Independent Work

For the last year, Rebecca and I have sit side by side for ALL of her work.  She requires the individual attention to keep her focused.  Without it, she can easily become distracted and forget her objective.  However, independent work is an essential skill for her to learn.  So this week, we are re-introducing homework.  I'm not sure how it will fly, but it's something she must do.  I will still be sitting with her for daily school work, but at the end of the day she will be given additional tasks she will need to complete on her own.  What I am going to try first is giving her a packet of stuff that she can work on all week.  I am sure there are days she will be more focused than others, so hopefully this will alleviate added stress if she knows she can put it down and start again the next day - as long as it's done by Friday.  Fingers crossed we are successful.  I know she is ready for this.  I hope she knows it...

Back to School

Winter break is over and school is back in full swing. I love coming back from a long break. I find myself more motivated to teach again and Rebecca more willing to learn. The other thing I love is starting new curriculum. I tend to purchase a new workbook or 2 (or7 in the case of this break) during our breaks. They excite and re-motivate me. The books arrive days before the break ends, so it's like starting fresh. I have several books I'm still waiting on, but did receive all the new math I wanted to try.

Rebecca struggles in math. She has very weak working memory and rapid recall therefore learning math facts is difficult, not to mention frustrating. Imagine being in 5th grade and still learning addition and subtraction. We've had success with Times Tales for multiplication, but division is like another language. So, for the rest of this year, I've decided to give Rebecca a rest from the facts. I've given her a calculator and we are moving on.

Math Mammoth is what we are working out of and even though we have the general 5th grade workbook, I've decided to break things down a bit. We will be working on decimals, fractions, measuring and geometry. I really like Math Mammoth! It really breaks down each area and offers lots of practice before moving on. Now comes the hard part - deciding which book to start with...

My Dyslexic Daughter(s???)

I think I always knew Rebecca was Dyslexic.  When we got the results from her diagnostic testing four years ago, I cried for days - not because she was severely dyslexic and moderately dysgraphic, but because I felt some kind of relief that I wasn't crazy.  It was easy to accept her diagnosis because I already knew what I needed to do.  I could handle advocating for one dyslexic child.  But two?  I think my youngest  is Dyslexic.  I've had my suspicions for awhile now, but not the same way I knew about Rebecca.  Drew shows many signs of being dyslexic.  She is in the second grade and is struggling to read.  She is below grade level by at least one full grade.  Spelling is a challenge, she reverses and transverses letters often.  She doesn't seem to hear some sounds in words and adds random letters to a word when sounding it out (she adds the letter 'Y' to the end of nearly every word).  But unlike Rebecca, she is very good at math, has a strong working memory, and fantastic coordination and balance.  

So, here is the thing.  I am in a daily argument with myself about what to do.  I am dragging my feet with Drew and I am not sure why.  I'm not sure what direction to take with her.  Do I get her tested?  It is very expensive and the test itself didn't do anything for Rebecca.  The school basically threw it aside and refused to do their own testing for years as she wasn't far enough behind.  Dyslexia isn't considered a specific learning disability in California, so the test is just a piece of paper and peace of mind for me.  Maybe a private assessment isn't the way to go this time around.  But then, how do I know I am doing the right thing for her if I am not sure what the "problem" is. (**By the way, I do NOT see dyslexia as a problem - I just couldn't think of another way to word that.  After working with Rebecca for a year at home, I sometimes wish I had a little dyslexia in me :)**)  Do I just move forward under the assumption that Drew is dyslexic?  Do I keep her in public school longer to see if she improves?  She has an amazing teacher.  But Rebecca had the same amazing teacher and I regret not pulling her sooner than the fourth grade.  Here is my chance to get an earlier start with Drew.  So what's stopping me?   I am not sure she will like being at home.  Rebecca is the one who asked to learn at home.  Drew is very social and head strong.  But she also has a strong desire to learn - maybe even more so than Rebecca.  Is keeping her in public school a selfish decision on my part?  Home schooling one child is challenge enough.  I am just getting into a routine that works for Rebecca and me.  Adding another child into the mix would change everything - like starting from scratch.  I just don't know what to do...

Has It Really Been a Year?

I can't believe it's been nearly a year since my last post.  I am sitting here on the couch, listening to the kids play and considering my New Year's resolutions.  It is December 31, so whatever I come up with needs to start tomorrow. Maybe by listing them here I will be more apt to follow through...

1. Complete Project 365 - Take a photo a day for an entire year
2. Update this blog more regularly - NOT once a year :)
3. Take a photography class to learn how to use ALL the settings on my camera
4. Go on an individual date with each my kids each month
5. Go on a kid-less date with my hubby at least once a month

More to come, but I think it's a pretty good start.

Rebecca and I had the MOST wonderful meeting yesterday with her school!  Since Rebecca qualifies for Special Ed and has an active IEP (Individual Education Plan), the charter school Rebecca is signed up through is required to follow that IEP.  Therefore, they set up a meeting for yesterday.  We met with her Independent Study (IS) teacher, the principal of the school, the head of the resource department, and Rebecca's new resource teacher.  One word to describe this meeting was WOW!!!

First let me tell you about Rebecca's IEP meeting at her previous school.  I met with her teacher, principal, school counselor, resource lead, and in some cases reading specialist.  THEY discussed Rebecca's weaknesses and ways to help her.  As a parent, I am considered a part of the IEP team, but basically my job was to agree with and sign THEIR plan.  Any ideas I came up with were usually shot down due to budget restraints or lack of resources.  I was told to try my ideas at home.  For example, I felt Rebecca would benefit from OT (occupational therapy).  They did not so it was never put down in the plan.  I thought Rebecca should have her tests read to her.  They said that reading was all part of the evaluation process.  I thought she should have her text books on tape.  They said they didn't have them.  THEY were the experts on what Rebecca needed, and I didn't know any better because I had never been involved in an IEP meeting before.  I thought they were doing their best to accommodate to Rebecca's needs.  The end result was that Rebecca would be pulled from class 3 times a week and be put in resource with other kids with special needs.  Those kids were all boys from other grades and most spent a lot of time misbehaving which took time away from learning.  Her IEP also listed that her classroom teacher could make appropriate accommodations in class.  Her teachers were ALWAYS great and they did their best to follow accommodations we came up with together, but with a class of 30 something students, I totally understand how the accommodations were not met all of the time.

The minute our meeting started yesterday, my jaw dropped to the floor.  The first thing they did was turn to Rebecca and ask her to tell them about herself.  They wanted to know her strengths and weaknesses as she knew them.  Then, they asked me my opinion.  I am now the expert on Rebecca, not them!  At that point, they told me that they would be meeting with Rebecca once a week for 1:1 instruction.  They all looked at me and said "what do you want?".  I was speechless!  Rebecca will now be getting OT as well as help in reading, spelling and writing.  They are even going to work on math with her even though she has never been tested for math disabilities (even though she struggles). They accepted her diagnosis of dyslexia and dysgraphia and those who didn't know much about it were open to hearing about it and plan to learn more rather than give me excuses.  

I left the meeting with a big lump in my throat.  The hour I had just spent with them was THE most productive school meeting we have had for Rebecca in 5 years!!!  I should have done this years ago.  I've been thinking about it since 2nd grade, but always wanted to give the school that one more chance.  Our system works fine with the average students.  But not for the struggling students.  It's really sad that public schools can't do more.  I really think home school is the BEST thing for Rebecca.  We made the right decision for sure.

Success!!!

Rebecca took her first spelling test at home this morning. Before starting, we took a few minutes to talk about the spelling rule we were working on and I told her to take her time - feel free to tap out the vowels and finger spell the words she might be confused on.  She did not review the words as I wanted to make sure she understood the rule - not memorized the word.  She got 100%!!!!!!  This is the FIRST time she has EVER gotten 100% on a spelling test!  The look on her face was priceless and it validated my reasons to home school her.  It is a good day!!!

Happy New Year

With this new year comes new ideas, new lessons, new topics, new outings, and new goals.  I can't wait to get started.  Sure, we officially started home school in December, but we took those three weeks to ease into a routine that works for both of us.  Now that I know the direction we need to go, we are ready to get to the books.  All of my curriculum has been ordered.  I'm a bit disappointed, however, that it hasn't arrived before the first official day of school in January but we will make do with what we have until it does.  I need to make everything Rebecca learns multi-sensory.  She learns best by not only using one of her senses, but by using several.  In all honesty, I think I would have learned better this way as well.  It will take a lot of work, but it will make each and every lesson more fun!  For the remaining six months of fourth grade, we will be studying California History which is a fourth grade standard.  What makes learning this unit different in our home as compared to learning in school is that every core subject will be based around California History.  They will all be tied together in one way or another rather than jumping all over the place.  The first thing we will do is make a timeline.  From that, Rebecca will pick the areas she is more interested in learning about.  We'll do reports, experiments, outings, etc on each topic she chooses.  It's going to be a blast!!!  Let the learning begin!