Re-invention

I have been systematically re-inventing myself. Now its time to do the same thing with my blog...time to change it up! I have been contemplating where I want to take this thing and I think I have figured it out....however, I reserve the right to change my mind (as always) :)

We recently moved from classic homeschooling with textbooks and standard curriculum to lapbooking and notebooking. While there seems to be a plethora of materials out there for younger kids, I have been hard pressed to find the materials I need for the upper middle and high school levels....therefore I am seeing that as a calling:

See a need, and fill it!

I will now be working on some original materials for Math (which is EXTREMELY hard to find) and Earth and Space Science. So stay tuned............

My Baby Loves To Read!

A New Year!

I always love the beginning of a new school year. A fresh start. New curriculum. An abundance of school supplies (I have a thing for school supplies!) This is my first year of homeschooling a "middle schooler". Ashleys' curriculum this year will include Bible of course, United States Geography, the usual 6th grade math and Language arts, Earth Science, and what I am most excited about - Japanese. Or as I should say "Nihongo" (Japanese) Stay tuned as I post our Unit Studies.

Our co-op starts in 2 weeks as well. There I will be teaching Beginning Sewing and World Geography.

Zack's programs are getting into swing too. His programs this period are focusing on organizing the cortical areas of the brain, improving his breathing and thereby improving his language. We found out that he is talking up a storm, but his voice is so soft and his articulation so poor, that we cannot understand him. In fact, he facilitated that "I talk all of the time but they (his family) don't listen." That of course, broke my heart, and explains some of the bad behaviors he has due to frustration.

So we will continue his running program (3 miles per day- I'm gonna be so skinny!) We are increasing his gymnastics program and have added a simple gymnastics routine he will learn and practice 5 times per day. Also, he has a gravity assisted jumping and hopping program that I think he going to love. In addition, he is to increase his bracheation (monkey bars) from 10 trips per day to 40.

To improve his breathing, he will continue to sleep in his Respiratory patterning device. He will do about 70 masks per day and we have added 10-20 CO2O2 inhalations per day.

He is back on his special diet (no wheat, no milk, no soy, no tomatoes, no citrus, no bananas) so I am cooking all fresh organic again. However this time, the whole family is going on the diet, not just Zack. Which is only fair and we can all stand to eat more healthy. Ashley is not very happy about this!!

Kristen continues to learn to read and do math using programs I learned for Zack at the Institutes www.iahp.org . Remember she is only 13 months old!!! I will be adding Encyclopedic Knowledge to that in the next couple of weeks as soon as I can get the materials made.

Busy, busy!! But I love every minute of it!

Reading and Math Program

I am finally organizing Kristen's reading and math programs. (Yes, she is only 6 months old!) These are the same programs I used to teach Zack, our brain injured child, to read and do math. The logistics of the programs are in the books, How To Teach Your Baby To Read and How To Teach Your Baby Math by Glen Doman at The Institutes For The Achievement of Human Potential . It turns out that the best time to teach your child is when they are under 6 years old when the brain is growing so quickly. The Institutes originally developed these programs to help brain injured kids and found that they worked just as well with typical children when they are very young. Our son is a testament to them as at 9 years old, he is able to speed read over 300 words per second on the high school level and he can do instant math including algebra and geometry. Did I mention that he is brain injured???!!!!



Anyway, I have taught her about 20 words so far and I really needed to sit down and make up some word cards. I made 75 cards today. That will last me about 2-3 weeks (maybe) We started math as well. I had bought the math cards from the Institutes for Zack. While some of them are a little ragged around the edges, they will work just fine for Kristen. We learned the quantities 0-4. I will teach her 5-9 tomorrow.



She got so excited when I showed her the cards today. I thought she was going to jump right out of her seat! I am thrilled to be able to give her such a gift. Thank you God for enlightening me with this knowledge. I keep thinking what a breeze college would have been for me if I could have read as fast as these kids!! :)

First Day of Spring Semester Electives

Whew! I am wiped out! Today was the first day of Spring Semester Electives at our homeschool co-op. We run them for 6 weeks in the fall and 6 weeks in the spring. Each child can pick up to 3 age appropriate electives. Ashley chose Latin, Intermediate crochet, and my class - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. My class is packed with 13 kids and I was amazed that the boys actually outnumber the girls. I was further amazed at how many kids esp the boys had read many of C.S. Lewis' books already. I must have made an impression too. I overheard my daughter telling some of the neighborhood public school children some of the historical facts about CS Lewis I taught them today. I am so proud! It makes all the blood, sweat, and tears worth it!

Homeschool Materials Auction Site

I just came across this great site as an alternative to Ebay for inexpensive homeschool materials. The HSLDA Materials Auction site. I always sell my materials at the end of the year and use the money to buy next year's curriculum.