Special Connection Homeschool

We had our first of two Special Olympic events this year.  While Gess qualifies for state, due to scheduling conflicts we probably won't go.  Here are pics from April 16, 2014. Waiting for the events to begin. Gess ran in the 50m Dash and the 100m Dash.  Look at her determination to run hard.  She took 4th place in the 50m and 6th out of 7 in the 100m. Here she was taking a break after a hard run. In the ball throw Gess took 6th place as well.  This was her first year throwing a soft ball.  She used to throw the tennis ball.  I am sure her arm will strengthen. Her best event was the standing long jump where she took the silver. Here she is adorning all her awards for the day. It was very windy which made it awfully chilly.  We took cover under our hoods to warm up. Here is her smile as she boarded the bus for the ride home.  I think she had a great day.

  I am the ladies mission director at our local church and one thing I really try to do is get everyone excited about missions, and that includes the children.  I am always taking opportunities to share mission stories and opportunities for service with the kids we work with at church.  You never know how many of them may be our next generation of missionaries and giving them an opportunity to feel that call early in their life can be important.  So, when I saw that I had the opportunity to review The Brinkman Adventures Season 2: Episodes 13-24 ,  I was eager to do it. The Brinkman Adventures  is an audio drama series where you learn about real life missionaries through the adventures of a large and somewhat fictional family.  Each episode is based upon real life events and missionaries.  The names of some of the people and places have been changed, while other times they use the real name.  There are even times when the actual miss...

Now that spring is here there is much work to be done.  My husband actually helps to mow at the church and to start the season off Gess and I decided to help him.  It takes several hours to do.  At first Gess played while we both mowed. When I finished my part I took a break and played too. While we played, daddy continued to work. When he was about finished Gess and I went around picking up any trash left on the grounds. I just love my little helper.  Well, maybe she isn't so little anymore. It was such a gorgeous day!  I can hardly believe that three days later it was snowing! I so want spring to come and stay!

My daughter Gesserine has Down syndrome and math is the subject we struggle with the most. I have found that she is much more receptive to doing it on the computer rather than in a workbook, but finding a good program for that can be difficult. Then one month during my monthly homeschool mom's night out I had a friend tell us about CTC Math and how wonderful it was. I went home and began to look into it only to find out I was about to get the opportunity to review it! I was eager to see if this was going to work well with my Gess. I was given the 12 Month Family Plan for the purpose of my review. CTC Math is an online math program for grades K-12 grade. This can be used as a full curriculum, at least for the elementary grade levels which is what I used it for, but it can also be used as a supplement to enhance any other program you may be using. The nice part about the family plan is that the price includes all the students in your family. CTC Math is also not com...

My latest review of the Home School Adventure Co. has been a spiritually challenging, yet fulfilling personal adventure for me.  I was given the PDF version of Philippians in 28 Weeks and I am beginning week 7 as I post this entry today.  What you need to know is that  Philippians in 28 Weeks  is not merely a study of the book of Philippians that is completed within 28 weeks.  No my friends, the point of this study is to memorize the entire book of Philippians in 28 weeks! Philippians in 28 Weeks  can be used with ages 9 through high school as a read along or with teacher guidance depending on where you feel your student is.  High Schoolers can use this by themselves.  Adults will also benefit greatly from it as I surely have done.  Because my 12 year old daughter has special needs and had a month long battle with bronchitis as I started I chose to not have her participate with me yet, except for reading through the Scripture togethe...

We are loved Reading Eggs when Gess was little and still use the upper levels titled Reading Eggspress for keeping up on her reading and comprehension.  Now they have an animated series The Eggsperts and for a limited time you can view it for FREE!  To learn more about Reading Eggs visit their website or read my Reading Eggs Review .  In the meantime, enjoy these episodes for FREE while the offer lasts!

We don't really do the Easter Bunny, but have colored eggs and and made baskets to give Gess a hands on lesson on traditions that people do for certain holidays.  She never really got a surprise basket and knew that we hid the eggs that she colored.  It was fun and she has enjoyed it.  She also understood what all those people meant when they asked her questions people always ask young kids about Easter.  Now that she is almost a teenager we have decided to continue making the eggs and baskets for others, instead of for herself.  This year we made a basket for each of my grandchildren. My mom is going through some medical issues which is keeping me busy and preoccupied so to make the coloring easier for me and more independent for Gess I picked up some clear plastic eggs from Hobby Lobby and gave Gess some paint and brushes and let her go to town. Then we stuffed them with candy, threw in a few glowing eggs from Egglo  (with the verses inside), a cou...

Gess has had trouble riding a traditional bicycle.  She just doesn't seem to have the core strength or coordination to pedal, steer, and keep the bike steady.  Training wheels helped some but she really tried to lean on them too much, especially when she got tired.  My husband was attempting to make a recumbent bike for her but it was a tedious task with the materials he had access to and our budget simply didn't allow for us to buy one. Then God surprised us with the neatest hand-me down gift ever!  Some dear friends at church blessed us with this large tricycle. The seat was a little worn but her daddy crafted her a new one and it was good to go.  Now she can pedal and steer without trying to also balance her body!  She will still have to work on her stamina as she tires after a short ride, but she can ride!  I am so happy!  Thank you Lord and thank you friends for giving us this new toy!

My daughter Gess is a very curious little girl.  The fact that she has special needs makes me even more thrilled that she is always asking questions and trying to figure things out.  It sure makes it easier for me to teach her.  Lately she has been curious about the food that we eat.  We will be eating something and she will ask, "where did that come from?"  We then have the joy of explaining the method of how we get our food.  When its a fruit or vegetable that is fun.  When its meat, well, we try to be as accurate as possible without spoiling her dinner.  So when I saw that I had the opportunity to review some DVDs titled Curiosity Quest I knew that would be right up Gesserine's alley.  I was even more thrilled when some of them pertained to food! For the purpose of my review I recieved the following DVDs from Curiosity Quest : DVD Combo Pack - Produce  - Mushrooms, Orange Packing, Cranberries DVD Combo Pack - Swimmers of the S...