Special Connection Homeschool

It seems to be the cold and flu season around here. Gess has been off and on antibiotics twice this last month, currently it is due to an ear infection. On top of her being ill I have had this chest cold that has taken my voice. I think I am finally getting it back, but needless to say, all this illness makes for challenging school days! I realize that public schools allow sick days and there were a couple of days that we took off, but one thing I love about homeschooling is that there are ways to study while "resting" and not doing "school." That is one reason I have been emphasizing some of the things we do on the computer lately. Between those sites and some educational games like Jumpstart World , Gess is able to "play" on the computer while actually doing some review work. It's also a good time to bring out some educational videos. With Presidents day falling through all of this we managed to find some decent videos to watch about Washingto...

I was recently reminded about a website that was really beneficial in helping my daughter to comprehend vital safety rules. My daughter had a very hard time with boundaries and while she is doing a whole lot better, there are still some important safety guidelines that she has not yet grasped. Her main problem is wandering off. We had to install chain locks and/or alarms on all of our doors ever since she learned how to open them. It seemed very logical to her that if a door can open one must go through it. It has not been until recently that we have been able to leave the doors unlocked without her attempting to go outside. While this particular website does not specifically address staying in the house, it does address staying in the yard as well as street, mall and fire safety too. The Do2Learn website is geared towards supporting special needs learners. It teaches basic life and educational skills by making them into fun, interactive learning games and songs. While there ...

Well, I have been doing my search on how to teach my daughter about her senses. Sure, she can tell you that you use your ears to hear and your eyes to see, etc., because that is how she was taught to respond. However, when you try to use the concepts in real life she gets confused about which sense does what which shows me that while she knows the "answer" she does not yet understand the concept. After much research and many great ideas from fellow homeschoolers I have decided that using food is a great place to start. After all, food is the only thing that allows her to use all of her senses including taste. I mean, she can "see" a dog, she can "feel" it, "hear" it and even "smell" it, but I sure do not want her tasting it! So what we have started doing is making a "life skills" lesson out of meal time preparation. Each day we not only learn to cook and prepare food but we explore each one of our senses while doing i...

One thing my daughter loves to do (like most other kids) is spend time on the computer. One of our favorite websites is Starfall.com . It is a free educational sight that not only teaches reading but the kids really seem to enjoy it. It is geared towards preschool to 2nd grade and is a great tool for learning early reading skills. It helps to teach phonics but can also enhance sight vocabulary as well. The ABC's section is for early reading and it lets you explore your letters and their phonetic sounds. There are great songs for each of the short vowel sounds and for each consonant there is a short activity which explores the letters sound and teaches you some words that start with each letter. Once children know their letters (and even before that) there are stories that you can read. If you click on each word it not only says the word for you, but it sounds it out phonetically, teaching you to do the same. There are lots of other fun activities too. I think it is one of the ...