Special Connection Homeschool

Yesterday we were taking a break from school and I told Gess that after the break we would be doing math and science.  She says, "Math and science!  Then I can be a meteorologist!"  She certainly remembers the words of Doug Heady the meteorologist she interviewed during her KOAM TV tour .  She wanted to know how to become a meteorologist and he said it took lots of math and science.  I think I need to explain to her that he means more than in just one day.  Bless her heart, I wish she was as good at math as she is at science.  It's not that she doesn't try, its just that her mind doesn't quite work that way.  She gets the concepts well enough, but her mind won't let her memorize random facts like she can bible verses and other things.  It's alright though, knowing my Gess she will find a way to make her dream come true!

Today Gess went to the optometrist for her annual check up.  I think it's pretty cool that her appointment corresponded to our study on anatomy (hence the title of this post).  Gess is learning about the human body and while we are currently studying the skeletal system, she loved learning more about her eyes today.  Here she is waiting to see the her eye doctor. She loved doing all the tests and they even photographed her eye (with the help of some software her daddy installed).  She got to see inside of her eyes and how all the nerves looked.  Gess thought that was pretty cool and the doctor said her eyes looked healthy.  Her right eye (the lazy one) is turning in more than ever and she basically refuses to use it at all.  However her left eye has actually improved since her last visit (apparently all that use has strengthened it).  We have ruled out surgery in the past as it would only be cosmetic and not help her vision in any way.  W...

Gesserine is generally well behaved and strives hard to use her manners.  On most any given day she is respectful, courteous, helpful, gentle, and hard working.  While not perfect, she certainly tries her best and most people would say she was a very well behaved little girl.  But occasionally she will have what I call a melt down where she gets very angry and aggressive.  It's scary because she becomes unreasonable and uncontrollable and seems almost like an entirely different person. Parents of children with special needs have probably gone through similar situations and totally understand what I am going through.  I call these episodes "melt downs" rather than "tantrums" because they are not simply born out of disagreements and wanting to get one's way.  These "melt downs" generally do not happen during times you might think of like telling them to do their chores, stop playing a game, or go to bed.  No, they are random and over things that s...

Well we have missed about a week of school.  Gess got bronchitis and after 5 days on antibiotics started getting worse rather than better.  One more trip the doctor got us more antibiotics for a sinus infection as well.  My mother has also been ill and I finally got it myself.  Here is Gess getting her breathing treatment while I was watching some TV in the school room.  How is that for cozy? We did manage to start some school on Tuesday thought it's been a light two days.  We both tire out early.  Right now I am blessed with some great curriculum that is making it easier for me.  Two of them have audio readings of the text which saves both of our voices and one is on the computer which even saves me all the work.  I will be sharing about them soon in my Schoolhouse Reviews , so be watching for them! In the mean time we are slowly getting better and back to full strength.  I pray that all of you are in good health as well.  I...

My Gess is such a trooper.  I know I don't have to tell you that but this week was truly a testament to her courage and character.  Today I was supposed to be leaving on a mission trip.  I was really excited about it and planned on sharing my experience here.  I also wanted to share how involved Gess was, even though she was staying home.  I was to be working at homeless shelter in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.  For the past 19 years our association has participated in this trip and I really thought this year was my year to go.  So last Sunday we had our orientation out of town.  It was about an hour away.  At that meeting we were to deliver the care packages our church had made for those who were homeless.  We also had an amazing woman in our church spend the year making bed mats for the homeless out of recycled plastic bags.  You can see both the care package and a bed mat in the picture below. Gess and my husband accompan...

I want to thank Bethany at Little Homeschool Blessings for nominating me for the Leibster Award. As she explains it: "The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have not yet hit the 200 follower mark. The award is presented by a fellow blogger as a sort of pat on the back "you've got a great thing started" type of award. "Liebster" is German for favorite." The rules 1. List 11 facts about yourself. 2. Answer the 11 questions given to you. 3. Create 11 new questions for the bloggers you nominate for the award. 4. Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or less followers to nominate. 5. Go to each bloggers page and let them know about the award. 6. Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog. My Facts 1.I am a Christian who loves the Lord and serving Him is what I am most passionate about. 2.When I grow up I want to be writer. (OK so I am grown up, but I still have dreams!)  3. I have been married twice...

You can read articles all day about how to teach a subject, what worksheets to use, what hands on activities to include, etc., but what every parent really wants to know is how do we teach our kids to enjoy learning? One thing I try to do is make sure that Gess has plenty of opportunities to succeed in whatever it is she is trying to learn. I think that idea really hit me when I went to a homeschool convention and listened to a speaker discuss it.  (I am sorry I can not remember his name.)  When talking about teaching reading he said that the problem with typical education is that it teaches children to read but fails to teach them to learn to love to read.  Teaching reading should go from learning to read to reading to learn however somewhere in between we need to teach them to learn to love reading so they will want to read to learn.  How then do we do that? One idea that he suggested I put into practice and still utilize today.  It is our reading c...

Therapists used to ask me if Gess had a favorite toy and I always had to answer no.  Every time she had a surgery she could bring a special blanket or stuffed animal and Gess would always pick one out but it was not really something she used all the time.  Then on the day she got her tonsils out our pastor brought her a stuffed horse (or so it was named, it actually looks more like a donkey) and it has become her most favorite thing. Gess had a really rough time after her surgery, even after we got home.  She actually got an infection after the surgery and Gess was really sick.  Horsey became a great comfort to Gess and now she sleeps with him every night and takes him to every major stressful appointment and event.  He has been through many illnesses (and just as many if not more trips through the washing machine).  Here he was helping her through a rough sickness a little over a year ago. While Horsey has been through many times of stress, be assur...

In 2010 Gess and I followed our Daily Bible Reading plan and read the entire New Testament together.  I tried other things the last few years but this year I think I want to begin it again. If you read one chapter out of the New Testament just 5 days a week, you will have read the entire New Testament in one year.  This is something that many adults do not even do, even though it requires very little time and effort.  It's so pleasing to see a child with special needs accomplish it. Before we used Bibleplan.org links and read it using the Readability feature that I had mentioned.  This year however we are using my new Android tablet.  (Well, it's not that new anymore, I got it over the summer.)  This allows us to get the font to a comfortable level for Gess. The version we are using is the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB).  This version is actually FREE on Kindle. The English Standard Version (ESV) is also available for FREE ...

When you have a child with special needs teaching social etiquette can be quite the struggle.  Gess has actually done really well picking up on how to act in certain settings and certain places.  I think she does a fine job in that regard.  We have also been careful to teach her the safety issues of being cautious around strangers, where not to let anyone touch her, and so on and so forth.  What we are missing is the in-between: How to make your own decisions (while being respectful) when someone wants you to do something else.  It's become an issue recently as Gess has become more independent.  There are times when she will be playing with kids who seem to want to control everything about her.  If Gess says no to something they try to compel her to change her mind and usually Gess gives in.  (This even got her in trouble one time as she was compelled to do something she was told not to do.) Now I am not saying that these children are taking adv...

After posting yesterday about Gess' little made up riddle Why did the chicken become a meteorologist , I decided to see if I could find some free joke eBooks to help enhance her joke repertoire.   I thought I might as well share the finds with all of you. Keep in mind these two things: 1.  I have not read these yet and do not know how appropriate or good they may be. 2. Free today does not mean they will be free tomorrow, so keep that in mind if you are reading this later.  However they may be free for a week, a month, who knows!  It certainly doesn't hurt to check and besides, some of the usual prices are as low as .99 anyway!  Just click on the book to download them from Amazon.

This last year Gess started enjoying riddles.  I believe it started when  we reviewed K-5 Learning because there was always a new riddle on their start page everyday.  Anyway, since she isn't really well versed in riddles she tends to focus on two very famous ones.  The knock-knock jokes and the why did the chicken cross the road ones.  Of course she tires of the same old answers, so lately she has gotten creative with them.  This morning she had a new one which those of you who are familiar with her fascination with weather and meteorology will appreciate.  So here was our conversation in the car this morning. Gess:  "Why did the chicken become a meteorologist?" Me:  "I don't know, why did the chicken become a meteorologist?" Gess:  "Because the chicken had lots and lots of school!" Well, when Gess took the tour of  the KOAM studio for our Weather on the Move review that's what Doug Heady said you needed to be a meteorolo...

It's that time of year where we all take one last look back before we embrace the new year before us.  As I did this myself in preparation for this Blog Cruise I could not help but notice that this was a pretty significant year for Gess. There were actually significant events for all my children.  Last February my oldest son became a father making me a grandma and Gess an aunt!  At first Gess didn't know what to do with the baby, but she learned quickly. Here she is holding Ema for the first time. And here is daddy learning how tiring it is to take care of a baby! 2013 will bring them another significant event as well.  We found out that mommy is pregnant again and due July 28! Gess' other brother, as you all know from a previous post My Brother Tim , graduated from Community College with honors in both music and theatre.  Gess got to attend his graduation. Then later we got to travel to see him on campus at his new college.  Here she is...