Recently, I have been reminded how homeschooling benefits our youngest child specifically and younger siblings in general.
Two year ago Baby Bop came to our family as a short term foster care placement. He was 14 months old and suffering from a multitude of problems mostly caused by neglect. I honestly can’t image how I could have met his needs without the aid of our 3 daughters. Because we homeschool, Baby Bop had constant stimulation. Someone was always rocking, playing with, feeding, carrying, talking to, singing to, and reading to this little boy. Our home was always a place of learning, not only for Baby Bop, but for our girls.
Here are a few examples:
1) As many homeschoolers do, we have maps up on our walls. We have a map of the United States that hangs on the wall near the highchair. When I would feed Baby Bop, I would point at a state and talk about it. The girls would do the same. Not only do my girls know the names and locations of the states, but Baby Bop can identify about 20 states.
2) We recently had neurological evaluations done on Baby Bop and our other girls. Baby Bop did surprisingly well. I give the credit to my youngest daughter. Much of infant brain development is a product of “floor time.” This is the time babies spend creeping and crawling which aids the brains natural process of organizing and culling brain pathways. My youngest daughter spent hours on the floor with Baby Bop playing horses and dogs.
Even though Baby Bop spent his first year confined to a crib and car seat, the extra floor time helped him catch up to normal brain development. Baby Bop is not the only who benefited from the floor time. My youngest daughter is also my best speller and earliest reader, even though I spent little or no time teaching spelling or reading.
3) Another benefit of having children of different ages learning at home is the “mimic factor.” My younger children follow the good examples set by the older ones. Younger children want to try more challenging school work because they want to do what their older siblings are doing.
We use learning journals as part of both academic and religious studies. Recently during our family devotional time, Baby Bop demanded a learning journal when he realized all the girls had one. He was so proud of himself, when he came to show me his learning journal.
4) Baby Bop’s speech therapist commented that Baby Bop is different from her other clients in his ability to extemporize during imaginative play. My older children do a lot of that sort of thing, but even I was surprised at his level of creativity.
For example while waiting for an appointment, my middle daughter kept Baby Bop busy by pretending to roast marsh mellows over a red circle on a gym floor. We were ready to go just about the time they pretended to make smores. Baby Bop walked to our van with his hands cupped as if he were holding the smores. After being buckled into his car seat, he pretended to take a big bite. He then made a shocked look on his face, grabbed his sister’s hand and pretended to spit out the bite he had just taken. Baby Bop then pretended to take a small bite, held his mouth as if he had taken a bite of hot food and said “hot.”
Through homeschooling, Baby Bop is where he is today, my children are well connected to each other and to Baby Bop. They have gained invaluable life experiences, as wells academic accomplishments.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query baby bop. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query baby bop. Sort by date Show all posts
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, November 06, 2009
Yesterday was one of those days
My day started around 6 am with the patter of little feet. (Unfortunately, Baby Bop has not yet adjusted to the time change.) Baby Bop climbed in bed with me and I successful stalled him for 15 minutes before I had to get up. First I got Baby Bop dressed and then got dressed myself. Normally, I'm not so quick to get either of us dressed, but yesterday was Baby Bop's turn to go out for breakfast with Dad and Mom. By 7 am we were out the door on our way to IHOP.
We got back to the house around 8:15 am. I quickly did our "smells and sounds" therapy routine with Baby Bop and the girls before family scripture study. After we read 20 verses and I repeated the "smells and sounds " routine before going out the door at 8:50 am for Baby Bop's preschool. Thursday's are my work day at preschool, so my father-in-law or mother-in-law spend the morning with my girls.
While I was at preschool, my older ones worked on their school work while grandpa played chess and Lego Robotics stuff with my youngest daughter.
At 12 noon on the way home from preschool with a cranky kid, I realized that I didn't have enough room in the car to drive the Lego League carpool. I called Henry at work and arranged to switch vehicles. Half way there, I realized that my father-in-law could take the kids to Lego League. I continued on my way home and arrived around 12:30 pm. Grandpa drove off with the older two girls and went to pick up another Lego team member who needed a ride.
After they left, I realized that I still had a problem. I needed to pick up 3 kids from Lego's which doesn't leave enough room in the car if I have my two younger ones with me. I call a friend to arrange a play date so that I could drop off my youngest daughter on my way to pick up at Lego's. I fed Baby Bop his lunch which greatly improved his temperament. I can't remember what I ate for lunch.
By this time, it is about 1:15 pm and time to go to Baby Bop's speech therapy at the school near my house. Baby Bop and I walked to the school. I allowed my 9 year old to stay home alone (for the first time). While Baby Bop played with the speech therapist, I waited outside and made a few phone calls. Speech therapy ended promptly at 2 pm and we walked home.
After I got home, the play date called and offered to pick my youngest daughter up on their way home from the grocery store. At 2:40 pm, my youngest daughter went out the door with her soccer equipment and was on her way to the play date. I left with Baby Bop for the Lego pick up.
I arrived at Lego's around 3 pm and we loaded up and headed for home. I dropped off my girls at home around 3:30 pm and then drove the Lego teammate home. I received about three phone calls from my middle daughter who was having a difficult time finding her soccer cleats. I called my youngest daughter at her play date and asked her to check to make sure that she didn't have her sister's soccer cleats.
Lucky for us, I remembered that my daughter had helped me catch our bunny in the back yard after the last soccer practice. I called my middle daughter back and suggested that she look in the back yard where she quickly found her cleats.
I arrived home at the same time as my middle daughter's ride to soccer. I took poor Baby Bop out of the car to change his diaper and to feed him a snack. At 4:15 pm, we were back in the car on our way to drop off my oldest daughter at her soccer practice.
After dropping of my oldest daughter, I drove to my youngest daughter's soccer practice (which Henry coaches). My youngest daughter was already there. Her play date lives near the soccer field and they had graciously offered to walk her over to practice.
I had intended to drive to the grocery store and pick up something from the deli for dinner. Baby Bop wanted to play at the soccer field and since the poor kid has spent so much time in the car, we stayed and kicked a soccer ball while the team practiced.
A little after 5 pm, I threw Baby Bop in the car and drove to Jack In The Box. From Jack In The Box, I drove to my oldest daughter's soccer practice, picked her up and headed home. We arrived home around 5:40 pm. Henry got there about 5 minutes later.
Henry quickly changed clothes and Henry and I were back in the car on the way to a foster parent class. Unfortunately, I forgot to grab something out of the Jack In The Box bag for Henry, so he didn't get his dinner till later.
After we left, my middle daughter arrived home for soccer. The girls took turns taking care of Baby Bop and they put him to bed while we were gone. Henry and I arrived at the foster parent class only a few minutes late.
The class ended at 8 pm and (I'm embarrassed to admit) we headed back to Jack In The Box. On our way home, we stopped to pick up something from Henry's soccer coordinator and arrived home around 8:30 pm. Baby Bop was in bed and two of the girls were watching Star Gate on the computer. When the show ended, we had the girls do a 10 minute tidy and sent them off to bed.
Henry and I headed towards bed around 10 pm. I think I was asleep by 11 pm. This morning started with the patter of little feet at 5:58 am.
---------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
We got back to the house around 8:15 am. I quickly did our "smells and sounds" therapy routine with Baby Bop and the girls before family scripture study. After we read 20 verses and I repeated the "smells and sounds " routine before going out the door at 8:50 am for Baby Bop's preschool. Thursday's are my work day at preschool, so my father-in-law or mother-in-law spend the morning with my girls.
While I was at preschool, my older ones worked on their school work while grandpa played chess and Lego Robotics stuff with my youngest daughter.
At 12 noon on the way home from preschool with a cranky kid, I realized that I didn't have enough room in the car to drive the Lego League carpool. I called Henry at work and arranged to switch vehicles. Half way there, I realized that my father-in-law could take the kids to Lego League. I continued on my way home and arrived around 12:30 pm. Grandpa drove off with the older two girls and went to pick up another Lego team member who needed a ride.
After they left, I realized that I still had a problem. I needed to pick up 3 kids from Lego's which doesn't leave enough room in the car if I have my two younger ones with me. I call a friend to arrange a play date so that I could drop off my youngest daughter on my way to pick up at Lego's. I fed Baby Bop his lunch which greatly improved his temperament. I can't remember what I ate for lunch.
By this time, it is about 1:15 pm and time to go to Baby Bop's speech therapy at the school near my house. Baby Bop and I walked to the school. I allowed my 9 year old to stay home alone (for the first time). While Baby Bop played with the speech therapist, I waited outside and made a few phone calls. Speech therapy ended promptly at 2 pm and we walked home.
After I got home, the play date called and offered to pick my youngest daughter up on their way home from the grocery store. At 2:40 pm, my youngest daughter went out the door with her soccer equipment and was on her way to the play date. I left with Baby Bop for the Lego pick up.
I arrived at Lego's around 3 pm and we loaded up and headed for home. I dropped off my girls at home around 3:30 pm and then drove the Lego teammate home. I received about three phone calls from my middle daughter who was having a difficult time finding her soccer cleats. I called my youngest daughter at her play date and asked her to check to make sure that she didn't have her sister's soccer cleats.
Lucky for us, I remembered that my daughter had helped me catch our bunny in the back yard after the last soccer practice. I called my middle daughter back and suggested that she look in the back yard where she quickly found her cleats.
I arrived home at the same time as my middle daughter's ride to soccer. I took poor Baby Bop out of the car to change his diaper and to feed him a snack. At 4:15 pm, we were back in the car on our way to drop off my oldest daughter at her soccer practice.
After dropping of my oldest daughter, I drove to my youngest daughter's soccer practice (which Henry coaches). My youngest daughter was already there. Her play date lives near the soccer field and they had graciously offered to walk her over to practice.
I had intended to drive to the grocery store and pick up something from the deli for dinner. Baby Bop wanted to play at the soccer field and since the poor kid has spent so much time in the car, we stayed and kicked a soccer ball while the team practiced.
A little after 5 pm, I threw Baby Bop in the car and drove to Jack In The Box. From Jack In The Box, I drove to my oldest daughter's soccer practice, picked her up and headed home. We arrived home around 5:40 pm. Henry got there about 5 minutes later.
Henry quickly changed clothes and Henry and I were back in the car on the way to a foster parent class. Unfortunately, I forgot to grab something out of the Jack In The Box bag for Henry, so he didn't get his dinner till later.
After we left, my middle daughter arrived home for soccer. The girls took turns taking care of Baby Bop and they put him to bed while we were gone. Henry and I arrived at the foster parent class only a few minutes late.
The class ended at 8 pm and (I'm embarrassed to admit) we headed back to Jack In The Box. On our way home, we stopped to pick up something from Henry's soccer coordinator and arrived home around 8:30 pm. Baby Bop was in bed and two of the girls were watching Star Gate on the computer. When the show ended, we had the girls do a 10 minute tidy and sent them off to bed.
Henry and I headed towards bed around 10 pm. I think I was asleep by 11 pm. This morning started with the patter of little feet at 5:58 am.
---------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Baby Bop's older brother
It is amazing how quickly little children can crawl deep into your heart.
We've had a two-year-old foster care boy for thirteen months now. Janine nick named him Baby Bop. Long ago he become one of the family. Three weeks ago we got a call from a social worker asking if we'd take a three-year-old boy.
For three weeks Baby Bop was in heaven. He had an older brother to play with. The first day they literally ran around the house for almost an hour. They ran and ran and ran. Baby Bop was just happy to have someone to play.
The three-year-old was freaked out about being yanked away from his family. He cried. I'm sure he had no idea who these strangers were. He stayed up until 12:30, frequently telling us he wanted to go home. Finally he fell asleep from exhaustion.
It got better over the next couple of days. Baby Bop continued to shadow the three-year-old where ever he went. The three-year-old came to accept that we'd be taking care of him for awhile. The two boys did trucks together. They went on walks with Janine. They played with trains.
Fortunately the family was able to make some changes and the three-year-old went home on Monday.
It was a great experience for Baby Bop. Baby Bop has a couple struggles. At 26 months he still isn't talking. The three-year-old talked almost non-stop. Baby Bop has made great progress and now can say several distinct words.
Baby Bop also struggles with eating. He doesn't like to try new foods. All he really wants milk. The three-year-old was a great eater. He ate almost anything we put in front of him. Baby Bop is a mimic. He copied the three-year-old at every meal and even tried out new foods.
Tuesday was a sad day here. We miss the three-year-old. I miss him. We're happy he was able to go home to his family, but we miss him.
It is amazing how quickly little children become part of your life, and the hole they leave when they move on.
---------
Technorati tags: foster care, parenting, family, children
We've had a two-year-old foster care boy for thirteen months now. Janine nick named him Baby Bop. Long ago he become one of the family. Three weeks ago we got a call from a social worker asking if we'd take a three-year-old boy.
For three weeks Baby Bop was in heaven. He had an older brother to play with. The first day they literally ran around the house for almost an hour. They ran and ran and ran. Baby Bop was just happy to have someone to play.
The three-year-old was freaked out about being yanked away from his family. He cried. I'm sure he had no idea who these strangers were. He stayed up until 12:30, frequently telling us he wanted to go home. Finally he fell asleep from exhaustion.
It got better over the next couple of days. Baby Bop continued to shadow the three-year-old where ever he went. The three-year-old came to accept that we'd be taking care of him for awhile. The two boys did trucks together. They went on walks with Janine. They played with trains.
Fortunately the family was able to make some changes and the three-year-old went home on Monday.
It was a great experience for Baby Bop. Baby Bop has a couple struggles. At 26 months he still isn't talking. The three-year-old talked almost non-stop. Baby Bop has made great progress and now can say several distinct words.
Baby Bop also struggles with eating. He doesn't like to try new foods. All he really wants milk. The three-year-old was a great eater. He ate almost anything we put in front of him. Baby Bop is a mimic. He copied the three-year-old at every meal and even tried out new foods.
Tuesday was a sad day here. We miss the three-year-old. I miss him. We're happy he was able to go home to his family, but we miss him.
It is amazing how quickly little children become part of your life, and the hole they leave when they move on.
---------
Technorati tags: foster care, parenting, family, children
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
The Carnival of Homeschooling - the Baby Bop edition
Monday was a special day for my family. Janine and I, along with other family members, went to a local court house. Baby Bop was officially made a part of our family. We had a big shindig in the evening.
As I put together this carnival, foster care and adoption are heavily on my mind right now. It seems natural to work this week's carnival around our new son: Baby Bop.
Janine first wrote about him last July. Janine and I have been doing foster care now for two years. We've had eight children come into our house. Seven were able to move back to family extended family. Baby Bop came to our home November 2007. We thought he would be going to live with his father, but it didn't work out. Now he will stay with us forever.
I've joked a bit that with most people it takes nine months to have a child, but we're slow, it has taken us nineteen months. A few have commented that Janine must be very glad not to have carried Baby Bop those nineteen months.
Here are a few aspects of Baby Bop's life:
The beginning
Every child is new and different. In some ways I feel like a first time parent. We are starting back at the beginning.
Alasandra looks back on how she became a homeschooler in Reflections on Homeschooling Part I.
From Delighting in His Richness is some good advice for homeschooling beginners on Where to Begin.
Books
Bed time routines help children know when it is time to settle down. Almost like Pavlov's Dog their bodies can be trained to relax and get ready for sleep. Part of our bed time routine is to read to Baby Bop. He has developed a great love for books.
Kim posts her book review of Henry the Impatient Heron at Wild About Nature.
Making Money Keeping Money has found a great free Preschool e-book!
Alvaro Fernandez is excited to announce his new book “The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness,” on his blog SharpBrain.
Videos
Baby Bop loves to watch videos. We limit him to around an hour a day, four or five times a week.
Home Spun Juggling has a great take off of Princess Bride in Revisiting the Fire Swamp.
Mia writes about Another fun and educational video site at her blog MiaZagora’s Homeschool Minutes.
Summer
Now that summer is almost here, we've been thinking about how the rhythm of our life will change with school wrapping up. For Baby Bop this mostly means he'll continue to play a lot, and his sisters will be more available to play with him.
Sherene encourages parents to consider Running their own ooey, gooey, messy, homeschool, summer art camp. She writes “Summer camps are pricey and when you have more than one child, the cost of camps can be prohibitive. Why not run your own summer camp?” on her blog the Norfolk Homeschooling Examiner.
The billeater has some ideas about Summer entertainment for families on a budget.
Boys and Girls
One of the things that was clear about Baby Bop from day one is he is very much a boy. We started with our three girls. They love dolls and horses. Baby Bop couldn't find a car or truck in the whole house, so on his first day in our house he took a shoe, moved it around on the ground, making truck noises. His love for powered vehicles only blossoms as time has gone on. He loves motocylces, big trucks, red cars, pickup trucks, vans, and trains. Janine and I have learned at a deeper level just how different are boys and girls.
For our entry I’d like to encourage all of you to take our Survey on how many boys and girls do you homeschool? Part of the reason for this survey was an article in USA Today about homeschoolers. A teacher attacked homeschoolers across a number of fronts and referred to the article.
With a bit of humor, Spunky rebuts a public school advocate and teacher's case against homeschooling.
Andrea likewise provided an answer to the case against homeschooling, at her blog Notes From A Homeschooling Mom, and has some thoughts to Homeschooling mothers who may be feeling bullied at the Atlanta Homeschooling Examiner.
Games
Baby Bop loves to play. He'll sit and move toy cars around for hours. Last week he and I went for a walk. There was a Little League game at the local park. We just sat and watched. He was totally captivated. I think games and sports will be a big part of his life.
Homeschool Bytes reviews Timez Attack! The best and FREE multiplication game ever!
Lara, a Texas Homesteader, ponders some of the Life Lessons in Baseball.
Down the road
Baby Bop won't even be three for a couple months, yet Janine and I talk about what we'll do when we formally start homeschooling him, and even farther down the road, what about college.
Renae reveals that Homeschooling can happen When No One is Around on her blog Life Nurturing Education.
Molly writes about the kind of information she includes in a year-end evaluation of my children's school year at her Counter-cultural School.
Dana’s son recently told her that she had failed as a homeschool mom. Pop over to Principled Discovery and see if you agree that his report really counts as a success.
Elena tells us about Explore, Plan, ACT - achievement tests homeschoolers should be aware of on her blog My Domestic Church.
Susan writes about Reinventing Higher Education at her blog The Expanding Life.
Advice
Janine and I have been very lucky. We've gotten lots of help and support from family, friends, the social workers, and many others. Life is so much easier when we can learn from the experience of others.
Here are a few who are willing to share what they've learned:
Awesome Resources for Curious Teachers has a tip to see if your students are writing on grade level.
Kris shares some things she recently learned at a seminar in Notes from Joyce Herzog, on her blog Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Barbara Frank writes about Great Tool for Financial Literacy and how she’s work with her children.
Meaghan has 10 Tips to Improve Your Math Skills Everyday at TutorFi.com.
At About Homeschool Beverly Hernandez has a good tip on Stretching the Food Budget - Potato Tacos
If you have enjoyed this carnival, please spread the word. Please mention the carnival on your blog, and other appropriate places.
Go here for the archives of previous carnivals.
Next week the carnival will be held at Principled Discovery.
If you are interested in submitting a post for a future carnival, click here for information.
We thank everyone who has helped out. Thank you to all the participants in this carnival. And thanks to all those who help promote the Carnival of Homeschooling.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
As I put together this carnival, foster care and adoption are heavily on my mind right now. It seems natural to work this week's carnival around our new son: Baby Bop.
Janine first wrote about him last July. Janine and I have been doing foster care now for two years. We've had eight children come into our house. Seven were able to move back to family extended family. Baby Bop came to our home November 2007. We thought he would be going to live with his father, but it didn't work out. Now he will stay with us forever.
I've joked a bit that with most people it takes nine months to have a child, but we're slow, it has taken us nineteen months. A few have commented that Janine must be very glad not to have carried Baby Bop those nineteen months.
Here are a few aspects of Baby Bop's life:
The beginning
Every child is new and different. In some ways I feel like a first time parent. We are starting back at the beginning.
Alasandra looks back on how she became a homeschooler in Reflections on Homeschooling Part I.
From Delighting in His Richness is some good advice for homeschooling beginners on Where to Begin.
Books
Bed time routines help children know when it is time to settle down. Almost like Pavlov's Dog their bodies can be trained to relax and get ready for sleep. Part of our bed time routine is to read to Baby Bop. He has developed a great love for books.
Kim posts her book review of Henry the Impatient Heron at Wild About Nature.
Making Money Keeping Money has found a great free Preschool e-book!
Alvaro Fernandez is excited to announce his new book “The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness,” on his blog SharpBrain.
Videos
Baby Bop loves to watch videos. We limit him to around an hour a day, four or five times a week.
Home Spun Juggling has a great take off of Princess Bride in Revisiting the Fire Swamp.
Mia writes about Another fun and educational video site at her blog MiaZagora’s Homeschool Minutes.
Summer
Now that summer is almost here, we've been thinking about how the rhythm of our life will change with school wrapping up. For Baby Bop this mostly means he'll continue to play a lot, and his sisters will be more available to play with him.
Sherene encourages parents to consider Running their own ooey, gooey, messy, homeschool, summer art camp. She writes “Summer camps are pricey and when you have more than one child, the cost of camps can be prohibitive. Why not run your own summer camp?” on her blog the Norfolk Homeschooling Examiner.
The billeater has some ideas about Summer entertainment for families on a budget.
Boys and Girls
One of the things that was clear about Baby Bop from day one is he is very much a boy. We started with our three girls. They love dolls and horses. Baby Bop couldn't find a car or truck in the whole house, so on his first day in our house he took a shoe, moved it around on the ground, making truck noises. His love for powered vehicles only blossoms as time has gone on. He loves motocylces, big trucks, red cars, pickup trucks, vans, and trains. Janine and I have learned at a deeper level just how different are boys and girls.
For our entry I’d like to encourage all of you to take our Survey on how many boys and girls do you homeschool? Part of the reason for this survey was an article in USA Today about homeschoolers. A teacher attacked homeschoolers across a number of fronts and referred to the article.
With a bit of humor, Spunky rebuts a public school advocate and teacher's case against homeschooling.
Andrea likewise provided an answer to the case against homeschooling, at her blog Notes From A Homeschooling Mom, and has some thoughts to Homeschooling mothers who may be feeling bullied at the Atlanta Homeschooling Examiner.
Games
Baby Bop loves to play. He'll sit and move toy cars around for hours. Last week he and I went for a walk. There was a Little League game at the local park. We just sat and watched. He was totally captivated. I think games and sports will be a big part of his life.
Homeschool Bytes reviews Timez Attack! The best and FREE multiplication game ever!
Lara, a Texas Homesteader, ponders some of the Life Lessons in Baseball.
Down the road
Baby Bop won't even be three for a couple months, yet Janine and I talk about what we'll do when we formally start homeschooling him, and even farther down the road, what about college.
Renae reveals that Homeschooling can happen When No One is Around on her blog Life Nurturing Education.
Molly writes about the kind of information she includes in a year-end evaluation of my children's school year at her Counter-cultural School.
Dana’s son recently told her that she had failed as a homeschool mom. Pop over to Principled Discovery and see if you agree that his report really counts as a success.
Elena tells us about Explore, Plan, ACT - achievement tests homeschoolers should be aware of on her blog My Domestic Church.
Susan writes about Reinventing Higher Education at her blog The Expanding Life.
Advice
Janine and I have been very lucky. We've gotten lots of help and support from family, friends, the social workers, and many others. Life is so much easier when we can learn from the experience of others.
Here are a few who are willing to share what they've learned:
Awesome Resources for Curious Teachers has a tip to see if your students are writing on grade level.
Kris shares some things she recently learned at a seminar in Notes from Joyce Herzog, on her blog Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Barbara Frank writes about Great Tool for Financial Literacy and how she’s work with her children.
Meaghan has 10 Tips to Improve Your Math Skills Everyday at TutorFi.com.
At About Homeschool Beverly Hernandez has a good tip on Stretching the Food Budget - Potato Tacos
If you have enjoyed this carnival, please spread the word. Please mention the carnival on your blog, and other appropriate places.
Go here for the archives of previous carnivals.
Next week the carnival will be held at Principled Discovery.
If you are interested in submitting a post for a future carnival, click here for information.
We thank everyone who has helped out. Thank you to all the participants in this carnival. And thanks to all those who help promote the Carnival of Homeschooling.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, Carnival of Homeschooling
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Another reading milestone
When Baby Bop arrived at our home 2.5 years ago (at the age of 14 months), he had no interest in story books. We suspected that he had very little language development due to hearing loss and general neglect.
I began reading to Baby Bop while I fed him his bottle. He would tolerate it as long as he was drinking. To keep his attention, I would point out the objects in the pictures that went along with the text. It was quite a laborious process.
From this experience, I became aware of all the little things that parents do (or don't do) that effect brain development of their children and their long term consequences.
Over time and with substantial effort, Baby Bop began to show more interest in books. Fast forward to today and it is quite another picture. Books, books, books. He can't get enough of books.
Baby Bop made two steps recently on the pathway to reading. He is now able to listen and following a story line without pictures. We've added books on tape at bedtime in addition to our regular bedtime/story time routine. We started with the Magic Tree House series from the library. Listening to books above a child's reading or speaking level is a great way to building vocabulary and more sophisticated grammar usage.
A few days ago, we crossed into another new realm. Our nap time routine goes something like this. I read 3+ picture books to Baby Bop while he sits on my lap. He then gets into his bed and I read aloud from a variety of books. The rule is that I will read as long as he doesn't move too much and keeps his head down. We've learned from experience that Baby Bop will quickly go to sleep if we can get him to stop moving.
Yesterday he lay quietly in the bed with the covers over his head, but I could see that his head wasn't completely down. I asked him to put his head down. A few minutes later I would notice that his head was back up. I repeated this process three or more times, but he still wasn't going to sleep.
I was puzzled why Baby Bop's head lay in such an odd position. Finally, I pulled back the covers to find that Baby Bop had two books under the blanket that he was "reading." This reminded me of the covert reading habits (flashlight under the covers or a towel on the floor to block the light under the door) of my other children.
This morning while I ran an errand with my oldest daughter, I told her about "what cute thing Baby Bop did yesterday." Her response was, "He is so one of us."
From our experience, I know that a love of books can be nurtured in any child. However, I don't know how you do it well in an institutional setting. It is a 24/7 type lifestyle. That is one of the reasons why universal preschool, Sesame Street or full day kindergarten will not erase the educational divide. It takes a family to educate a child.
This reminds me of something I read in School Figures: The Data Behind the Debate. A study by Caroline Hoxby (Chapter 6: Students and their families) found that
In other words, (surprise-surprise) family is the greatest determining factor for educational achievement.
If schools want to increase academic performance of children (which is debatable and something for another post), educational remedies should begin and be directed by the parents. In a real sense, all schools should be parent co-ops, not daycare centers.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
I began reading to Baby Bop while I fed him his bottle. He would tolerate it as long as he was drinking. To keep his attention, I would point out the objects in the pictures that went along with the text. It was quite a laborious process.
From this experience, I became aware of all the little things that parents do (or don't do) that effect brain development of their children and their long term consequences.
Over time and with substantial effort, Baby Bop began to show more interest in books. Fast forward to today and it is quite another picture. Books, books, books. He can't get enough of books.
Baby Bop made two steps recently on the pathway to reading. He is now able to listen and following a story line without pictures. We've added books on tape at bedtime in addition to our regular bedtime/story time routine. We started with the Magic Tree House series from the library. Listening to books above a child's reading or speaking level is a great way to building vocabulary and more sophisticated grammar usage.
A few days ago, we crossed into another new realm. Our nap time routine goes something like this. I read 3+ picture books to Baby Bop while he sits on my lap. He then gets into his bed and I read aloud from a variety of books. The rule is that I will read as long as he doesn't move too much and keeps his head down. We've learned from experience that Baby Bop will quickly go to sleep if we can get him to stop moving.
Yesterday he lay quietly in the bed with the covers over his head, but I could see that his head wasn't completely down. I asked him to put his head down. A few minutes later I would notice that his head was back up. I repeated this process three or more times, but he still wasn't going to sleep.
I was puzzled why Baby Bop's head lay in such an odd position. Finally, I pulled back the covers to find that Baby Bop had two books under the blanket that he was "reading." This reminded me of the covert reading habits (flashlight under the covers or a towel on the floor to block the light under the door) of my other children.
This morning while I ran an errand with my oldest daughter, I told her about "what cute thing Baby Bop did yesterday." Her response was, "He is so one of us."
From our experience, I know that a love of books can be nurtured in any child. However, I don't know how you do it well in an institutional setting. It is a 24/7 type lifestyle. That is one of the reasons why universal preschool, Sesame Street or full day kindergarten will not erase the educational divide. It takes a family to educate a child.
This reminds me of something I read in School Figures: The Data Behind the Debate. A study by Caroline Hoxby (Chapter 6: Students and their families) found that
"....the combined explanatory power of school input variables and neighborhood variables (such as the education, income, and racial composition of the local population) do not come close to matching that of family background variables."
In other words, (surprise-surprise) family is the greatest determining factor for educational achievement.
If schools want to increase academic performance of children (which is debatable and something for another post), educational remedies should begin and be directed by the parents. In a real sense, all schools should be parent co-ops, not daycare centers.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, government schools, children, public school, public education
Monday, August 24, 2009
Not quite ready to start "school"
I always fantasize about starting our homeschool year with an organized plan, our bookshelves sorted, and clear, concise goals. This fantasy is very similar to my end of year goals of text books all finished, our bookshelves net and tidy, and our objectives clearly accomplished.
The reality looks more like an over ambitious scheduled followed by a midstream change of direction, and then out with a whimper. I never get to check all my little boxes, and I do so enjoy checking boxes.
This year is a bit worse than most.
The problem all started on the last day of May. That was the day we discovered our last foster child had given us lice. It took me 4 weeks, hundreds of hours of cleaning and head checks, a trip to a therapist who didn't appreciate the gravity of the situation, plus $1000 (lice removal products, the large water bill the resulted from all the extra loads of laundry, a special attachment for the vacuum, a black light, therapy, and cleaning service) to finally get rid of the problem.
Because of the lice, I had to reschedule a surgery I had been putting off (one of those female things). I rescheduled it yet again, so that we could sneak in a trip to visit our family back east. The day before the trip, I fell and injured my tailbone where I lost a few weeks in a fog of pain and pills.
The surgery is now scheduled for Wednesday. I'm expecting to lose another two weeks to pain and pills.
On June 1st we happily adopted our foster son, Baby Bop. His name change (not the Baby Bop part, but adding our last name) set in motion a nightmarish bureaucratic paperwork mess which costs me hours on the phone talking to different government agency who don't appear to talk to each other. California's budget mess with its subsequent Friday furloughs was a great help. As a result of the nightmarish bureaucratic paperwork mess, Baby Bop temporarily lost his medical coverage and access to all his medical specialists.
This wouldn't have been so bad, except the week before we left on our trip, Baby Bop displayed a repeated myoclonic jerk response triggered by exposure to a video screen (I let Baby Bop watch Dragon Tales while all the other kids were out so that I could get some work done on the computer. I noticed this his head would jerk to the far right every 5-20 seconds. After observing this pattern for 15 minutes, I realized it wasn't a voluntary movement.)
Lucky for us, I caught it on video and transferred it to my mp3 player. We paid out of pocket to take Baby Bop to the doctor who was quite impressed by the video and asked to run it down to pediatric neurology. Pediatric Neurology was also quite impressed and said Baby Bop needs an EEG and to please make an appointment to see us.
The good news is that as long as Baby Bop doesn't watch TV, he is symptom free. Of course, this means I can't take any parental shortcuts and use electronic babysitting. I finally got my wish to by a TV free household.
Theoretically, Baby Bop's insurance will be reinstated on September 1st and we will be off to the neurologists.
Soccer has already started and Henry is coaching our youngest daughter's team again. (That was a big mistake. I should have signed the kids up for martial arts so that they could all be at the same place at the same time.)
Our teenage daughter's 6 am scripture study class starts on Monday. All our music classes start the following week.
Oh, and my daughter's pet rat died this morning.
Our tentative start date for "school" is the second week of September. I wondering if I would be happier if I decided we were "unschoolers" and forgot all about schedules and my check boxes. But, I do so love check boxes.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
The reality looks more like an over ambitious scheduled followed by a midstream change of direction, and then out with a whimper. I never get to check all my little boxes, and I do so enjoy checking boxes.
This year is a bit worse than most.
The problem all started on the last day of May. That was the day we discovered our last foster child had given us lice. It took me 4 weeks, hundreds of hours of cleaning and head checks, a trip to a therapist who didn't appreciate the gravity of the situation, plus $1000 (lice removal products, the large water bill the resulted from all the extra loads of laundry, a special attachment for the vacuum, a black light, therapy, and cleaning service) to finally get rid of the problem.
Because of the lice, I had to reschedule a surgery I had been putting off (one of those female things). I rescheduled it yet again, so that we could sneak in a trip to visit our family back east. The day before the trip, I fell and injured my tailbone where I lost a few weeks in a fog of pain and pills.
The surgery is now scheduled for Wednesday. I'm expecting to lose another two weeks to pain and pills.
On June 1st we happily adopted our foster son, Baby Bop. His name change (not the Baby Bop part, but adding our last name) set in motion a nightmarish bureaucratic paperwork mess which costs me hours on the phone talking to different government agency who don't appear to talk to each other. California's budget mess with its subsequent Friday furloughs was a great help. As a result of the nightmarish bureaucratic paperwork mess, Baby Bop temporarily lost his medical coverage and access to all his medical specialists.
This wouldn't have been so bad, except the week before we left on our trip, Baby Bop displayed a repeated myoclonic jerk response triggered by exposure to a video screen (I let Baby Bop watch Dragon Tales while all the other kids were out so that I could get some work done on the computer. I noticed this his head would jerk to the far right every 5-20 seconds. After observing this pattern for 15 minutes, I realized it wasn't a voluntary movement.)
Lucky for us, I caught it on video and transferred it to my mp3 player. We paid out of pocket to take Baby Bop to the doctor who was quite impressed by the video and asked to run it down to pediatric neurology. Pediatric Neurology was also quite impressed and said Baby Bop needs an EEG and to please make an appointment to see us.
The good news is that as long as Baby Bop doesn't watch TV, he is symptom free. Of course, this means I can't take any parental shortcuts and use electronic babysitting. I finally got my wish to by a TV free household.
Theoretically, Baby Bop's insurance will be reinstated on September 1st and we will be off to the neurologists.
Soccer has already started and Henry is coaching our youngest daughter's team again. (That was a big mistake. I should have signed the kids up for martial arts so that they could all be at the same place at the same time.)
Our teenage daughter's 6 am scripture study class starts on Monday. All our music classes start the following week.
Oh, and my daughter's pet rat died this morning.
Our tentative start date for "school" is the second week of September. I wondering if I would be happier if I decided we were "unschoolers" and forgot all about schedules and my check boxes. But, I do so love check boxes.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education
Monday, June 01, 2009
The Rest of the Story
As Henry mentioned, we finalized Baby Bop's adoption today. It was a bit anti-climatic. The court house is a bit creepy and a lot of really scary people hang out in the halls waiting for court. However, the judge was very sweet and it is very nice to be done.
So, here's the rest of the story.
Sunday at church I noticed that my head itched. After we got home, my daughter said, "Mom, I found a bug in my hair."
Ahhhhh! You guessed it. All the girls in the family, including me, had lice. I went into delousing mode. A friend came over and went through my hair while I worked on the girls. It looked like something on Animal Plant or National Geographic, family grooming.
Just to be on the safe side, I gave Henry and Baby Bop a buzz cut. It was so disappointing to cut off his pretty curls the day before the adoption. In the pictures, Baby Bop looks like he just enlisted in the army.
Oh, and did I mention that my brother was in town for a visit for the first time in about 8 years? I hope he doesn't go home with a souvenir.
At 6:30 am this morning, I called my in-laws and asked for help. They came over and took about 12+ load of bedding to the laundry mat for us. After another round of delousing and changing all the bedding yet again, we went to the court house for our adoption hearing.
The judge asked Baby Bop if he wanted to be adopted. Baby Bop kept shaking his head "no." I don't think that he realizes that we are not his natural parents.
Oh, did I mention that we are in the middle of standardized testing? Every year I end our homeschool with some sort of standardized test. This year I'm using the CAT5. I figure it is good practice for college entrance exams and it can help me see what I have missed.
After we got home, I ran to the store to get last minute supplies for a party in the park with 100+ of our closest friends. This party included 6 categories of our friends (church, homeschool, preschool, neighborhood, Henry's work, relatives), so many people did not know each other. Just trying to greet everyone and make introductions was a bit stressful.
Baby Bop had a great time at the party. There were many kids to play with and he didn't want to come home and go to bed.
After the party, I had my middle daughter go through my hair one more time just to be sure while my oldest daughter put Baby Bop to bed, and Henry worked on the Carnival of Homeschool.
Side note: I must say my hair feels and looks great. One of the treatment options we tried is soaking your hair in olive oil. I'm definately going to do that again.
Oh, and did I mention that at 10 am tomorrow, our licensing social worker is coming over for a home inspection to renew our foster care license?
It is a bit ironic. I barely even talked to Baby Bop today.
Update:
We had our foster care inspection. Our foster care license was suspended because our contractor didn't get the proper permits when he did our remodel. The good news is that we have 30 days to take care of it and it shouldn't be too complicated to repair.
---------
Technorati tags: parenting, family, children
So, here's the rest of the story.
Sunday at church I noticed that my head itched. After we got home, my daughter said, "Mom, I found a bug in my hair."
Ahhhhh! You guessed it. All the girls in the family, including me, had lice. I went into delousing mode. A friend came over and went through my hair while I worked on the girls. It looked like something on Animal Plant or National Geographic, family grooming.
Just to be on the safe side, I gave Henry and Baby Bop a buzz cut. It was so disappointing to cut off his pretty curls the day before the adoption. In the pictures, Baby Bop looks like he just enlisted in the army.
Oh, and did I mention that my brother was in town for a visit for the first time in about 8 years? I hope he doesn't go home with a souvenir.
At 6:30 am this morning, I called my in-laws and asked for help. They came over and took about 12+ load of bedding to the laundry mat for us. After another round of delousing and changing all the bedding yet again, we went to the court house for our adoption hearing.
The judge asked Baby Bop if he wanted to be adopted. Baby Bop kept shaking his head "no." I don't think that he realizes that we are not his natural parents.
Oh, did I mention that we are in the middle of standardized testing? Every year I end our homeschool with some sort of standardized test. This year I'm using the CAT5. I figure it is good practice for college entrance exams and it can help me see what I have missed.
After we got home, I ran to the store to get last minute supplies for a party in the park with 100+ of our closest friends. This party included 6 categories of our friends (church, homeschool, preschool, neighborhood, Henry's work, relatives), so many people did not know each other. Just trying to greet everyone and make introductions was a bit stressful.
Baby Bop had a great time at the party. There were many kids to play with and he didn't want to come home and go to bed.
After the party, I had my middle daughter go through my hair one more time just to be sure while my oldest daughter put Baby Bop to bed, and Henry worked on the Carnival of Homeschool.
Side note: I must say my hair feels and looks great. One of the treatment options we tried is soaking your hair in olive oil. I'm definately going to do that again.
Oh, and did I mention that at 10 am tomorrow, our licensing social worker is coming over for a home inspection to renew our foster care license?
It is a bit ironic. I barely even talked to Baby Bop today.
Update:
We had our foster care inspection. Our foster care license was suspended because our contractor didn't get the proper permits when he did our remodel. The good news is that we have 30 days to take care of it and it shouldn't be too complicated to repair.
---------
Technorati tags: parenting, family, children
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The power of example
Baby Bop did the cutest thing yesterday.
He noticed that I had a small flag on a shelf near my desk. He asked to play with it and since I was working on the computer and hoped that he would leave me alone for a few minutes, I let him have it.
A few minutes later, I happened to glance up and saw him in the next room holding the flag in one hand with his other hand over his heart, pretending to say the Pledge of Allegiance. I use the word pretend, since Baby Bop has a profound speech delay and doesn't yet talk intelligibly.
Baby Bop was imitating the flag ceremony that takes place every week at our homeschool co-op group. Our co-op includes many boy scouts who have been trained in the proper handling and formal presentation of our country's flag.
This incident got me thinking about a conversation I had with Baby Bop's speech therapist that same morning. She urged me (very politely and earnestly) to consider sending Baby Bop to kindergarten instead of homeschooling because the interaction with 30 peers could help his speech delay.
I understand her point of view. Baby Bop's language skills improved more rapidly during the five weeks we cared for two foster children the same age as Baby Bop.
However, what she doesn't understand is how dependent Baby Bop is upon the example of those around him. He imitates literally everything he sees which is typical of young children, let alone those with his type of neurological challenges.
Our goal is to keep good examples around him while we train his developing brain to sift what he sees. That kind of brain development, even in "normal" children, generally doesn't emerge until the age of 8 or older.
All day kindergarten with 30 children in a classroom with one teacher and a teacher's aide will not provide the kind of examples we can provide with homeschooling.
The families with whom we associate train their children well and do not allow inappropriate behavior to continue unchecked. (No, the children are not perfect, but the parents are vigilant.) We have the benefit of mature older children modeling behavior for the younger children to follow. We have the benefit of a good parent/child ratio.
So, we plan to give kindergarten a pass.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, government schools, public school, public education
Friday, April 23, 2010
Trying something new
Our homeschool is always evolving and changing. Lately, I've struggled to meet the needs of my youngest daughter (age 9) because Baby Bop (age 3) takes so much of my time. My older two are pretty self-sufficient.
If I do something with Baby Bop so he is not bothering my youngest daughter, she feels left out and doesn't work well alone. If Baby Bop is around distracting her, she doesn't work well either.
Henry is picking up the slack on a few things, but I'm still not happy with her structured school work. I should add that my youngest daughter does a lot of very good unstructured things on her own. I not an unschooler at heart, so it is too unstructured for me to feel comfortable (though a little unschooling is an important part of homeschooling.)
Normally, at Baby Bop's nap time, I read a few story books to him and then he gets in to his bed. I then read out loud from my book until he falls asleep. Sometimes it is the scriptures or a murder mystery, whatever I'm in the mood for.
This is my new strategy. After I read the story books, I invite my youngest daughter (age 9) to lay on the other bed in Baby Bop's room. I then read out loud from a history/science book called the Out Line of History. We discuss it quietly and I keep reading until Baby Bop falls asleep. My youngest daughter really enjoys it even if the book is a bit over her head. I also hope a little of the information will end up in Baby Bop's head too.
Today, I couldn't find the Out Line of History, so we read from Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling, not Disney). Baby Bop stayed awake for almost the whole story. I'm enjoying this time with my youngest daughter and figure it is a good way to get my little terrorist to sleep.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, government schools, public school, public education
If I do something with Baby Bop so he is not bothering my youngest daughter, she feels left out and doesn't work well alone. If Baby Bop is around distracting her, she doesn't work well either.
Henry is picking up the slack on a few things, but I'm still not happy with her structured school work. I should add that my youngest daughter does a lot of very good unstructured things on her own. I not an unschooler at heart, so it is too unstructured for me to feel comfortable (though a little unschooling is an important part of homeschooling.)
Normally, at Baby Bop's nap time, I read a few story books to him and then he gets in to his bed. I then read out loud from my book until he falls asleep. Sometimes it is the scriptures or a murder mystery, whatever I'm in the mood for.
This is my new strategy. After I read the story books, I invite my youngest daughter (age 9) to lay on the other bed in Baby Bop's room. I then read out loud from a history/science book called the Out Line of History. We discuss it quietly and I keep reading until Baby Bop falls asleep. My youngest daughter really enjoys it even if the book is a bit over her head. I also hope a little of the information will end up in Baby Bop's head too.
Today, I couldn't find the Out Line of History, so we read from Jungle Book (Rudyard Kipling, not Disney). Baby Bop stayed awake for almost the whole story. I'm enjoying this time with my youngest daughter and figure it is a good way to get my little terrorist to sleep.
----------
Technorati tags: homeschooling, homeschool, home school, home education, parenting, children, education, government schools, public school, public education
Monday, May 25, 2009
The universe tilted.....and then righted itself.
We had one of those moments yesterday when the universe tilted.
First, a little background to the story. I'm a diabetic and have been for more than 30 years. When my children were younger, I was a bit obsessive about watching my children for signs of the disease. Since I frequently test my blood sugar, I would often test theirs just to reassure myself that all was well.
Every year I have my children screened as part of the Diabetes TrialNet study. I was relieved when test results came back negative for the antibodies which are the forerunners to the development of diabetes.
When we had the girls tested a few months ago, the technician suggested that we have Baby Bop tested too. I explained that it wouldn't be necessary since Baby Bop (our foster and soon to be adopted son) wasn't our biological child and thus wasn't at risk like my daughters.
Now back to our story......
We were at church yesterday when I tested my blood sugar during the worship service. Baby Bop watched me intently. Henry asked Baby Bop if he would like his blood tested too. So, I pricked his finger and performed the test not thinking anything of it. We were both stunned when the result came back as 183.
For you non-diabetics, the range of normal is generally 80-130 with 60-150 on the extreme ends. So, 183 is not good.
Henry's first response was that it was some kind of error. Since my blood test moments earlier had a normal reading, I didn't think there was a problem with the meter or the BG strips. To rule out cross contamination, I cleaned Baby Bops hands with a baby wipe and did the test again.
This time the result was 181. Not good at all. By this time, our girls have picked up that something was going on. We reassured them that everything was ok while I mentally ran through the lists of things I would need to do and what life would be like for our family with a diabetic toddler.
We decided to wait and do the test one more time after the service was over. I took Baby Bop and washed his hands carefully. Henry and I then went into an empty room to do the test one more time. By this time, Baby Bop did not want to have his finger pricked one more time and Henry had to hold him.
We heaved a heavy sigh of relief when the result was 112. Probably the high readings were caused by food residue on his hands. Still, next year when I have the girls screened for diabetes, I'm having Baby Bop screened too.
-------------------
Tags : Type 1 Diabetes, autoantibodies, Natural History study, TrialNet
First, a little background to the story. I'm a diabetic and have been for more than 30 years. When my children were younger, I was a bit obsessive about watching my children for signs of the disease. Since I frequently test my blood sugar, I would often test theirs just to reassure myself that all was well.
Every year I have my children screened as part of the Diabetes TrialNet study. I was relieved when test results came back negative for the antibodies which are the forerunners to the development of diabetes.
When we had the girls tested a few months ago, the technician suggested that we have Baby Bop tested too. I explained that it wouldn't be necessary since Baby Bop (our foster and soon to be adopted son) wasn't our biological child and thus wasn't at risk like my daughters.
Now back to our story......
We were at church yesterday when I tested my blood sugar during the worship service. Baby Bop watched me intently. Henry asked Baby Bop if he would like his blood tested too. So, I pricked his finger and performed the test not thinking anything of it. We were both stunned when the result came back as 183.
For you non-diabetics, the range of normal is generally 80-130 with 60-150 on the extreme ends. So, 183 is not good.
Henry's first response was that it was some kind of error. Since my blood test moments earlier had a normal reading, I didn't think there was a problem with the meter or the BG strips. To rule out cross contamination, I cleaned Baby Bops hands with a baby wipe and did the test again.
This time the result was 181. Not good at all. By this time, our girls have picked up that something was going on. We reassured them that everything was ok while I mentally ran through the lists of things I would need to do and what life would be like for our family with a diabetic toddler.
We decided to wait and do the test one more time after the service was over. I took Baby Bop and washed his hands carefully. Henry and I then went into an empty room to do the test one more time. By this time, Baby Bop did not want to have his finger pricked one more time and Henry had to hold him.
We heaved a heavy sigh of relief when the result was 112. Probably the high readings were caused by food residue on his hands. Still, next year when I have the girls screened for diabetes, I'm having Baby Bop screened too.
-------------------
Tags : Type 1 Diabetes, autoantibodies, Natural History study, TrialNet
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Update on "Baby Bop"
For over a year, "Baby Bop" has been part of our family. We've mentioned him in a few posts, like here and here and here.
Baby Bop is our two year old foster boy. He came to us as an ESH (Emergency Satellite Home) placement. This means that he wasn't matched to our family for long term placement, but was put in our home while the state figured out what to do. He had been in another foster home with his two older siblings but that had not worked out for one reason or another. Because it looked like Baby Bop would be sent to live with his father in a few weeks, we continued on after the ESH (30 days) period ended. I figured that he didn't need the trauma of yet another foster home.
After a soap opera of twists and turns, yesterday his bio-parents relinquished their parental rights. Baby Bop is now available for adoption. Since our adoption home study is already completed, the adoption process will probably take less than 9 months. A year ago, I would have never guessed how this would end.
One of the moms at preschool (we go to a parent participation program that meets once a week), asked if we were going to tell him he was adopted. I just had to laugh. He is a teeny tiny Hispanic boy who might reach 5' 5" if he's lucky in a household a fair-skinned Amazon women. I'm 5' 11" and my 14 year old daughter is already 5 ' 10". My husband is nearly 6' 3" and has blond hair and blue eyes. I told her that I thought the "cat was already out of the bag."
I admit there is the tiny part of me that wonders if we are depriving him of growing up in a short Hispanic family where he would have blended right in. In the end, I decided that as far as he is concerned I am his mother, this is his family and the rest doesn't matter.
However, we do keep contact with his two older siblings who are still in foster care. As luck would have it, they are being adopted by a family who attends the same church we do, though in a different city. I think it will make it easier that they will grow up with the same values and expectations.
Baby Bop's social worker said that we could include pictures of Baby Bop in our Christmas cards, etc. so here he is.
---------
Technorati tags: foster care, parenting, family, children
Baby Bop is our two year old foster boy. He came to us as an ESH (Emergency Satellite Home) placement. This means that he wasn't matched to our family for long term placement, but was put in our home while the state figured out what to do. He had been in another foster home with his two older siblings but that had not worked out for one reason or another. Because it looked like Baby Bop would be sent to live with his father in a few weeks, we continued on after the ESH (30 days) period ended. I figured that he didn't need the trauma of yet another foster home.
After a soap opera of twists and turns, yesterday his bio-parents relinquished their parental rights. Baby Bop is now available for adoption. Since our adoption home study is already completed, the adoption process will probably take less than 9 months. A year ago, I would have never guessed how this would end.
One of the moms at preschool (we go to a parent participation program that meets once a week), asked if we were going to tell him he was adopted. I just had to laugh. He is a teeny tiny Hispanic boy who might reach 5' 5" if he's lucky in a household a fair-skinned Amazon women. I'm 5' 11" and my 14 year old daughter is already 5 ' 10". My husband is nearly 6' 3" and has blond hair and blue eyes. I told her that I thought the "cat was already out of the bag."
I admit there is the tiny part of me that wonders if we are depriving him of growing up in a short Hispanic family where he would have blended right in. In the end, I decided that as far as he is concerned I am his mother, this is his family and the rest doesn't matter.
However, we do keep contact with his two older siblings who are still in foster care. As luck would have it, they are being adopted by a family who attends the same church we do, though in a different city. I think it will make it easier that they will grow up with the same values and expectations.
Baby Bop's social worker said that we could include pictures of Baby Bop in our Christmas cards, etc. so here he is.
---------
Technorati tags: foster care, parenting, family, children
Monday, May 13, 2013
Homeschooling in action - the bus ride
My middle daughter wrote this up:
----------
Middle sister and Baby Bop here! I’m helping Baby Bop write a post about our bus trip last week.
Here’s another awesome thing about homeschooling: You can do it anywhere, on the bus, in the car, or at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.
Last week Mom was busy so I babysat Baby Bop. I have American Sign Language on Wednesday so Baby Bop rode the bus with me to the junior college. My older sister gets out of class about the time my class starts so Baby Bop swapped and then rode the bus back with her. Baby Bop was quite excited about the idea of the long bus ride!
We walked to the bus stop and got there a bit early, so we watched the cars drive by and looked for trucks and Herbie (VW Bug’s). His favorite was a very white VW Bug that he said looks like Herbie.
While on the bus Baby Bop drew pictures and wrote his name. He also would write words and ask me to read them. Sometimes his combination of letters didn’t actually make a word at which point he would claim it was Chinese and demand I read it to him. I think some of the people on the bus found us quite amusing.
Other exciting this this week has included: a trip to the dentist, a trip to the airport to pick up family, and a trip to Sky High. (A cool trampoline place)
We love the flexibility that homeschooling has given us!
----------
----------
Middle sister and Baby Bop here! I’m helping Baby Bop write a post about our bus trip last week.
Here’s another awesome thing about homeschooling: You can do it anywhere, on the bus, in the car, or at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.
Last week Mom was busy so I babysat Baby Bop. I have American Sign Language on Wednesday so Baby Bop rode the bus with me to the junior college. My older sister gets out of class about the time my class starts so Baby Bop swapped and then rode the bus back with her. Baby Bop was quite excited about the idea of the long bus ride!
We walked to the bus stop and got there a bit early, so we watched the cars drive by and looked for trucks and Herbie (VW Bug’s). His favorite was a very white VW Bug that he said looks like Herbie.
While on the bus Baby Bop drew pictures and wrote his name. He also would write words and ask me to read them. Sometimes his combination of letters didn’t actually make a word at which point he would claim it was Chinese and demand I read it to him. I think some of the people on the bus found us quite amusing.
Other exciting this this week has included: a trip to the dentist, a trip to the airport to pick up family, and a trip to Sky High. (A cool trampoline place)
We love the flexibility that homeschooling has given us!
----------
Monday, May 06, 2013
The Art of Deligation
The longer we homeschool, the more I've come to rely on outside resources, classes, tutors, and co-ops to create our homeschool program. I feel like a contractor who hires a plumber, electrician and carpenter to build a house. I personally don't pick up a hammer much anymore. I organize the activities and spend a lot of time driving around in my car or in front of my computer sending emails to set up the next activity.
While preparing this list, I've realized that one of the reasons that we utilize more outside resources is that we can afford them now. Though, many of these options are very inexpensive, or even free. I'm also surprised at just how long the list has become. When I started working on this post, I could only think of a half a dozen or so outside resources. At last count, I was up to 17 outside options that we have utilized in the last year.
Here's what delegated "homeschooling" looks like at our house.
Cate Academy's "Outside" activities:
Sky High - This is a trampoline jumping place. They have a "Homeschool" discount.
Tutor (Occupational Therapy) - I won 5 hours of tutoring at a silent auction. I discovered that Beth has a degree in Occupational Therapy. She works with Baby Bop (Kindergarten) on a variety of OT type activities for an hour once a week.
Speech Therapy - Baby Bop goes to speech therapy once a week at our neighborhood school. (I was informed that next year the school will no longer provide services to homeschoolers and private school students, but that is another post). Baby Bop also goes to Speech Therapy at CSLOT. This service is provided to us free of charge because Baby Bop is a former foster child.
Rocket-it Science Class - Baby Bop and Wreck-it Ralph (Pre-K) attend an one hour class once a week.
South Bay FREE Scholars - I take Daughter #3, Baby Bop and Wreck-it Ralph to park day a couple times a month. My older girls are too busy to go to park day anymore, but they used to go when they were little. This homeschool support group meets once a week at rotating parks. I only seem to make it there half the time though because of all our other activities.
Singers Heart (Voice Lessons) - Daughter #2 will be auditioning for a Junior/Senior church choir group. She is taking a few months of lessons to prepare.
Parks and Recreation Classes - Baby Bop and Wreck-it Ralph take a pre-rec gymnastics class through Santa Clara City Parks and Recreation. Over the years, our kids have taken a variety of classes such dance, art, theater and karate.
SOL Co-op - SOL (Scholars of Light) is a co-op group that I helped start 9 years ago. We started in a bungalow apartment behind the house of one of our families. Then we moved to a garage behind the house of another family and then to a community room at a local park. Next we floated around to various churches and homes of members in the group. We now pay rent and meet at a local church. Unfortunately, this church required us to get group insurance which drove up our costs. Still, it works out to be $6 a month per child.
The co-op activities include rotating classes, such as art, art appreciation, chess, creative writing, science experiments, drama, beginning choir and a preschool class.
SOL Advanced Choir - Scholars of Light (SOL) is a sub-group of the co-op for the older children. Daughters #2 and #3 sing with this group. SOL choir perform at a local senior living center once a month. Recently, we began singing at the care home where my 97 year old aunt lives. It happens to be only a few blocks from our rehearsal location (which is the home of one of our families).
Sounds of Joy Band Ensemble - Our little band ensemble group includes homeschooled children, their parents and other adults from the community. The band ensemble moved with us to our currently meeting place with the co-op. The band rehearsal is before co-op which saves us a trip.
Math Tutoring - We have an excellent math tutor. She teaches math at the local high school full time and tutors a few students on the side. Once a week, she comes to our home to tutor all the girls. She also helps with science homework and Daughter #1's college math and writing assignments
.
Online classes - Daughter #2 and Daughter #3 take online classes in History, Science and English. We've had so-so success with the online classes. This year, things have gone very well with the addition of live online classes. Interacting with the teacher and the other online students has helped the girls feel more excited about what they are learning. If they have to miss a live class, they can always watch it later to catch up. I believe that this style of learning will be the wave of the future.
We haven't branched out much yet, but every day there are more classes available online, many of which are free.
Community College Classes - In our area, there is a program available to high school juniors and seniors to attend community college for free under the concurrent enrollment program. Our oldest daughter was able to complete a semesters worth of college credit before she started college full time. Daughter #2 is currently takes 2 classes: Sign Language and American History. Our oldest daughter is in the history class with her sister. They catch the bus together on Friday mornings. After class, the younger daughter then catches a bus to get to our co-op classes.
Sports Leagues - I can't not tell you how happy I am that it is NOT soccer season right now. In the fall, soccer takes over our life. However, I'm grateful that the kids get the exercise and can experience team sports. This should be an easy year with only 2 kids in soccer (since Daughter #1 and Daughter #2 have aged out). Of course, if Wreck-it Ralph is still with us, then we will be back to 3 kids in soccer again.
Music Lessons - We were lucky enough to find a violin/piano teacher that comes to our home. That way I can still get useful things done at home while my kids are having lessons. We are taking a break right now because we didn't register fast enough and our teacher's schedule filled up. We are preregistered for the fall.
SAT/ACT Tutoring - Even though I expect my children will go to community college before attending a university, I like to keep their options open. Our oldest daughter did both SAT and ACT prep classes through a private tutor. These small classes (6 or fewer students) taught in private homes were significantly cheaper than classes offered by a test prep corporations. Even though my oldest daughter (who scored well enough to get into the university of her choice) didn't need an ACT or SAT score for community college, I felt that the tutoring helped prepare her for college test taking.
Children's Community Theater - Last year all three of our girls were in a production of Pirates of Penzance done by the CTC (California Theater Center). The reason we choose this program is that there were no Sunday performances. Also, thanks to their summer program with all day classes, Daughter #3 no longer asked to go to school.
Two years ago, Daughter #3 participated in a musical production offered at the Coyote Grange. They offer a variety of classes for homeschoolers. The down side is that it is a 35+ minute drive each way. Even with sharing the driving with a carpool, that adds up to a lot of driving time.
And now you know why I have a bumper sticker on my car that says: "I don't know why they call it homeschooling. I'm always in my car."
While preparing this list, I've realized that one of the reasons that we utilize more outside resources is that we can afford them now. Though, many of these options are very inexpensive, or even free. I'm also surprised at just how long the list has become. When I started working on this post, I could only think of a half a dozen or so outside resources. At last count, I was up to 17 outside options that we have utilized in the last year.
Here's what delegated "homeschooling" looks like at our house.
Cate Academy's "Outside" activities:
Sky High - This is a trampoline jumping place. They have a "Homeschool" discount.
Tutor (Occupational Therapy) - I won 5 hours of tutoring at a silent auction. I discovered that Beth has a degree in Occupational Therapy. She works with Baby Bop (Kindergarten) on a variety of OT type activities for an hour once a week.
Speech Therapy - Baby Bop goes to speech therapy once a week at our neighborhood school. (I was informed that next year the school will no longer provide services to homeschoolers and private school students, but that is another post). Baby Bop also goes to Speech Therapy at CSLOT. This service is provided to us free of charge because Baby Bop is a former foster child.
Rocket-it Science Class - Baby Bop and Wreck-it Ralph (Pre-K) attend an one hour class once a week.
South Bay FREE Scholars - I take Daughter #3, Baby Bop and Wreck-it Ralph to park day a couple times a month. My older girls are too busy to go to park day anymore, but they used to go when they were little. This homeschool support group meets once a week at rotating parks. I only seem to make it there half the time though because of all our other activities.
Singers Heart (Voice Lessons) - Daughter #2 will be auditioning for a Junior/Senior church choir group. She is taking a few months of lessons to prepare.
Parks and Recreation Classes - Baby Bop and Wreck-it Ralph take a pre-rec gymnastics class through Santa Clara City Parks and Recreation. Over the years, our kids have taken a variety of classes such dance, art, theater and karate.
SOL Co-op - SOL (Scholars of Light) is a co-op group that I helped start 9 years ago. We started in a bungalow apartment behind the house of one of our families. Then we moved to a garage behind the house of another family and then to a community room at a local park. Next we floated around to various churches and homes of members in the group. We now pay rent and meet at a local church. Unfortunately, this church required us to get group insurance which drove up our costs. Still, it works out to be $6 a month per child.
The co-op activities include rotating classes, such as art, art appreciation, chess, creative writing, science experiments, drama, beginning choir and a preschool class.
SOL Advanced Choir - Scholars of Light (SOL) is a sub-group of the co-op for the older children. Daughters #2 and #3 sing with this group. SOL choir perform at a local senior living center once a month. Recently, we began singing at the care home where my 97 year old aunt lives. It happens to be only a few blocks from our rehearsal location (which is the home of one of our families).
Sounds of Joy Band Ensemble - Our little band ensemble group includes homeschooled children, their parents and other adults from the community. The band ensemble moved with us to our currently meeting place with the co-op. The band rehearsal is before co-op which saves us a trip.
Math Tutoring - We have an excellent math tutor. She teaches math at the local high school full time and tutors a few students on the side. Once a week, she comes to our home to tutor all the girls. She also helps with science homework and Daughter #1's college math and writing assignments
.
Online classes - Daughter #2 and Daughter #3 take online classes in History, Science and English. We've had so-so success with the online classes. This year, things have gone very well with the addition of live online classes. Interacting with the teacher and the other online students has helped the girls feel more excited about what they are learning. If they have to miss a live class, they can always watch it later to catch up. I believe that this style of learning will be the wave of the future.
We haven't branched out much yet, but every day there are more classes available online, many of which are free.
Community College Classes - In our area, there is a program available to high school juniors and seniors to attend community college for free under the concurrent enrollment program. Our oldest daughter was able to complete a semesters worth of college credit before she started college full time. Daughter #2 is currently takes 2 classes: Sign Language and American History. Our oldest daughter is in the history class with her sister. They catch the bus together on Friday mornings. After class, the younger daughter then catches a bus to get to our co-op classes.
Sports Leagues - I can't not tell you how happy I am that it is NOT soccer season right now. In the fall, soccer takes over our life. However, I'm grateful that the kids get the exercise and can experience team sports. This should be an easy year with only 2 kids in soccer (since Daughter #1 and Daughter #2 have aged out). Of course, if Wreck-it Ralph is still with us, then we will be back to 3 kids in soccer again.
Music Lessons - We were lucky enough to find a violin/piano teacher that comes to our home. That way I can still get useful things done at home while my kids are having lessons. We are taking a break right now because we didn't register fast enough and our teacher's schedule filled up. We are preregistered for the fall.
SAT/ACT Tutoring - Even though I expect my children will go to community college before attending a university, I like to keep their options open. Our oldest daughter did both SAT and ACT prep classes through a private tutor. These small classes (6 or fewer students) taught in private homes were significantly cheaper than classes offered by a test prep corporations. Even though my oldest daughter (who scored well enough to get into the university of her choice) didn't need an ACT or SAT score for community college, I felt that the tutoring helped prepare her for college test taking.
Children's Community Theater - Last year all three of our girls were in a production of Pirates of Penzance done by the CTC (California Theater Center). The reason we choose this program is that there were no Sunday performances. Also, thanks to their summer program with all day classes, Daughter #3 no longer asked to go to school.
Two years ago, Daughter #3 participated in a musical production offered at the Coyote Grange. They offer a variety of classes for homeschoolers. The down side is that it is a 35+ minute drive each way. Even with sharing the driving with a carpool, that adds up to a lot of driving time.
And now you know why I have a bumper sticker on my car that says: "I don't know why they call it homeschooling. I'm always in my car."
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
We're back
It has been over eight days since Janine or I have posted on our blog. I think this is the longest we've gone on sabbatical.
We've been on vacation!
We took the train up to Seattle on the sleeper car. We left on Thursday evening. It turns out the prices are much cheaper on holidays when people want to be at home. We arrived Friday evening.
We had a great time visiting with family. We did a little tourist stuff, but mostly we just hung out. Our daughters had a great time playing with their cousins.
We flew back yesterday, and now it is back to the normal grind.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.
UPDATE: From Janine
Henry left out the best part of our trip. On Thanksgiving day, Baby Bop threw up 3 times. He wasn't running a fever, so we hoped it was something he ate. We had a real dilemma. Do we cancel the trip or not. What made it harder, we were traveling with friends.
So, after a few "he doesn't look that sick", "we are on a train that has fresh circulating air" and "he will be well tomorrow" conversations, we decided to go ahead with the trip. Just about the time we hit the train station, Baby Bop developed a low grade fever.
I became a obsessive compulsive hand washer. We warned our relatives and I spent a few afternoons hanging out in the hotel room wondering if our family would ever be completely well again. (We've had the swine flu, a cold, and this stomach bug works their way through our family this fall.)
During our trip, Baby Bop ran a low grade fever on and off. Just when we would think it was over and he would be eating and acting normally, Baby Bop would spike another fever. It was kind of weird. He would look perfectly fine one minute and then be sick the next and then a few hours later act perfectly fine again.
Luckily, no one else got sick and Baby Bop was finally well on the morning we flew home. The house was pretty much a wreck and the kids and I were exhausted. Henry seemed to do ok because of the hotel room set up, he had to go to bed when the kids did, so he got more sleep than he does at home.
Today, homeschooling consisted of resting, house cleaning, and rehearsals (we have holiday instrumental performances coming up), and least I forget, Baby Bop's speech therapy. I did take a little nap propped up against the wall while Baby Bop worked with the speech pathologist. I think I need a vacation to recover from our vacation.
----------
Technorati tags: family, news
We've been on vacation!
We took the train up to Seattle on the sleeper car. We left on Thursday evening. It turns out the prices are much cheaper on holidays when people want to be at home. We arrived Friday evening.
We had a great time visiting with family. We did a little tourist stuff, but mostly we just hung out. Our daughters had a great time playing with their cousins.
We flew back yesterday, and now it is back to the normal grind.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.
UPDATE: From Janine
Henry left out the best part of our trip. On Thanksgiving day, Baby Bop threw up 3 times. He wasn't running a fever, so we hoped it was something he ate. We had a real dilemma. Do we cancel the trip or not. What made it harder, we were traveling with friends.
So, after a few "he doesn't look that sick", "we are on a train that has fresh circulating air" and "he will be well tomorrow" conversations, we decided to go ahead with the trip. Just about the time we hit the train station, Baby Bop developed a low grade fever.
I became a obsessive compulsive hand washer. We warned our relatives and I spent a few afternoons hanging out in the hotel room wondering if our family would ever be completely well again. (We've had the swine flu, a cold, and this stomach bug works their way through our family this fall.)
During our trip, Baby Bop ran a low grade fever on and off. Just when we would think it was over and he would be eating and acting normally, Baby Bop would spike another fever. It was kind of weird. He would look perfectly fine one minute and then be sick the next and then a few hours later act perfectly fine again.
Luckily, no one else got sick and Baby Bop was finally well on the morning we flew home. The house was pretty much a wreck and the kids and I were exhausted. Henry seemed to do ok because of the hotel room set up, he had to go to bed when the kids did, so he got more sleep than he does at home.
Today, homeschooling consisted of resting, house cleaning, and rehearsals (we have holiday instrumental performances coming up), and least I forget, Baby Bop's speech therapy. I did take a little nap propped up against the wall while Baby Bop worked with the speech pathologist. I think I need a vacation to recover from our vacation.
----------
Technorati tags: family, news
Monday, March 11, 2013
Kindergarten Stress (Picking a school)
We have a 5 year old foster boy, "Wreck-it Ralph", who will likely be with us until January 2014. Originally, I had planned to homeschool him utilizing a homeschool program through a local public school. In the fall I had planned to enroll both "Ralph" and our own son "Baby Bop." I figured, it would be easier to have them both in the same program since they are so close in age (16 months apart).
However, now that things are progress so well toward reunification, I think it would be better for "Ralph" to be at the school he will attend when he transitions home. That way, the school routine would be a constant and he wouldn't have so many changes in his life at the same time.
His father is in the process of moving into our school district which makes things easier on one hand and harder on the other.
Here are my options:
1) Enroll Ralph in my neighborhood school which just happens to be by my house.
+ This is convenient for me. I just have to walk across the street to drop off and pick up.
+ This is the school where Baby Bop does speech therapy. I know the staff and the
principal is quite nice.
- This school is not in the neighborhood where Ralph's father will live. It would make
it unlikely for Ralph's father to arrange play dates and such with children who live
so far away from his home.
- Even if Ralph stays at this school for the whole year, he would like change schools
next year.
2) Enroll Ralph in the neighborhood school near his father's home.
+ This school has a better demographic than my neighborhood school.
+ This is a neighborhood school. He could build relationships with his neighbors.
- While I can request this school after I register at my neighborhood school, until the
father has moved in the school boundaries, we can not register directly. The school
could be "full" by the time he moves and Ralph would be assigned to a different school.
- I would have to drive and pick up at a school 11 minutes from my house. : (
3) Try to enroll Ralph in one of the parent participation lottery school.
+ This is a school I would actually consider sending my child.
- We missed the open enrollment period, and could only get on a very long waiting list.
- The parent participation requirements would be a burden to a single father.
- The school culture is very child centric. Ralph already thinks he should do
whatever he wants whenever he wants it.
- The children live all over the district, so setting up get togethers and networking would
be harder.
4) Try to enroll Ralph in another school in the district with a better after school program to make childcare easier for the father later.
5) Try to enroll Ralph in another school in the district with a better API.
I have this personal rule about foster children. I try very hard to do for a foster child exactly what I would do for my own child. That doesn't work in this case. As much as I love homeschooling, beginning school for the first time in the middle of the year and moving to live with his father, doesn't seem like a good idea. Also, it would be a big burden on the father having to deal with the transition to school on top of everything else. If Ralph was already at the school, he would have one less thing to worry about.
And, I will admit it, there is the tiny part of me the thinks "Man, my life would be so much easier if this kid (Baby Bop) were at school." Somebody else to worry about the curriculum. Somebody else to tell him what to do all day.
Many of the schools I've looked at recently have a lot of neat things to offer, at least on paper.
However, with Baby Bop's speech impediment, this would not be a good option in the long run. Baby Bop's new speech therapist recently commented to me that she was so surprised how willing Baby Bop was to talk with her the first time they met and how unselfconscious he was about his disability. Because Baby Bop has never been to school, he has never been teased or compared to another child.
Then there is the whole competitiveness issue between the boys. If one is at school, and the other at home, I can image both boys feeling a little defensive and jealous of the other's schooling. This is what bothers me the most.
No matter what we do, I'm going to have little boys who will resent where ever they are, sometimes.
Then there is the whole competitive issue with me. I find myself feeling a little defensive when I see all the homework that the kindergarteners now do. My son is just barely beginning to write and read. Much of what we are doing (Explode the Code) would be considered on a preschool level at most schools today. My neighborhood school had the kindergartners doing spelling words in the first week of school.
I have this little voice in my head saying we should spend more time on workbooks and less time in the yard even though I've seen the studies that show that playing in the yard is better for brain development in the long run.
Most of the time, it is easy to ignore what the schools these days are doing since I have so little contact with the school. That is about to change.
However, now that things are progress so well toward reunification, I think it would be better for "Ralph" to be at the school he will attend when he transitions home. That way, the school routine would be a constant and he wouldn't have so many changes in his life at the same time.
His father is in the process of moving into our school district which makes things easier on one hand and harder on the other.
Here are my options:
1) Enroll Ralph in my neighborhood school which just happens to be by my house.
+ This is convenient for me. I just have to walk across the street to drop off and pick up.
+ This is the school where Baby Bop does speech therapy. I know the staff and the
principal is quite nice.
- This school is not in the neighborhood where Ralph's father will live. It would make
it unlikely for Ralph's father to arrange play dates and such with children who live
so far away from his home.
- Even if Ralph stays at this school for the whole year, he would like change schools
next year.
2) Enroll Ralph in the neighborhood school near his father's home.
+ This school has a better demographic than my neighborhood school.
+ This is a neighborhood school. He could build relationships with his neighbors.
- While I can request this school after I register at my neighborhood school, until the
father has moved in the school boundaries, we can not register directly. The school
could be "full" by the time he moves and Ralph would be assigned to a different school.
- I would have to drive and pick up at a school 11 minutes from my house. : (
3) Try to enroll Ralph in one of the parent participation lottery school.
+ This is a school I would actually consider sending my child.
- We missed the open enrollment period, and could only get on a very long waiting list.
- The parent participation requirements would be a burden to a single father.
- The school culture is very child centric. Ralph already thinks he should do
whatever he wants whenever he wants it.
- The children live all over the district, so setting up get togethers and networking would
be harder.
4) Try to enroll Ralph in another school in the district with a better after school program to make childcare easier for the father later.
5) Try to enroll Ralph in another school in the district with a better API.
I have this personal rule about foster children. I try very hard to do for a foster child exactly what I would do for my own child. That doesn't work in this case. As much as I love homeschooling, beginning school for the first time in the middle of the year and moving to live with his father, doesn't seem like a good idea. Also, it would be a big burden on the father having to deal with the transition to school on top of everything else. If Ralph was already at the school, he would have one less thing to worry about.
And, I will admit it, there is the tiny part of me the thinks "Man, my life would be so much easier if this kid (Baby Bop) were at school." Somebody else to worry about the curriculum. Somebody else to tell him what to do all day.
Many of the schools I've looked at recently have a lot of neat things to offer, at least on paper.
However, with Baby Bop's speech impediment, this would not be a good option in the long run. Baby Bop's new speech therapist recently commented to me that she was so surprised how willing Baby Bop was to talk with her the first time they met and how unselfconscious he was about his disability. Because Baby Bop has never been to school, he has never been teased or compared to another child.
Then there is the whole competitiveness issue between the boys. If one is at school, and the other at home, I can image both boys feeling a little defensive and jealous of the other's schooling. This is what bothers me the most.
No matter what we do, I'm going to have little boys who will resent where ever they are, sometimes.
Then there is the whole competitive issue with me. I find myself feeling a little defensive when I see all the homework that the kindergarteners now do. My son is just barely beginning to write and read. Much of what we are doing (Explode the Code) would be considered on a preschool level at most schools today. My neighborhood school had the kindergartners doing spelling words in the first week of school.
I have this little voice in my head saying we should spend more time on workbooks and less time in the yard even though I've seen the studies that show that playing in the yard is better for brain development in the long run.
Most of the time, it is easy to ignore what the schools these days are doing since I have so little contact with the school. That is about to change.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Parents with Purpose
As Henry mentioned, I spent the day at a seminar on brain development. I don't even know how to begin to summarize the day.
So here are a few concepts:
1) Children need lots of opportunities to move their bodies so that their brains can develop. Things that limit mobility, like allowing a baby to sleep in a car seat (when not necessary for safety), putting toddlers in an ExerSaucer or playpen, putting newborns to sleep on their back, electronic babysitters like the TV and video games are bad for brain development.
2) A healthy diet and circadian sleep patterns are vital to brain development.
3) When a child is struggling with learning, programs that focus only on cortical learning (like special reading programs or tutoring) can be very frustrating to children whose brains are sending jumbled information. Occupational Therapy and spontaneous play that involves crawling, running and so forth will stimulate the midbrain to function the way it should and then learning will happen spontaneously. It is kind of ironic. The more time a child is confined behind a desk, the harder it can become for him to learn.
The speaker, Donna Bateman, founded a company called Parents with Purpose. We hired her to do an evaluation on Baby Bop and to create an occupational therapy program to help him.
Her evaluation matched our own conclusions. Baby Bop's brain did not develop properly during the 2-8 month stage when much of the mid-brain develops. He spent much of that stage strapped into a car seat and suffering from malnutrition.
This kind of deficit manifests itself in some quirky little ways. Donna made a loud noise unexpectedly with a boat horn and Baby Bop didn't even flinch. He obviously could hear the sound, but he didn't respond to it. When she rang a bell on the right or left side of his head, he would turn his head. However, when she rang a bell over his head, he would not look up until she had rang it 5 or more times. Again, he could obviously hear it, but he didn't respond. I want to be clear. This is NOT about hearing. This is about how the brain processes input.
Baby Bop had trouble following a two part command without hand gestures. At first, I wondered if he was just being a "terrible two." A few minutes later after we had moved on to something else, he completed one of the commands. Donna explained that this is again an auditory processing issue. Without visual cues like pointing, it took Baby Bop 2-3 minutes to process the request. This wasn't him being disobedient. This was a brain function issue.
While Baby Bop is 28 months old, she gave us a "neurological age" of 18.7 months and a ranked him as having a "moderate bilateral extensive brainstem and midbrain injury." As a side note, his neurological age is almost the same number of months he has been in foster care. I call his time before foster care the "black hole."
Donna then mapped out a 5 module OT program to help his brain develop the functioning he missed. I really worried about this. We have friends whose children are on this type of a program and the father does an hour of OT every day before he leaves for work. I wondered how could I fit that into my life.
Well, I really like how Donna implemented the program. The first two weeks we are to do nothing but get ready.
The second two weeks we do only the first module, which in our case is a daily foot and body massage for reflex patterning.
The third two weeks we continue with module one and add module 2 which has a short exercise 10 times a day for audio processing.
Every two weeks we add another module until we are doing all 5. As he progresses, she will then increase the complexity of each module, or dropped modules that are no longer needed and add new ones that focus on another brain function.
Donna also does OT as a family plan. All my children are involved in the OT process.
I image we will end up at the hour a day mark, but in a way that should not put me over the edge. Because we homeschool, we can also spread out the OT over the whole day.
I would say more, but it is late and I've got to get to bed.
Bottom line: This has really changed how I look at behavior and brain development.
----------
Technorati tags: brain, development, damage
So here are a few concepts:
1) Children need lots of opportunities to move their bodies so that their brains can develop. Things that limit mobility, like allowing a baby to sleep in a car seat (when not necessary for safety), putting toddlers in an ExerSaucer or playpen, putting newborns to sleep on their back, electronic babysitters like the TV and video games are bad for brain development.
2) A healthy diet and circadian sleep patterns are vital to brain development.
3) When a child is struggling with learning, programs that focus only on cortical learning (like special reading programs or tutoring) can be very frustrating to children whose brains are sending jumbled information. Occupational Therapy and spontaneous play that involves crawling, running and so forth will stimulate the midbrain to function the way it should and then learning will happen spontaneously. It is kind of ironic. The more time a child is confined behind a desk, the harder it can become for him to learn.
The speaker, Donna Bateman, founded a company called Parents with Purpose. We hired her to do an evaluation on Baby Bop and to create an occupational therapy program to help him.
Her evaluation matched our own conclusions. Baby Bop's brain did not develop properly during the 2-8 month stage when much of the mid-brain develops. He spent much of that stage strapped into a car seat and suffering from malnutrition.
This kind of deficit manifests itself in some quirky little ways. Donna made a loud noise unexpectedly with a boat horn and Baby Bop didn't even flinch. He obviously could hear the sound, but he didn't respond to it. When she rang a bell on the right or left side of his head, he would turn his head. However, when she rang a bell over his head, he would not look up until she had rang it 5 or more times. Again, he could obviously hear it, but he didn't respond. I want to be clear. This is NOT about hearing. This is about how the brain processes input.
Baby Bop had trouble following a two part command without hand gestures. At first, I wondered if he was just being a "terrible two." A few minutes later after we had moved on to something else, he completed one of the commands. Donna explained that this is again an auditory processing issue. Without visual cues like pointing, it took Baby Bop 2-3 minutes to process the request. This wasn't him being disobedient. This was a brain function issue.
While Baby Bop is 28 months old, she gave us a "neurological age" of 18.7 months and a ranked him as having a "moderate bilateral extensive brainstem and midbrain injury." As a side note, his neurological age is almost the same number of months he has been in foster care. I call his time before foster care the "black hole."
Donna then mapped out a 5 module OT program to help his brain develop the functioning he missed. I really worried about this. We have friends whose children are on this type of a program and the father does an hour of OT every day before he leaves for work. I wondered how could I fit that into my life.
Well, I really like how Donna implemented the program. The first two weeks we are to do nothing but get ready.
The second two weeks we do only the first module, which in our case is a daily foot and body massage for reflex patterning.
The third two weeks we continue with module one and add module 2 which has a short exercise 10 times a day for audio processing.
Every two weeks we add another module until we are doing all 5. As he progresses, she will then increase the complexity of each module, or dropped modules that are no longer needed and add new ones that focus on another brain function.
Donna also does OT as a family plan. All my children are involved in the OT process.
I image we will end up at the hour a day mark, but in a way that should not put me over the edge. Because we homeschool, we can also spread out the OT over the whole day.
I would say more, but it is late and I've got to get to bed.
Bottom line: This has really changed how I look at behavior and brain development.
----------
Technorati tags: brain, development, damage
Monday, January 13, 2014
My 1st Grade Curriculum
This is a visual representation of our 1st Grade Curriculum. We are a bit eclectic. Also, our son is a non-traditional learner with some neuro-processing challenges.
I create most of my own worksheets using Peterson Directed Handwriting fonts. I got the idea for my "daily sheet" from Saxon Math.
I change the counting pattern and then number each day. You may have noticed that the number of the day corresponds to the date. So basically, I repeat math facts for the counting numbers 1-31. We have stackable counting blocks that are the exact size of the square. I give Baby Bop the correct number of counting blocks. He counts them out for me, then divides them into two towers and then writes the number of blocks for each tower in the square. We recently added a subtraction question following a similar format.
Next, I have a work sheet which is a scripture summary. I read the scripture verses with Baby Bop. We talk about it and then he copies a simple scripture summary. I use the same scripture all week and just print out a new worksheet for each day.
I try to do a page of Explode the Code every day. Because Baby Bop struggles with phonetic awareness, this is harder than it sounds.
I also give him a sheet for writing. I help him write a sentence and he draws a picture to go with it.
On Monday, we have a music teacher which comes to the house to give piano and violin lessons. (I love having a music teacher that comes to the house because it saves me so much time). I realized that I couldn't help Baby Bop with his practicing since I don't play violin. I also realized that I could use my daughter's full size violin. So, now I take violin lessons with my son.
Baby Bop also has a tutor with training in occupational therapy who comes to the house once a week and he goes to speech therapy once a week. We utilize outside classes, such as gymnastics class, theater class, and science class. All my children attend a homeschool co-op once a week that includes a variety of classes.
And of course, Baby Bop plays with Legos, toy dinosaurs and stuffed animals.
This sums up my 1st Grade curriculum.
I create most of my own worksheets using Peterson Directed Handwriting fonts. I got the idea for my "daily sheet" from Saxon Math.
I change the counting pattern and then number each day. You may have noticed that the number of the day corresponds to the date. So basically, I repeat math facts for the counting numbers 1-31. We have stackable counting blocks that are the exact size of the square. I give Baby Bop the correct number of counting blocks. He counts them out for me, then divides them into two towers and then writes the number of blocks for each tower in the square. We recently added a subtraction question following a similar format.
Next, I have a work sheet which is a scripture summary. I read the scripture verses with Baby Bop. We talk about it and then he copies a simple scripture summary. I use the same scripture all week and just print out a new worksheet for each day.
I try to do a page of Explode the Code every day. Because Baby Bop struggles with phonetic awareness, this is harder than it sounds.
I also give him a sheet for writing. I help him write a sentence and he draws a picture to go with it.
On Monday, we have a music teacher which comes to the house to give piano and violin lessons. (I love having a music teacher that comes to the house because it saves me so much time). I realized that I couldn't help Baby Bop with his practicing since I don't play violin. I also realized that I could use my daughter's full size violin. So, now I take violin lessons with my son.
Baby Bop also has a tutor with training in occupational therapy who comes to the house once a week and he goes to speech therapy once a week. We utilize outside classes, such as gymnastics class, theater class, and science class. All my children attend a homeschool co-op once a week that includes a variety of classes.
And of course, Baby Bop plays with Legos, toy dinosaurs and stuffed animals.
This sums up my 1st Grade curriculum.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
A little update
I haven't been posting much lately. If I did post, the topic would be foster care, not homeschooling. Our "foster boy" has been with us about 8 months. Sometimes I wish we had an anonymous blog, like a dusty frame, so that I could give more details about what is going on. But since we use our name, I'm pretty limited in what I can legally talk about.
When people ask me how long "Baby Bop" will be staying, I reply, "Somewhere between two weeks and the rest of his life." Since last week, Baby Bop is no longer on the reunification track. Sometime in November the court could move to terminate parental rights, clearing the way for an adoption. I say "could" because the system moves pretty slowly. I'm expecting a few continuances and other court delays. After parental rights have been terminated, his adoption paperwork could take anywhere between 3 to 9 months. Our adoption home study is already completed, so there should be no delay on our part.
As a homeschooler with a healthy mistrust of government programs, I'm quite happy that the court moves so slowly. I don't want a world where the government can easily and permanently remove children from their parents. On the other hand, when you are caring for a young child, it doesn't take very long for you to become the parents from the child's point of view.
We actively supported the reunification process. As more time passed, we became more and more concerned about the trauma reunification could cause. We are the only home he can remember and his bio family are virtual strangers.
I believe for this and other reasons, the bio parents chose to drop out of the reunification process.
Sometimes I don't know what scared me more; Baby Bop leaving or him staying. Baby Bop is a complicated little guy with some long term health issues. The longer he is with us, the more confident I become that we can handle these challenges.
I would say more, but Baby Bop needs my attention.
----------
Technorati tags: foster care, parenting, family, children
When people ask me how long "Baby Bop" will be staying, I reply, "Somewhere between two weeks and the rest of his life." Since last week, Baby Bop is no longer on the reunification track. Sometime in November the court could move to terminate parental rights, clearing the way for an adoption. I say "could" because the system moves pretty slowly. I'm expecting a few continuances and other court delays. After parental rights have been terminated, his adoption paperwork could take anywhere between 3 to 9 months. Our adoption home study is already completed, so there should be no delay on our part.
As a homeschooler with a healthy mistrust of government programs, I'm quite happy that the court moves so slowly. I don't want a world where the government can easily and permanently remove children from their parents. On the other hand, when you are caring for a young child, it doesn't take very long for you to become the parents from the child's point of view.
We actively supported the reunification process. As more time passed, we became more and more concerned about the trauma reunification could cause. We are the only home he can remember and his bio family are virtual strangers.
I believe for this and other reasons, the bio parents chose to drop out of the reunification process.
Sometimes I don't know what scared me more; Baby Bop leaving or him staying. Baby Bop is a complicated little guy with some long term health issues. The longer he is with us, the more confident I become that we can handle these challenges.
I would say more, but Baby Bop needs my attention.
----------
Technorati tags: foster care, parenting, family, children
Thursday, November 12, 2009
New approach for getting Baby Bop to sleep
Currently our church meets in the afternoon, during Baby Bop's nap time. Normally we take him to church and then put him down for a late nap afterwards.
Recently Janine took him to church, I was going a little later. I was surprised to see Janine driving up the driveway. Baby Bop had fallen asleep. We moved him to his bed, and he started to wake up. I sat in the rocking chair next to him, and he settled down a bit. I waited. He just laid there, but wasn't falling back asleep. After a few minutes I went and got my scriptures. I came back to his room and read a few chapters. Baby Bop was still half awake. I decided to read a chapter out loud. He was asleep before I finished the chapter.
I have done this once since and it also worked like magic.
Hopefully we aren't training him to fall asleep when he hears the word of God.
----------
Technorati tags: Baby Bop
Recently Janine took him to church, I was going a little later. I was surprised to see Janine driving up the driveway. Baby Bop had fallen asleep. We moved him to his bed, and he started to wake up. I sat in the rocking chair next to him, and he settled down a bit. I waited. He just laid there, but wasn't falling back asleep. After a few minutes I went and got my scriptures. I came back to his room and read a few chapters. Baby Bop was still half awake. I decided to read a chapter out loud. He was asleep before I finished the chapter.
I have done this once since and it also worked like magic.
Hopefully we aren't training him to fall asleep when he hears the word of God.
----------
Technorati tags: Baby Bop
Monday, October 26, 2009
Illegal immigration, race and government programs
Baby Bop has a significant speech delay. When he was younger than 3 years old, he received an hour of speech therapy a week at our home through the Early Start program. Now that he is three years old, the local school district provides speech therapy. (As a side note: to qualify for services, the child must be below the 7th percentile in some area.) In our case, Baby Bop's expressive language skills fall at the 3rd percentile.
Today, I met a speech therapist at the school near my house and signed the paperwork for his IEP (Individual Education Program). During this process, I've purposely left blank certain sections of the paperwork. I've given no information about the other children in our household and I've not indicated Baby Bop's race.
The speech therapist asked if I would be willing to fill out the "race" portion. The school will receive more money if I indicated that Baby Bop is Hispanic/Latino. No matter which race I put, Baby Bop will received the same services. However, those services are somehow more valuable to the state if the child is Hispanic/Latino. The school gets even more money if Spanish is his primary language.
I just hate the way my tax dollars are spent.
----------
Technorati tags: illegal immigration, IEP, speech therapy, home education, parenting, children, education
Today, I met a speech therapist at the school near my house and signed the paperwork for his IEP (Individual Education Program). During this process, I've purposely left blank certain sections of the paperwork. I've given no information about the other children in our household and I've not indicated Baby Bop's race.
The speech therapist asked if I would be willing to fill out the "race" portion. The school will receive more money if I indicated that Baby Bop is Hispanic/Latino. No matter which race I put, Baby Bop will received the same services. However, those services are somehow more valuable to the state if the child is Hispanic/Latino. The school gets even more money if Spanish is his primary language.
I just hate the way my tax dollars are spent.
----------
Technorati tags: illegal immigration, IEP, speech therapy, home education, parenting, children, education
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)