaning the kitchen.

Lunch completed, the unschooling family may curl up together and read for some quiet time or may head to the park for some exercise.

This is only one possible scenario. Unschoolers do many things every day, they use opportunities presented in everyday activities and allow the child to concentrate on areas of special interest.

Exceptional vs Special Needs

2006-02-08T08:30:00.000-07:00

Many children fall outside the educational norm and need an instructional program tailored to meet their needs. School systems cannot do this. They are, by design, intended to teach everybody the same thing, the same way at the same time. Teachers may have the desire to give each child their best, regardless of need, but that is just not possible in the real world. Think about it, 10 – 30 kids in the class, with one teacher to instruct, nurture, and referee all of them. Sure, sometimes there may be a teacher’s assistant or two in the room, but that really doesn’t even the ratio much. Teachers try; most do their absolute best day in and day out, but they’re just human like the rest of us. Lack of supplies, space, district support, and decent wages have taken their toll on the school systems.

What can you do if your child isn’t getting what they need in school? Well, you can homeschool them. I will say it up front – I believe every child deserves the benefit of being educated at home; if not by parents, then by someone who can give them personal attention and individualized lessons. My six kids range in ages from 11 years down to 3 months. They range in ability level from child prodigy to learning and emotionally challenged. We homeschool all of them except the 11 year old. She is now taking advanced placement and honors classes at a traditional public high school and supplements with classes from our local community college.

Making the decision to homeschool an exceptional child is a difficult one. We’ve been conditioned to think that kids tagged special needs require teachers with special training to work with them. This simply isn’t true. Every child has special needs; each child is a unique individual with their own learning style. When adults take the time and effort to teach the child as an individual, the child will meet his/her personal best.