Special Needs Homeschooling for Preschool: A Closer Look

I wanted to share a more detailed post specifically about how I homeschool Baby Girl. Due to her significant special needs, she is more like a toddler than a preschooler; however, because she needs direct instruction in basic functional areas, I intentionally teach her every little thing. For some things, we use certain curriculum or books that I'll share about later in this post. For other things, I make up songs to teach her - just simple little lyrics and tunes, which I will also share in this post. I talk to her about everything that is going on around her, and I encourage her to use all of her senses possible in discovering the world around her. It is challenging, and sometimes it is a painfully slow (or it seems to me) process. Her attention span is quite short, so every activity that I do with her lasts only a couple of minutes. I hope this will improve as she gets older. Truly, she has gained a lot of ground, especially considering that she was born with special needs and then had little to no stimulation in the first two years of her life, which were spent in an orphanage, but we still have a great deal more ground to cover. I am going to now share with you more about what we do. Oh, and after the written information, I've included some pictures of Baby Girl in action.

1. *First of all, here are some lyrics that I sing to a simple little tune for various activities we do daily:

 a. When Baby Girl is getting her hair brushed/fixed, then I sing:
  "(Her name)'s getting her hair fixed, hair fixed, hair fixed
    (Her name)'s getting her hair fixed, oh wee so pretty."

 b. When she is getting dressed, I sing:
     "(Her name)'s wearing a (striped, pink, etc.) shirt all day long"
      Repeat until we've gotten the shirt on completely.
      I do the same little song for her pants, socks, shoes, etc. (just describing the color or pattern of
      each article of clothing)

 c. When we brush her teeth, we say "Brush teeth." Then we sing the "Alphabet Song." And she can
      say her ABC's!

*My inspiration for these little songs comes from this Wee Sing CD. I have this CD playing throughout the day for Baby Girl to listen to as we go about our schooling and activities around the house. Music plays a huge role in teaching her. She is very responsive to it, and she easily memorizes things set to a tune.

2. Secondly, I have the preschool package from Oak Meadow. It contains ideas and a basic outline of a gentle preschool education, as well as the philosophies behind this particular educational method. From this set of books, we got the idea of a Sand & Water Table, which Baby Girl loves. She is a huge fan of water, and textures such as sand and rice are appealing to her as well. We also use the songs included in this package, and we hope to move to the stories and painting portion this upcoming school year. Right now Baby Girl is not developmentally in a place to understand stories or to enjoy painting, but I am hoping that she will soon. I really look forward to that!

3. Third, we have the book Slow and Steady Get Me Ready. I have slowed the pace of the book down, so Baby Girl stays on an activity for 2-3 weeks, as opposed to only 1 week. These are simple developmental exercises that use material most of us have on hand already. These activities are good for Baby Girl. I can't take for granted that she will "get" things the way my older children did, because she won't. I have to give her explicit instruction in every area of learning and development.

4. Fourth, I also do Montessori inspired activities with Baby Girl. I've made a lot of my own materials, as you can see in this post. I have a dry erase board on an easel, which Baby Girl uses. It is easier for her to write horizontally than it is for her to look down at something.

5. Fifth, we use an iPad. My parents were gracious enough to go in with hubby and me so we could purchase this valuable learning tool. Baby Girl's favorite apps are:
 Peekaboo Barn
 Starfall ABC
 Alphabooks
 Fish School
 Fireworks
 Wee Sing ABC
 Piano Pals
 Candy Count
I like (and hopefully one day Baby Girl will be ready for):
 Montessori Crosswords
 ABC Tracing
 Letter of the Day
 Moody Monsters
 Montessori Counting Board
 iWriteWords
 Dollhouse Math
 Letter Route

6. Sixth, right now we have use of a CCTV that our vision therapist is allowing us to borrow. It is really great because it enlarges things such as books, papers, and posters for Baby Girl. It is very helpful for people with low vision like Baby Girl. This past week we used it to help her see the letters that form her name. Ideally, before long, she will start to identify objects in pictures, such as ball, balloon, dog, etc.

7. Finally, I talk to Baby Girl, and I mean talk..a lot!!! I give her information about all that's happening, what she's doing, what she's hearing, seeing, feeling, tasting, etc.  For instance, we just got a new puppy. Every time the puppy came close to Baby Girl, we told her "Woof, woof, dog." After several days, Baby Girl is now saying, "Woof, woof, dog" when she sees the puppy. So, hooray for progress! Now we hope to see her identify pictures of dogs using her CCTV. (See number 6 above.)

Baby Girl using her CCTV to look at the letters in her name

Baby Girl leans in to get a better view of her name



More work on the CCTV

Baby Girl and the "woof, woof, dog" have some playtime

Baby Girl, all snuggled up with Daddy. He does a great job of teaching her, too!

Writing that Baby Girl and I did on her board



Daddy shows Baby Girl the "woof, woof dog."



Baby Girl studies a flower

Baby Girl learns about "up" and "down" using her seesaw

More seesaw fun

Homeschooling: Week of Jan. 7-12, 2013

We had a pretty good week back in school. It did take some adjusting, though, to get back into the routine. We managed it as well as possible, I suppose. We dove right back in...every subject area, full force! Here are some of our highlights:

Treat of the Week

Doodles drew a scene from our yard as part of her nature studies

Bug learned about eagles and drew an eagle and an eagle track

Bug practiced archery as part of his Narnia unit study

Bug hit the target!

We roasted weiners and marshmallows...fun times!

Baby Girl didn't know what to think about cooking outside!

Doodles gets ready to eat a roasted marshmallow

Having fun roasting marshmallows!

Homeschooling Week: Sept. 10-14, 2012

We had a good week, for the most part. We started co-op this week, and the kiddos are really enjoying it. We go every Monday. I had to make one adjustment, though, because Apologia Physical Science proved to be WAY over Doodles' head. As a new sixth grader, the material was just too difficult for her. It is geared toward 8th graders, so we will be going back to it in a few years. Meanwhile, though, I am putting together my own science program for her, which is exciting for both of us. Also, I must add that I am totally in love with our main programs this year. Sonlight Core F is just awesome (Doodles), as is Further Up and Further In (Bug.) I have had incredible discussions with each of them. I am also learning so much myself! Oak Meadow Preschool (Baby Girl) is such a gentle and beautiful program. We are truly thrilled this year! Here is a glimpse into our week:

Doodles' current science books

Doodles' first science assignment this week: fine something interesting in nature...she found a spider.

Doodles' sketch and writing for "her" spider

Doodles' report for this week (Sonlight Core F)

Bug found a lizard...not an officially scheduled nature study, but natural curiosity and love of creepy, crawly things!

A mushroom that Bug snapped a picture of, again, just b/c he enjoys nature :)

Bug sketched a picture of the herb honesty, as part of his Further Up and Further In study (hey, I didn't even know such an herb existed until now)

A supplementary book that Bug and I used this week: we read the essay entitled "Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's to be Said" (quite advance reading for Bug, but we read it together and he "got" it)

Bug and I also read a poem from this book entitled "Deadly Sins" (another deep disussion ensued)

As part of Bug's Further Up and Further In, we discussed coronations, and then we read about The Crown Jewels online, and he completed a worksheet about them. His project choice was to design a crown, and Doodles decided to join the fun!

The King and Queen

Baby Girl is, of course, our little princess

Bug's worksheet about The Crown Jewels

Baby Girl enjoys our outside meal time

Bug was not "all work" this week. He did get some "play."

Bug also took time to see-saw with Baby Girl

Baby Girl really loves spending time outdoors. She is a natural at nature study!

Baby Girl loves walking...and running...in the grass.

And she also loves lying in the grass!

Baby Girl plays with her kitchen set. We are still working on helping her understand "how" to play with it, but at least she is opening and closing the oven door now.

A couple of books that Bug will be reading to supplement our next main book in Further Up and Further In, which will be The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe






















 

Beginning of Homeschool Year: 2012-2013

Thanks to another homeschool mom, I've introduced a "Treat-a-Week- Plan :)

Books that Bug & I used as a science study from the activities in Further Up and Further In

Bug plays an online game about the food chain, also part of his Further Up and Further In studies

Bug's food chain: flower to insect to frog to heron

Bug's memory verse

Bug reads about sound waves as part of his Further Up and Further In studies

More Further Up and Further In activities: Bug read & wrote about the birth and death of a star

Doodles watches an online video about making tissue paper flowers for a project as part of her Sonlight Core F studies

Memory Verses for Doodles

Part of Doodles' Bible study on world view

More of Doodles' Bible study

Doodles' Eastern Hemisphere Explorer sheet for the Pacific Islands (Sonlight Core F)

Doodles stirs dipping sauce she made as part of a Sonlight Core F project

Doodles Pacific Island feast & decor (Sonlight Core F)

Baby Girl differentiates between a block and a bowl as part of her school (Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready)

A snapshot of our daily read-aloud time

We have really enjoyed our first two weeks. So far it is working out beautifully to separate the children in all subject areas. There is less bickering and interruption, and it is so peaceful. While *I* have to do some extra planning, I still find that it is worth it. Doodles and I have had great, in-depth conversations as part of Sonlight Core F, while Bug and I have also had some deep spiritual discussions as part of what we're studying in Further Up and Further In. Baby Girl is making some progress, too, as we work with her a few minutes at a time daily. I look forward to the weeks and months to come!