Homeschooling: Week of January 9

We've had a good week. As much as we enjoyed Christmas, it's nice to get back into the routine of school again. Doodles and Bug had to write mini-reports for history this week. Doodles chose to write about the winter that General Washington and his men spent at Valley Forge during the American Revolution, and Bug chose to write about the Irish potato famine. Two really cool comments I heard from my children this week regarding history:
Bug: "You know, history is so cool. It's really our story."
Doodles: "Yeah, history is my favorite subject."
Thank you, Sonlight!
Here are some pictures from this week:

Doodles works on her science.

Bug does an experiment with a dirty penny and cola as part of his science.

Baby Girl works on her sliding and spinning her beads.

My little students: hard at work!

Baby Girl's School Week: Jan. 2-Jan. 6, 2012

Baby Girl got several things for Christmas that have been very beneficial to her for school time. We had a great week, and she is really enjoying her new learning tools. Here are some of the highlights:

Baby Girl wants to sit on her table...uh-oh!

Baby Girl really loves her little table & chair. It is so much better for her to have furniture that is just her size. Of course, there are several times a day in which I have to remove her from the table...she likes to sit on it, too!

Baby Girl works on her activity, which develops her counting, sorting, identifying color and shape skills, as well as helps develop her hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills

With my help, Baby Girl puts clothespins on an old wipes container, and then I help her take them off again. This helps to strengthen her pincer grasp.

Another use for the wipes container: we toss the bears in, counting them and identifying the colors as we go

Baby Girl is not much for moon sand, of course the reason could be that she grabbed a mouthful of it before I could stop her...not very tasty, I'd imagine!

I help Baby Girl learn about the letter "Q" using her iPad2. As you can see, big brother is interested as well. Big Sister took the picture.

Baby Girl's easel: dry erase side

Easel: Chalkboard side

Sit & Spin: great for vestibular stimulation and just plain fun!

Creative Writing

One feature of Sonlight's Language Arts program is creative writing assignments. Today's assignment involved looking at a "story starter" picture (included in the Sonlight Instructor's Guide) and writing a story to go with it. The picture featured a mountainside scene in which there was a horse-drawn carriage, with one man driving and another hanging on for dear life. Doodles wrote a really imaginative story, complete with "old west lingo." I credit Sonlight's program for bringing out this creativity in my daughter. With the combination of read-alouds, readers, and language arts instruction provided in the Sonlight program, she really flourishes! Here is her story:

The Desert Detective



Once there was a rough and tough detective; now he wouldn't ever tell anyone his name. He was just called the "Desert Detective." But, you must know that he can never, ever, ever lose his hat. He was born with it on, and he never leaves it. He lived in the dry,dry west. His home was surrounded by many-a-mountains. He lived in his old log cabin.


Most of the time it was quiet 'round the ole west, but not when the ole Professor Tumble-weed was 'round. He was always up to no good. But, this time, well, shoo', he really did it good. He captured Lady Angelica, the Love of Mr. Desert Detective's heart. Soon, the Sheriff came 'round and told the Desert Detective. "Why, sir, we had just came round the ole curb and had done saw Professor Tumble-weed carrying off ole Lady Angelica. We had done took a couple shots, den he ran right up de brook and got away."


Now, when de Sheriff had done told de story Mr. Desert Detective ran right on by the Sheriff. When Mr. Desert Detective got round de corner he saw up on de mountainside Professor Tumble-weed, who had poor ole Lady Angelica. He was whoopin' and hollerin', and he was drivin' ole Lady Angelica's carriage. "Help me!" shouted Lady Angelica.


So, well, the ole detective ran right up that mountainside and jumped right on the ole carriage. The wind blew him up and down, round and round. But no matter how hard de wind blew, he held tight to his ole brown hat. Soon as the Professor reached the top of de mountainside, he was trapped. Lady Angelica jumped out of the carriage and ran all the way down the mountain to the Sheriff. "Shoo woman, you are faster than them horses there," the Sheriff chuckled.


Mr. Desert Detective placed his hat on his head, looked up at the professor, and then boom, in a split second, he was round the Professor with his ole handcuffs round his hands. "Shoo, blasted ye Desert Detective," snarled Professer Tumble-weed.


Then Lady Angelica and Mr. Desert Detective got married, and they lived happily ever after.


THE END.

Baby Girl's School Table

My parents gave this little table & chair set to Baby Girl for Christmas. It is perfect! I am going to have her do school and learning activities here, as opposed to the dining room table-which she will use only for eating. It's a good idea to keep these things separate for her.

Baby Girl's Kitchen Center

I am very excited about this Christmas gift from Santa. It will be such a great tool for teaching vocabulary & communication skills to Baby Girl, as well as just plain fun!

A Different Christmas?

  Christmas will be different for me this year, right? My oldest son is currently deployed to the Middle East and won't be home for Christmas. My parents have just moved three hours away, so for the first time in my life, I won't see them on Christmas Day. So that means Christmas has changed...or does it? Does any of that change the fact that Jesus, the son of God, came to earth as a baby and was born in a manger and is the reason for the season? Does it change the fact that He is my Redeemer, my Lord, and my Savior? Does it mean that I won't celebrate as joyfully as I should? No, Christmas has not changed. Jesus has not changed..."Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) Therefore, this Christmas I will keep my focus where it belongs: on Him. No matter what you're facing right now, Christmas is still the same. Celebrate!

Help for Homeschooling Your Visually Impaired Child

This post is definitely link-heavy, but I've decided that I should share the books and blogs/websites/etc. that I have discovered that have helped me in working with Baby Girl. First of all, per Wonder Baby, which is a great site for parents of visually impaired children, I discovered that The Hadley School for the Blind offers free online courses for parents of visually impaired children. I've taken one course already and will start another one after Christmas. I highly recommend taking advantage of this offer! My instructor even sent a wonderful gift to Baby Girl: Braille blocks! Here are some pictures of my certificate of completion & Baby Girl's gift:



My certificate: I earned an A!

Braille blocks

  Also, there are some other ideas I'd like to share. I've found that Montessori style learning suits Baby Girl well. This technique works for many special needs children, not just for those that are visually impaired. Here you will find a list of great Montessori blogs. In addition to this, through the genorosity of my parents, we were able to go in together and purchase an iPad for Baby Girl, which has been very beneficial to her. Many of the apps for her are free, and the ones that aren't are usually less than $3. If you have an iPad, this list is helpful for finding apps for children with special needs. This site is also helpful for locating apps and has reviews. Here you will find toy ideas, as well as at this link. Another thing I do that is simple & free...talk, talk, talk! I tell Baby Girl almost everything that I'm doing/that she's doing/that Daddy is doing/that siblings are doing....you get the idea. When you can't see well, you have to rely on other senses in order to learn. We also do a lot of singing. Baby Girl loves music, so it's a great avenue for teaching her. I have blogged about lots of activities that we've done, so if you look for posts tagged with preschool or Montessori or special needs homeschooling or visually impaired homeschooling, then you should be able to read about them. Here is a list of books that I've read that have also helped a great deal:


I hope this post helps, and if you have anything to share, please do so!