Homeschool Highlights - Week of January 4, 2010

Days 79 - 83 

What a week!  After DH worked mandatory overtime during the holidays, this week he surprised us by taking some vacation time. 

Needless to say, it was not easy getting ANYTHING done.  It was slow going, but we managed.  (And we had lots of fun, too!)

Reading:  She finished Book 4 - Series 3 Thick Slush.  She also started Book 5 Bad Luck.  After finishing her reader, she played on Starfall.  She is learned about famous artist, Georges Seurat. 

Handwriting:  Shayla wrote a thank you  letter to Elaine, the assistant at our chiropractor's office.  These two seem to share a common bond.  Shayla has never spoken to Elaine, but Shayla loves Elaine, and the feeling must be mutual.  Elaine made and gave Shayla a beautiful teddy bear tie blanket for Christmas.  She even stitched her name on it.  I am planning on making a video of Shayla saying something to Elaine and giving it to her.

Exercises:  Unfortunately, we did not continue with the Brain Balancing Exercises over Christmas break.  I had planned on continuing those daily, but well, life happened. 

We started them again, although they have changed some.  Instead of jumping on the trampoline, which is covered with about a foot of snow, we are doing plenty of sledding. 

How is this schoolwork?

Well, my child NEEDS fresh air and physical exercise.  Running up a hill, dragging a sled behind (for hours at a time) has to be good exercise. 

*Note to self:  Although Shayla is not actually diagnosed with autism, I know she has many characteristics, so I try to learn as much as possible about this condition.  One thing that I have come across many times is the digestive disturbances that many autistics have.  Leaky gut, candida, low vitamin and mineral levels, abnormal heavy metal findings and low enzymes, as well as, ADD/ADHD and learning differences are just some of the things many spectrum children suffer with.

We follow a strict GF/CF diet and avoid other food allergens. She improved tremendously on the diet.  She also improved when she was put on a prescription antifungal for candida, but I still feel she hasn't reached her full potential.  So, I continue to read, learn and try many therapies to help her reach her full potential.

 I started enzyme therapy this week.  She gets sprinkles of her digestive enzyme with every meal and snack.  Since starting this she has had "The Happy Child Effect."  Who would believe the turn around!!! :)   Since starting enzyme therapy this week, we have noticed an increase in her communication skills - both verbal and non-verbal.  She almost spoke at King's Kids.  She made verbal sounds in stores.  And her give and take conversation has improved.

Shayla's whole demeanor is that of a happy child, now.  She also has been having a better relationship with her sister, not constantly fighting and screaming at her.  And the best improvement is she is wanting and giving more affection.  She is more open to being hugged and even asks for hugs, kisses and attention from everyone in the family - even her sister!

I am reading a book called Enzymes for Autism (it also covers many other auto-immune disorders).  For more information about enzyme therapy, visit Enzyme Stuff.  I hope to post more about this at a later time. 

Unit Study:  U is for Uriah.  We did a fun, Bible themed unit study.  I usually move through these fairly quickly, but this week, we were easing back into school.  I also found many resources to use.  She has a few more things to finish up before it's complete. 

So, how did everyone else do this week?  Were you ready to jump back into it, or did you start school again dragging your feet all the way?

Brain Balancing Program - Part 1

Shayla's counselor is a wonderful Christian lady. She has never suggested meds for Shayla. She also realizes that Shayla is going to be a tough nut to crack. So she prays for wisdom to help her. We definately need that! She shared with us that many times God will give her a book before she knows who to use it for. That was the case with us. Thank you, DeeDee!

The second session with her, she told me about a book she has been skimming through called Disconnected Kids. She told me to read it and tell me what I thought.

Wow! That little book may change our lives!

Disconnected Kids is written by Robert Melillo, a world renowned chiropractor and child neurologist. He believes that children with autism, ADHD, selective mutism, OCD, and a whole host of other things can be fixed by balancing the brain.

I was skeptical. I have read more on many medical topics than most physicians. But this book was different. There were many physical and behavior checklists, then there were ways of testing your child. In each category, Shayla was shown to have a significant left brain deficiency. This totally makes sense to me! She overhears in her RIGHT ear and her left eye gets droopy when she's fatigued from reading or other things.

Dr. Mellilo says there could be positive changes in behavior within 3 months. However, after testing Shayla, I found that she was Level 1 in most areas, at best Level 2. Not one area did she score a Level 3, the highest functioning.

At about this same time, I have been reading about the Nature Deficient problem that is going on with our youth, particuarly boys, but some girls (like mine). Kids are simply not getting enough time outdoors. They need vitamin D from the sunshine. There are electromagnetic fields that come from the ground and give the child a better feeling of spatial awareness. These kids need to build muscles to be able to function. To be able to sit in a chair, use a pencil, track words with their eyes. Not to mention, the benefits of learning about why the leaves change color, what type of tree the leaf falls from, what kind of bug is this, etc. etc. etc. It has been suggested that children need two hours a day of outside time. I wish I would have read this book in the spring. LOL!

Everyday we have been incorporating some of the exercises in this book everyday before we begin our sit down homeschooling (reading & writing). It does take a serious time commitment. I am committed to doing these exercises with her daily. Some days I feel like we are falling further and further behind in our curriculum. Which we are, but the results have been worth it for us.

Basically, I have been using the ideas in the book, as well as some ideas I got from our preschool teacher friend and OT/PT. We have also begun taking her to weekly chiropractic session.

Two weeks into the exercise program and one chiropractic fix later and we are already seeing good results! We have noticed an increase of her self-confidence, more facial expression and she is again speaking and feeling comfortable in our car when we are out on the road.

I will talk more about the specific exercises we do in the next part.

Homeschool Highlights - weeks of October 18-31, 2009

Sunday: We went to see the movie, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Unfortunately, our small town theater did not have this in 3-D, but it's probably just as well with Shayla's sensory issues.

We don't go to alot of movies because it costs so much, but this movie was based on an all-time favorite book in our house. So this time we splurged.

I have to say, I enjoyed it as much as the kids. There is a lot of adult humor in the film, similar to Toy Story.

Monday:

Therapy: I finished the assessments in the Disconnected Kids book. It appears that Shayla has a significant left brain deficiency. Soon we will be incorporating the exercises that are used as therapy. Lots of outside time, so that she can better understand where her body is in relation to the world. As well as, visual and sound therapies.

I know it sounds like a lot of new age stuff, but I have read volumes and I am willing to give the techniques a try. At the risk of falling even farther behind in our studies. On the other hand, if we don't try this, we will always be behind in studies. So much for summer break this year!

I know that we are going to be outside as much as possible, enjoying the Indian summer days, that we have been given. I'd much rather bounce in the sunshine, rather than get out the mini-trampoline in the house.

Reading: Finished up on Speeding Seal. Played the long e sound games at Starfall. Shayla played these games with Dad. He's on layoff this week.

Shayla chose to read: Bathtime for Biscuit. It's an easy reader about giving two small dogs a bath. Maybe we'll do that to our little "biscuits" as a reward for reading. LOL!

Multi-subject: Fall/Leaves. Shayla shared the book Leaf Man, with her Dad. That's a fall time favorite. You have to read it. The illustrator uses different leaves to make pictures. Then, they went outside and made their own leaf man/scarecrow thing.

Tuesday: We started the day with some of the exercises in the Disconnected Kids book. My plan is to start each day like this. I hope to explain more later.

Counseling. Shayla was eager to show Miss DeeDee her scrapbook. She still has not spoken or participated in much play therapy.

Wednesday: I'm sure we did something, but I honestly don't remember.

Thursday: Wee Discover Nature Program. The topic this week was acorns. She also made a leaf craft. With special paper, the kids colored the leaf shape with markers, then sprayed it with water. The colors ran and created beautiful leaves. We did a similar project at home using coffee filters.

Friday: After the basics were done, (exercises, reading, phonics, handwriting and math) Shayla asked to play a computer game. She rarely does this. Since it was cold and rainy, why not? She played Jump Start Preschool for 4 hours! I hope I don't get a barrage of hate messages for allowing my daughter to play for 4 hours. She usually spends 4 hours a year playing computer games! I know I probably should have encouraged her to play something more challenging, but I did set the game to the hardest level and she was having great fun!

Sunday:

Living Inside Out Children's Church: Monthly theme: Wilderness Express. Shayla was much more relaxed - way less clingy. I think she enjoyed that they broke the girls and boys up for small group time. She made a binocular craft and did color pages.

Computer time: Two days of computer in a row?!? I introduced her to the JumpStart Spanish program. She loved the coloring book part of it. She laughed when it said the Spanish color names out loud. Her favorite was cafe - brown. Needless to say, she colored a lot of things cafe! LOL!

I think she enjoyed the attention she was getting, too. Big sister, Morgan, who is a second year Spanish student, was watching. She was not-so-patiently waiting her turn. She said the video section is stuff that they are just now covering. Funny, the game cover says it's appropriate for children ages 3-6.

Therapy: Shayla's counselor thinks that OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)might be part of Shayla's diagnosis. Well, when I stop and think about this, it makes sense. So, I explained to her that sometimes her brain gets stuck on things. I will answer her question no more than two times. After that, she needs to move on to something else. She seemed to accept this and seems happier?!?

Monday: Exercises. *Update: We have been incorporating the exercises as part of our homeschool. At this point, we are spending a minimum of 30 minutes, but up to 2 hours a day doing our physical therapy. Yeah, that seems like a lot, BUT. . . I am already seeing improvements. She seems happier, like trying new things - without nudging! Her concentration time seems to be improving. So, it is definately worth it! I am feeling improvements in myself, too. I have to do the exercises with her. I have noticed increased energy.

In anticipation of seeing the Rainbow Fish show on Wednesday, we found some fun things to do. First I read the book aloud to her. Then we used her stuffed rainbow fish to talk about sharing. We enjoyed this fun online rainbow fish puzzle (although we were not able to solve it).

Handwriting: Shayla finished up writing out and memorizing badge 3. Next week we will begin Badge 4. This is a great way to incorporate scripture memory and handwriting. Shayla likes it because of the reward.

Kings Kids program: We attended and Shayla did not cover her ears once. She showed signs of independence by not clinging onto me and she ate her snack and did her own craft. Yay!

Tuesday:
Exercises: The cold, damp day did not keep us indoors. We got a lot of wind and rain overnight. It dropped all the maple leaves onto our trampoline. It was completely covered. It was fun to jump on them.

Doing relay races in the wet grass - not so fun. Oh well, I'd rather be outside in the fresh air as long as possible!

Rainbow Fish: We made this cool craft. I drew a simple fish shape onto a cereal box and cut it out. We colored the fish with crayons, then used glitter glue to apply little pieces of recycled tissue paper.

She has also been coloring pages in her Rainbow Fish coloring book.

Wednesday: Children's Theater Foundation Production of Rainbow Fish. As expected, this show was packed! We enjoyed it from our front row seats.

Thursday: Last Wee Discover Nature Program until Spring. The topic was teeth.

Friday: School with Dad

Book Review: All That She Can Be

I read All That She Can Be: Helping Your Daughter Maintain Her Self-Esteem by Dr. Carol J. Eagle and Carol Colman.

I was hoping there would be some practical information on how to help with therapies at home in maintaining and improving my daughter's self-esteem.

Unfortunately, this book was very basic. It only told the parent what the child may be going through and why their behaviors are what they are. It did not give any helpful information or home therapy ideas. Honestly, I felt it to be long, drawn out and boring.

The only thing that stuck out was the part that told the differences in academics of boys and girls. According to the authors girls are not good at math and science because of semantics in education. Well, I tend to disagree. My daughter loves science. In fact, my middle daughter loved science, too, until she went to public school. It's not that girls don't like these subjects, IMHO, they need to be taught the subjects in a different way. How? Hands-on works for us.

If anyone is interested in obtaining a copy of this book, I did post it at paperback swap.

Book Review: Eating Gluten-Free with Emily

I found this book at our local library. Whether your child is on a gluten-free diet for celiac or not, they probably at least know someone who is.

This book explains in a kid friendly way to all kids what celiac disease is and why some kids have to eat differently. I know that my daughter, Shayla, feels funny in social situations when she can not eat the snack the other kids have and I have a special box of cookies that she can eat. Many times she avoids snacktime altogether.

I plan on reading this book at our scout troop meeting and letting the girls sample some of Shayla's gluten-free cookies.

Do you have any other ideas for explaining differences in children?

A Noteworthy First Try

We have been trying to get my youngest daughter, Shayla, age 7, to try new things. She is very hesitant to do anything outside of her normal things. So, my New Year's Resolution was to work on her this year. My goal was to make her try something new each day. Then I write it down in a little pink notebook, now known as THE GREAT BIG BOOK OF EVERYTHING. Then at night, as part of the bedtime routine, we review all the big, new things she has tried.

Several weeks ago, we went to the library and Shayla got her very first library card.

To get the library card, you must go upstairs to the adult floor (which has always intimidated her. Probably because it's so big and quiet). And you have to write your own name on the back of the card. She is just now feeling confident enough to write her name when we attend outings.

So, she did it! Look how proud she is! I'm proud of her, too!

More Books for Home Speech Therapy

At the beginning of the year, I started a quest to help my daughter overcome her selective mutism.

What I found was probably there all the time, but I just didn't see it. Lately, I have been directing my attention at the whole child, not just the selective mutism behavior.

I must say, I'm having a great time bringing my daughter "out of her shell." Some days are tedious, some discouraging, but we're both learning and growing.

Here's several books that we've used as conversation starters:

Cat's Got Your Tongue is a story about a little girl, Anna, who is entering kindergarten. She is unhappy and avoids sharing her true feelings about it. Her teacher notices that she is not transitioning well and suggests counseling to her parents.

Anna goes to counseling and over a period of time, learns to use her words through play therapy, namely puppets.

Anna and her counselor put on a puppet show for her parents and teacher in her school classroom for familiarity, then they decide it would be fun to put the show on for the kids.

After overcoming her fears and anxieties, Anna is able to make friends.

My thoughts were mixed with this book. I wasn't sure my daughter would like it because the pages were black and white. However, she quickly identified herself in Anna.

The breakthrough moment came last week when we were washing dishes together. My daughter was asking questions about the book. She told me she wanted to be able to speak in public! She said she wanted to be able to make friends! She told me that maybe we should find a counselor that would help her learn to talk!

I about fell on the floor! I think I scared her when I hugged and kissed her all at the same time!

Since then, we have been more able to talk about everything! She is trying new things left and right now!

I guess I honestly believed that my child enjoyed the attention she received by not speaking. I thought it was a control issue. How wrong was I!?!

To Be Continued. . .

Double-Dip Feelings is just what the title says. It talks about how it's possible to feel several emotions at the same time.

We had a lot of fun with this book and it started many conversations. She enjoyed the colorful illustrations.

BTW, we are still filling the jar with candies everytime she tries something new. I also write her "tries" in her own little notebook, so we can review all her accomplishments.

Does anyone else have any suggestions? (books, resources, games, anything to try) Please share!

For other tips, visit 5 minutes for Special Needs

And We Are THAT Family.