Week 26

Never be so busy as not to think of others.

– Mother Teresa

 This week's affirmation- I can engage in small acts of kindness to uplift other people. 

This week we enjoyed playing in the snow. With the help of Dad, the kids built a sled track. 

Dragon made sure everything was up to code.

The dog was the self appointed safety officer 

"A" practiced some parkour.

PE- Besides getting a work out jumping off things and hauling a sled back up the hill, we went bowling.

Math- Singapore, Prodigy and Starfall.

LA- Spelling, reading, writing and vocabulary. On his own A wrote a book.

Social Studies- In addition to J's government course, we took some time to celebrate Chinese's New Year. The year of the rabbit.

Cooking- For part of the celebration, we made fortune cookies. J helped mix up the batter and they wrote the fortunes.

Exploring Technology- In addition to building a sled track, J did typing, and A built with Legos. 

Science/Health- Learned about the brain, eyes, and DNA.

Stay Curious- Does your body keep breathing when you sleep? Yes! Our body is pretty good at keeping us alive even when we're "dead to the world". (They also learned about idioms this week.)

All About K and A2

  K bought himself a new Lego set.

They also had a lot of fun sledding.

And bowling.

Week 25

 Never Complain of what you have. 

Always remember you are fortunate to have it.

Ma Ingalls

LA- We finished reading The Long Winter from the Little House on the Prairie series and just in time for us to have a three day "blizzard". We had a lot of fun reading it on the cold evenings while snuggled under the blankets.

Last week I mentioned J picked up 22 books and I predicted it would take her about 2 weeks to finish them.  Well, three books (a series) she decided wasn't a good fit for her but she read the other 19 in one week!  Those were some thick books to!  

Stay Curious- J wanted to know who the fastest speed reader was. Howard Stephen Burg read 25,000 words a minute which equals 80 pages a minute! Watching him read looks like he's just throwing pages. He see the whole page like a painting and understands it.  While most of us read one word at a time, speed readers, like J, read chunks at a time. For example, she reads a whole sentence at once. Mind blown! 

Math- J's math consisted of calculating how many pages she had left in each book and estimating how long it would take her to finish. We also did Singapore Primary Mathematics and some special winter math- measuring snow!

J measured three spots and took the average. 14 inched of snow in the morning. However, it continued to snow all day and by the end of the evening, we had another 14 inches of snow! And still more came!

Morning

Evening

Next morning.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned it was the most snow our kids have ever seen in their lives. Well, I stand corrected again. This three day snow storm is the most snow our kids have ever seen. The public school had one day of late start and one day of virtual learning. Another benefit of homeschooling is, instead of a storm delaying school, it enhances it. Snow makes a great math/science/PE lesson.  

Exploring Tech- Typing, Legos, and engineering snow tunnels.

Almost there

Made it!

Cooking- On her own J made bread. We made pumpkin muffins. And A made cinnamon rolls.

Science- Along with snow science and baking science, we continued our unit on the human body. We learned about the layers of the skin, the digestive system, and the respiratory system. 

History- We learned about Martín Luther King Jr, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and Ruby Bridges. J continued to learn about the government through Crash Course.

All About K and A2

Legos

Sensory- beans with Dragon supervising

Not pictured- play dough, rice sensory, Water Wows, and reading.

Fun Facts

This is the kittens' first winter.

And our dogs favorite season.

Yeah, I just wanted to show off cute pictures of our pets. :)

Happy Learning!

Bonus: Building a Home Sensory Room

When my four-year-old was diagnosed with autism, I began looking for services in our rural area, only to find there wasn't a whole lot. On a day I was feeling particularly discouraged, my friend, who has two children with autism, dropped everything to come over and help. She brought with her a container filled with toys and activities.

*Hers was way more organized than mine

"This is our sensory stuff," she explained. She also told me how she does her own OT (Occupational Therapy) at home for her children, since there wasn't one available. Since that time, she has been able to get services for her kids, but the inspiration for creating home sensory resources was planted. In the months that followed, we created a home sensory room as well as a sensory/OT box of our own.

The number one best thing we bought was a swing that spins. We originally started with a homemade swing from one of my old baby wraps. I bought a couple of heavy duty bolts and carabiners to tie it onto.

However, I found spinning calms both my kids who struggle with sensory/anxiety so we added the spinning swing to our house. Having a toddler that loves to swing as well, means these two swings see a lot of use.

My kids love to tumble and roll. Before the diagnosis, we already had a gymnastic mat, wedge, and a mini trampoline. Later, we added the kids size exercise balls.

My oldest with sensory needs, took inspiration from American Ninja Warrior and turned every doorway into an obstacle course. We let him climb.

We were very fortunate to have my mom, who understands what it's like to have a child with autism, willing to help out. She remembered one of the best things for my brother was a large outdoor trampoline. She graciously sent one our way.

While building a sensory corner in our house for large motor activities, we were also gathering supplies to put together an OT/fine motor box.

It includes items like bubbles, bubble wrap to pop, pipe cleaner and beads, kinetic and slimy sand, tape, because they love to pull it off the walls, and various fidget toys. We also have a container containing sensory activities such as egg shakers, beans, play dough, etc.

A large loom turned upside down, fits golf pegs perfectly.
A great fine motor activity. 

And we have a tunnel.

We also have a few chew toys in hopes of trying to save their shirts from the constant chewing. But it's hard transitioning away from what has become a sensory habit. In addition to chew toys, which you can find at places like arktherapeutic.com, we have taken previous chewed up shirts, cut off an inch or two of the bottom and hung it around their neck like a necklace. I know other parents make braided t-shirt necklaces with a safety clasp that breaks off if it gets caught to avoid a choking hazard.   

*update- my oldest created a solution for not chewing on his clothing that I would have never thought of.  He sticks a plastic hanger in the back of his shirt so it pulls the neck line up against his neck where he can't easily get it into his mouth. I've since bought him a higher neck jacket to help. Sometimes the best solutions are the ones the child comes up with for themselves.

Back to the sensory kit, perhaps my kids favorite thing in the sensory kit is the sensory tunnel we made.  Here's both of them trying to play in it at once.

When I realized how much they loved their Lycra sheets, which is a snug fitting compression sheet, I wanted something they could play with without remaking their beds every day. (Weighted blankets are also nice for sleeping.) To make the tunnel, we took 3 yards of stretchy fabric, cut it to about 43 inches wide and Grandma helped sew it up. We also sewed up the extra material to make stretchy bands.

I have since learned there is fabric similar to this that already come in tube form. If I had to do it again, I'd go with that to avoid the seams.  

I had a few books recommended to me as well to help with sensory therapy and reducing anxiety. Both Starting Sensory Therapy and The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook for Kids, have activity ideas you can do with children of all ages.  Uniquely Human is a great resource for anyone wanting to understand more about autism. I highly recommend it.

On top of that, we look for ways to support their own interests. Currently puzzles and Legos are a prime example.

I know there are many more resources out there. For example, I'd love things like a squeeze machine, a crash pad or weighted vests, but this is what has worked for our space and budget. Along with supporting him at home, he now goes to a special education preschool a couple times a week and once a week meets with the school occupational therapist. Since being diagnosed 8 months ago, our little guys has come a long way. We love watching him learn and grow at his own steady pace.

Week 24

 For with God nothing shall be impossible. 

Luke 1:37

Colored by J

Math- Singapore Primary Mathematics

LA- Reading, writing, spelling

Social Studies- Government

Science- Human muscles, bones, and circulatory system

Cooking- Learning to cook is one of J's new year goals. Over the past couple weeks she has made German pancakes, boiled eggs, blueberry dump cake, and bread.

Technology- Typing and Kiwi crate. This was their favorite Kiwi Crate to date- The Marble Timer.

Craft Club- Mini banjos

PE- Freeze tag with other homeschoolers and J counts hauling books from the library as a work out. 

but wait, there's more!

Let's see how long it takes her to get through them all. My guess is less than 2 weeks.

All About K and A2

Dad made some new shelves for our picture books. Too cold to paint them yet, but they work just fine. We continue to read.

Fine Motor and creativity/imagination- Mixing more playdough.

I finally got around to making salt dough ornaments for A2. K made a couple, too.