Friday, August 23, 2013

Whitworth Update

It has been a long time since I have written on here. I just checked the number of views and I was pretty amazed it was so high. Anyway, maybe I'll give this a better shot this year.

I thought I would dedicate this post to how our homeschool year went this past year.

The second year in homeschooling went ok. I have to say it was quite the challenge for both the boys and myself. There were a few things with them that I've done pretty consistently this year. I have also changed a few of our daily activities from last year. I have learned that homeschooling is a fluid thing. There is no right or wrong way to do it. You just do what you know is best for your own family. I love homeschooling in Texas b/c we don't have a lot of rules or regulations to follow. It is freeing for me and I am blessed to live and homeschool here.

One thing I've really learned (again) this year is that we homeschool for very different reasons than most of the families I know and have met. I admire those families with children who are memorizing and learning about things that are pretty impressive, but I've learned to accept that's not us. I knew going into homeschooling that we were doing this so the boys could learn at their own pace and not be rushed through the basics of school. I didn't realize I'd be judged for this slower pace in the homeschooling community. I expected it somewhat from parents and friends who put their children into public school. I almost welcomed the debate. But to be judged for not doing a certain type of homeschooling...I did not expect. Thankfully, I have found families who have children who needed homeschooling for the same reason as my boys. They have been a super encouragement to me after a rough start here in Texas. I'm looking forward to 3rd year of homeschooling surrounded by these friends who have been there, done that and have actually graduated some pretty fantastic kids!

I made a few changes to curriculum this year that I thought I would share. Like I said, homeschooling is fluid.

First of all, I have a terrible confession to make...I am HORRIBLE at getting them to read. There, I confessed it. I have always struggled with this. I used to read a lot as a preteen/teen. However, reading to my own children (especially reading out loud) has been difficult. I do not enjoy reading anything out loud. I cringe when asked to read out loud for any reason. In part, I believe this has to do with some of my own learning issues I've been discovering. I have a tendency to skip lines and exclude words. I do this with spelling as well. When I was in elementary school I went to extra classes to help me with reading. As I got older I read more fluently and like I said I enjoyed reading for fun as a preteen/teen. I recognize my detest for reading out loud as a major issue in homeschooling, so this year I have found a few things that help me with this.

First, we purchased each of our boys a Kindle Fire this year. This has been the BEST decision I have ever made for any Christmas gift. There has not been one day since receiving them that I regret having them. They were given the least expensive Kindle Fire. This tablet has helped a great deal with reading. Now, when I want them to read a book we go to Amazon and download it. There are many kindle books that are actually free. The blog Free Homeschool Deals has a list monthly of free kindle books. We have taken advantage of that list several times. In addition having the book on the kindle (no more lost library books...YAY) the kindle also READS it to them! OHHH HAPPPY DAY! So now, I will sit with them and read books with them, but I do not have to read out loud. They also can go and listen to books on their own. It has helped them greatly with their fluency and word recognition.

The second thing we have done is to spend each day working on Istation. I found out about Istation from an online friend. It is free for public and homeschooled students in Texas. It's called Istation. It has been really good for both of the boys. We have consistently done this program since January and it has really helped them. That has been a huge help in knowing their actual reading level and helping with fluency. Istation tests them each month to show their progress and then continues using games to help them improve at their own level. Logan improves each month. It starts at a 3rd grade level (his actual grade last year) and he is still falling below grade level (as he has always tested from the time he started school) however, he shows excellent progress each month. I am noticing it in everyday life with him as well. Cole is also using Istation. He was by grade level in 2nd last year. Istation is technically for 3rd and up, but I felt he could do the work. He is scoring at or just below grade level. Which is encouraging to me. Cole is my reader and he's doing GREAT when I can get him to focus (that's another blog!)

Finally, I've just been more intentional with reading with them in every day life. Logan has recently seen the benefit of knowing how to read signs when he helped me to see some signs at night while I was driving. He also looks on with Whit during church while we are reading from the Bible. His fluency needs work over all, but he's getting the hang of it.

Another change I made was to chuck The Phonics Road and start with a different phonics based book. The book was recommended to me by another homeschooling mom who was also certified as a reading specialist. The book The Ordinary Parents Guide To Reading has been very helpful in giving me a way to systematically teach the boys Phonics. I go through the lesson with them and also pick spelling words from the lessons we are working on for the week. We sometimes find readers that follow whatever rule we are working on. It has been much easier and something I actually keep up with doing.

We are also working through Easy Grammar This has been a good book for all of us! We are, as always, working through both of these books at their pace. We stop for awhile and repeat if necessary.

Math U See continues to be my math choice. Cole has taken a little longer to go through this. We started out a little behind so he's still catching up. Again, this tends to be more of a lack of attention thing vs. an inability to do the work. Logan has done excellent with this series and continues to work through his book.

This past year we didn't do a lot with Science and History in the conventional/traditional sense. We read some books on history and did some Apologia Astronomy Science, but it was difficult to get into a groove with these subjects. We did start receiving Learn Our History DVD's. I see these as a great supplement to what we've been learning. Often after a hard morning with reading and math exercises, we would turn on a history DVD or a Science show on Netflix and just learn something while we ate. The boys enjoy it and I get a little break.

Our 3rd year of homeschooling is about to begin and I'm excited to incorporate some more things into each week. Homeschooling is definitely not for everyone and not for the faint of heart. I think this will be the greatest challenge of my life and I hope one day I not only turn out kids that know a few things, but also kids that respect their elders, are a pleasure to work with and are happy and adjusted. So far, socially, I am seeing great things in my kids. I am super proud to be their mom and take this journey with them.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Homeschooling So far.....

I have been homeschooling the boys now since the end of July and we are making it. No one has been harmed in the making of most of our days :)

I went to a homeschool convention in Orlando in May and I have to say that was a really eye opening experience for me. I signed up for every "Special Needs" type class I could and researched a lot of curriculums. I enjoyed the time away and the affirmation I felt after being just totall immersed in a homeschool mindset. I'm in this for the long haul!

I have a dear friend Delynn who has been mentoring me along the way. She has 3 boys all older than my boys whom she has always homeschooled. Her middle son has struggled with learning and speech issues and her youngest at times struggles with attention. She has been a great help and encouragement to me. She has provided me with so much information and life experience that it just totally eases my mind and helps me keep focused on my goal with my kids. She has become a great friend in the process! :)

Speaking of the goal....the ultimate goal is to see my boys succeed in school...not just skate through but actually succeed. The goal is to do things at their pace and not slow them down or push them too quickly. The goal is to help them gain confidence in their abilities!

One thing that overwhelmed me with homeschooling was picking the right curriculums. So this is where both Delynn and the Homeschool Convention really came into play for me.

The curriculums I'm using are as follows:

1. Math U See : After speaking so several different types of homeschooling mom's I saw that this curriculum was good for all different types of students. I liked the way it was laid out and that the worksheets were not too overwhelming for my boys. I really liked having a Math DVD that I could learn from and the boys could watch as well. Logan in particular has really done well with this curriculum. Cole has as well, but he tends to be distracted by the blocks. We're working on that, but other than that he gets the concepts. The concepts that Logan is learning in the Alpha book of MUS is supposed to be a review for him, but I have seen he still very much struggles with the concepts (Adding right now) and so I'm thankful we can go at his own pace and work through problems one on one. He gets less frustrated that way.

2. The Phonics Road this curriculum I have mixed feelings about. I heard great reviews of the product and had several friends say they used it. I love it and I hate it. There are videos where they teach the phonics concepts etc. They are really really boring and LOOONG. Too long for even MY attenion span. I don't make the boys watch those...anymore. Too much for them. The curriculum is VERY expensive. It's about $200 for a year and you do get everything you need for a year's worth of work and it's very detailed, however, I don't know that a binder with copied off pages is really worth $200. I was able to land a set on ebay for $50 and I was happy with that. There are lots of long and boring DVD's that go with the lessons. I *think* that as we keep pushing through it will all start to make more sense and it'll work. We are doing spelling lists now and will eventually work up to sentences and paragraph writing etc. They will eventually draw and write their own readers. I was excited about this idea and I hope that it works out as planned. The boys do OK with it, but it's not my favorite.

3. Reading -- I really struggle and have always struggled with reading with my kids. I don't know why....and it makes me feel bad. But I am forcing myself and them to work through this struggle! One thing we read everyday is a Children's Bible called "God's Word for Me!" I just started this and I think so far this is my favorite "Bible Time" thing we've tried. It's not devotions, it's just reading a story straight from a Bible. I read it to them and check periodically for comprehension. Eventually, I may add something to it such as word searches or something internet based that I can print off to go along with whatever Bible story we are on. The other thing I've done recently for reading is purchase the First Readers Series of books from Usborne Books. I recently met a fantastic consultant who has really opened my eyes to how great these books are. They are really high quality readers and I really love them. The First Readers books do not interest Logan though. He's really into books that are non-fiction based. He likes books with scientific facts and things like that. So we are working through some other books about things he likes like Sharks and Trucks. Cole on the other hand loves the First readers and is a GREAT reader! He is working on comprehension and has done very well recently with that. The First Readers from Usborne have Reading Comprehension and ordering built into the book so at the end you can quiz your student about the book. I have also subscribed to Scolastic to receive the Weekly Reader. I haven't had a chance to really work with those yet, but I'm excited to see how those work for the boys. My friend gave me a bunch of them as well so I will work through those as well.

Science -- Right now my choice for Science is an Alpha and Omega curriculum. It's great b/c it doesn't go in order or build on each lesson so you can do any section that interests you. I'm not 100% sure I will continue using this. Delynn gave me this curriculum to try. Logan has enjoyed it!

Social Studies / History -- If anything is my weak spot it is this subject. I really need to purchas a curriculum that will walk me through History Step by Step. I seem to do best when I do that. For now, for Cole I am focusing mostly on the "social" aspect of life in general. I'm just teaching him about manners and social interactions etc to help him sharpen these skills. He's very extroverted, but sometimes struggles with what is and is not appropriate. For Logan we have done some state study about Texas when we learned we were moving there. I believe in January we will start working on a Presential/Government type lessons for the boys. Since 2012 is an election year there will be plenty of opportunities to put real life experience into their studies. Such as going voting with mom or whatever the case may be.



That about sums up the curriculums I'm using. We do have other activities that we are doing through out the week.

First, we started back at PTS doing therapies for the boys during the day. The Private therapy helps them SO MUCH more than the school therapies they did. For now we are able to receive services. I'm not sure what will happen with this after we move. I believe I will enroll Logan in Speech in the public schools out there. It should be a small one on one environment for him and help him. I would love to continue to see Cole receive Occupational therapy. I really think it would be beneficial to him. I guess that's something to seek the Lord and pray about.

Second, we also started participating in Cub Scouts. At first, it was for both of the boys, but right now we just have Logan attending. It is still a little over Cole's head at this point. Logan seems to enjoy it as I believed he would. He loves hands on learning. Once we get to Texas I will work more with him on his Boy Scout requirements and incorporate them into our day.

All in all, it has been a positive experience. We don't homeschool every single day of the week...yet. We have had a lot of things going on since we found out we are moving to Texas. Whit left for Houston in October and so I have been in survival mode trying to do everything here by myself. It has been a struggle, but we are going to get at least 2 solid weeks of homeschool in before Thanksgiving. And we'll hopefully catch up on some math and other things so that we are so behind. We'll likely go to school through out the summer to make up for what we missed, but in Texas we don't have to keep a record of what they've done. The homeschool rules are very very easy. I am thrilled about that for at least the first year. I believe eventually they will catch up and succeed!

Monday, November 7, 2011

Spelling City

It's been over a year now that I discovered Spelling City on the web. I was in a special needs classroom as a para-educator and we used the site with our students. I loved the format and began using the site at home with my boys to review their weekly spelling lists from school.

We began homeschooling this year and now I use this site daily to help them review their spelling words. I have entered in their lists from another phonics program and they use Spelling City to play games and take their tests. I love the format and the available games. The website is easy to navigate and has many tools to help both student and teacher. I love that I can set up assignments for my boys to complete and that it keeps record of their progress. My boys of course love the games. They forget they are actually learning!

I do highly recommend this site! www.spellingcity.com

Sunday, September 25, 2011

SPD Video

This is a great video about Sensory Processing Disorder

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

2010-2011 School Year

Logan and Cole had fantastic teachers the 2010-2011 school year.  Both teachers were young and stayed on top of the special needs the boys have.

Logan's teacher recognized with in the first few weeks his anxiety when taking a test and right away had his IEP adjusted.  We also started the RTi process of figuring out what exactly will help Logan as he was beginning to get behind in all his sujects.  The RTI process is basically a meeting of the teacher, therapists, guidance counselor and parent to determine how to best help the students.  They take their time in the process and collect data to help in determining what interventions help.   Logan's teacher was diligent in making sure he was getting the help he needed.  Everything they suggested for him included smaller, slower paced environments.  And he started a program called Spell/Read which really seemed to help him a lot with reading.  He still did not like to write or do homework.  But we worked through it and did what we could.

Cole's Kindergarten year started out rocky.  He had some major behavior issues that his teacher recognized right away as not in the range of 'normal' kindergarten behavior.  Once he adjusted to his classroom, he did much better.  His teacher stayed on top of his behavior and also keep me updated with his progress.  We did start the RTI process with him as well.  His teacher focused a lot on his comprehension of the story being told and in understanding sequencing etc. 

At the beginning of 2011 I started really thinking and praying for the boys reguarding school.  I felt a clear direction to start homeschooling in the 2011-2012 school year.  It was a tough decision b/c I didn't know if I could handle them at home all day.  But I research Homeschooling Special Needs children and found that it's a popular reason for homeschooling.  I found some great resources online and started really searching for curriculum that would help them succeed.  I spoke to several friends who were also thinking of homeschooling and friends that have been homeschooling for years.  I spoke to Whit about it extensively and I was shocked that he was actually really on board with me homeschooling them.  He felt like it would really help them and that I could do it.  So, I began preparing myself for the idea of homeschooling them.  The teachers at the boys school were supportive and the guidance counselor and principal were also helpful.

Vocabulary Spelling City

Disclosure:
I've been given a Premium Membership to VocabularySpellingCity.com for a candid, personal, online review.
VocabularySpellingCity.com helps students study word lists using 25 different learning activities such as Vocabulary Test, Unscramble and Word Search.  Parents can create their own spelling lists, find published lists already available on the site or use any of the dozens of  free teaching resources such as compound words and math academic vocabulary.  Be sure to come back in three weeks to read about my experience.
There might be more free memberships available for bloggers.  If you're interested, find out how you can review VocabularySpellingCity.com

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Logan - Kindergarten

Logan started Kindergarten at his 3rd School.  By this time, I felt pretty ready for the teachers, the meetings and the school work to follow.  I felt confident in the IEP that they had set up for Logan through Wagner Elementary. 

Per his IEP Logan would have 40% of his week in a Resource Classroom and 60% in a typical Kindergarten classroom.  This was to aide in keeping him in a quieter environment for the harder subjects like Reading and Math.  It would also give him time to take tests etc.


We had a re-evaluation of his IEP in October around his birthday.  At this time, his K teacher and Resource teacher and Speech Therapist met with me to discuss how well Logan was doing.  I was thrilled to hear that he was doing well, but I also was aware that he had just completed 3 years of PK plus a summer of VPK in which he reviewed all the skills for Early kindergarten.  They discussed with me that they didn't think that Logan needed the pull out resource time to complete his schoolwork and also mentioned that it was difficult for the K teacher to see how he was doing since he was gone so often.  They worked very hard to convince me to remove the resource model from his IEP and place him in a regular class.  They assured me that it could be put back into place if needed. I was very adament about it and told them that I would try it, but to please keep me informed.  (I would later, of course, regret the decision and later found out that it was more of a political move as they were trying to get rid of the resource teacher or the need for her class) 

As Logan's Kindergarten year continued he struggled a lot with homework.  His teacher assured me that it was ok if he didn't complete all of it etc.  However, I was worried b/c he refused to write for me at home.  As the year progressed I would ask questions about how he was doing in class and his teacher would assure me that he was doing well.  However, one email his teacher said she saw him struggling a little bit, but she felt he was just being a "little lazy".  Actually, here's her email:

"Logan is keeping pace with the class but since Christmas it has gotten a little harder to keep him focused. He is able to keep up when we are at the carpet and he can answer verbally but in writing especially he is lagging. He can verbally make a complete sentence that addresses a specific topic but when it comes to writing it he wants to either write one word or draw a picture. I feel this is because it stretches him a little and he is a little lazy"
Later in the email she said that he had a para working with him and another student to finish work.  I responded and requested an OT evalatuion to see if that would help with writing.  After several months, the OT did an evalatuion, but felt that he didn't need the extra help with writing.  Around this time, I started working full time so my attention to things at school was divided.  I didn't follow up as much as I should have, but ultimately Logan passed Kindergarten just fine. 

He had a fun summer on his own with me and Mikayla while Cole was in VPK.  He really enjoyed VBS at Cornerstone and interacted well with the church leaders and other children.