All About (my) Ki

My youngest son is downstairs in the kitchen using his mad-unschool-chef skills to make banana bread. he is making, not a half double batch, but a 1.5 batch. We have 4 bread-ready-bananas.

I write this 2nd blog of the day b/c I have been thinking a lot about the learningful ways of young Chef Ki.

Ki just seemed to be born to unschool. I like a lot of the unschool concepts, but not enough to fully embrace radical unschooling. Sometimes, I think Ki would do well with full-on radical unschooling. But I don;t see how I can do that with 1 when the other two would not thrive on it like they do with our current, Quasi-Unschool, relaxed schedule.

When Ki was 3 he could count.

to 3.

When Ki was 4 he could count.... all the way to.... FOUR.

When he was 5 and counting to 5, I asked him when he would use the rest of the numbers in his counting. (I knew he could count if he really wanted to, so didn't want to make it sound like I thought he couldn't count)

Ki told me; "When I am six, I will count to 6. When I am ten I will count to 10. When I am twenty I will count to whatever number that it."

When Ki was about 5 and half he had training wheels on his bike. I could tell he didn't really need them as they were high enough up that they barely touched the ground.

I asked Ki when he wanted to take his training wheels off.

Ki told me; "When I am 7 because 7 is the age you take your training wheels off."

When he was 7, we took them off and he rode just fine.

I started homeschooling the boys when Ki was almost 5. Half way through the year I asked him when he'd be ready too do school stuff with us. (He sat with us and did the fun experiments but wanted nothing to do with "school")

Ki told me; "When I am 6 I will learn and do school because 6 is how old kids are when they start school."

When he turned 6 he all the sudden was ready to 'do school.'.. because he had decided it was time for it.

Ki had dyspraxia, Dyslexia, and Sensory Processing Disorder and a few other little things that made learning a struggle. I found what worked best was to give him a list of topics (like math, history, spelling, etc) and ask him what he wanted to do that day and in what order.

He actually would do what he needed. He'd make lists of what he needs to be doing to spell the words he had put on his list (like 'yellow', 'iguana', 'there', -- he chose good words). Like he'd say "Today I think I should write them shaving cream, them out the make letters out of clay to spell those words, then spell them in sign language."

so, you see- he actually chose to do good learning activities. (My others maybe have said "O, draw a picture and ride my bike"- for their school if left all on their own)

When I make a plan and decide what Ki should be learning, it ends up a HUGE MESS. I keep forgetting that he learns well on his own. Sometimes I forget because I get convinced that he needs to learnt he same subjects other kids learn... like math and spelling. Those things just don't seem to be Ki's Cup of Cocoa.

He loves to cook, learn about Church History, make up games, and acting classes.

Ki decided he didn't like his morning chore of laundry and asked if he could make a deal. If he cooked breakfast Instead. So we cut a deal. He makes breakfast M/W/F and does Laundry T/Th. He makes French Toast, Pancake Buffet, Waffles, Bacon & Toast, Pumpkin Scones....

He was asked to cook dinner for a friend of ours. She is supplying the ingredients and buying him DelTaco Tacos....LOL. He loves their tacos and doesn't get them nearly as often as he would like.

He also told someone at church he'd cook for them, too.

He volunteers to be a greeter in the morning and helps with the Children's Services once a month- all on his own.

He doesn't want to be a scientist or a teacher or to build robots. He wants to do be a chef or a pastor or be on a travelling drama team. And he seems to know what kinds of things he needs to be learning to meet his personal goals.

Ki had asked to learn Chemistry. So did G&C. So I got a High School Chemistry Course (Apologia) and made lesson plans to teach all 3 boys.

After 2 days of meltdowns I finally admitted to myself that Chemistry for Ki is very different than Chemistry for my 2 Engineer/Math boys.

So I am redoing my plans for our group Chemistry Class. It will be a 2 part class on Chemistry Days. FIRST-The fun, experiment, basic notes will be done with Ki as part of our class. Then while C&G get into the math and other complex areas, Ki will read or research his interests or do worksheets to review math basics.

CHANGES!

Did you notice the change? It is a bit subtle. The green background changed to a gradient blue. Gavin (my son) did that for me. He did that so my blog would match the Blog Button he made for me! I wanted to have a neat button like so many other blogs I read, so I asked him to make one and he did. He 'drew' it (no clip-art). He also changed to color of the links (the base program had them orange and grey). he is working on designing graphics for my header today. Gotta love this 'quasi-unschool' concept.

I can not figure out how to make the little box with the HTML Code for you to copy. I tried 4 different codes. If anyone can help me, PLEASE let me know!! If you scroll down you will see my button on the side.. waiting for a HTML Code Box....

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iGoogle has How To's featured each day. Both of Todays seem aimed right at Ki....

How To Control Your Temper When Sleep Deprived. - Ki needs LOTS of sleep or gets grumpy.moody.Lack of cone=concentration/cognitive skills.... Mon & Tues were fine examples of that. Next week they have Drama/Theater practice all 5 days of the week, ending with 2 performances. Ki will be too tired by Wednesday!

Protect-Your-Teeth-from-Acid-Wear - He had had issues with Acid Reflux since birth (we think), His teeth are so yellow and prone to getting cavities. Poor Kid. I feel badly for him.

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SCHOOL: Not much to report from Yesterday. Well, maybe there is.

Eschatology Class went well. We will have that class today and tomorrow, too.

Computer Design- Gavin made my Blog Button and changed my page background.

Chemistry- Went well for C&G. K had a HUGE MELTDOWN TANTRUM. He ended up sitting at a desk doing a pile of worksheets. We rarely do worksheets, but I needed something that could just sit quietly and do easily. I'm making changes to that class today. Ki will only do the hands on and easy notes, then he will go off and do worksheets or reading while C&G learn the more complex stuff with me. But- it is great to homeschool and be able to change at a moments notice as soon as I see something is not working, instead of waiting 2 weeks for a teacher meeting, then 4 weeks for a new IEP, then 3 more weeks for the new IEP to be implemented. With Ki's Sensory Disorder, Dyslexia, Anxiety- this class is just not working for him as it currently is- esp with the long nights at Skit Practice.

Performing Arts- G&I helped K&C rehearse lines, then C&K went to their 3 hours of Skit Practice.

this blog is part of the following hops:

It's Almost Friday

Thirsty Thursday (and I am thirsty right now, from that quesadilla)

my Terrible, awful, no-good, very bad day

I made a poor decision. It seemed like a good decision at the time, but now that I am in the midst of implementing it, I am beginning to think it was not really as good a decision as I thought.

The decision was to knit twisted stitches. It seemed good because I do like the look and thought it would look good with this particular yarn. But, I had forgotten how much longer it takes me to knit twisted stitches and that there are only a certain number of days before Christmas.

Then there is the fact that I am really not all that good at knitting, so this takes me forever and the edge is all crooked. Casting-On with circulars is still something I do not do well.

But I have been knitting on this awhile and I really think this:

should be 4 inches. I think it really does look like 4 inches. I feel I have knit 4 inches. Yet, my tape measure only read 2.5 inches. No, really, it looks like 4. (I should have not taken the picture to the skein.. the very BIG LONG skein that dwarfs the project...)

Oh. well.

My Tuesday was not the best. I go to a Ladies BibleStudy. K&C go with me; they help with childcare. It was a Lazy Day. And not the good kind of lazy that means I was teaching my kids to cook and clean on their own. It was the bad lazy kind which means I didn't eat a good breakfast ( I started a breakfast protein drink, but got sidetracked and forgot to finish the last 2/3)

K&C didn't have any wards, so they stayed home. Hopefully they did some school. Maybe read or learned something. It was not organized (which Ki needs to keep is brain on track) I did not remind him to eat protein, hydrate, take vitamins, drink juice, and do Brain Gym. I was too tired. I woke at 6:30, because I had my alarm set to go off early (7:35). My brain has a habit of waking frequently when the alarm is set early, and then just waking up early.

I ended up with a migraine for the day. Ki ended up with numb brain and having a meltdown. He needs to do his "therapy" stuff of his day just goes downhill. I was feeling tired nd didn;t make it happen.

I taught a short, boring chemistry class then took a 2.5 hour nap, then just knit. (and watched Psych)

It was one of those days I felt like a failure as a mom. And felt bad for having to ask Brian a few times to not be so loud and not talk too much. I feel like he got stuck with a broken wife sometimes.

So Yesterday was a lazy, self-pity, migraine, Sensory Meltdown, unaccomplished day.

But, on a positive note- my wonderful readers seem to be clicking on my vote button occasionally! THANKS!

Got Milk?

We don't. We did. Not anymore. I was awakened by a GLUG-GLUG-GLUG sound of liquids being dumped. For a brief moment I did not know what it was I heard, then my brain fully woke and I instantly knew Ki's Super Sniffer had struck again.

He had dumped 3/4 a gallon of milk. I had just purchased it Friday. I used a little last night before bed with my chai latte. It was FINE. His nose thought otherwise, so he dumped it.

Last Year he called me into the kitchen concerning the milk. He said it smelled funny. I sniffed. It Stank. I told him it had gone bad and to dump it.

Now whenever he thinks the milk doesn't smell 100 percent like he thinks it should, he dumps it. This is the 3rd time(recently) he's dumped a newly purchased jug-o-milk.

Ki will sometimes eat yogurt, but after the 3rd bite he'll stop eating it because '"It smells and tastes different now." He has overly sensitive sense of smell and taste. It's why he is SOOOO picky with food I think. Everything smells funny. He used to run out of the room crying due to the smell of cooked rice or cooked vegetables. He can stay now, but has to have them scooted to the far end of the table and he hold his nose sometimes.

He used to refuse Burger King Chicken Nuggets half the time (which was one of the few foods he ate) because they "smelled different than they did last time" or were a different shade of golden of brown than he thought they should be.

Out here in California a gallon of milk can be $3.50 or more. I told him today that next time he thinks it smells bad, to just put it back in the fridge and tell me. I'll smell it and determine if it does indeed warrant dumping down the drain.

How does your engine run?

Ki's engine is running very slowly. It is looking like a bad Sensory Processing/Dyspraxia Day. I hate these 'limp noodle days', or 'watery jello'. That's how Ki acts, moves, thinks, process on these days. When Ki was in Occupational Therapy his O.T. went over a little tool to help us know how he was doing and what to do. It was "How is your Engine Running". His Engine either runs slowly (like he's in a fog, moves slowly,low muscle tone, can't think, focusing makes him sleepy, etc) or his engines run QUICKLY- when he is hyper, Impulsive, still can't focus- but because his brain is hopping from 1 thing to the next to the next, not because just 1 thing makes him sleepy.

Then she went through a few different exercises to try and see which ones made his engine speed up and which helped a too fast engine to slow down.

When Ki's engine is running slowly (which is the usual path he goes on bad SPD Days (SID-Sensory Integration Disorder. my definition of SPD- Sensory Processing & Dyspraxia), sleeping only makes it worse..BUT Sleeping seems like the easiest best answer to a 'tired, slow, sleepy brained' kid.

I asked him what he was having for protein with his breakfast. He repeats over and over:

"Methane. Methane-methane-methane"

AAARRRGGG!!!!!

without protein added to his diet there is no way we will get past this very slow running engine day.

I am glad I have some errands too run and maybe I'll just go knit at Cafe Noir.

Ki is 13, coming up on 14. He knows what he needs to do to make his engine speed up so he can get things done. He is too old for me to be making him do it. He can choose to do what he needs to do so he can get his work done today or he can choose to have a miserable day where nothing gets accomplished, which leads to him not liking what his tomorrow will bring.

Maybe Ki needs acupuncture, too

MAY TERM DAY 1

After our long weekend, we were all tired. K&C woke later than usual. Our school day started at 9:45 instead of 9. We just skipped Story of the World today; which is fine. Today was the first day of a very new session, so today was mainly about talking about the new things we are doing, passing out notebooks and schedules, going over goals and lessons for the month, and getting a start into their new areas of study.

Ki liked the little Schedule are in the front cover of his notebook. He enjoyed using the daily schedule I gave the boys to fill in his Chart in his notebook cover.

He also liked the Cross Word Puzzle. I should him how to find the down and the Across and how to count the spaces and uses letters from already filled in answers to make sure he the correct word. I had him read through all of the Puzzle Clues, so when we are doing our reading and studying throughout the month he’ll remember unsolved clues in the cross word and go fill them in. He actually recalled 3 while we were reading his book and was happy to remember and fill in his cross word puzzle

[LINK FOR THE CROSS WORD PUZZLE] -also click to see the CLUES and print them.

Gavin and Connor did well with their studies. Gavin was excited to show me his notes and progress and tell me what he’s learned and what he plans on studying and including in his reports.

We finished with Morning Session at 11:13 and I sent them out to play a few minutes before the next class (Creative Writing). They do so much better with school when they take breaks to be really active between classes. They did some boffer sword practice for about 15 minutes as their break.

For Creative Writing I had them do a page from the book I have. I made 2 copies of all the pages, so 2 boys can use worksheets and 1 can fill in the pages of the workbook. They’ll take turns with the book if they want. Being that today’s class is short class we just talked a little about good description, using better adjectives, writing things enjoyable to read that make the reader better able to imagine. Then they did the worksheet pages. Ki had a lot of trouble with it. He talked and talked and goofed and gabbed, because he couldn’t think of anything to write. I had to remind him that this was a time for les talk and more writing. But I hate how ‘Public School’ that sounds. They got to get lunch when they finished.

He actually did better after his brothers finished and left the table. He had no one to talk to or at so there was nothing to do but write, so he could go eat lunch.

(Ki had a teensy little sensory meltdown (more like a teensy stubborn fit), but he was able to get over it on his own and it was almost a non-issue. It's a good thing we did the "Physical Therapy Time" before this class!)

LUNCH HOUR- I finished my Bible Study Homework. And ate. Because I was hungry.

SKETCHERS was Post-Lunch.

I must say that I am pleased with how Sketchers Class went. KKi can have a very hard time with feeling like he doesn’t have enough choice and is being told how to do everything. He took an art class once and she tried to get him to use the different art/sketching pencils- NOT just the school pencil. He wouldn’t have any of it. He didn’t want to be told which pencil to use when he ‘knew’ he liked the mechanical pencil best and ‘knew’ it did the best job. And He’s not good with “draw a turtle”- he’ll want to draw what he feels like drawing.. Which is what art is; drawing what you feel and ‘see’, but that I not what art CLASS is all the time.

BUT he did very well and didn’t complain at all about being told the exact things to do.

Gavin is drawing using the CLOSE CONTROLLED GRIP. (above)

(above)- Ki's page using both the CONTROLLED grip and the LOOSE grip with different pencils and the pen. Ki liked using a ruler to separate the areas of his page and he recorded which pencil he used for the different drawings. I had tols the boys to make sure they had their mechanical pencils with them so they could try it for the different techniques as well. I would tell them to use their different 'art pencils' (whichever of the 3 they wanted and to write which it was ) and then would always give them a "Use whatever you want" task after they did their special art pencils.



(above) Gavin's DOODLES using different pencils. Then his Shading and Smudging Techniques.

language arts & dyslexia

This is a NanoFictionary story Ki wrote. I corrected a few things in blue-

There is 2 xplorers they persuwtid [parachuted] there cars out of there
plans [planes]. Then they ran in tow ech other on the shakes remote islandand died the snake uyuy whitnis [witnessed] it all and they ware naver seen oh gen [again].

Learning my Lesson

as a homeschooling mom to 3 boys with "learning disabilities", I learn a lot. Daily. Yesterday was a day of meltdowns. Meltdowns for everyone! no one was left out of the day's festivities! But I think we learned from it. Well, I learned something, hopefully they did, too. You never can tell it seems.

I gave a writing assignment, made it fun- so I thought, they thought it was awful, not fun, and would have rather written 2 pages in stead of the 1 paragraph. I didn't think it through and plan it well. They didn't respond well and talk civilly to me about how they felt about it. they got mad, I got upset. but we moved past it and got it all worked out.

So, I learned that I really should write out a good syllabus for each of them, esp for classes I teach- (as opposed to unschooling or independent work). And I think next time I will give them a choice if I think it is a fun writing project. Do the 'fun one' with me or write a 2 page report....LOL (and chances are they'd choose the 2 page report)

Also to be much more specific about writing requirements. Telling them how many items I require to be done like the directions specifically say and how many items they can change or use their own ideas.

*And Ki needs to sleep later than his brothers. getting up between 7:30 and 8 for a week had him way to tired. I want him to sleep iin if he wants to, but I hate having 2 breakfast. Connor & Gavin wake early and like to eat somewhat soon. Then if Ki sleeps in he'll not have breakfast for 1-2 hours later!

I am all for them making choices and using their own ideas. I know it is good for all kids and esp good for kids with 'sensory disorders'. But I also know that to function well in this adult world they will have to be able to just follow specific instructions sometimes- without changing them or adding their own ideas. Most bosses aren't going to let them choose what to do, how and when all the time and most will not present them 3 different ways to get the job done and let them choose which one and then do it differently.

But they always have a choice. They just need to learn to see it that way. They can choose to do it, with a good attitude, to the best of their ability, to please God. OR they can choose to have fits and temper tantrum and get fired. Sometimes life is harsh. As homeschoolers I still need to make sure they learn those lessons, it's just that I can teach them those harsh lessons about life is a comfortable, safe, loving environment and not shove it down their throats all at once, but teach them as they are ready and in a way they best can comprehend.

***PS- I'l share the writing assignment when we are all done with it.

BOOKS BOOKS!

I bought graphic novels for the kids to read. I know; “Graphic Novels” make them sound like smutty books. No, I did not buy Smutty Books for my boys. They are comic books, but in a book format (a novel) instead of the comic book type book. The ones I bought are based on the kids’ cartoon Teen Titans. Ki loves them! Ki is my slow reader. Reading is a lot of hard work for him due to his dyslexia and SID and dyspraxia. So these short portions for reading are good for him. He has been reading a lot this trip. He even asked me if I had another book for him to read!

I’ll be stopping at Barnes and Nobles in the next big town to see if I can find some more graphic novels got Ki (and his brothers)

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Yesterday while I was sitting in the van at the gas station, the boys all went in to use the restroom. Apparently, they took in some money and bought snacks. Ki bought Jolly Ranchers for himself. He bought a bag of Swedish Fish for me. I thought was sweet of him to use his money to buy a snack for me. I never would have done that for my mom or dad when I was a kid. He is just so sweet and thoughtful; such a HUGE difference than who he was about 6-9 yra ago. He was so angry and full of rage and violence. He’d bring papers home from Sunday School with Jesus and the sheep colored as covered on blood and killed. Sometimes Jesus would have a sword and all other people on the coloring page were bloody. It’s been a long road and lots of therapy, but he is doing so well now.

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I need some Shut Eye. My Fioricet makes me sleepy.
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I bought books. Lots. 2 Graphic Novels for Ki (Avatar cartoon). For Connor, I bought 2 Cat Warrior Graphic Novels and the Next Cat Warrior Hardback (next for him and fairly new, as the paperbacks won’t be out till Nov.) HE was a little concerned about the price since it was only available in hardback so cost more than the paperback. I told him not to worry about it. I bought “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” for Gavin. C&K were in the store with me. I wanted to get Holes for Gavin. I thought Connor would like Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It seemed his kind of writing. I guess he and Ki both liked it, because they said I had to get it for Gavin. Hmmmmm….. maybe they hope to read it next. As soon as we got in the van Ki and Connor were reading their books. Gavin was on the cell phone with his best friend back in Ohio.

* I bought To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis. She wrote The Doomsday Book, which is one of my favorites.

BEANS

He was doinghis Online Aleks math. He had a problem he didn't quite understand (even though we have done them before plenty of times in the winter this school year)the problems were a feaction times a whole number.....
2
6 X 42 = _____

Connnor said. "That's easy Ki. Just divide 42 by 6 them times it by 2"... all those numbers being spoken confused him. Connor hadhim do it on a calculator....42 divby 6 time 2.. which gave him the correct answer.
then he did another on his own and got it the second try. I think it was 3/4 X 12.

So I got out the beans, empy egg carton, pen and paper. I wrote a 36 at the top of the paper and numbered the sections in the egg carton (1-12). I told him to count out 36 beans (into the lid).then I told him we were going to seperate the beans into groups. I wanted him to seperate the beans into 6 groups (egg carton sections). He did.
6 beans in each.

So I wrote the fractions 6/6. I asked him how many of the 36 beans do we have if we count all 6 of the 6 groups? he said 36. so we wrote 6/6 x 36=36 and said 6 of the 6 groups of 36 beans equals 36 beans (we taught early on that the times symbol is like saying OF- it helps that way). I reminded him that the bottom number of the fraction is the number of groups we are using.

So then I wrote the fraction 1/6 X 36. (remember the 'X' is 'of') so I said "1 of the 6 groups of 36 beans = how many beans?"

He knew. 6.

so I wrote the fraction 3/6 X 36= and asked him how many beans in 3 of the 6 groups of 36.he got it. Then I had him redistribute the 36 beans into 9 groups. and we did the same thing with the fraction 2/3 ( 2/3 X 36 =?)Then he used 24 beans. and I wrote a couple problems for him for his 24 beans.
2/6 X 24= ___
1/8 X 24=___
2/3 X2 4=___
he used the beans and put them into the correct number of groups and figured out each of them. He said he knows how to do but doesn't think he can explain it. Tonight I will have him 'teach' it to his dad.

The sad thing is I have done this same activity with him previously. Ki seems to lose information that isn't used weekly. I can't have him review all his school every week. The memory issue seems to be part of Sensory Integration Disorder (I didn't know my times table by memory till high school and even then still had to count out a lot in my head for multiplication). I read somewhere that a 'normal child' may need to repeat/review something 10 times but a child with SID can take over 50 times of review before they remember it... something like that. I wish I could find the website that has that information

Unschoolish & Occupational Therapy

(posted a few new blogs from this week...)
Jan 16, 2008
I awoke with a sore throat and headache, so I went back to sleep. When I did finally get up and shower it was after 10. One of the nice things about homeschooling is that you can take care of yourself my sleeping in when you don’t feel well and still start at the beginning and not be behind.

The boys had a small fire so I asked Connor to add a few more logs and ut the screen back in place. Then I had to tell them to eat breakfast. I don’t understand how boys can forget to eat breakfast if not reminded. They weren’t even watching TV or playing on the computer.
Gavin was in the garage looking for his box that contains his crocheting paraphernalia. Ki had found his box of froggies. Connor was poking at embers.

I cream cheesed half of a mocha chip bagel and took a few bites. Then I went outside to take some pictures while the boys ate breakfast. I took way too many.

I flipped th laundry when I came back in and helped Gain put clean sheets on the bed. Then I wrote out their spelling.

G&C – write definitions to your words. Take turns looking words up and also add 1 or 2 alternative forms of the word. They only have about 7 words to look up in the dictionary.
K- write 8 sentences in your story using at least 8 of this weeks spelling words. He asked if ‘officer’ was a form of ‘office’ and if he could use that word instead. (office is on his list)
They sat in front of the fire to do their school work. What a life!




Ki did well in his math class. I had him do criss-crosses and thinking spots right before he sat down to do his math page. WOW, he did really well. He did 9 problems in the time it usually takes him to do 4. He was done before I was one with Algebra with Gavin and Connor so he sat in and had fun figuring a few of the example problems. They were pretty easy example problems. We are using exponents and variables, so we had to explain what those were to him. He likes to sit in on their Algebra class because he can do the simple examples and it really boosts his confidence.

Ki choose to read from his WarHammer Lizardmen book for his reading time today.
Connor is having fun copying an eye trait punnet square out of our DNA book. He wants an eye color chart to carry with him in his pocket.

Aside from independent reading, that’s it for school today.

To School.... or NOT to School......

My youngest is the most unschooled. I should have seen it from the beginning. When he was 3 he counted to 3, when he was 4 he counted as high as 4. When he was 5 he counted all the way to FIVE! I asked him when he was going to count all the way the higher numbers. He told me:"When I'm six, I'll count to 6. When I'm ten, I'll count to 10. When I'm twenty, I'll count to whatever that number is."When we started homeschooling he was almost 5. He told me he wasn't going to learn or do any school until he was 6. 'SIX is the age to start school. I'm not 6 yet, so I won't do any school yet. I will when I;m 6"...and he did (and he decided to count all the way up as high as he could, not JUST to 6"When he was learning to ride his bike and had training wheels he could ride without them the summer he turned 6. You could tell because the training wheels never touched the round. He refused to take them off though. He told me "I'll take them off when I'm 7. 7 is the age to have training wheels off. I'm not old enough yet." The first nice day after he turned 7 (it was rainy, I remember because my husband hated waiting to take them off when he knew Ki could do it already), he told us it was time to take the training wheels off because he was 7 now. and he rode off down the street just fine.He has always made his own school schedule and decided what games to play to learn spelling words. I started spelling words with his bothers when they were 5th and 6th grade and he wanted to try as well, but he made up how he wanted to learn them. He makes up part of his own spelling list.I dont think there is anything wrong with teaching my kids what I want them to know along with them learning about what they want to know. I guess that keeps me from being a full unschooler, it also seems to keep from fitting into any other type of homeschool group, LOL. But I don't like to have a method/label dictate how I should do things. So I do the parts of it that I want and not the parts I don't want.my boys are working on some independent research right now. they choose their subject and I have a few requirements. (they are making Power Point Presentations- I figured it went with their interest of robotic and computer engineering type stuff). Ki (11) decided to do a puppet show as part of his research project. He decorated the couch and did his first act last night.

I am not a total UNSCHOOLER. I am more of a....."Child Interest Guided relaxed Eclectic with some unschooling tendencies" I think as the parent it is my responsibility to make sure my kids learn certain things. But I donlt go by what texts or reports or curriculum tell me they need to learn 'this school year'. I use their interests and needs. Like they older 2 are interested in Computer/Robotics so I teach them thinks like math and PowerPoint and brian teaches them computer programming. Gavin and Ki had lots of dyslexia, so I use certain techniques with them. A special Spelling program. I am not interest in spelling tests or how well they do on spelling tests, but the program is great for teaching kids with dyslexia decoding and word roots and foundation. WE choose what they learn, but we make our choices based on their interests and needs and with their input of what they want to learn.--Kimberly the partial unschooler7th yr homeschooling 3 boys

ASL spelling meltdown

We use sign language with our spelling list. We fingerspell the words and we learn the signs for some of the words. 1 or 2 xs a week we have ASL class with spelling words. We start by doing the alphabet together, twice. I use both hands, sometimes they do. I will have everyone's words on the dry erase board. And I call on the kids and tell them to spell a specific word. They are to use their hands AND their voice. So they are using more than one part of their brain simultaneously. It enhances learning when they can use multiple areas of the brain or multiple ways of thinking at the same time, esp when they use both sides of the brain at the same time.

Anytime you can something physical to something cerebral it enhances learning,
Today, we did the sign language alphabet twice,then they took turns fingerspelling words. After that I would finger spell one of their words and they'd have to figure out which word. and I don't do it nice and slow....

Then Ki did GRAB BAGS! a brown lunch bag for each word. the lunch bags are numbered and inside are plastic letters (or letter tiles or squares-of paper with 1 letter each). He dumps out the letters in the bag, unscrambles them to get one of his spelling words. He lists the numbers on a piece of paper with the word from that bag next to it.

he had a little melt down half way through. he was SURE a word was something different. it was the word 'fart' but he was SURE it was 'fatten' because the 'f-a-t' came out of the bag first, so he was trying to find the missing letters and wanted to go through other bags and through the pile of letters he has already done and had them all jumbled...... he got pretty upset when i had him put all the letters back, remove all the letters he has already done and LOOK AT the letters from that bag. He get saying it was SUPPOSED to be "flatten"! (yes, 'fart' is one the words he chose himself this week)

he finally got through them all. and I did joint compressions with him and had him do wall push ups.

Spelling went well

finally, a school day post-

With Brian off work and all the running Ihave been doing- we aren't on our list and schedule fully. But working toeards it.

I am getting a cold and feel miserable. Ki is, too , and had me up a good part of the night. So I slepy in till 9:30.

The boys did their morning list- gavin didn't do his all the way. No TV for him today. Well, unles Brian get home from his errand and outranks my decision.

I did spelling with Ki. We went through his list and spelled his words in sign language and I taught him the word signs. This combined both the body and the mind- for more complete learning. So when I do the word sign he can spell the word. If I sign spell he makes the sign and tells me the word.He has to say the letters as he signs the letters. It seemed to go very well!

Then Connor and I had a dentist appointment. Brian had the boys making lunch when I got home at noon. Though they just had breakfast at 10. But when I ask him to make sure they get breakfast or lunch while I amout- he doesn't-- yet he makes them when it's not needed. Lunch 2 hours later is a waste of time. I think Gavin was happy for a reason to piddy and not do work. He is not in my good graces today. I don't know why I even bother ding school when Brian is home. He messes up my plans, takes the kids away from their classes, lets them do whatever........

I sat down with Ki and showed him how to compare fractions... to see which is larger... is 5/7 larger or smaller than 8/12?.. that type of stuff. So he is checking the work he did yesterday. His dad just siad "do this page" and didn;t sit down with im or explain or anyhitng. He volunteered to do the math and asked what they were doing. I told him. You need to sit down with him and go over how to do it. He didn't. Gavin had to copy terms witht heir deffinitions and all Brain had him do was read. So we are doing the same math today as they did yesterday!

The boys did their reading. Connor did some simple Leap Pad stuff. Gavin spent some time with Ben's Guide to US History. Online.

I took a long nap, my cold is getting worse.

This&That

Hey... it's been a few days......

Hmmm. since last post Manuel saw the doctor and was out back into pressure garments and given the estimated date of early September for returning home. Which made him very sad..... I think he was better when he was sad about not knowing when. At least then he thought "Maybe this month!!" each month... now he knows it's NOT 'this month' for 3 more months.... (pic of pressure garments here Manuels' are for his legs)

(no school Friday- Brain took the day off work and took Manuel to Cincy for me)

Saturday a friend came over andhelped me organize the kids section of the bookshelf.


TOP SHELF- basket new reading books for Ki- who all the sudden started reading! YEAH! next to it, reading books for Connor. They often need help when I say 'it's reading time'. Esp Ki. He gets oberwhelmed with too many free choices. So having a group of books that 'count as school reading' helps. Cononr is reading a cat warrior series, but between books he can choose somehting from his school reading shelf and he also needed more advanced books than what was there last month.

2ND SHELF- books grouped by size/kind.... and a basket of mostly Fieldguides.

BOTTOM- books that are more scientific, 'schooly'.


By Sunday his feet and ankles were swelling from his pressure garments. So I called Monday. They told me to put him BACK into the ace wraps and bring him to Cincy Wed to be fotted for new garments. Being out of those nasty garments made him happy.. but going back to the hospital is NOT making him happy at all!



I took Tylenol PM Sundaynight- mild headache and hadn't slept well (due to sick kids), so I thought the Tylenol PM might help. I slept 11 hours before I dragged my half asleep body out of bed. I figured my body was just getting caught up on sleep. Hardly any school got done. Monday night I had a bad headache and decided to take the Tylenol PM again. Again, it was all I could do to drag my half comotose body out of bed. I was numb and my head felt like it was swirling. Conclusion- NO MORE TLYENOL PM for me!

Yesterday We did some school. Ki made fingerprint letters for his spelling words. With an inkpad. He'd make a fingerprint and then turn itinto a letter. (not all letters were fingerprintble) He seemed to enjoy it. Nothing else worth mentioning.

Today I was brain dead all morning. Gavin read to his brothers out of Pilgrim's Progress. (My eyes couldn't focus to read until around...well, they still aren't that great). Then they used clay to make amodel of a scene. Gavin and Connor wrote about their scene. Ki had a little meltdown over playdough ownership and mixed colors in the containers. I didn;t push for writing from him.

CONNOR'S


Connor's writing- (spelling errors fixed for your reading ease)
In the scene, Christian is running for his life out of the city. He wants to go to a different city.


GAVIN'S



Gavin's writing-(spelling errors fixed for your reading ease)
Bad City (yes, he gave it a title)
Faithful and Christian see the beautiful city. But Evangelist says it's a bad city built by the Wicked Prince. Faithful and Christian could be killed. The city is so nice you want to stay and not go to the Prince (the good prince). If you don't the bad men can throw you in jail or just kill you. Many pilgrims stay in the city and are treated cruelly. So, what will hapepen when they enter the city?
[j in jail is fine, yet j in just it backwards.. you'd think they'd be the same one way or the other]

Ki's picture came out very blurry... but art is so NOT his thing AT ALL! you didn't miss much.

We then went to the park to play. We taught Manuel how toplay Red Light Green Light. Ki was all out of breath after one game. He tires so easily..... We ate lunch there.

At home I gave Gavin, Manuel and Connor small assignments and took Ki to the coffee shop. He had hot choclate and I had juice. I read a book to him. He read one to me. (He is doing SO GREAT!! The lightbulb just turned on and he reads now!). Ki has been struggling A LOT with double digit multiplication. I asked him if he wanted to me sit and help him everyday or if he wanted to take a break and do something else for math. He decided to take a break and we decided on maps. He did 2 pages in his Miquon about copying a picture onto a smaller grid and making it to scale. He lovedit and did a third page. Then I hadhim measure the table. I choose this spot and pages inMiquon specifcally. The shop has tile topped tables. So Ki could count the tiles (after measruing to make sure they were the same size) and then draw it on the graph paper. One grid per tile on the tables length and width. Then again with 2 grids per tile. Then he did the same with the smaller end table with tile. Then he decided to do the 2 different sized tables where the people sit to eat. One was the same as the small tile table. The other was 35" by 35". I suggest he use one grid for every 5 inches. He very quickly knew it was 7 grids. it seems the multiplication comes easier when it doesn't look like a multiplication problem.

He was so excited! Then we played a game of chess. (after he measured the chess board and put it on the graph paper)

Then he finished the book he started at the Coffee shop.

Manuel did extra math and Ingles so he won;t have school to do tomorrow. He'll still need to read though. He was pretty excited to do extra today so he doesn't have to do it tomorrow!

SPELLING FUN! 20+ ideas

These ideas are not 0only great for kids with dyslexia or other reading/spelling difficulties, they work well to enhance the learning of any child!~

Ideas for dyslexia letter fun-
Choose a different activity each day! (let your child help choose which ones to play)

1. Writing in a tray of salt, shaving cream, sand.

2. Use clay to make the word. Then make a model of the word. (make the letters 'c-a-t', then make a little cat from the rest of the clay)

3. Use finger paint to spell words or practice letters, alternate hands, spell with toes, use you nose!

4. Use dry erase markers on the window. It is perfectly safe and wipes right off and kids LOVE IT! (though you may want to test beforehand)

5. Before starting the writing or spelling lessons, have the child make large infinity signs with their finger or on the chalk board. Have it so they cross the infinity sign in front of the middle of their body. (Brain Gym Lazy 8s)

6. Use plastic textured letters. Have the child hold one letter at a time to get used to the feel. Have them close their eyes, place the letter in their hand (the correct direction/position), have them figure out what letter it is. After they can recognize the shapes well, hand the letter to them upside down or backwards. Then do the same with simple words or sight words. Hand them the letters all at once, (while eyes are closed) have them figure out how to lay the letters in the right direction (not upside down or backwards) then open their eyes and move the letters ion the right order to make the words., when they can do that, have them figure out the words while their eyes are closed still.
Some kids with dyslexia often see words in jumbled order or letters backwards, upside down. It helps when they can recognize letters and words no matter what direction or jumbled order they are in. It helps the brain learn how to process the information.

7. Games like Scrabble and Boggle are good. But with your own rules or none at all. For Scrabble, get a list of words, set aside all the letters that go to those words, have your child spell the words out on the Scrabble board and find the best way to organize the words to get the most points. For Boggle, you may want to spend the first few times arranging the cubes to make sure there are some easy words there. Show the words to your child and have them write the words down. My middle son likes to arrange the tiles to make words and have me find the words. Then we make silly sentences with his words. The next time have them find the simple words (you previously arranged). Eventually you will be up to playing the game by the real rules.

8. The tiles and cubes can be used without the board. get letter tiles/cubes for an ending ( __ a t ) and take turns placing different tiles in front to make new words. Make 'cat', rat, bat..... Then ask "Which letter gets changed if we want to make 'bat' into 'bag'?" or “which part of the word gets changed; the beginning sound or the ending sound?” Don't ask what the new letter is yet, just work on having them identify which letter (beginning, middle, end) is different. You can tell them it becomes a 'g', if they can't figure it out yet.You can do this on paper, but the act of picking up and exchaging the letters by hand is great reinforcement for their brains! combining phsyical with mental helps to cement concept in the mind- check out this book- Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head by Carla Hannaford

9. HOPSCOTCH- Make a Hopscotch board (with chalk outside or colored paper inside, each sheet a different box). Write a different letter in each square. Have the child call out the letters or make the letter sound as they jump along. Use all vowels, or random letters. It's fun to use for spelling words, too. You can change around the amount and layout of the boxes to fit what you need.More mental+phsyical.

10. Throw/bounce a ball back and forth while you take turns spelling out words. Or Have the child bounce the ball to himself (against a wall or on the ground) while they spell out words. More mental+phsyical. I try to use both when I can , esp for my son with SID/Dyspraxia.

11. Spelling words-Use Index Cards- use 2 cards for each word on the list. write the word in all lower case on card #1, write the word in ALL CAPS on card #2. Use the cards to play "Memory Match". My son also likes to play other games. One is "Five in a Row" I put out a row of 5 cards and he picks up the words as I call them. "Make a Sentence"- Put out 2-4 cards (start with 2 and work up). Have your child think up a sentence using the cards. To put less stress on them. Both of you think up sentences for the cards. Another one we play is "Pick Up". I layout 6 cards and say four of them (making sure they are not in order on the table) and he has to pick up the cards in the order I called them. You can start with 3, or even 2 if needed and work up to 6 or more. click here for more WORD CARD IDEAS. this post is 2 yrs old, but Ki still used Word Cards

12. Write/draw on each other’s backs- have a guessing game. Keep score, if you want.

13. Make a photo/word book. Make words PERSONAL. Take pictures of your child’s mom, dad, pet, car, van, etc. rite the words LARGE under each picture (one per page). Take a picture of the STOP sign on your corner…….

14. Let your child use one of those Magnadoodle boards or a large dry erase board.

15. Use beads. Have the child line the beads up to form letters/words.

16. Grab Bag Spelling. Use letters (tiles, plastic, written on seperate pieces of paper) for their list of words they are working on learning. Get one brown paper bag for each word. Number the bags. Put into each bag letters to make one word. Write down which word is in ech bag for you to check them. Give them a sheet of paper and have them take the letters out of each bag (one at a time) and arrange them in the correct order. They can write the word down on the paper or just tell you.

17. Write individual letters on index cards (or squares or paper). Scatters the letters for a word on the floor. Have them use their toes to put the letters in order. For more advanced- use letters for TWO words or just add extra letters that do not belong in the word.

18. Make your own crossword or wordsearch or other words puzzles online. Print them out for your child. I use this site= PUZZLEMAKER

19. Teach your child the alphabet in sign language. Use this to spell words. (more physical reinforcement- plus b, p, d aren't similar and therefore confused) ASL ALPHABET CHART ASL ABCs COLORING PAGES ASL Alphabet Font for printing worksheets

20. WORD SHADOWS! fun for older kids, too! check it out!

** from our Occupational Therapist- Spelling. Write each letter of the word on a separate 2-3" square of paper. Tape them out-of-order and jumbled on the wall about a foot above the ground. Have child be barefoot and 'crab-crawl' to point to the letters in order (pointing with their toe)

a colorful day

(Complete with links)
This morning I read Ki's lines with him. He is in a play next week. I made the mistake of doing this before he had a good big drink after breakfast and before his sensory occupational therapy. It is amazing how little and tired he is before his OT. He is like a limp noodle. Not a big deal though. We'll just read through the lines again after his OT. A little Joint Compression and breathing exercises will do wonders for him. Apparently his teacher doesn't say much to him about his performance during class. She sent home a note about how he needs to work on volume and annunciation. But because she doesn't say anything to him during class, he keeps saying "This is how I do it in class and my teacher is fine with it!"
I will do 1-on-1 school with Ki today and have Gavin do SOS History and Connor do Saxon Math.
Today I go down to Shriner's hospital to spend some time with Manuel. The plan is to bring him home tomorrow. So I will probably spend the night there. I should call first to see what time they expect him to be able to leave tomorrow.
For past blogs about homeschooling and archived links and tips, visit WWW.HOMESCHOOLBLOGGER.COM/3FOLDCHORD

You will find links on the top banner for:
Dyslexia/LDs/ADS tips and journals
Charts and Schedules


Online Links
Our School Day- for examples of a day in our school.




TODAY- We did morning Brain Exersices together. CrissCross Marches, Deep Breathing stretches, Lazy 8s with arms and legs and Hook Ups.This was intersparsed with the consumption of water. (Brains are 80% water and need to be fully hydrated)



Next-Gavin looked up spelling words and wrote their definitions while Connor worked on Saxon Math. During this time I did word family reading with Ki. Beyond The Code. Then he circled base words in the groups. After that we worked with letter tiles. He had to find letters and find certain letters in front or behind to work on letter placement in the alphabet. After that he used the textured letter tiles to spell words from his word cards.

Snack Break

Gavin read poetry. His creative writing teacher is going over poetery with him. (Thursday class). I have a book of Robert Frost poetry for him to read. Connor is reading Time Cat. Ki and I did a few pages in his Miquon with manipulatives.


Lunch

Classes at Dominion. Ki takes drama and Connor has art class. Gavin stays home. I will be going to Shriners to stay with Manuel. (click to read- who is Manuel?)

SCHOOL DAY

We started with Story of the World (we are reading about Ancient Greece) then we did Brain Gym. Ki did his bouncy ball Joint Compression. Then water and more Brain Gym. I wrote G&C's spelling words on the board during this time. They still play and bicker when they are in charge of Brain gym, but they are getting better.
For spelling:
G&K had a list of words-
arrange
strange
range
fringe
cringe.
They had to use these words in sentences and they had to have 3-6 sentences for all the different forms of the word they can think of. I told them they could double up words. So some of their sences mght be:
It is strange to arrange eggs by color.
The stranger was arranging flowers.
That is the strangest arrangement I have seen.

I told them I wanted at least 10 sentences (they could use more than 2 words as long as the sentence structure is proper). Connor wrote.
"I like to say. "...then listed all the words with their forms.."
then wrote 10 short sentences like "I see a cat."

Connor is like that. finding loopholes and taking shortcuts..... I have to be so exact with him. I didn't say the 10 sentences had to have words from the spelling list.

Gavin's is so totally sloppy.. and nothing is capatilized. plus he used some words incorrectly, so he hd to look them up in the dictionary.
So they both are rewriting their sentences.

Ki had three parts to his spelling. write his words in ABC order, write in order of shortest to longest and them pick 2 word cards at random and write a sentence using those words. And do 3 sentences like this. He did the 1st part and forgot about the second part and 3rd part. (I was running errands). BUT he couldn't find where in his spelling notebook he did the 1st part so I had him do it again and watching him, I don't think he even did it the first time. So he had to do all of it.

Gavin got most of his math correct. Usualy it was on;y 'wrong' becuase he wrote the answer in the wrong form or forgot the units. I dontt think that's so bad- his math skills are great, it's just the organizational part...

Connor did math online and got a A. But he was supposed to play 3 games not just one. My written instructions were unclear. I wrote - MATH Detective -- 3.....not 3 games. I forgot the GAMES. I think he should have figures it out. I dunno... but he'll be doing what he missed. so I guess it's all good in the end.

Connor had already done his Language Arts book at Grammy's house, he worked ahead and I didn't realize. So he didn't have to do that- but he read the story a second time.

LESSON LEARNED- be more specific in giving instructions! I always think I am specific enough, but it never seems to be.

Ki will not be left to do school on his own for sometime as he really didn't do anything except 2 pages in Miquon. Next time I have to run errands he comes with me then will have to get his work done later after we get home. With his SID and Dyslexia, it's just not working yet. Maybe next year.

Ki has forgotten the alphabet again. He forgets information that isn't constantly reviewed.. I just was thinking by now we'd no longer have to review the alphabet. this is going to be a long road..... he can't be reviewing things like counting in order (which he does still mix up if it's not reviewed often enough) and the alphabet when he's in college...