It’s my only job

The kids went to a local VBS again this year.  They love all the fun and games… and the opportunity to socialize.  This was Zee’s first year in the program and he just loved it.  It was great to see him jump in and try new things, something he’s usually pretty shy about. 

With that done, next week we’ll be jumping right in to the 5th grade work.  Like I am, the girls are partly excited and partly bummed

I’m just not ready to start 5th grade yet

I’ve got my general plan written up but it’s not typed and off to the school yet.  It’s easy enough to tell myself it’s not really ‘official’ so I don’t need to follow it.   So we haven’t started anything major yet and probably won’t till VBS is finished next week.

The one bit of planning I did finish was a schedule of work they need to complete each day and each week.  It’s mostly independent work in areas where they need regular practice to advance their skills.

Each day I’m asking them to type up definitions and write example sentences for one section of the Merriam-Webster’s Vocabulary Builder.    I love the way this book is organized.  Each section contains a root word and four example words.  There’s a little bit of history on words, example sentences for each and even quizzes throughout.  I know this vocabulary will probably be a bit more advanced but I don’t think it will be over their heads. 

Since math is one of those things that’s easily forgotten if not used, I’m requiring a math worksheet each day as well.  Some days it will be a new topic and others it will just be review. 

Each week I’m asking them to learn a section of the 5th grade list from the Natural Speller book (they get to choose what ever method they like), do two writing worksheets (since this is an area I’d like them to improve on) and write one post for our family webpage. Some weeks I’ll give them an assignment and others they’ll have complete freedom in choosing a topic and writing type.  For instance, last week I asked for short essays on their favorite parts of 4th grade.  This week Gee wrote a poem and Bee is writing about an art project she created recently.

Even with these requirements, the girls are finished in a couple of hours.  Then they’re off to enjoy the beautiful weather, the computer and video games and make up their own games and art projects.  Ah, the lazy days of summer

Last year the girls presented their science projects to my husband and I.  This year we had 9 family members coming to vist at once so I told the girls if they finished in time, they could present it to them.

I think Gee finished the report portion that night and spent the next couple of days putting on her finishing touches. She just loves public speaking.

So she gave her report on the nervous system to the whole family.  Last year I had them practice several times before they actually gave the official presentation.  With time constraints, Gee wasn’t able to do that this year.  Still, she did an excellent job.  I was very proud of her.

It’s that time of year again.  Report card time has crept up on me and I’m trying to get all the paperwork finished for the school district so I can be free from stressing about it.

In addition to quarterly reports, my state requires me to submit an annual assessment for each child. You can choose testing but I find it expensive and stressful.  So I’ll be doing the alternative narrative assessment this year. 

On the one hand I resent having to sit down and write out what I think about my students’ progress.  After all, if I didn’t think they were doing well enough wouldn’t I be doing something to help them do better?   I’m using our school district’s grading system and marking each as having made ’satisfactory progress’.  Though it’s really more a grade for me.  ‘Unsatisfactory Progress’ would simply indicate my teaching wasn’t adequately.

But doing these assessments isn’t all bad.  It’s good to sit back and consider what they’ve learned, how they’ve learned it and look for ways I can improve our homeschooling in the future.  Since we school year round there’s no real start or end to our learning.  This is a chance for me to stop and see our progress over a finite amount of time and reassure myself that they really have grown and learned much over the past year.

By the end of next week the big yellow envelope will be in the mail.  Some person who’ll never meet my kids will read (maybe) the quarterly reports and annual assessments and check us off as having fulfilled our homeschooling obligations.  But I guarantee they still won’t have a clue what my girls have really learned this past year.  I couldn’t quantify it all if I tried.

I simply adore the new Discovery Channel commericial.  The first time I saw it I thought, “Yeah!  That’s it!That’s exactly what homeschooling should be about.”

The world is an awesome place and there’s so much to know and learn and explore.  We’ve each got our own particular interests and specialties and unique collection of things we love.  And that’s not only ok, it’s part of what makes this world so awesome.

I love being a mom and homeschooling my kids.  What do you love?

Adrian’s been out of control for about 3 weeks now.  It’s been a rough. We think hormones are partly to blame. It’s been severe enough that we made the appointment to speak with the doctor about options.  He’s very unhappy and his compulsive behaviors are preventing him from enjoying the things he usually finds calming and relaxing. 

I was feeling awful weary from it all this afternoon when I picked Adrian up from school.  Then, through the mirror, I watched as Zee and Adrian played.  They shared a few cookies, they laughed and giggled.  They played games where only the two of them understood the rules.  Adrian’s communication device lay lifeless on the seat next to me, defeated by the blow Adrian gave it when he threw it through the air earlier today. Just another in the long line of things he’s broken in the past few weeks.

But these two brothers didn’t need words.  They played and laughed and understood one another perfectly.  They put their foreheads together and giggled at one another. It was a sight to behold and brought tears to my eyes. 

See, despite the shattered window, broken baskets, cracked cabinets, the destroyed faucet and the constant slamming of doors and drawers… despite all the difficulties of the past few weeks, I was reminded that it’s really not all bad.  Adrian is part of our family and we love him.  The essence of Adrian is still in there, even when it’s hidden by a storm of rage and sadness.

Hopefully we can find a way to help him through this rough spot.  But regardless what lies ahead, I won’t soon forget the image of brotherly love or the reminder about how lucky we are to have him.

My sister (the school teacher) passed along this great site that has .pdf files of graph paper.  They’ve got everything from traditional graph paper to dots to triangles and trapezoids.  Now I just have to think of fun stuff to do with it all :) 

With my mother-in-law in town, we were able to take a field trip to NYC without Adrian.  He’s often overwhemed by it all so that we’re not able to take the other kids to do and see what they want to.

This was the first trip we’ve taken where Zee was really old enough to appreciate it all.  With that in mind, we did the usual tourist stuff even though the girls had been there and done all that before.

We started our day at the Museum of Natural History.  Zee loved the dinosaurs and the elephants.  However, he was completely flipped out by the bears.  Couldn’t stand to go near the polar bear, brown bears or grizzlies. 

Then we walked.  We walked around Central Park and after getting a bit lost, finally arrived at the Central Park Zoo.  Strangely enough, Zee had no trouble at all looking at the real, live polar bears.  But nothing beat  the penguins!  The look on his face as he watched them glide through the water was priceless.  He was much less interested in the feeding of the sea lions, but the girls enjoyed the show.

We stopped in the Disney store and FAO Schwarz.  We saw headquarters for Daddy’s job.  Zee decided the building was way too tall to go inside. Then we walked to Grand Central.  We took a short subway trip to give Zee a taste of it. Like most little boys, he thought it was cool.

Then we stopped in and got few slices of pizza. We ate on stools at the counter while watching the city life out the big front window.  With tummies full, we walked to Times Square where Zee was captivated by all the lights and signs.  We walked through Toys R Us and went on the ferris wheel.  As far as Zee is concerned, this was the highlight of the trip.

After walking all day, we were all pretty beat.  A quick cab ride back to the car and we were ready for the long ride home.  It was a great day!

After the craziness of the past couple of weeks, we took it easy this past week.

Tuesday was Sibling Day at Adrian’s school.  They invite all siblings 5 years and up to come visit for the day.  The girls got to see the various parts of Adrian’s typical school day and participate in some of the activities with him.  They also set aside a time for the siblings to meet one another and talk about the good and bad of having a sibling with a disability.  I think it’s a wonderful idea and the girls enjoy this annual event very much. 

With my Mother-In-Law in town, the girls went with my husband and I to see the midnight showing of the new Indiana Jones movie.  Their aunt noted that there weren’t any other school aged children in the theatre that night.  One more perk to homeschooling Then the next night Grandma went with the girls and the hubby to see Iron Man.  Two movies in a week. Wow.

Despite all the fun, we still got some school work done.  The girls wrote essays about Sibling Day, learned a bit about California and did some research on their science topics.  I gave them a few movie reviews to read so they’ll be ready to write their own next week.  All that and we took Friday off to get a head start on our long weekend

I’ve got two days left of my mini vacation.  I’ll be spending it the same way I spent these last two days - relaxing and playing Bahama in Star Wars Galaxies.  Ok, so maybe I’ll also spend a few hours conquering the hubby and the girls in Civilization IV too.

Ok, so I really never left.  But things have been absolutely insane around here lately.

First, I was helping my husband get the websites up for our company.  The prototype of our software is close to being ready and we’re anxious to get it out there to the non-verbal kids we hope it will help. The one site is our company site, www.AutisTech.com    The other is a community site where we hope to bring together resources and infomation for parents of autistic children.  We’re hooking up with professionals we know to pick their brains about everything from IEPs to speech therapy.  Those articles should be out soon at www.EverydayAutism.com

Then there was the everyday stuff….

Monday my sister, for whom I advocate, came to discuss some things I’ll need to work on for her.  Then I had to go back to the doctor for a silly cyst on my back that’s been giving me grief for several weeks.  Ouch.  I closed the night out by hosting another Mom’s Night Out. 

Tuesday was a tag team doctor’s appointment for the boys.  Three shots total. 

Wednesday we picked my Mother-In-Law from the airport.  She’ll be staying with us indefinetly. 

Thursday I was asked to participate in a presentation at the NY Governor’s Expo on Assistive Technology.  It’s been a while since I’ve done public speaking of that magnitude so that consumed much of my time and energy the past few weeks.  My mother-in-law took care of the kids so my husband and I could go together.  It’s been many, many years since my husband and I have been out together, alone, in the light of day.  The presentation when off without a hitch and we had a great time.

I spent Friday doing approximately five hours of homework for a class on leading effective discussions. Yesterday I drove the 2+ hours to attend the class and drive the 2+ hours home.  The class was well done and I was glad I attended.

But now I’m tired.  I’ll spend today figuring out what I’ll need to do next week and trying to get some much needed downtime.  Oh, and catching up on all that laundry that’s piled up while I was busy doing everything else