Special Connection Homeschool

Amazing Animals By Design , written by Debra Haagen, is a very well illustrated and enjoyable children's book that we got to review for the TOS Crew this month. While we teach our children that God "created" the world and everything in it, it's not often that we explain to them how intelligent and intricate God's design is. The book Amazing Animals By Design is a great way to introduce that concept to children because in the story they learn that God not only created the animals but He "designed" each one of them in a very specific and unique way. This book starts off by introducing you to two young children, Sarah and John who are on their way to visit the zoo. During their tour the kids find out some amazing things about how animals were designed. For instance they saw a cat with strange tufts on it's ears and discovered that this cat is called a caracal. Gess was apparently fascinated with it's tufts too, here she is making some of her own...

One of the reasons I like K-5 Learning so much is that it adds in some areas of study that we haven't addressed in school yet. For instance we have not studied poetry and they had a section on that. Another thing I realized is that we had not studied about the differences between facts and opinions and that is an important life skill you don't want to miss! In the K5 Learning lesson they read you a short biography and have you sort out which statements are facts and which are opinions. I was glad to see that Gess picked it up rather quickly. Now that they have introduced the concept, I try to work this in during every day situations, like this afternoon when we were cutting a fresh pineapple. I said, "Fresh pineapple is the best thing in the world!" I immediately realized, oh now it's lesson time. I then asked Gess, "Was that a fact or an opinion?" She answered "opinion" and got it right! Then I made other statements and asked her ab...

This last month we were able to review the Action Alert Parental Control Software which was really exciting for me since Gess just recently got her own computer. Action Alert is an internet safety solution that provides a way of restricting and monitoring internet access for children. They offer a FREE Protection Package or you can upgrade to Maximum Protection for $29.99 a year (although apparently they will give you a $10 discount if you first try to install the free version). We had access to the entire program during our review. When you first install Action Alert it sets up their kid friendly search page as your default start page because it has Safe Search enabled. They explain that "Safe Search is a Google powered search engine that filters out unsafe and explicit content from search results." Here's what their page looks like although there a few different themes you can choose from. My husband was immediately turned off because of the add that is...

I am a very politically active person and usually up to date on most everything involving politics. Since I am very involved I usually try to use these current events to explain about how our government works in our homeschool. For instance remember in 2011 when Congress opened by reading the Constitution ? Well, we were reading right along with them. This week our Congresswoman came to town to visit with her constituents and Gess and I went there to meet her. It was actually the second time that Gess went with me to one of these visits and we were even remembered from before. Here is Gess with our Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins. Lynn said that Gess was very smart because she knew that she "wrote bills." Gess also informed Lynn about something very important to her. She told her about some of the robots in Portal2! It was a neat experience and Gess enjoyed meeting her again. Whenever we learn that our Representative is coming to town I begin to teach about Congress and ...

Yes, I realize this is a sensitive topic but it's also very real to those of us trying address it with a child that has special needs. I plan on participating and thought I would share this for other moms with special young ladies. It's only an online survey but I am hoping through the course of this study they will come up with great helps in the future for those of us who have to face these very real and challenging struggles! I have seen his certificate of approval but if you want to learn more before participating just click on the link and at the bottom of the opening page you will find their contact information. ************************************* Survey about Menstruation (period) of Girls with Developmental Disabilities Thank you so much for your interest in this study! Parents/Caretakers are invited to participate in a survey about the topic of Menstruation (period) of Girls with Developmental Disabilities. This survey is being conducted by Hye Ran Park, a docto...

I have been really eager to tell you about the online reading and math program K-5 Learning ! This website has become this busy homeschooling mom's very best friend. K-5 Learning isn't actually a "homeschooling" program. It is for any kids from grades K through 5. It offers 4 reading and math programs that key in on 8 essential learning skills. It allows your child to learn independently at their own pace and at their own customized skill level. It also has very detailed and informative progress reports so that the parents can see exactly how their child is doing. I know, I know. If you are like me, you are thinking, haven't I heard all of those claims before only to find myself disappointed? Having a child with special needs, I am always hoping that the customization of skill level or parental reports offer more than I am provided. Well, K5 Learning was everything I hoped it would be and so much more! So let me just show you around and share with y...

Reading Eggs is an online website that teaches children to read through fun activities and games. The Reading Eggs program offers various levels from First Steps for preschoolers, those getting Ready For School and Fun Practice Makes Perfect for kids up to about the 2nd grade (about age 7). They also have a section for older students ages 7-13 called Reading Eggspress that helps them continue on in their reading journey. This offers more advanced skills like reading comprehension, spelling, vocabulary skills and others. This last month we had the pleasure of reviewing Reading Eggs and we found it to be quite enjoyable. As I mentioned above, Reading Eggs has basically two different categories, Reading Eggs that teaches actual reading skills, and Reading Eggspress that offers advanced reading activities. If you are not a beginner reader you can take a placement test to find out where you will begin. Since Gess is 10, but has special needs, she tested in at both levels. Becau...