Special Connection Homeschool

Here is a great tool to help homeschoolers start off the new year, the always FREE digital edition of the The Old Schoolhouse Magazine .  Check out the current edition by clicking on the cover below! You can also get The Old Schoolhouse To Go by downloading their FREE app available for Iphone, Android, Kindle Fire and Nook!

I finally started a Facebook page for my blog.  I will share my blog posts there as well as other great resources for both homeschooling and special needs.  If you are on Facebook, please consider joining us!   https://www.facebook.com/specialconnectionhomeschool  

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine digital issue is FREE.  Here is the link to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine September/October Issue .  Enjoy!

Special Needs Homeschool shared the greatest resource on Facebook the other day so I wanted to share it with you.  It's called Visual Fractions .  It helps you visually identify, rename, compare, add, subtract, multiply and divide fractions.  I know this will be a great tool for Gess!

I have been "officially" homeschooling Gess who has Down syndrome for almost 6 years now.  She is technically in the 5th grade although her skill level may vary in certain subjects.  I remember when she was born how we struggled with whether or not we could actually homeschool because of her special needs and I am here to tell you, yes you can ! I felt all alone when I first started.  Living in a small town I found that our homeschool support group was already small and there were not any other parents who had a child with special needs. I am also involved in a Down syndrome support group but none of those moms were homeschooling.  It is frightening to think you are doing this alone, especially since you don't know what to expect.  I had never homeschooled at all before so finding out that the child I intended to homeschool also had special needs made me really reconsider my options. One of the major factors that changed my perspective was hearing the horr...

123Homeschool4Me is offering a set of FREE homeschool annual organization forms which includes: Withdraw from Public School Letter Intent to Homeschool Form Daily Schedule Curriculum Planning Field trip Planning Extra Curricular Activities Planning Weekly, Bi-Weekly, and Monthly Lesson Planners Preschool / FIAR Planning Sheet Annual Attendance Sheet K12 Grades Tracker Follow the link above to find these FREE homeschooling forms to help you get organized.

Here is this month's FREE  June issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine , an excellent resource for homeschoolers. Enjoy!

I am just super excited to tell you about the latest product I reviewed for the Schoolhouse Review Crew - Simplified Pantry .  It is not actually a homeschooling product, but rather something that every family can benefit from.  I grew up in a home where both parents worked and we ate a lot of fast food for dinner. I never really learned many cooking skills and so I always had to cook by following recipes.  Every week I planned my shopping list by the menu I prepared for that week and I would buy only the ingredients for those meals.  That of course always had me running back to the store several times because I would either forget something or have a change of plans.  Many times it meant eating out because if one of the meals didn't work out I had nothing ready to fall back on.  To help put an end to all this needless planning and preparation, not to mention the waste for all those "special" ingredients you buy that are only used once, Mystie Winkler ca...

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine has just announced a new and really handy resource, The Schoolhouse Library .  This library for homeschoolers lets you have access to all of it's listings right from your home!  The library consists of over 175 e-books or audio books in 25 categories from many different publishers.  You get access to all of these for a one time payment of $25! Be sure to hop on over to the The Schoolhouse Library website to see some of the listings that are available and find how you can sign up.  For a one time payment, that's a fabulous deal!

Gess has a true thirst for knowledge.  I know this because she is constantly asking about things she does not understand.  If we say a word and she doesn't know what it is she immediately responds with "what's that mean?"   Gess is also a very visual learner so explaining things to her using graphics is extremely helpful as well so when I found this cool FREE resource I had to bookmark it. Here is a link to the Visual Mathematics Dictionary which, as its name implies uses visual references for many of the definitions.  You can sort the lists by K-2, 3-5, 6-8 or K-12.  Here is one example of how the definition will read.  I do wish the font was larger so it was easier for Gess to read the answer but she can certainly see how it works. If you need a little help with math vocabulary you might want to keep the Visual Mathematics Dictionary handy.

Here is this month's FREE digital issue of the The Old Schoolhouse Magazine (May 2013) .  This is an excellent resource for Homeschoolers!

Here is the FREE digital April Issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine .  Enjoy!

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine is published monthly and is now always FREE.  Here is the link to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine March 2013 Issue .  Enjoy!

Did you happen to see the Transit of Venus last night?  "A transit of Venus occurs when Venus passes directly between the sun and earth.  This alignment is rare, coming in pairs that are eight years apart but separated by over a century.  The most recent transit of Venus was a thrilling sight in 2004.  After the June 2012 transit of Venus (the last one in your lifetime), the next such alignment occurs in 2117."  When my husband found out this was happening he searched it online and found this really cool website called SLOOH which hosts live feeds of telescopes around the globe so that anyone can log in and see them.  They even offer memberships which allows you to do some of your own space exploration with these telescopes.  Well last night SLOOH hosted a live event where people gathered over the net and watched the telescopes as Venus took it's course past the sun.  Now, it did take about 6 hours to complete it's transit.  The ...

I am so excited to share that I am on the TOS Review Crew again this year.  The Review Crew year (which now runs from January to December rather than from June to May) is actually just getting under way but will only run until December.  This means we will actually be doing some reviews over the summer and so far I am just as impressed with the products this year as I was last! The TOS Review Crew has also made some major changes to the look of the website among other things.  You should check it out.  It really is a great site to find information on some of the best homeschool resources out there. To see all the new changes and have access to these resources just click on the banner below. And remember watch for my blogs titled TOS Review to learn how some of the products are used in our home and work specifically well with special needs interests in mind! Happy Sailing!

We Choose Virtues! That's right, we are excited about making good choices because We Choose Virtues has helped make learning virtues positive, rewarding and fun. We Choose Virtues takes a different approach to character development in children. Instead of focusing on discipline and the negative side of behavior it introduces virtues by having children state them in the affirmative with catch phrases that make memorizing them attainable and fun. Children are not only expected to know each virtue and what they mean but they are encouraged to "choose them and use them" each and every day! We Choose Virtues focuses on 3 rules: 1. Obey 2. Be Kind 3. Be a Helper Under those three rules fall the 12 virtues that children are taught. Obey I am obedient I am attentive I am self-controlled I am honest Be Kind I am kind I am forgiving I am patient I am gentle Be a Helper I am helpful I am perseverant I am diligent I am content Notice how each vir...

Speaking of the TOS, have you ever read their magazine? Well, if you want to check it out, now is the time. They are currently offering their Summer 2011 digital edition absolutely free with no strings attached! Check it out and see why I am so excited to be a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew . Take a look at the brand new Summer digital edition of The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine . TOS is offering this digital issue of the magazine totally free with no strings attached. Enjoy this free gift from TOS—no registration or email address required to view the magazine! Take a peek here. Then share the link with your friends by clicking on the share button at the top of the magazine pages.

Gess is 9 now and often asks questions in church. Lately we have had some people come forward for baptism. Gess now wants to get baptized too because others are doing it. She just really wants to be involved in everything we do. However, we are Baptist and believe that the bible teaches only those who are saved should be baptized or partake in the Lord's Supper. It is hard to explain to a child why they can't do these things. Then I had someone else who told me they had an 8 year old girl ask about baptism because she had seen someone get baptized at her church. Being surprised by the question they were not quite sure how to answer and asked if I could write something up to help explain it. I thought, what perfect timing. This is something I want to share with Gess too, so I did more than just write up a paper. I wrote a small booklet made specifically for young kids to help explain baptism. This booklet is meant to explain what baptism is and in doing that it touches ...