Why I Think You Are Enough To Homeschool Your Special Needs Children

James studying Life of Fred

I LOVE reading other people's blog posts and insights on homeschooling!  It is always interesting to see different people's perspectives. One item that recently got my attention is a post by Pam Barnhill titled "Dear Self: Why you stink at homeschool consistency." I wanted to post my thoughts on this as a mom that homeschools her VERY differently-abled children.

In her article she says:

Homeschooling won’t work unless you do it consistently. As in most days. As in not taking off more unplanned days in a year than your husband would be expected to take from his job.

Go ahead — count up his paid time off — that’s your grace period for the school year (not counting your holidays and planned time off). Anything more than that you can consider “excessive.” Hey, I promised you tough love.

I have to say I don't agree with this.  First off, I am an unschooler; well, kinda. I look at my children and ask them what they want to study.  Knowing them, their interests, and learning issues I select a few different curriculum for them to try and test-drive. They have the final selection. I want to give them control over what they are learning since I OFTEN feel like I am not doing enough!  I mean, there are three of them with learning difficulties and just one of me. In the end, I had to remind myself of a few simple facts.

1. If the kids were on homebound from a public school the school would only offer 4 hours a week of instruction (one hour a day, Monday through Thursday). If you question the school on this, their justification is, that direct instruction is MORE EFFECTIVE than classroom instruction. 
2. Even a public school only completes 180 days of instruction per year. Why do I feel compelled to do more?

Now, for the record, I will address item two first; I tend to homeschool some over the weekends and all throughout the year. Do I keep track of the days or hours? No, in my state we are not required. I homeschool this way for the children so they do not forget the information (got two with memory issues). I do keep a record book on what we have covered, but it for my records. 

For item one, dang, it took me awhile to come to grips I was enough to educate my children! I remind myself the public school thinks one hour a day, four days a week is enough, AND I KNOW I provide more direct instruction to my children each week per child!  Does it feel like enough, no; but,  in reality I know it is. How?  When I had to enroll my children into public school last year to qualify for money from my state to homeschool my children were tested. ALL the teachers and administrators were IMPRESSED by the amount of knowledge my children had for their learning difficulties. That, that right there, let me know I was on the right tract. Do you know how often I directly teach my children? About an hour a day, 5 to 6 days a week, and they are learning!  They spend about another hour or so a day, on their own, reading or playing educational games. That is all I homeschool in a day!  Will that always be enough learning for them? I doubt it, but it does work for us to at least fourth grade. 

Then Pam goes on to discuss a few main points:

You lack good morning habits

• Okay, I think there is a point here. It is good to have a habit or routine. I do have a schedule for my children but in that schedule there is free time, outside play time, and time to hang out with their parents besides meal times.

You don’t treat your homeschooling as a job

• This I am GLAD about!  I mean my job was STRESSFUL!  I do not want to approach homeschooling with the same feelings of stress I felt for my job. I also want homeschooling to bring me joy.  I don't know about you, but I did not have a lot of joy going on in my job. I want homeschooling to be as fun as possible, for both me and my children, while still engaging them in learning. Do watch that you are homeschooling more days than not but I can't begin to tell you how much learning we can manage in the car or in a doctor's office! I have the kids chant times tables in the long car rides or practice their American Sign Language in the doctor's office. Learning CAN be done on the go!

You are ruled by perfectionism

• Bawhahaha!  I WAS ruled by perfection, but the quads have beaten it out of me!  LOL  No, really, I was a VERY perfectionistic person and wanted to have everything in a certain way/spot. I still have some issues with that. Heck, I was just telling my husband I wanted my own tool bag so I can have my own tools in it. I want to know where the tools are, and that I can ONLY get mad at myself if I have something missing. Silly? A bit; however, it would make me happy. I feel this way about homeschooling sometimes too.  I NEED something to get a lesson done (usually these are ingredients for a chemistry experiment) and if I can't get what I need then I WON'T get the lesson completed. After awhile I figured out, if I do not have what I need, I can look for the experiment on YouTube. Did you know there are a TON of videos on there showing a vast array of chemical reactions???  There is no need for me NOT to do the lesson. We can watch the video.  Is it as fun, no; however, we still get the lesson covered and this tired mom can hit the store over the weekend and pick up what I'm missing.  I guess what I am saying is: Where there is a will, there is a way!

You don’t have a plan

• I should mention here, I rarely have a firm plan. I mean I schedule out our time, but it is something like this:
• 8am - Get up and Get Ready
• 8:30am - Eat breakfast
• 9:00am - Life of Fred
• 10:00am - Occupational Therapy
• 11:00am - CodaKid
• 12:00pm - Fix and Eat Lunch (follow by free time)
• 2:00pm - Grammaropolis
• 3:00pm Science
• 4:00pm Outside Play
• 5:00pm - Tutor (along with free time)
• 6:15pm - Dinner
• 8:00pm - Get Ready for Bed
• 8:30pm Daddy Time (He reads, play a game, or covers History for me)
• 9:00pm - Bedtime!
• The schedule above is James's schedule for today. You see we cover some subjects, have some free time, have some play time, and some time with Daddy. Notice Science is general because I have not completely decided what we are going to cover. I ask James what he wants to cover or investigate in science and we study his topic of interest. In my state there is a homeschool requirement that we teach Reading, English, Science, Social Studies, and Math. There is nothing in the law stating how much time I have to spend on each topic, what topics we are studying each day, nor do I have to meet the educational requirements for my son's grade (he is basically in fourth grade). So I tend to study the things the kids want and in the order they want to cover them. I just make sure we cover each of the five subjects required by the law each week. Simple! I write the things we study (even Life Skills, YouTube videos, and educational apps) in my planner for each child. According to my state law there is no need to keep a record, but I do anyways, so we can look back and see what we have accomplished in a year.  Homeschooling, is often, only as complicated as you make it. Keep it simple on yourself and your children!

You’re trying to do it alone

• This is the closing point of Pam's article. I completely agree with her!  It is SO hard to homeschool your children without someone to bounce ideas off of when you get stuck! Teachers have each other in the public school system and they get professional development. What do we get?  Maybe a homeschool conference and Pinterest (which is sometimes hard to live up to!) for our professional development! Not in the same league at all!  The best things I can tell you to do is to network with other homeschooling parents. Hopefully this means you can find yourself a local buddy. Having another harried mom you can visit ,and have some caffeine with, is super nice!  I'm still working on finding a local buddy. I do network with large homeschool groups. This includes a few local groups I created along with a few larger groups on Facebook. The best one I like is Special Needs Homeschool. It is a large group and many of the parents in there are happy to help point you in the direction. If you need to help with curriculum choices or just to help you figure out your homeschooling style (I'm eclectic or modified unschooling) Special Needs Homeschool will help you out. There are a few Facebook pages I really like including: Eclectic Homeschooling, Homeschooling/Unschooling, Practical Homeschooling, Homeschool Snark, and SEA Homeschoolers. These are a suggestion just to get you started!  Keep looking for more resources that fit your needs!
  
  I would love to hear you opinion and I hope you found this post helpful. 

Feeling Recharged For Homeschooling!

Photo credit: Homeschool-Life.com

My blog has been slow since I have been working on many things including my children being in a public school online.  Once we got done spending our time in public school online to qualify the Empowerment Scholarship I think we all needed a break!  So we took a break and just relaxed for a bit.  Now that July is upon me, my thoughts are back to homeschooling, and what we are going to do this school year.  This year I was able to attend my local homeschool convention.  I must say, if you have never gone to one, GO!  I feel recharged and full of some good ideas to help my children!  What a great way to feel to start the next academic phase of my children's education!

I was able to attend several workshops at the Arizona Families for Home Education (AHFE) convention. There were some that I thought were a real stand out and I wanted to share with you some of the ideas I learned. One of the workshops I liked was Monica Irvine's discussion on scheduling.  Having multiples we live, and died, by the schedule from the time we brought the children home until they were five and I went back to work for awhile.  I have tried to make a schedule once or twice before but we did not stick to it.  This year, since I have the addition of ESA money, it is vitally important to make a schedule and stick with it.  A schedule will be the only way we can time manage our day with therapy and the schooling that needs to be completed.  The second, and truly most important thing I learned, is to make sure I schedule some fun time in with the children.  I often forget that the kids need some time to just have fun with me versus being the person always making them do the not so fun things in life (grooming, cleaning, and school).  I will be putting game/fun time with mom into our schedule this year so that will be my commitment to them!

The workshop by Heather Haupt discussed why movement helps the brain to form neural connections.  I have experience this first hand!  The way I got Margaret to learn spelling words was to make a cheer out of them.  Joseph likes to march to the letters or drum.  He LOVES drumming ALL OVER EVERYTHING!  LOL  So he taps out a beat on the table as the learns his words.  Now I know why this is an effective teaching technique for them and I need to work on incorporating more movement into their lessons.

Beth Mora gave a great presentation on how to develop an educational plan for children with ADHD, Dyslexia, and Dysgraphia.  Honestly though, her S.O.A.P. method is great for any child with a disability or not.  She explains we need to study our children.  We need to understand their quirks, when they learn best, how they learn best, their love language, and to put all the information into a notebook.  By doing this we can remind ourselves WHY we are homeschooling in those tough moments and HOW we can help our children best by using their love language.  She covered a lot more but her lecture notes can be delivered to your email box by simply clicking on her name.  I hyperlinked all the speakers to their website.

Overall, I really enjoyed the convention.  There was a lot of great moments, I got to meet a lot of great parents, and I am looking forward to the next convention in October for special needs and gifted students.  I am hoping I can get a speaking engagement there so I can discuss the Empowerment Scholarship, the law, how to advocate for your children with their doctors/therapists, how to interpret testing in IEPs or testing completed by neuropsychologists or psychologists for the homeschool environment, how to teach multiple disabled children at one time, and how to fit therapy and everything else into your day.  I know I would be happy to share what I have learned homeschooling my children since they have been old enough to sit up in a high chair.  I have learned a lot over the last ten years and would love to share!

The Fun (NOT!) Of Online Public School for Special Needs Children

Image from EducationNews.org

It has been awhile since I was last able to post.  So many things have happened with the online public school my children were attending.   I will explain the challenges I have seen in having children with special needs trying to complete an online public education.

One of the first problems that comes to mind is: Do the online public schools realize they MUST follow IDEA? Right before Christmas break I was able to get the IEPs for the children completed with the school.  As a parent who has not had their children in online public school before I did not really understand the 2 tiers of service offered by the school. There was no real continuum of service at the school.  You either get A or B; there is no other choice!

James was placed in Tier A.  There he was expected to attend two online classes a day and still carry the load of online lessons.  This was not what I was initially told. I was told he would no the classes and the lesson would be completed in the class.  Nope.  Margaret was placed in Tier A for English and Tier B for Math. The common core math concepts taught (base 10, confusing work problems, and multiple ways shown to solve a problem were confusing) were WAY over Margaret's head.  She was not learning anything.  Her dyscalculia is quite severe.  :(  Joseph was placed in Tier B.  The pace there was WAY behind and WAY too slow!  Joseph would never learn much information of quality and he would never have caught up (or had a chance to catch up) with the pace he was being taught.

The biggest issue I had with the school was the expectation I was to drive all the children to their various therapies AND get them back in time to make it to their online classes.  One therapy for Joseph was 45 minutes away, one way, for a 45 minute therapy.  I complained to the school and was told they would only reimburse me for part of my travel expenses.  Nope, that is wrong!  Via IDEA, there is regulations on how much I would be reimbursed (think IRS mileage expense). Anyways, it was either fight the system to get therapists to come to my home OR pull the children from the school.  So I pulled the children.

In Arizona we have the Empowerment Scholarship.  This gives me the money the state would pay a school to educate the children and I get to decided (within limits) how to spend the money.  This will allow me to pick how the children will be taught, get them tutors, aides, and other help.  I am quite excited about the prospect and so are the children!

Ideas for Homeschooling a Preschooler or Kindergartener

Photo Credit: https://onlinestudyaustralia.com

Three to six is so young! The name of the game is to keep it fun and simple.  Here is what I suggest for preschool and Kindergarten activities.

Below are some links for pre-writing activity worksheets, information on pencil grips, scissor skills, crossing mid-line activities, and hand strengthening exercises. Maybe do one per day. It depends on your child but the hand strength and hand-eye (visual motor) coordination needs to be there or a lot of one-on-one help will be required. If you are concerned about handwriting talk to your Occupational Therapist. They should be able to help with hand strength, grip, and/or special tools to help handwriting.


http://www.kidzone.ws/prek_wrksht/dynamic.htm

https://www.pinterest.com/elmorekt/ot-kids-pre-writing/

http://teachingmama.org/prewriting-activities-for-preschoolers/

https://childdevelopment.com.au/areas-of-concern/writing/writing-readiness-pre-writing-skills/

https://www.yourkidsot.com/blog/should-i-get-a-pencil-grip

http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/scissor_skills.htm

https://www.myteachingstation.com/worksheets/kindergarten/scissor-skills

http://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/activities-for-crossing-the-midline.html

https://www.growinghandsonkids.com/crossing-midline-exercises-for-kids.html

https://theinspiredtreehouse.com/hand-strength-35-fun-activities-for-kids/

Work on colors and numbers. This can be done by watching TV shows like Team Umizoomi, Blues Clues, Peg + Cat, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, Super Why, Word World, Veggie Tales and other educational shows. I HIGHLY recommend letting them watch TV IF it's educational. We use PBS and stream TV. To stream TV you can use a laptop connected to your TV via HDMI cable, have a smart TV, or use a device like a ROKU. We use ROKU and have for about 10 years. Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon have a TON of appropriate kid programming with little to no commercials. YouTube can be good source also but you have to monitor it. There is a KidsTube app that's more appropriate for private viewing.


https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/youtube-kids/id936971630?mt=8

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.youtube.kids&hl=en

There are songs for learning....
This is a good site for ANY teaching song.
http://www.songsforteaching.com/preschoolkindergarten.htm

https://www.pinterest.com/explore/preschool-songs/

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/preschool_kindergarten_videos.html

Apps

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/lists/best-preschool-apps

http://coolmomtech.com/2014/08/best-educational-apps-for-preschoolers-back-to-school-tech-guide-2014/

http://www.icanteachmychild.com/the-10-best-iphoneipad-apps-for-preschoolers/

Therapy apps

http://nspt4kids.com/parenting/our-10-favorite-speech-and-language-apps-for-kids/

http://www.smartappsforkids.com/2013/08/top-free-apps-for-language-therapy.html

https://www.webpt.com/blog/post/ipad-and-tablet-apps-pediatric-occupational-therapist

https://www.pinterest.com/rarollston/ot-therapy-apps/

http://www.aota.org/practice/manage/apps.aspx

http://dexteria.net/

https://www.webpt.com/physical-therapy-apps

https://www.pinterest.com/lasenders/gross-motorptpe-apps/

For PE/physical therapy we use this YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

I hope this gives you some ideas. More likely than not special needs kids will needs LOTS of repetition to be able to acquire new information and to shift it to long term memory for storage. The name of the game is to switch stuff up, keep it fun, and to teach them without them knowing. I hope this has been a help. Please leave comments below. Thanks!

Caroline's Carts Are Coming to Krogers! Ask Now!

Photo courtsy of al.com

I cannot say how thrilled I am for Caroline's Cart! Being a Bama girl myself I am proud of the founder of Caroline's Cart, Mrs. Drew Ann Long!  Good for you for having an idea, pushing and marketing it and now she is finally getting orders pouring in!

I have been a big fan of Caroline's cart for almost two years now.  On October 21, 2012 I sent a letter to Krogers asking they carry Caroline's Cart.  Having disabled children including one child that has a great difficulty walking I wanted to see these carts in my local store.  So I wrote a letter to Krogers...

(Sorry for any formatting issues...hard to copy over from my email account!)

From: Michelle Harris [mailto:murigheal72@yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2012 11:56 PM
To: Goosman, Gregory M
Subject: Caroline's Cart

I have been a customer of the Kroger's corporation for the last 20 years. Everywhere I have lived and traveled I have shopped at Krogers (Kroger's, Smith's and Fry's). We currently live in Gilbert, AZ.

Though the Fry's on 714 South Val Vista Drive , Gilbert, AZ 85296 is one of the most convenient to stop at there are several choices such as:

855 West Warner Road, Gilbert, AZ

3751 East Baseline Road, Gilbert, AZ

Each of these store I am a potential customer depending on what I am doing and where I am going at the time. I am sure I am not the only woman with a disabled child whom I take shopping. I have surviving quadruplets. One of my children is several delayed including mental delayed. It is nice to have a cart where he can fit and I am not having to try and contort him to fit into the child seat or let him roam in the basket part of the cart. Please consider purchasing Caroline's Carts for your stores in my area!

You can read more about my surviving quadruplets at:
http://mommax6.blogspot.com/
I am the first listing when searching surviving quadruplets on Google.

Here is one of your customers, my son, Joseph.
(I inserted a picture here)
Sincerely,
Michelle H.

After all this time I never thought I would hear a reply.  Imagine my surprise when I got an email from Mr. Goosman the day before Valentines!  I shared this news on Valentine's Day with Caroline's Cart site on Facebook...

From: "Goosman, Gregory M"
To: Michelle Harris
Sent: Thursday, February 13, 2014 2:14 PM
Subject: RE: Caroline's Cart

Michelle,
We now have this set-up in the Kroger order system, please ask that your store manager order this line item from the Technibilt Company for your store. They can order through the Kroger Facilities Group in their Division. Here is the information to use when asking. This is now approved by Kroger and will be able to help you out.

Supplier: TECHNIBILT LTD Supplier Part #: CC20.7Z.3BLU.CAROLINES Kroger Item #: K-0044999 SPECIAL NEEDS CART MODEL CC20.7Z.BLU. CAROLINES CART Any further questions, the store manager can call me…………..sorry for the delay. Greg Goosman 513-762-4497 Thanks Kroger and your multitude of chains!  This was the best Valentine's Day gift EVER!!! http://youtu.be/7HTt9fx5WPE

Autism: What to Say to Another Mom

On Facebook there was a request from Parenting Magazine on what would YOU tell another mother about autism.  That is a great question!  Depends.  What I want to say to people who have a neurotypical (NT) child...

• The signs of Autism are not always obvious.  That child that is being rude, starting, saying inappropriate things in public, or having a tantrum.  Instead of looking at the parent or child with contempt during inappropriate behavior either PLEASE ignore the situation or ask if you could be of help.  The LAST thing needed is advice!  I promise, I most likely have heard it ALL!
• Please do not talk about my child negatively in front of me and more importantly in front of them!  If you want to see me hostile and on the defensive this is the fastest way to make it happen!
• Do not argue with me when I tell you my child has special needs.  I have been surprised by people telling me they do not see how one of my children could be considered autistic.  I am happy you feel that way but you are not a doctor.  Also keep in mind ALL the years of therapy and other things I have done to and for my child to help them get to the point they are today! 

To the moms with Autistic or other Special Needs...

• Do not doubt yourself!  I did not listen to my "motherly instinct" for over a year because I have others (spouse and doctors) telling me not to worry.  I kept hearing over and over again one excuse after another on why my children were behind or showing odd behaviors.  It pains me to think of the time I lost in the first few years of their life all because I did not listen to my instincts and push harder for answers.
• PLEASE network with other special needs parents! They WILL be one of your GREATEST resources!
• Where do you find the special needs parent?  You  Google!  Google keywords such as parent support autism.  You may even get specific and add in your city to find local groups.  Call ANYONE you can and keep asking what and where are the local groups.  You WILL find someone!  Promise!

I am sure there are TONS of things I am leaving out at the moment but this is a start.  As I think of more things I will add it to the list!

Caroline's Carts Might Be Coming To Your Local Store IF YOU Speak Out!

Photo Credit: Carolinescart.com

Have you heard of Caroline's Cart?  It is a WONDERFUL idea invented by a mother of a special needs child.  The cart is equipped with a seat in the basket meant for a child/small adult with special needs.  The cart has:

• Handles that swing back to provide access to the seat
• Five degree tilt for those with low muscle tone
• Seat faces caregiver for eye contact
• Platform under the seat for a comfortable footrest
• Abductor in the seat to help keep the child upright
• Harness to help secure the child
• Plenty of room in the cargo area of the cart for shopping

Currently Kroger's (Also known as Smith's, Fry's and MANY other names) is considering purchasing several Caroline's Carts and placing them in their stores.  I think this is a WONDERFUL idea but YOUR help is needed!  Please write to greg.goosman@kroger.com (and copy Caroline's Cart at info@carolinescart.com). Greg is the buyer and has been very interested in the Carts! He said he needs to hear from their customers that want the cart! So PLEASE email!!!

News Bits

Photo Credit:  realfoodforager.com

Autism may be an autoimmune problem.  In an Opinion piece from the New York Times titled An Immune Disorder at the Root of Autism.  Moises Velasquez-Manoff believes that 1/3 (or more) of cases of autism look like a type of inflammatory disease.  She believes it starts in the womb. In a Denmark study woman who were hospitalized for a viral infection during the first trimester tripled their odds of having a child with autism. A bacterial infection during the second semester increases the changes by 40 percent.  It is not viral or bacterial infections causing the problem but the inflammatory response of the mother's body. Autoimmune disorders also increase the risk.  Mothers with rheumatiod arthritis have an 80 percent chance of having a child with autism and women with celiac disease increase their risk by 350 percent!  The rise in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases is the reason Velasquez-Manoff believes there has been a rise in autism over the last 60 years.  What I found interesting is the cause for the rise of autoimmune and inflammatory disorders Velasquez-Manoff proposes.  What an interesting article!
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An article published yesterday in Molecular Psychiatry titled Predicting the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder using gene pathway analysis has gotten some people really excited.  The researchers claim to have found a genetic test that can accurately predict the likelihood of a person having autism spectrum disorder (ASD) 71 percent of the time in Central European subjects.  The test involves the use of 237 single -nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs)  in 146 genes.  The test is less accurate with other ethnic groups but over time the researchers are hoping to improve the accuracy.  A reader friendly version of the article can be found HERE.
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Amy Becker recently published an article titled We Didn't Run Away.  At first when I started to read the article I was dismayed.  I was upset because when she found out she was having a child with Down's Syndrome she was devastated.  I know it is all about perspective.  I understand the shock of having a child and realizing that the child you were dreaming about is never going to happen.  It is a hard pill to swallow at first. There are worse things that could happen though.  She could have lost her child like I did my dear Martha.  No, I do not wish that to happen to anyone.  The pain and guilt is devastating!  It is only an example on how things could have been worse. Another thing is to have a child that is low functioning (severe intellectual and developmental delay) .

While waiting at the neurologist's office one day I saw a fully grown man wheeled in by his elderly parents.  The parent's spent time trying to talk to their son but he was rather unresponsive except for the few grunts he made.  While sitting there I saw them wipe drool off his chin several times.  It made me realize that things could be worse.  That Joseph, the "sickest" of my children, could be MUCH worse off than he is and I was very grateful for the child I had.  

I was talking to a friend recently.  He knows about my troubles and that I am potentially facing homelessness with my children.  He asked how I am doing.  I told him fine under the circumstances.  He said, "Things can't get much worse can they?"  I said, "In my experience things can ALWAYS get worse.  I never say it can't get any worse because it will.  I have been lucky because so far I am still alive. If I die then things would definitely be worse!"  LOL   To me death is the ultimate worse thing to happen to someone!  If I am still breathing then I can make it though to the other side of what ever I am struggling with and things will be better.  The same is true for special needs children.  You never say it's a bad thing to be the parent of a special needs child.  You spend a moment to mourn the loss of your dream child and then celebrate the child and life you have been given.  As the sign says, "You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it!" My children are a blessing to me because I have learned a lot from them!  At the end of Becker's story she found this to be true too.
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There are a couple of there things I found interesting today but I will save them for tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed the news bits!