Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Autism Diagnosis and Summer Homeschool Plans
I have not updated here in a while, mostly because we have been extremely busy and because I've just gotten over my horrible first trimester of pregnancy, during which I was alternatively throwing up and passed out from taking extremely soporific anti-nausea pills. Now I'm back to my old self for the most part and ready to start fresh.
We decided to graduate Henry from "Kindergarten" to "First Grade", (for anyone not familiar with homeschooling, grades are often more for other people asking us than for our own reference, as we often work above or below standard grade level in different subjects, making picking which grade we're really in difficult.)
In March we had Henry evaluated and he was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He scored high on the IQ test and on the school readiness test, and low on social communication skills. His language was also evaluated and he is extremely verbally proficient, but has a few speech impediments that require speech therapy. The team felt there were plenty of symptoms present to diagnose Autism, and although I don't believe the testing process was perfect, I definitely agree with the conclusion.
Since his initial testing he has also had an occupational therapy evaluation, and it was determined that he has both a fine and gross motor delay, requiring OT once a week. He has started speech therapy. He will be starting swimming lessons to improve motor function and as a safety precaution since he has been known to wander, and piano lessons with a teacher familiar with ASD. She actually does music/social therapy for children with autism, but we decided to have her come to our house and do private music lessons before we try the group therapy. Finally we are trying very hard to find a social skills group, where several children with the same social struggles can get together to practice interaction with guidance from a qualified therapist.
We are not really taking a break from school for the summer. There are several reasons why, including the fact that we will have a new baby Byrd in the Fall and want to be able to take it easy when baby comes home. More importantly, I feel like Henry will do better sticking to a routine. Here are our homeschool plans for the summer:
Henry is 5 1/2 and we are telling him this is "First Grade", although you'll see we are using resources that are both above and below that level.
Bible: Christian Light Education 200 series
Math: Math-U-See Beta, Worksheets from Math for Gifted Students level 1
Grammar: First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind
Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears K (we are repeating K because this was a struggle last year)
Reading: Story Time Treasures Workbook from Memoria Press and accompanying Lit. titles, also just reading for interest
Science: REAL Science for kids Biology Pre-level 1
History: SOTW Volume 1 (Honestly we've had a really difficult time getting into this. Henry is a very visual learner and has a hard time listening to the book, so we may have to focus on a timeline or another resource instead.)
Social Studies: Christian Light Education 100 series
Geography: We will just do a fun review of U.S. geography that we learned last year, and will start new world geography unit sometime next year
Latin: Prima Latina, review Latin we learned in Classical Conversations last year
Sunday, January 25, 2015
5 Good Investments to Make for Your Homeschool
1. Amazon Prime - For those of us with tiny libraries, this is a must. I order books, supplies, even diapers and shampoo when I'm too busy teaching kids to read good and can't get to the store. Right now they have free Prime for moms, which means free shipping and access to all of their free movies, music, and tv shows.
2. A laser printer - These babies are expensive, so I watched Amazon for a while to get a good deal. Even though the up-front cost is high, the money you save on ink more than makes up for it. Our black and white model is a workhorse and I am saving up to get a color one soon.
3. A giant piece of furniture with a bunch of tiny drawers - This is something you've really got to hunt down. Ours is a metal filing type cabinet with paper-sized drawers that I covered with contact paper. I've seen some fabulous old library card catalogs repurposed into homeschooling storage. Whatever you use, make sure to find one with more drawers than you think you need, as they fill up quick. Ours houses pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, all manner of office and craft supplies, and recyclable bits and pieces like paper towel rolls.
4. Bookshelves - Every room in our house has bookshelves. It's good to have some out of the way shelves for resources you won't need very often, and some very accessible ones for your everyday resources. We keep our most used books and resources in the living room, so that I can easily grab what I need for the next day.
5. Extra help - You can not do everything. Scratch that. You can not do everything well. Homeschool moms do a lot. We wear many hats, and sometimes you've got to put some of those on someone else in order to keep your priorities straight. For us, that means I accept when my mom offeres to do an occasional load of laundry for me. I sometimes get the groceries delivered so I don't have to drag two kids through the store. When the budget allows, I plan on paying for someone to help me do some cleaning, and you better believe my kids are learning to help out. There is this crazy idea that some of us have that we have to do it all. What I'm saying is that it's better to do a good job on the important things and delegate the rest.
2. A laser printer - These babies are expensive, so I watched Amazon for a while to get a good deal. Even though the up-front cost is high, the money you save on ink more than makes up for it. Our black and white model is a workhorse and I am saving up to get a color one soon.
3. A giant piece of furniture with a bunch of tiny drawers - This is something you've really got to hunt down. Ours is a metal filing type cabinet with paper-sized drawers that I covered with contact paper. I've seen some fabulous old library card catalogs repurposed into homeschooling storage. Whatever you use, make sure to find one with more drawers than you think you need, as they fill up quick. Ours houses pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, all manner of office and craft supplies, and recyclable bits and pieces like paper towel rolls.
4. Bookshelves - Every room in our house has bookshelves. It's good to have some out of the way shelves for resources you won't need very often, and some very accessible ones for your everyday resources. We keep our most used books and resources in the living room, so that I can easily grab what I need for the next day.
5. Extra help - You can not do everything. Scratch that. You can not do everything well. Homeschool moms do a lot. We wear many hats, and sometimes you've got to put some of those on someone else in order to keep your priorities straight. For us, that means I accept when my mom offeres to do an occasional load of laundry for me. I sometimes get the groceries delivered so I don't have to drag two kids through the store. When the budget allows, I plan on paying for someone to help me do some cleaning, and you better believe my kids are learning to help out. There is this crazy idea that some of us have that we have to do it all. What I'm saying is that it's better to do a good job on the important things and delegate the rest.
Top Five Best Resources for Teaching Your (Young) Child to Read
Reading is not generally taught in school until children are 5-6 years old, but many children are able to and even beg to be taught at a younger age then this. Here are a list of resources we found most helpful in helping my son when he began reading at 3.
1. Repetitious Books.
Reading books that contain repeating phrases or words is one of the best ways to teach reading. When you read these catchy stories, make sure to run your finger beneath the words as you read, and watch your child begin to pick up the patterns.
2. A moveable alphabet.
Wooden, plastic, sandpaper, even the pieces to a puzzle make great manipulatives for teaching letter sounds and reading. I've used magnet letters, scrabble tiles, or boggle dice to spell out new words. The act of putting the moveable letters into place is excellent for developing fine motor skills, and children who are not yet ready for writing can still form new words.
3. Leap Frog videos.
Letter Factory teaches the letter sounds, Word Factory teaches how to put those sounds together into words, as well as some blends and vowel teams. Storybook Factory focuses on chunking, the ability to reach sentences and understand punctuation. Phonics Farm is another great one for learning letter sounds.
4. Classical Phonics.
This little book from Memoria Press was my go-to guide for teaching phonics rules in an order that made sense. The book starts with letter sounds, then teaches phonics rules one at a time, and includes word lists to practice the new rule. They also have workbooks available, but we used the book with a small whiteboard and did everything orally.
5. Preschool Prep Company Videos.
There are two resources from this company that I found particularly helpful when teaching my young son to read. The first were the Meet the Phonics series videos Meet the Blends and Meet the Digraphs. These two dvds teach blends and digraphs by pronouncing them over cute animated shorts featuring the letters. When I first put them on I never thought my son would be so enthralled by them, but he was and asked for them often. The second resource I found helpful were the Meet the Sight Words dvds. These movies teach 45 words that are very common or can't be sounded out with phonics rules. There is some debate over when and whether teaching sight words is appropriate for young learners. Most people agree that to read fluently children need both an understanding of phonics and some memorization of words. I used sight word memorization and phonics instruction together with no problem. I would probably suggest focusing on phonics first, but for a child who is very eager to read, even these 45 words will allow many more opportunities to do so.
Remember, let your child be your guide. If she asks for a reading lesson, be ready to oblige, but don't push her to finish or get frustrated if she doesn't get something right away. If your child is having trouble putting the letter sounds together into words, take a break and try again in a few weeks. This skill is often something that just "clicks" for kids.
A note about screens: I'm sure someone will have a problem with two of these resources being videos. My family chose to not have tv when my son was a baby, so these educational videos were a very special treat for him. If you're not comfortable with any screen time for young children, then by all means do what you think is best. This is just what worked for our family :)
1. Repetitious Books.
Reading books that contain repeating phrases or words is one of the best ways to teach reading. When you read these catchy stories, make sure to run your finger beneath the words as you read, and watch your child begin to pick up the patterns.
2. A moveable alphabet.
Wooden, plastic, sandpaper, even the pieces to a puzzle make great manipulatives for teaching letter sounds and reading. I've used magnet letters, scrabble tiles, or boggle dice to spell out new words. The act of putting the moveable letters into place is excellent for developing fine motor skills, and children who are not yet ready for writing can still form new words.
3. Leap Frog videos.
Letter Factory teaches the letter sounds, Word Factory teaches how to put those sounds together into words, as well as some blends and vowel teams. Storybook Factory focuses on chunking, the ability to reach sentences and understand punctuation. Phonics Farm is another great one for learning letter sounds.
4. Classical Phonics.
This little book from Memoria Press was my go-to guide for teaching phonics rules in an order that made sense. The book starts with letter sounds, then teaches phonics rules one at a time, and includes word lists to practice the new rule. They also have workbooks available, but we used the book with a small whiteboard and did everything orally.
5. Preschool Prep Company Videos.
There are two resources from this company that I found particularly helpful when teaching my young son to read. The first were the Meet the Phonics series videos Meet the Blends and Meet the Digraphs. These two dvds teach blends and digraphs by pronouncing them over cute animated shorts featuring the letters. When I first put them on I never thought my son would be so enthralled by them, but he was and asked for them often. The second resource I found helpful were the Meet the Sight Words dvds. These movies teach 45 words that are very common or can't be sounded out with phonics rules. There is some debate over when and whether teaching sight words is appropriate for young learners. Most people agree that to read fluently children need both an understanding of phonics and some memorization of words. I used sight word memorization and phonics instruction together with no problem. I would probably suggest focusing on phonics first, but for a child who is very eager to read, even these 45 words will allow many more opportunities to do so.
Remember, let your child be your guide. If she asks for a reading lesson, be ready to oblige, but don't push her to finish or get frustrated if she doesn't get something right away. If your child is having trouble putting the letter sounds together into words, take a break and try again in a few weeks. This skill is often something that just "clicks" for kids.
A note about screens: I'm sure someone will have a problem with two of these resources being videos. My family chose to not have tv when my son was a baby, so these educational videos were a very special treat for him. If you're not comfortable with any screen time for young children, then by all means do what you think is best. This is just what worked for our family :)
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