Whole Body Listening

Listening to others is hard. If you add additional factors like development, auditory processing challenges, lack of social awareness, sensory issues, attention challenges, etc., it can seem nearly impossible! Sometimes a person/child is actually listening but isn't aware that their body language isn't communicating that to others.

"What? I'm listening! Can't you tell?"

Whatever the reason, a child who struggles with quiet whole body listening can be the recipient of constant correction and scolding, and can result in a very discouraged or frustrated teacher (not that I can relate to that... ahem... cough cough... shuffles away quickly).

Good whole body listening can and should be taught, encouraged, and reinforced in children and adults alike. While expectations of the parent/teacher should be tempered by the child's individual ability (age/development are huge factors in this!), every child can learn to show respect and interest in someone who is talking to him or her, even for short periods of time.

I SEEEE YOU! I HEEEAR YOU!

Our wonderful speech pathologist/social skills therapist provided us with several visual resources to help us with whole body listening:

Listening booklet - This 1/2 page printable booklet clearly explains how we listen to others, including our teachers. It also helps a student learn when they can talk aloud and when we need to listen with our lips closed. The booklet explains what others are thinking when we listen quietly to them (others think you are polite and what they are saying is important to you). You could make more than one copy and keep one in their backpacks, at their desk, at home, put one into their church bag, etc.

Parts of a Listener printable - this adorable poster identifies the different parts of your body that are used when listening: eyes for looking at whoever is talking, a mouth for sharing ideas when it's your turn, hands still so they don't distract others, etc. We have found great success reviewing all of these parts of a listener just before a lesson during school and at church in our special needs Sunday School class. The download is only a dollar, so it's inexpensive too!

Source

Parts of a Friend printable - created by the same teacher, this covers similar information but is more specific to how to be a friend in the way you listen, care, and think about another person. Great for kids who struggle with social awareness.

Fidgets - Your child might also benefit from holding a fidget in their hands/lap while listening to relieve sensory seeking or release need to move and wiggle. (I've also seen kids sit on some fidgets! Whatever works!) As long as it is kept under a desktop out of sight, this can be very helpful for some while avoiding visual distraction to themselves and to others. Click here for some examples and to find something that might work for you.

The important thing to remember is make learning how to listen a positive experience, and to celebrate the small victories - five minutes of sitting quietly and attentively is a huge milestone for some kids, and should be recognized and praised! And consider rewarding excellent whole body listening by following up with a wiggle-friendly activity or free play.

What things help you or your child to listen well?

Skip Counting Tips from a Super Homeschool Momma

My dear friend and amazing homeschooler Kathy Dow just posted a new blog post with lots of ideas for how to teach skip counting (or multiplication tables). Here is the link to some great ideas:

http://livingandlearningwithmyboybarians.wordpress.com/2014/09/09/skip-counting-tricks/

I am definitely going to be utilizing some of these ideas as we officially tackle multiplication this year - yikes!

And in case you need some help getting into the spirit of skip counting, you can jam out to these little gems from the classic kids program Schoolhouse Rock!



Three is the magic number!

If you're not ready, holler "I!"

Tips for New to Homeschool Parents

So you want to homeschool? Congratulations! You're about to embark on an amazing journey of learning and exploring alongside your kids - it might be one of the toughest and most rewarding jobs you will ever take on, and it's totally worth it.

 Budding scientist, Dr. Truth

The most common question/comments I get from new to homeschool mommas are: "It feels so overwhelming!" and "Where in the heck do I start?" I was blessed to have a couple of well seasoned homeschool mommas to help point me in the right direction, and now I would like to pass that wisdom along to you who feel as overwhelmed or confused as I was starting out. You can do it!

Note: This is by no means a comprehensive list, but it should help point you in the right direction. And please contact me directly if you have any other questions that need answering - I am only a few years in myself, but can ask others in the local homeschool community if I can't answer it for you. Good luck!

Where To Start:

1) Check your state's homeschooling laws. The HSLDA (Home School Legal Defense Association) is a great place to start researching. Every state is different - some require minimal oversight, and others require more record keeping, supervision, and/or standardized testing. Some states require specific subjects/hours of study per day, others do not. Some states also offer tax benefits and supports for families who homeschool, so it's also worth checking that out as well. Click here to find your state's laws for homeschooling.

2) Decide which curriculum you would like to use. There are hundreds of options! Charlotte Mason, unit studies, classical, unschooling, piece meal programs, online homeschool, umbrella programs, or a combination of these options are just a tip of the iceberg. While you are deciding, take time to consider your child's learning style (see my previous blog post touching on this) and your personal teaching needs (more structure vs. less structure, premade lesson plans vs. compiling your own lesson plans, etc).

NOTE: You will likely never find a curriculum that will perfectly fit all of your needs or your child's needs, and will almost certainly have to tweak it as you go, adding or taking out things to better fit your needs/schedule (and that's ok!). But it can be VERY helpful for new homeschool mommas who lack confidence (ahem, ME) to have a framework to work around. Here are some great examples of good comprehensive open-and-go curricula to get you started in your research:

       Sonlight
       My Father's World
       Heart of Dakota
       Timberdoodle

Also, Cathy Duffy is a great resource for curriculum reviews and recommendations. Happy hunting!

3) Go to a homeschool convention! There are literally hundreds of vendors, speakers, books, lesson plans, and resources in one setting to explore.
A Word of Advice: Do some research before you go to narrow down what kind of curricula/materials you are interested in checking out. (It can be very overwhelming if you don't.) Then, once you've narrowed down your list, head to the vendor hall and go get your hands on the books and flip through a few weeks of lessons to see if it's a good fit for you. There are many conventions to choose from, including the Great Homeschool Convention, which I have found very helpful the last few years.

Half of the Vendor Hall last year - EEK!

4) Check out your local community for programs/services specifically for homeschool families - here in the Louisville Metro area, many of the libraries, museums, YMCA, aquarium, and the zoo offer programs specifically for homeschool families. It's a great way to expand their learning experiences and to connect with other families and make new friends.

Our amazing librarian Ms. Lori posing with Flat Stanley

5) Find a homeschool momma who's been there. Find a family who is several years ahead of you in the homeschooling process, and have achieved comprehensive results through a variety of learning methods that align with your convictions on education. (Thank you Jason, my co-headmaster of Four Maples Academy for this tip!)

Here are some additional tips from other experienced homeschool mommas (thank you, Kathy and Aleasha for letting me pick your brains on the subject!):

- Don't attempt to do "school at home." Home school doesn't have to mean doing seat work at home for 3-4 hours straight with limited opportunities to get up and move. Limit your learning time to one to two hours total for the school day, keeping the time per subject to just a few minutes. And take lots of breaks!

- School does NOT equal worksheets - some kids love them, and that's great. Some kids do better without, and that's great too! You can assess their understanding in many other ways, like asking questions or discussing the material, doing an activity using the material learned, etc.

Reviewing constellations with pebbles and chalk

- Every subject does not need to be started in the first grade. Subjects like grammar, foreign  language, etc. can wait. Less is more! Also, let them master the basics before moving on to more abstract learning.

- Chairs are overrated. Sitting at a desk/table is only one way to "do school."

School in a bean bin. Yes.

And lastly, here is a link to another brilliant article titled "10 Ways You're Making Your Homeschool Day Harder Than It Needs To Be." Enjoy, and let it encourage you!

Happy learning, you've got this!

Hard realities, good truth

Here are two hard realities I have learned about teaching/parenting a child with "hidden" special needs:

1) It is very difficult to know where their abilities end and their limitations begin until they have been asked to do something that is beyond their abilities - meltdowns/frustration/despair are usually the indicators of this line.

2) This invisible line can move on a daily/hourly basis, depending on environmental factors, sensory issues, change in schedule, what they ate, how they slept, the change in weather, etc. Something that was a snap one day can be overwhelming the next day, and you may never know why. And neither will they.

A couple of years ago, my dear friend Kathy and I decided that living with autism is a lot like Calvinball - no matter how hard you try to keep up, the rules are constantly changing.

For a while, on really hard days Kathy and I would message each other a one-word message: "Calvinball." The other would immediately know what that meant.

I love teaching my children, and I love that we can homeschool to more easily incorporate sensory diet, gross/fine motor therapies, much needed breaks in between seemingly simple tasks, and to constantly adapt to the rhythms of our children's abilities that day... but it's hard sometimes. Good, hard work. That I wouldn't trade for anything. Work that reminds me almost constantly of my desperate need for God to equip, encourage, and enable me to do this work to the the best of my own very limited abilities.

AND HE DOES. He does. I'm so thankful.

"Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." - Hebrews 13:20-21

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." - Colossians 3:16-17

I hope to be as cool as Rosalyn one day.

Flat Stanley Fever!

Hello friends! I hope all of you are preparing for a wonderful 4th of July full of fun, fireworks, family. We are thoroughly enjoying our summer here and loving the relaxed schedule: lots of free play, audio books, outdoor adventures, sidewalk chalk masterpieces, digging holes to who-knows-where, filling in holes to who-knows-where when who-knows-who falls into one, card games, art projects, My Little Pony binges... and that's just what I'VE been up to. (HI-YO!)

But now we've hit the halfway point of summer vacation - and as we have neared that milestone I started thinking ahead to the next school year. Our main focus is going to be "United States" - we'll be exploring the history of America, investigating all fifty states, learning about their different characteristics, historical facts, state birds, etc. The kids and I also talked about trying our own Flat Stanley project after participating in a friend's project last spring. But we wanted to see if we could hit as many states as possible: maybe we could find friends in 20 states, or even 30! That seemed like an unlikely goal, but we put out a status on Facebook asking friends if they could help us recruit a list of people from various states to help host our Flat Stanley in their home state, or to let Flat Stanley tag along if they were going to take a trip to a particular state.

Hi! I'm Flat Stanley!

Well friends, let me just tell you right now: DO NOT underestimate the power of social media! It has only been ONE WEEK since we first put out feelers for volunteers, and we already have people committed to the project in FORTY-THREE states. FORTY. THREE. As in seven short of the entire honkin' country. And five countries on four different continents. I'm still in shock. Thrilled and shocked. :)

(Blue indicates states that are spoken for, wahoo!!)

We actually received so many invitations that it quickly became more than one little paper boy could handle. So, he called in reinforcements: his siblings Flat Manly and Flat Sally!

Flat Manly (left) will be handling most of the international travel, and Flat Sally (right) will be traveling with families/individuals who are taking scheduled trips within the U.S. (This way, Flat Stanley won't have to disrupt his visits through the mail with other hosts.)

The kids will keep a journal of all of Team Stanley's adventures, and of all the interesting things we learn about the different states and countries they visit. And we will try to share as much as we can on here so you can join us in the fun!

Now, for a status report on each of the members of Team Stanley: 

Flat Manly is on his way to Brazil with our friends Kane, Lyssa, and Zadok for the rest of the month, just in time for the World Cup!

Flat Sally is preparing to spend next week in Washington State with our friend Kelsey. 

Flat Stanley is on a plane to Jamaica with a new friend Ms. Connie as a mission team member to help teach VBS at an orphanage, paint a church, do some building, and even join the team in some sightseeing. Here he is in his mission team's official shirt:

Please contact me if you'd like to be a part of this project, and follow along here or on Facebook to see where Team Stanley goes next!

Books of the Bible series: their wisdom's verifiable!

**I am finally getting around to publishing this post written back in February - better late than never!**

Where has the time gone?? This school year has been zooming by, and we are learning so much. I wish I had the time/mental energy to blog more about all of the activities/lessons we've learned this year, but don't we all? So I will fight the temptation toward "blog guilt" and just get on with sharing what I have been up to. :)

A particularly favorite activity from this winter has been learning about all of the books of the Bible! When I saw this was coming up in our curriculum, I admit that my first inclination was to think, "Hmm, I don't know if the kids are going to be very excited about this." Wrong! They love it! It's interesting for them to learn what the different books are about, who wrote them, when they were written, what order they come in and why, etc.

Jason (our resident seminary graduate) has been very helpful preparing for these daily mini-lessons. First, he suggested that we divide our visual chart into the 5 primary types of books included in the bible: History, Poetry, Prophets, Jesus, and Church (aka letters to the churches).

It's a great way to break the books up visually into bite-sized chunks, but it is also a great way to introduce the concept of hermeneutics, as we can better understand the Scriptures when we know the type of book it is (for example, one would read/interpret a poetry book differently than one would a book of prophecy or history). Combined with our timeline, it has also helped us see the progression of God's story throughout human history.

The kids have asked some great questions, and it's been a great catalyst to talk about things like how the Israelites came to be (God's promise to Abraham), Israel's history of obedience/disobedience and the consequences of their choices, the prophecies of Jesus' coming hundreds of years before His arrival, and connecting their favorite memory verses to the context of the book it can be found.

We also found a really cute song on YouTube that includes all of the books of the Bible to a melody that is fun (ukulele!) and doesn't make me want to hurt myself after singing it every day for two months. :)



The song also includes simple declarations: "The books of the Bible, time-tested and reliable; their wisdom's verifiable! Scripture has a power that undeniable!"

Yes it is! I've been so surprised to see how this simple daily activity has been such a catalyst for such good conversations and desire to search the Scriptures for answers. Watching the kids (and myself!) come to understand and love God's Word more though this exercise has been wonderful.

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Light It Up Blue!

Today is World Autism Awareness Day, just over the 2 year mark of G-bug's diagnosis on the autism spectrum. She has taught us so much about perseverance, patience, joy, selfless love, grace toward others, and creativity through her daily example.

Some days are incredibly hard, but all days are meaningful and part of her story. She is a gift.