Makes sense...

Crazy three-year-old!

This afternoon we went outside to play for a bit. For J, playing means running around in circles in our front yard. The girls chose to push their "babies" in their strollers. At one point V went inside to get something to put in her hoodie pockets. Apparently, her pockets needed filling !?!

She came out with pockets bulging. In one was the play thermometer. I could see why she would want to bring that outside, since her baby was scantily clad and could get cold. Or get a fever. Maybe?

In her other pocket, she had the toilet from her doll house. When I said, "The toilet?" she said, "It fits."

Oh.

Okay.

Yeah. That makes sense.

Sort of.

:)

How's the Homeschooling Going?

Well, thanks for asking! It's going great!

I finally have chosen to believe all those veteran homeschooling moms: the best way to get started is to do one subject at a time, adding on as the teacher feels ready.

I started out (last year, was it?) with a full schedule for J and the girls. I planned for everything, from PE to music appreciation. Yeah, that lasted all of one or two days. So, I would start and stop, start and stop. It just felt all so...impossible.

Recently (last month?), I decided to pare "everything" down to one "thing" - phonics. I worked on doing phonics with J daily, right at the beginning of the girls' naptime. Reading, to me, is the most important and foundational skill a kid needs to learn. We go over one page in Phonics Pathways. It takes all of five minutes to complete. Once we got phonics down to daily, I added in math, but only Mon/Wed/Fri. This is where we currently are. I find that's it's so much more...possible...with this lighter, more realistic goal. If all goes to plan, I will begin handwriting after Christmas (third quarter) and geography, which is a pre-cursor to history, in the fourth quarter.

Also, V had asked me to start her on phonics last month. So, we're at the beginning of Phonics Pathways, working currently on the short vowel sounds. Already, I see that she learns differently. She needs the games, the books, the flashcards. J is so content and willing to do whatever, even if it's just reading through a list of words. But V needs interaction! My goal with her is to get phonics in daily.

H is working on colors. Right now, every color is purple. In fact, her baby doll is named Purple Baby. I got books on the colors yellow and blue from the library yesterday. I'm hoping to increase her palate :)

So, yes, homeschooling is going well.

Slow and steady wins the race, apparently!

Speech Therapy

J had a speech therapy evaluation last week. It went really well, if speech therapy evaluations can go well...

:)

Miss Jane is J's new therapist. Nice lady. She was surprised at how well J spoke. She had prepared one test but realized after talking with J for 2 seconds that she needed the other one, the one she uses only "once every five years or so". She couldn't find it but improvised to get "a score". J, she maintains, is the highest functioning Aspie she's met in a looooong time :)

I think it's because we sold/gave away all our TVs. (We still watch DVDs and videos on our computer, though. But only on weekends!)

J and V have recently begun communicating more together on their own. I enjoy listening to their playful chatter as they interact. Miss Jane says it's wonderful that J has a playmate like his sister and that we should continue to encourage and direct role playing to help him (and her!) learn how to handle everyday social situations.

So, since we have insurance that covers it, we're going to take J to speech therapy once a week for half an hour...for maybe six months? J just needs some help brushing up the finer points of communication :)

I guess he has a lisp, too. I never realized it, but Miss Jane's going to work on it.

If J had been born 20 years ago, Miss Jane tells me, he would've been mainstreamed, become an engineer, and been considered quirky! This is why I am coming to the belief that Asperger's is not a syndrome, but an extreme personality type (especially since I believe I'm an Aspie, too, but that's for another post).

:)