Gymnastics Camp is done. It was a lovely week of three hours to myself every morning. On the other hand, our homeschooling time was reduced by 80% so it's all trade offs I suppose. It will be nice to get back to doing all of our wonderful homeschooling activities this week.
I've enjoyed getting back to blogging somewhat and will try to post at least once or twice a week somehow. I have a couple of things I worked on last week queued up that I haven't had a chance to post yet. I'll try to get a set of verb picture cards I made put up tomorrow. I'm also almost done with a set of sorting/categories cards as well and I'll try to get that up later this week or next week.
I hope you all have a great week too!
Monday, July 15, 2013
Friday, July 12, 2013
Creating Custom Handwriting / Writing Journals for Young Children
Ok. If you follow here regularly you might have noticed that I'm somewhat... detail oriented. (That sounds much better than "Type A Obsessive" right?) I knew that I wanted to include formal handwriting instruction and writing in our homeschooling curriculum. I searched online for something I could just print and use, but didn't find anything just right for our needs, so I designed something myself.
First, I found Educational Fontware. For $49.95 you get the licence to use 33 handwriting font families and some specialty and decorative fonts. You can print most of the fonts with dots, outlines, arrows, rules and so on. It was a great investment. I compared all the print fonts and chose the one I liked best for teaching the children. I made a chart so I could clearly see the differences between the different fonts.
I ended up choosing Steck Vaughn. That was simply the one I liked best for a variety of reasons. Then I dove in to actually creating the pages for our writing journal.
Each day the children complete a two-page spread. On the left is a handwriting practice page and on the right there is a writing journal page. I began with uppercase letters although if I were to do it again I would have chosen lowercase first. I wanted the handwriting page to include both tracing the letter and writing the letter. I wanted them to practice it alone and in a word. I also wanted to include a visual discrimination section. I also prompt them to go back and circle their best letter to encourage self-assessment. I include pictures of things that use all the sounds that the letter can make. Here are a few examples of our handwriting pages. Later I began having the children write the entire word in the "Practice in a word" section to facilitate review. The lower half of the rules is highlighted to help them discriminate between the part of the letter that goes in the top half of the rule and the part of the letter that goes in the bottom half of the rule.
For the writing journal pages on the right-hand side of their journals I wanted them to write their name and the date. Then there is a written prompt inside a box followed by blank handwriting rules. The rules are sized to match the handwriting practice on the opposite page. They are instructed to use at least three colors in their picture to encourage them to spend some time on their picture and to add a little complexity. After they finish their picture, Ava dictates a sentence to me. I write it in pencil on the bottom of her page and then she traces over it. If Michael's sentence is short, I write it on a dry erase board and he copies it into his journal himself. If his sentence is longer and I'm worried he won't be able to fit it all, I write it in the journal in pencil and he copies over it. In the second half of the writing journal I moved from two lines to four because the children constantly needed more space than they had for their thoughts. I also plan to have Michael move to using invented spelling and writing his thoughts himself rather than using a dictation method, but we haven't started that yet.
Here are some examples of our writing journal pages. I began with very simple prompts and moved to more imaginative, open-ended prompts later.
Here are a couple of writing journal pages complete. The name and dates have been cropped out to protect the anonymity of the author-artists.
Our first handwriting/writing journal consists of a handwriting sheet for each of the uppercase letters and a few practice sheets with words at the end and the facing writing journal pages. When we finish the first book, I will make another one with the lowercase letters and new writing prompts.
So far the children love writing journal time. They enjoy working in their journals and showing off their work to anyone who will sit down and look through the journal with them. We typically spend 30-45 minutes per session working on the lesson.
Later, I'd like to expand our writing curriculum to include a weekly "storywriting" activity where I sit down at the computer and take dictation of a story created by the children. Then I'll print it out and let them illustrate the story. It will allow them to experience writing longer stories than they can currently create in their journals without being held back by their current fine motor/handwriting slowness.
First, I found Educational Fontware. For $49.95 you get the licence to use 33 handwriting font families and some specialty and decorative fonts. You can print most of the fonts with dots, outlines, arrows, rules and so on. It was a great investment. I compared all the print fonts and chose the one I liked best for teaching the children. I made a chart so I could clearly see the differences between the different fonts.
I ended up choosing Steck Vaughn. That was simply the one I liked best for a variety of reasons. Then I dove in to actually creating the pages for our writing journal.
Each day the children complete a two-page spread. On the left is a handwriting practice page and on the right there is a writing journal page. I began with uppercase letters although if I were to do it again I would have chosen lowercase first. I wanted the handwriting page to include both tracing the letter and writing the letter. I wanted them to practice it alone and in a word. I also wanted to include a visual discrimination section. I also prompt them to go back and circle their best letter to encourage self-assessment. I include pictures of things that use all the sounds that the letter can make. Here are a few examples of our handwriting pages. Later I began having the children write the entire word in the "Practice in a word" section to facilitate review. The lower half of the rules is highlighted to help them discriminate between the part of the letter that goes in the top half of the rule and the part of the letter that goes in the bottom half of the rule.
For the writing journal pages on the right-hand side of their journals I wanted them to write their name and the date. Then there is a written prompt inside a box followed by blank handwriting rules. The rules are sized to match the handwriting practice on the opposite page. They are instructed to use at least three colors in their picture to encourage them to spend some time on their picture and to add a little complexity. After they finish their picture, Ava dictates a sentence to me. I write it in pencil on the bottom of her page and then she traces over it. If Michael's sentence is short, I write it on a dry erase board and he copies it into his journal himself. If his sentence is longer and I'm worried he won't be able to fit it all, I write it in the journal in pencil and he copies over it. In the second half of the writing journal I moved from two lines to four because the children constantly needed more space than they had for their thoughts. I also plan to have Michael move to using invented spelling and writing his thoughts himself rather than using a dictation method, but we haven't started that yet.
Here are some examples of our writing journal pages. I began with very simple prompts and moved to more imaginative, open-ended prompts later.
Here are a couple of writing journal pages complete. The name and dates have been cropped out to protect the anonymity of the author-artists.
Our first handwriting/writing journal consists of a handwriting sheet for each of the uppercase letters and a few practice sheets with words at the end and the facing writing journal pages. When we finish the first book, I will make another one with the lowercase letters and new writing prompts.
So far the children love writing journal time. They enjoy working in their journals and showing off their work to anyone who will sit down and look through the journal with them. We typically spend 30-45 minutes per session working on the lesson.
Later, I'd like to expand our writing curriculum to include a weekly "storywriting" activity where I sit down at the computer and take dictation of a story created by the children. Then I'll print it out and let them illustrate the story. It will allow them to experience writing longer stories than they can currently create in their journals without being held back by their current fine motor/handwriting slowness.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Homeschooling Year One - Kindergarten / Pre-Kindergarten: Daily Schedule and Routine
When I started to think about homeschooling, I wanted to know what a typical day was like and so I asked google. Doesn't everyone ask the collective wisdom of the internet for answers to their questions these days? I was frustrated that I couldn't seem to get a satisfactory answer. I think it is because every family that homeschools finds their own routine. Each family has a blend of unique personalities and ages. The number of children differs. The ages of those children differ. The discrepancy in ages differs. The style of homeschooling differs as does geography, physical space, family obligations, extracurricular activities, and so on. And, from day to day, week to week, and season to season, schedules morph and change as well.
"Fine, fine..." I grumbled to myself. I understood all that, but I still wanted to read some examples. And so, in our homeschooling infancy, this is how the rhythm of our days has been running.
My children wake up at the crack of dawn. I used to set my alarm for the dark and wake with them, but as they grew and became more independent I abandoned that. Now we set out a simple breakfasty snack for them to serve themselves and allow them their daily phone time in the wee hours of the morning. (They play on outdated iphones repurposed for their use and filled with mostly educational content.) I come downstairs sometime between 7:30 and 8:00 am at which point the children have been on their own for about an hour. 8:00 is my self-imposed hard limit.
I spend the next 30-45 minutes feeding the children a more nutritious second round of breakfast, fixing Ava's hair, drinking some tea, etc. Our homeschooling day begins at approximately 8:30 am.
Disclaimer: These times are approximate.
8:30-8:50 am: Circle Time. Welcome song, calendar work, weather graphing, and the song, word and poem of the day...
8:50-9:00 am: PE Break. We do something active to shake out the wiggles from sitting through circle and help get ready for the next chunk of sitting we'll be doing shortly. Lately we've been getting to know our bodies. We discussed all the major muscle groups of our legs and stretched each area followed by exercises that work those muscles. Then we did a similar group of activities for the arms. Next we'll move to the core. We talked about how muscles get stronger when you use them. Other times we'll explore movement types like running, skipping, jumping, leaping, galloping, etc. We might play a quick beanbag game or have an indoor race. I plan this activity in the PE Break section of the planner.
9:00-10:30 am: Writing journals followed by RightStart Math Level A lesson. I teach these to both children together expecting slightly more of Michael and slightly less of Ava due to the one year age difference.
10:30-11:00 am: Light healthy snack break accompanied by discussion of the nutrition components of our breakfast and snack. I'm pushing nutrition right now in the hope that it will help a little with the picky eating that runs rampant in our household. I'd say it is actually helping and so we will push on...
11:00 am-12:30 pm: Now the children alternate. First Ava does All About Reading: Pre-Reading with me while Michael chooses an activity box to play with on the nearby circle. He knows he needs to play independently and quietly while I work with Ava. He'll often sneak over and listen while we sing our letter of the day song and read the letter of the day poems from the reader simply because he enjoys those parts of her lesson. Then Ava plays quietly nearby while we do Michael's All About Spelling Level One lesson and All About Reading Level 2 lesson. He has chosen to do his spelling on the computer because his spelling skills far outstrip his ability to actually write the letters.
12:30-2:00 pm: Lunch/television/free time break.
2:00 - 4:30 pm: This time varies depending on the day. Some days we have a play date with friends. Other days we'll do another lesson (arts/crafts; science; social studies; music; etc). Sometimes they simply have free choice time and play.
That is our "typical" schedule. Of course, things vary. Monday mornings we have gymnastics at 9:30 and so we do that and then shift the rest of the schedule backwards once we get home. Wednesday mornings my amazing mother takes the children to Story Hour at the library and keeps them through lunch. Then we do some lessons when I pick them up after lunch. So although we have a routine for "home days", there is a lot of variation during the week.
But, that gives you an idea of how things are structured at the moment. I'm positive it will all continue to morph and change over time.
"Fine, fine..." I grumbled to myself. I understood all that, but I still wanted to read some examples. And so, in our homeschooling infancy, this is how the rhythm of our days has been running.
My children wake up at the crack of dawn. I used to set my alarm for the dark and wake with them, but as they grew and became more independent I abandoned that. Now we set out a simple breakfasty snack for them to serve themselves and allow them their daily phone time in the wee hours of the morning. (They play on outdated iphones repurposed for their use and filled with mostly educational content.) I come downstairs sometime between 7:30 and 8:00 am at which point the children have been on their own for about an hour. 8:00 is my self-imposed hard limit.
I spend the next 30-45 minutes feeding the children a more nutritious second round of breakfast, fixing Ava's hair, drinking some tea, etc. Our homeschooling day begins at approximately 8:30 am.
Disclaimer: These times are approximate.
8:30-8:50 am: Circle Time. Welcome song, calendar work, weather graphing, and the song, word and poem of the day...
8:50-9:00 am: PE Break. We do something active to shake out the wiggles from sitting through circle and help get ready for the next chunk of sitting we'll be doing shortly. Lately we've been getting to know our bodies. We discussed all the major muscle groups of our legs and stretched each area followed by exercises that work those muscles. Then we did a similar group of activities for the arms. Next we'll move to the core. We talked about how muscles get stronger when you use them. Other times we'll explore movement types like running, skipping, jumping, leaping, galloping, etc. We might play a quick beanbag game or have an indoor race. I plan this activity in the PE Break section of the planner.
9:00-10:30 am: Writing journals followed by RightStart Math Level A lesson. I teach these to both children together expecting slightly more of Michael and slightly less of Ava due to the one year age difference.
10:30-11:00 am: Light healthy snack break accompanied by discussion of the nutrition components of our breakfast and snack. I'm pushing nutrition right now in the hope that it will help a little with the picky eating that runs rampant in our household. I'd say it is actually helping and so we will push on...
11:00 am-12:30 pm: Now the children alternate. First Ava does All About Reading: Pre-Reading with me while Michael chooses an activity box to play with on the nearby circle. He knows he needs to play independently and quietly while I work with Ava. He'll often sneak over and listen while we sing our letter of the day song and read the letter of the day poems from the reader simply because he enjoys those parts of her lesson. Then Ava plays quietly nearby while we do Michael's All About Spelling Level One lesson and All About Reading Level 2 lesson. He has chosen to do his spelling on the computer because his spelling skills far outstrip his ability to actually write the letters.
12:30-2:00 pm: Lunch/television/free time break.
2:00 - 4:30 pm: This time varies depending on the day. Some days we have a play date with friends. Other days we'll do another lesson (arts/crafts; science; social studies; music; etc). Sometimes they simply have free choice time and play.
That is our "typical" schedule. Of course, things vary. Monday mornings we have gymnastics at 9:30 and so we do that and then shift the rest of the schedule backwards once we get home. Wednesday mornings my amazing mother takes the children to Story Hour at the library and keeps them through lunch. Then we do some lessons when I pick them up after lunch. So although we have a routine for "home days", there is a lot of variation during the week.
But, that gives you an idea of how things are structured at the moment. I'm positive it will all continue to morph and change over time.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Homeschooling Year One - Kindergarten / Pre-Kindergarten: Daily Planning and Logging
The children are at gymnastics camp this week. Three hours every morning. It is blissful. As much as I've been enjoying homeschooling I've also rather desperately missed having some quiet morning hours to myself. I'm an introvert. Quiet alone time is something of a necessity. Without it, I feel increasingly... stretched thin. And so, I'm grabbing the opportunity provided to me by gymnastics camp to share some things with you. :-)
Homeschooling, is obviously my current obsession. I believe that it will eventually fall into a routine that will return balance to my life, but that's the nature of starting something new. So expect something of a homeschooling focus to the blog for a bit.
A while back I created a homeschooling planner. Prior to beginning to actually use it I decided that I needed to switch from something bound to a mini binder. I just like binders. I reworked some of the formatting from the original version and popped it into a binder. Also, the original planner only included weekly plan sheets and I decided I really did need daily ones. I ordered the binder from Amazon because even office supply stores didn't have a mini 3-ring binder around here. I used Microsoft Publisher and created the pages from scratch. I print them out two-sided in landscape mode, trim off the extra length, and punch holes.
I have sections for record keeping (attendance and logs), the current month's daily plans, past month's plans, state standards checklists, etc. I decided that our school year would run from July to June to mimic public schools. We started homeschooling in June, so I used June as a test run for the planner. At the end of June I sat down and tweaked my lesson plan format and I'm now using a slightly modified version of the daily plan sheet and logging chart.
Here's our daily plan sheet. (This is just a screenshot of the print preview in Publisher.)
I write in the day and the date at the top. I enjoy keeping track of our total number of homeschooling days. (1 through... ?) Writing them in by hand, allows for days missed due to things like gymnastics camp, visitors from out of town, doctor's appointments, etc. without having to scratch out days and dates that I had pre-printed. Circle time, handwriting/writing, math, and our reading program are consistent. I just pick up and continue from where we left off the day before and so it was silly for me to hand write the same thing out day after day. I just went ahead and typed those up as "ongoing". The sections that are blank are the sections where our lessons vary from day to day.
All the way on the right, you'll notice a section for "minutes". That's where I write in the amount of time we spent in each area for the purposes of logging. The state of Missouri has annual requirements for homeschoolers and so this is my method of keeping track. During the day, as I refer to my planner I'll make notes about which subjects we did during that day and the amount of time we spent doing it. At the end of the day I tally up the times and transfer them to the Learning Log.
So far, this system is working well for us. It looks like a lot of work, but in practice, it is taking no more than 15 minutes a day. The sections we do daily require no time at all because they are ongoing. At the end of the day I sit down for 5-10 minutes and think about our plans for the next day. I try to rotate in other "subjects" at least once a week. I try to do something science focused, social studies focused, arts/crafts focused, and so on once a week and so I'll write those in.
The ongoing lessons do require some maintenance work. The short version is that at the end of an ongoing lesson (math, reading, spelling) I preview the next day's lesson and prepare any materials that need to be prepped right then. It takes no more than 5-10 minutes and the children take a short break while I get that done. So, at the end of the math lesson I preview the next lesson and gather any manipulatives I might need that I don't already have on hand. At the end of a reading lesson I preview the lesson for the next day. Those lessons often involve cutting something out, so I'll go ahead and do that and place the cut out words in an envelope of the binder ready to go for the next day. The children tend to get a drink, go to the bathroom, sit down at their computer for a few minutes, or play with something while I spend those 5-10 minutes prepping the next day's lesson. Then I call them back to the table for the next thing.
I have a monthly calendar at the beginning of the lesson plan section that helps me keep track of special things I need to remember. For example, in June, arts and crafts included making something for Father's Day. The monthly calendar helps me remember to include those types of events in my lesson planning. So that's planning and logging. I'll post on how we organize/store all the materials for each subject and more on the math, reading, and writing programs we're using. For now, however, this post is long enough.
Homeschooling, is obviously my current obsession. I believe that it will eventually fall into a routine that will return balance to my life, but that's the nature of starting something new. So expect something of a homeschooling focus to the blog for a bit.
A while back I created a homeschooling planner. Prior to beginning to actually use it I decided that I needed to switch from something bound to a mini binder. I just like binders. I reworked some of the formatting from the original version and popped it into a binder. Also, the original planner only included weekly plan sheets and I decided I really did need daily ones. I ordered the binder from Amazon because even office supply stores didn't have a mini 3-ring binder around here. I used Microsoft Publisher and created the pages from scratch. I print them out two-sided in landscape mode, trim off the extra length, and punch holes.
I have sections for record keeping (attendance and logs), the current month's daily plans, past month's plans, state standards checklists, etc. I decided that our school year would run from July to June to mimic public schools. We started homeschooling in June, so I used June as a test run for the planner. At the end of June I sat down and tweaked my lesson plan format and I'm now using a slightly modified version of the daily plan sheet and logging chart.
Here's our daily plan sheet. (This is just a screenshot of the print preview in Publisher.)
I write in the day and the date at the top. I enjoy keeping track of our total number of homeschooling days. (1 through... ?) Writing them in by hand, allows for days missed due to things like gymnastics camp, visitors from out of town, doctor's appointments, etc. without having to scratch out days and dates that I had pre-printed. Circle time, handwriting/writing, math, and our reading program are consistent. I just pick up and continue from where we left off the day before and so it was silly for me to hand write the same thing out day after day. I just went ahead and typed those up as "ongoing". The sections that are blank are the sections where our lessons vary from day to day.
All the way on the right, you'll notice a section for "minutes". That's where I write in the amount of time we spent in each area for the purposes of logging. The state of Missouri has annual requirements for homeschoolers and so this is my method of keeping track. During the day, as I refer to my planner I'll make notes about which subjects we did during that day and the amount of time we spent doing it. At the end of the day I tally up the times and transfer them to the Learning Log.
So far, this system is working well for us. It looks like a lot of work, but in practice, it is taking no more than 15 minutes a day. The sections we do daily require no time at all because they are ongoing. At the end of the day I sit down for 5-10 minutes and think about our plans for the next day. I try to rotate in other "subjects" at least once a week. I try to do something science focused, social studies focused, arts/crafts focused, and so on once a week and so I'll write those in.
The ongoing lessons do require some maintenance work. The short version is that at the end of an ongoing lesson (math, reading, spelling) I preview the next day's lesson and prepare any materials that need to be prepped right then. It takes no more than 5-10 minutes and the children take a short break while I get that done. So, at the end of the math lesson I preview the next lesson and gather any manipulatives I might need that I don't already have on hand. At the end of a reading lesson I preview the lesson for the next day. Those lessons often involve cutting something out, so I'll go ahead and do that and place the cut out words in an envelope of the binder ready to go for the next day. The children tend to get a drink, go to the bathroom, sit down at their computer for a few minutes, or play with something while I spend those 5-10 minutes prepping the next day's lesson. Then I call them back to the table for the next thing.
I have a monthly calendar at the beginning of the lesson plan section that helps me keep track of special things I need to remember. For example, in June, arts and crafts included making something for Father's Day. The monthly calendar helps me remember to include those types of events in my lesson planning. So that's planning and logging. I'll post on how we organize/store all the materials for each subject and more on the math, reading, and writing programs we're using. For now, however, this post is long enough.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Wow. Completely unpremeditated hiatus. Updates...
So. There's the little matter of the entirely unplanned four month hiatus from blogging and I can't promise that things will get better any time soon. I did spontaneously decide to pop in and let you all know that I am fine. Still here. No sudden accident or illness to blame. Life just got ahead of me.
I shifted into preparing for homeschooling mode. The end of the school year was coming for me and I knew I wanted to begin homeschooling mid-May. I needed to prepare a schoolroom and get a curriculum ready to go. To be honest, I had also pushed a little too hard on the blogging front and burned out.
So, updates... let me think.
Ava was discharged from speech therapy. Discharged. Really, who would have thought that about two years after beginning to receive services that she would no longer qualify? She still has speech errors, but her remaining errors are now in the "age appropriate zone". Honestly, it was ok with me. Next year she will be at home with me, and we will begin incorporating speech work into our homeschooling schedule.
I have a school room. It is a mess, but I love it. It has been recently repainted a cheerful yellow thanks to the hard work of my husband. The old ceiling fan with its three dim bulbs has been replaced with a fancy light fixture that closely resembles a giant spider on the ceiling, but provides tons of light (Eight 60 watt bulbs from one light fixture - let there be light!) Soon there will be new curtains that will provide a cheerful splash of color. There's shelving for storage, a table for school work, a desk for me and a computer station cobbled together from bits and pieces of old computers for the children. We have a circle shaped rug by a calendar for circle time. I will show you all pictures at some point when things are a bit less messy and I'm a bit more organized.
I reworked my homeschool planner a little and it is working super well for me. Again, I will try to provide pictures at some point for anyone who is interested. After about 6 weeks of full-time homeschooling we're falling into something of a predictable routine. We begin our morning at about 8:30 am with circle time. During the approximately 20 minutes of circle time we sing a welcome song (a completely dorky song I made up, but we all like it), do calendar work, graph the weather, and learn a word, poem, and song of the day. After circle time we complete two pages of our writing journals (again, pictures and sharing to come later...). Their writing journals have a handwriting page on the left and a writing prompt with space to draw a picture and write a sentence or two underneath on the right. Then we do a math lesson (RightStart Math Level A).
At that point we are about two hours in and we all need a break. We have a small nutritious snack and then come back to the school room for reading/spelling. The children take turns now. Ava goes first with her All About Reading Pre-Reading lesson which I supplement with some great alphabet songs I got from Scholastic. Then Michael does an All About Spelling Level 1 lesson and an All About Reading Level 2 lesson. I cannot say enough good things about the All About Reading and All About Spelling programs and I hope to find the time to share more about them in the future.
After reading we take an extended break for lunch and free time. I admit it. I often throw in a little television here. After our lunch/sanity break, depending on the day of the week, we meet up with some friends for play or do bonus lessons in science, social studies, art music, etc.
I squeeze in lesson planning and the creation of new materials here and there. I'm also still trying to whip the school room into a completely organized state that doesn't involve huge piles of random supplies piled up on level surfaces and in corners. Notice, this new schedule leaves no time left over for blogging. I will try to work on it. I'd love to share our homeschooling adventures and materials with those who would find them useful. I'd also love to finally wrap up the newest speech kit and maybe even find time to create more.
But for now, hello. :-) Don't worry about us. We are fine over here. I hope all of you are enjoying your summer as well.
I shifted into preparing for homeschooling mode. The end of the school year was coming for me and I knew I wanted to begin homeschooling mid-May. I needed to prepare a schoolroom and get a curriculum ready to go. To be honest, I had also pushed a little too hard on the blogging front and burned out.
So, updates... let me think.
Ava was discharged from speech therapy. Discharged. Really, who would have thought that about two years after beginning to receive services that she would no longer qualify? She still has speech errors, but her remaining errors are now in the "age appropriate zone". Honestly, it was ok with me. Next year she will be at home with me, and we will begin incorporating speech work into our homeschooling schedule.
I have a school room. It is a mess, but I love it. It has been recently repainted a cheerful yellow thanks to the hard work of my husband. The old ceiling fan with its three dim bulbs has been replaced with a fancy light fixture that closely resembles a giant spider on the ceiling, but provides tons of light (Eight 60 watt bulbs from one light fixture - let there be light!) Soon there will be new curtains that will provide a cheerful splash of color. There's shelving for storage, a table for school work, a desk for me and a computer station cobbled together from bits and pieces of old computers for the children. We have a circle shaped rug by a calendar for circle time. I will show you all pictures at some point when things are a bit less messy and I'm a bit more organized.
I reworked my homeschool planner a little and it is working super well for me. Again, I will try to provide pictures at some point for anyone who is interested. After about 6 weeks of full-time homeschooling we're falling into something of a predictable routine. We begin our morning at about 8:30 am with circle time. During the approximately 20 minutes of circle time we sing a welcome song (a completely dorky song I made up, but we all like it), do calendar work, graph the weather, and learn a word, poem, and song of the day. After circle time we complete two pages of our writing journals (again, pictures and sharing to come later...). Their writing journals have a handwriting page on the left and a writing prompt with space to draw a picture and write a sentence or two underneath on the right. Then we do a math lesson (RightStart Math Level A).
At that point we are about two hours in and we all need a break. We have a small nutritious snack and then come back to the school room for reading/spelling. The children take turns now. Ava goes first with her All About Reading Pre-Reading lesson which I supplement with some great alphabet songs I got from Scholastic. Then Michael does an All About Spelling Level 1 lesson and an All About Reading Level 2 lesson. I cannot say enough good things about the All About Reading and All About Spelling programs and I hope to find the time to share more about them in the future.
After reading we take an extended break for lunch and free time. I admit it. I often throw in a little television here. After our lunch/sanity break, depending on the day of the week, we meet up with some friends for play or do bonus lessons in science, social studies, art music, etc.
I squeeze in lesson planning and the creation of new materials here and there. I'm also still trying to whip the school room into a completely organized state that doesn't involve huge piles of random supplies piled up on level surfaces and in corners. Notice, this new schedule leaves no time left over for blogging. I will try to work on it. I'd love to share our homeschooling adventures and materials with those who would find them useful. I'd also love to finally wrap up the newest speech kit and maybe even find time to create more.
But for now, hello. :-) Don't worry about us. We are fine over here. I hope all of you are enjoying your summer as well.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Initial Z Printable Speech Activity: Color By Word
Practice /z/ in Initial Position
Click on the image to open it to full size and then right click to save it to your computer.
Enjoy! If you like this activity, look for other free printables and therapy ideas or my comprehensive speech therapy kits.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Patched Pants
My son had a pair of pants that were torn almost as badly as this (yet to be repaired) pair.
I had been ignoring the holes in the knees for several weeks as they steadily worsened, but it really had gotten to the point where sending him to school in them was embarrassing. I remembered a pin on pinterest that led to a page with an adorable monster patch for a child's pair of pants.
At the bright shiny beginning of the project I enthusiastically searched through my scrap bin of too-small kids clothing for just the right things to cut up for scraps. I spent an hour cutting out the background for the mouth (from an old corduroy button down shirt of Michael's), teeth (from an old swaddling blanket), and the eyes (from an old onesie). I fray checked all the edges of the monster components, cut a huge hole out of the knee around the hole/tear/worn material, and carefully pinned everything in place.
I sat down excitedly at my sewing machine to sew the new patch in place thinking I'd be able to hand Michael his "new" upcycled pants in 20 minutes and realized I had overlooked something rather important. I couldn't fit the leg of his teeny tiny jeans over my sewing machine - much less turn the material around in the ways necessary to do the applique. (!*!!!$@#) However, I was not going to be defeated. A little hunting online led me to the conclusion that I was going to have to rip out a huge section of the inseam on that leg so I could lay it out flat.
So that took... a long time. And then they are fleece lined jeans so I had to rip open the lining too. Then I spent 20-30 minutes sewing on the monster pieces with Michael at my side asking when I would be done. He wanted to know if he could wear them right away. It was so adorable. I needed his enthusiasm at that point to keep me motivated.
Finally I was done with the patch itself. I was thinking I was home free. Only two straight lines left. One to repair the inseam of the lining and another to repair the inseam of the jeans. Because I am brilliant and naturally crafty, I only then realized that just as I couldn't fit the jeans on my sewing machine to sew on the patch, I couldn't fit the darned things on to repair the inseam either. I sent more than a few uncharitable thoughts towards the jeans, my sewing machine, and the entirety of the so-close but not finished project. I scrunched up the ankle and managed to sew up four inches of the inseam that way. Then I just pinched the darned thing closed and sewed it from the outside. It's not like anyone is going to be staring at his inner thigh anyway.
And tada!
The boy is so excited. He couldn't wait to wear them to school today. As for me, well... It may have taken three hours, but I'm pretty pleased. I didn't have to throw out one of Michael's favorite pairs of pants and he sees it as a significant upgrade so I'm calling it a win and a learning experience. Now I just have to take on about two other pairs of jeans with similar knees...
At the bright shiny beginning of the project I enthusiastically searched through my scrap bin of too-small kids clothing for just the right things to cut up for scraps. I spent an hour cutting out the background for the mouth (from an old corduroy button down shirt of Michael's), teeth (from an old swaddling blanket), and the eyes (from an old onesie). I fray checked all the edges of the monster components, cut a huge hole out of the knee around the hole/tear/worn material, and carefully pinned everything in place.
I sat down excitedly at my sewing machine to sew the new patch in place thinking I'd be able to hand Michael his "new" upcycled pants in 20 minutes and realized I had overlooked something rather important. I couldn't fit the leg of his teeny tiny jeans over my sewing machine - much less turn the material around in the ways necessary to do the applique. (!*!!!$@#) However, I was not going to be defeated. A little hunting online led me to the conclusion that I was going to have to rip out a huge section of the inseam on that leg so I could lay it out flat.
So that took... a long time. And then they are fleece lined jeans so I had to rip open the lining too. Then I spent 20-30 minutes sewing on the monster pieces with Michael at my side asking when I would be done. He wanted to know if he could wear them right away. It was so adorable. I needed his enthusiasm at that point to keep me motivated.
Finally I was done with the patch itself. I was thinking I was home free. Only two straight lines left. One to repair the inseam of the lining and another to repair the inseam of the jeans. Because I am brilliant and naturally crafty, I only then realized that just as I couldn't fit the jeans on my sewing machine to sew on the patch, I couldn't fit the darned things on to repair the inseam either. I sent more than a few uncharitable thoughts towards the jeans, my sewing machine, and the entirety of the so-close but not finished project. I scrunched up the ankle and managed to sew up four inches of the inseam that way. Then I just pinched the darned thing closed and sewed it from the outside. It's not like anyone is going to be staring at his inner thigh anyway.
And tada!
The boy is so excited. He couldn't wait to wear them to school today. As for me, well... It may have taken three hours, but I'm pretty pleased. I didn't have to throw out one of Michael's favorite pairs of pants and he sees it as a significant upgrade so I'm calling it a win and a learning experience. Now I just have to take on about two other pairs of jeans with similar knees...
Friday, March 8, 2013
CEU Challenge: Week 7 - Reading Comprehension in Secondary Students - Intervention
This week's CEU course from LinguiSystems: Reading Comprehension in Secondary Students: Intervention. It is a great follow-up course after last week's course on reading assessment. Again, although this title specifically refers to "secondary students", I feel that much of this information can be useful to SLP's (or parents) working with children of all ages.
The course reviews the definition of reading comprehension and discusses the underlying skills. The role an SLP can play in supporting reading comprehension is discussed and methods of finding time in your schedule and the schedule of your students is also covered. Finally, the course covers in detail specific language skills to target to support a student's reading comprehension. This in great information to become familiar with and I suggest saving a copy of the PDF for future reference.
I found the course material to be comprehensive and well organized. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward and relatively quick to take. After completing this course I have finished all of the continuing education credits I need for the calendar year. I am feeling pretty great about that. For once it is early March and I have all of the CEUs I need for the calendar year. It feels wonderful to have made a reasonable plan (one course a week for 7 weeks) and stuck with it through completion.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
Catch up!
The course reviews the definition of reading comprehension and discusses the underlying skills. The role an SLP can play in supporting reading comprehension is discussed and methods of finding time in your schedule and the schedule of your students is also covered. Finally, the course covers in detail specific language skills to target to support a student's reading comprehension. This in great information to become familiar with and I suggest saving a copy of the PDF for future reference.
I found the course material to be comprehensive and well organized. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward and relatively quick to take. After completing this course I have finished all of the continuing education credits I need for the calendar year. I am feeling pretty great about that. For once it is early March and I have all of the CEUs I need for the calendar year. It feels wonderful to have made a reasonable plan (one course a week for 7 weeks) and stuck with it through completion.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
Catch up!
- Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs
- Week 2 review: Evidence-Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs
- Week 3 review: Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children - 0.2 CEUs
- Week 4 review: Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology - 0.2 CEUs
- Week 5 review: HFA, AS, & NVLD: Differential Diagnosis by the SLP - 0.3 CEUs
- Week 6 review: Reading Comprehension in Secondary Students - Assessment - 0.2 CEUs
Sunday, March 3, 2013
And then she was 4
Ava is now four years old. She is such an independent spirit. She prefers to do things for herself and to make her own choices. Ava likes to choose her own clothes and I let her (assuming they are clean and seasonally appropriate). If she chooses to wear the same favorite dress to school every day of the week - so be it. If the dress, leggings, socks, and shoes are all different colors and patterns- so be it. Making your own choices is awesome and she shouldn't miss out just because she's little and her fashion sense is still developing.
And yet, for all her independence, somehow that doesn't stop her from wanting to be close to people at the same time. Ava is not a loner. She wants to be near her loved ones and engaged in conversation. She doesn't hear the siren call of the computer or a game on a phone the way the rest of the family does. Ava would just as soon walk away from the electronics and engage someone in conversation, a snuggle, a tickle, or a game of chase. If I'm sitting in my rocking chair reading a book, she will snuggle in at my side just for company. If her Daddy is cooking in the kitchen she will drag a chair over to the counter and ask to help. I love that about her even while the introvert in me often wishes for a pry bar and 5 minutes of space upon occasion.
Ava and her brother are best friends. She spends time happily away from him, but when school is over or when he wakes up later than she does (always!) she is glad to see him. They play together seamlessly and effortlessly. When she is offered a treat, she asks if she can have one for Michael as well. When she's told she can have a special privilege (some extra tv or a special snack, for example) she'll call to him to make sure he doesn't miss it. If he is upset she tries to comfort him. If she cannot help him, she'll get upset too. Their play together has its own dynamic. Michael often leads the imaginary play and Ava happily follows along. She's the mouthpiece of the duo. If they want something (a real snack for their pretend picnic), Michael will send her to ask. Ava will appear at the head of the stairs bellowing a question. After being answered we hear her footsteps heading for her brother as she reports our answer.
Ava's favorite colors are pink and purple although I am beginning to see signs of her branching out a little. She loves art and is particularly content when coloring a picture with an adult happily giving instructions about which color should be used on which section next. She still loves kittens although the kittens don't have to be Hello Kitty any more. Any adorable kitten will do. She prefers to wear dresses rather than shirts and refuses to wear any pants other than leggings. She likes to turn her bed into a tent by covering the sides (she's still in a toddler bed converted from her crib) with blankets. She sleeps with stars on the ceiling and a glowing fairy on the wall and does not at all like to sleep in the dark.
Ava's showing signs of liking to perform. She'll want to show off tricks from gymnastics or the way she can use her dance streamer to make a spiral. She will definitely watch to make sure you are watching during her mini performances.
Ava is a little girl. It has been so much fun to be with her as she changes from the toddler she once was to an active, healthy, communicative preschooler. Happy fourth birthday to my big girl!
Friday, March 1, 2013
CEU Challenge: Week 6 - Reading Comprehension in Secondary Students - Assessment
I was quite excited about the topic of this week's CEU course from LinguiSystems: Reading Comprehension in Secondary Students: Assessment. As you may or may not know (I can't remember if I've mentioned it before) I was 3/4 done with a PhD program when Michael came along just a little sooner than I planned for starting a chain of events that completely shifted my priorities. The area I was studying was reading. I love reading. I like engaging in recreational reading. I like studying reading. I like teaching reading. I like assessing reading. In the past few weeks I have adored listening Michael read his first real books to me (Dr. Seuss Beginner Books are now within his reach).
The only reservation I had about this topic was that reference to "Secondary Students". Traditionally, I most enjoy working with toddlers and preschoolers and then early and late elementary. As children reach high school I am less in my comfort zone. As it turns out, I would say that a large portion of this course is applicable to working with elementary students as well - at least 65-70% of the course. This makes it well worth your time even if you work with younger children. When you finish the course you'll be familiar with the underlying skills woven into skilled reading and the role an SLP can play in assessment. You will also earn 0.2 CEUs or 2 hours of Continuing Education Credit.
I found the course material to be comprehensive and well organized. I also found it to be easily understood, but I was already familiar with most of the material, so I may not be the best judge of that. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward and relatively quick to take. After completing this course I have finished 13 of the 15 continuing education credits I need for the calendar year.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 7: Reading Comprehension in Secondary Students: Intervention - 0.2 CEUs for next Friday! This will be the last course in my 7 Week Free CEU Challenge.
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
If you missed it, catch up on my Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch up on my Week 2 review: Evidence-Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs. If you're still going strong when you finish that one, check out the Week 3 review: Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch the Week 4 review: Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology - 0.2 CEUs. The Week 5 review is here: HFA, AS, & NVLD: Differential Diagnosis by the SLP - 0.3 CEUs.
The only reservation I had about this topic was that reference to "Secondary Students". Traditionally, I most enjoy working with toddlers and preschoolers and then early and late elementary. As children reach high school I am less in my comfort zone. As it turns out, I would say that a large portion of this course is applicable to working with elementary students as well - at least 65-70% of the course. This makes it well worth your time even if you work with younger children. When you finish the course you'll be familiar with the underlying skills woven into skilled reading and the role an SLP can play in assessment. You will also earn 0.2 CEUs or 2 hours of Continuing Education Credit.
I found the course material to be comprehensive and well organized. I also found it to be easily understood, but I was already familiar with most of the material, so I may not be the best judge of that. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward and relatively quick to take. After completing this course I have finished 13 of the 15 continuing education credits I need for the calendar year.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 7: Reading Comprehension in Secondary Students: Intervention - 0.2 CEUs for next Friday! This will be the last course in my 7 Week Free CEU Challenge.
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
If you missed it, catch up on my Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch up on my Week 2 review: Evidence-Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs. If you're still going strong when you finish that one, check out the Week 3 review: Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch the Week 4 review: Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology - 0.2 CEUs. The Week 5 review is here: HFA, AS, & NVLD: Differential Diagnosis by the SLP - 0.3 CEUs.
Friday, February 22, 2013
CEU Challenge: Week 5 - HFA, AS, & NVLD: Differential Diagnosis by the SLP
My four week and counting streak of completing these CEU courses on time was nearly derailed by the winter storm that kept my children and most of the city home yesterday, but I managed to squeeze in some CEU time while my husband entertained the children with after dinner driveway clearing. I took the HFA, AS, & NVLD: Differential Diagnosis by the SLP course at LinguiSystems and received 0.3 CEUs or 3 hours of Continuing Education Credit. (HFA - High Functioning Autism, AS - Asperger's Syndrome, NVLD - Nonverbal Learning Disorder)
I completely forgot that this is the one course in the 7-week free CEU curriculum that is 0.3 CEUs instead of 0.2 CEU's. I was also rushing things a bit due to having to squeeze this into the evening rather than "leisurely" engaging with the material while my children were at preschool. Therefore I struggled a little more with this course than with the others. However, this course is interesting. Even if you have no need to actually diagnose autistic spectrum disorders, you will find the material interesting and useful if you have some children on the spectrum on your caseload. The author of the course discusses similarities and differences between the three disorders, gives examples, and discusses treatment.
I found the HFA, AS, & NVLD: Differential Diagnosis by the SLP interesting and full of detail. I will certainly bookmark it as a useful reference to return to if I need to review the specifics in the future. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was more frustrating than some others, but to be fair the course is intended to be longer/more complex. I had to dig deeper into the material and sift through rather fine details to figure out which of similar seeming multiple-choice answers was the correct choice. I received a lower, although still passing score, on this course than on any of the others. I earned 0.3 additional continuing education credits towards the 1.5 I need to earn this calendar year. At this point, two more courses will allow us to reach our goal of 1.5 CEUs.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 6: Reading Comprehension in Secondary Students: Assessment - 0.2 CEUs for next Friday!
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
If you missed it, catch up on my Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch up on my Week 2 review: Evidence-Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs. If you're still going strong when you finish that one, check out the Week 3 review: Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch the Week 4 review: Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology - 0.2 CEUs.
I completely forgot that this is the one course in the 7-week free CEU curriculum that is 0.3 CEUs instead of 0.2 CEU's. I was also rushing things a bit due to having to squeeze this into the evening rather than "leisurely" engaging with the material while my children were at preschool. Therefore I struggled a little more with this course than with the others. However, this course is interesting. Even if you have no need to actually diagnose autistic spectrum disorders, you will find the material interesting and useful if you have some children on the spectrum on your caseload. The author of the course discusses similarities and differences between the three disorders, gives examples, and discusses treatment.
I found the HFA, AS, & NVLD: Differential Diagnosis by the SLP interesting and full of detail. I will certainly bookmark it as a useful reference to return to if I need to review the specifics in the future. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was more frustrating than some others, but to be fair the course is intended to be longer/more complex. I had to dig deeper into the material and sift through rather fine details to figure out which of similar seeming multiple-choice answers was the correct choice. I received a lower, although still passing score, on this course than on any of the others. I earned 0.3 additional continuing education credits towards the 1.5 I need to earn this calendar year. At this point, two more courses will allow us to reach our goal of 1.5 CEUs.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 6: Reading Comprehension in Secondary Students: Assessment - 0.2 CEUs for next Friday!
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
If you missed it, catch up on my Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch up on my Week 2 review: Evidence-Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs. If you're still going strong when you finish that one, check out the Week 3 review: Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch the Week 4 review: Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology - 0.2 CEUs.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Checklist Version of Missouri State Teaching Standards for Kindergarten
Here's a summary of the background that led up to this post in equation format.
Decision to Homeschool + Type A Personality Driven Homeschool Planner = Desire to Understand and Organize the Missouri State Teaching Standards.
As a brief aside, for those of you familiar enough with current events in teaching standards to wonder, Missouri has indeed adopted the Common Core Standards in Language Arts and Math. I did consider using the Common Core standards instead of the Missouri specific state standards in those areas. However, after reviewing both the common core standards and the Missouri State standards in those two areas I decided that the Missouri standards were fairly well aligned with the common core standards and gave more specific guidance and more detail. They worked better for me and so I decided to make my checklist from the Missouri State Standards across the board.
When I dug into the standards I realized that the format provided online (multi-grade level chart spanning 10 or more pages per content area) was not super user-friendly. I needed a simple checklist of the standards pertaining to the grade I would be teaching - kindergarten. So I read through the standards, organized and synthesized the content, and created checklists for each content area: communication arts, math, social studies, science, health education, music, visual arts, dramatic arts, and physical education. I added the checklists to my homeschool planner for easy reference during planning and intend to check off each standard as it is mastered.
Just in case anyone else needs a copy of Missouri's kindergarten standards here they are. Honestly, aside from small details here and there, I would think they would work as a guideline for homeschooling in just about any geographical area.
Decision to Homeschool + Type A Personality Driven Homeschool Planner = Desire to Understand and Organize the Missouri State Teaching Standards.
As a brief aside, for those of you familiar enough with current events in teaching standards to wonder, Missouri has indeed adopted the Common Core Standards in Language Arts and Math. I did consider using the Common Core standards instead of the Missouri specific state standards in those areas. However, after reviewing both the common core standards and the Missouri State standards in those two areas I decided that the Missouri standards were fairly well aligned with the common core standards and gave more specific guidance and more detail. They worked better for me and so I decided to make my checklist from the Missouri State Standards across the board.
When I dug into the standards I realized that the format provided online (multi-grade level chart spanning 10 or more pages per content area) was not super user-friendly. I needed a simple checklist of the standards pertaining to the grade I would be teaching - kindergarten. So I read through the standards, organized and synthesized the content, and created checklists for each content area: communication arts, math, social studies, science, health education, music, visual arts, dramatic arts, and physical education. I added the checklists to my homeschool planner for easy reference during planning and intend to check off each standard as it is mastered.
Just in case anyone else needs a copy of Missouri's kindergarten standards here they are. Honestly, aside from small details here and there, I would think they would work as a guideline for homeschooling in just about any geographical area.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Making a Homeschool Plan Book
I wanted a homeschooling planner. Searching online I came across a huge resource of printables for creating a custom homeschool planner on the New Bee Homeschooler website. Their guide and free resources are amazing. They are absolutely the inspiration for the planner I made for myself. I wanted to customize the pages and since, as you know, I'm a more than a little Type A I made my own planner using Microsoft Publisher. First, I wanted my planner to be half-size. I knew that a full-size planner would be bulky when opened and I want to keep my planner handy at the table when I'm working with the kids. The New Bee planner sheets are all full size. Second, I just wanted to put my own spin on most of the elements. This is how my planner turned out.
After my attendance chart I inserted a single page protector that holds a daily and weekly schedule sheet. I figured that my daily and weekly schedule is quite likely to shift several times during the year, so I wanted to be able to pull this sheet out and replace it with a new version at will.
Next, I created a logging form. Missouri requires 1000 hours of instruction per academic year: At least 600 of the 1000 hours must be in core subjects (math, science, social studies, language arts) vs. other areas of study (art, music, physical education, etc.). At least 400 of the 600 core subject areas hours must be taught at the home location. I created a form to keep track of our hours with codes for the different subject areas and columns to keep track of core vs. non-core hours. Again, this first year logging isn't mandatory, but I decided to work with the system and try to develop a good habit of logging. Also, this gives me a chance to work out any kinks in the system before the logging is mandatory.
Making a Custom, Printable Homeschooling Planner
Cover
Here's my cover. It's fairly basic. I decided on an academic year that goes from July through June to match Missouri's school year. The cover includes the date of the school year covered, has an adorable picture of my children to remind me of -why- I'm doing this, and an inspirational teaching quote.
Section 1: Basic Records
The next page is an annual calendar I intend to use as an attendance record by highlighting or circling the dates when we have school. At the bottom of that page I have typed out the Missouri homeschooling requirements as a reference. School (and homeschooling) is optional in Missouri for kindergarten, so we don't need to adhere to these guidelines strictly our first year. A discussion of the homeschooling guidelines and tracking hours could easily fill a whole other blog post, so I'll leave it at that for now.
After my attendance chart I inserted a single page protector that holds a daily and weekly schedule sheet. I figured that my daily and weekly schedule is quite likely to shift several times during the year, so I wanted to be able to pull this sheet out and replace it with a new version at will.
Next, I created a logging form. Missouri requires 1000 hours of instruction per academic year: At least 600 of the 1000 hours must be in core subjects (math, science, social studies, language arts) vs. other areas of study (art, music, physical education, etc.). At least 400 of the 600 core subject areas hours must be taught at the home location. I created a form to keep track of our hours with codes for the different subject areas and columns to keep track of core vs. non-core hours. Again, this first year logging isn't mandatory, but I decided to work with the system and try to develop a good habit of logging. Also, this gives me a chance to work out any kinks in the system before the logging is mandatory.
Section 2: State Standards
If my children are going to learn everything they know at home, I'd like to make sure we're covering the basics. I went to the Missouri state teaching standards and created checklists for the kindergarten level standards. I put these checklists in my planner and intend to refer to them regularly and check off the standards we've achieved as Michael shows mastery. That will allow me to see at a glance what we've covered, and what I still need to focus on when doing my planning. Here is an example of page 1 of the Communication Arts Standards. I will do a separate post where I show you my checklists for all the content areas.
Section 3: Lesson Plans
I have a 2-page spread for each monthly calendar. I put in holidays and birthdays so that I could incorporate holidays and card making into our lesson plans. I also added a different inspirational teaching quotation to each monthly planning calendar page. After each monthly calendar I have 5 weekly plan sheets. Here is what a monthly planner and the weekly planner look like for us.
Section 4: Quick Reference
Near the end of the planner I put in a couple of quick reference pages I pulled from here and here. One is Bloom's Taxonomy and the other is a critical thinking reference sheet.
Section 5: Independent Reading Log and Notes
At the end of the planner I created an independent reading log. I want to play around with tracking the genre of the books read so that I can try to increase variety over time. This will almost certainly be a much more useful feature when the kids are older, so this form has room to grow. Then I just put in some pages for writing notes about how things are going or for jotting down ideas for things I want to cover in the future.
Back Cover
This is something I found online on the technology rocks. seriously. website and absolutely loved. She has a huge set of school signs available to download and print. I made my own version of my favorite for the back cover of my planner. I intend to use this as our homeschool rules to guide both the children and myself. I will refer to them regularly and therefore they make the perfect back cover for my planner.
Printing and Binding
And that's it. I printed them all out and used a binding machine to hold the planner together. I used contact paper to add durability to the front and back cover. I love the way it turned out.
Friday, February 15, 2013
CEU Challenge: Week 4 - Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology
This week I took the Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology course at LinguiSystems and received 0.2 CEUs or 2 hours of Continuing Education Credit.
I will admit that I was initially unenthusiastic about this one. However, as it turns out, I enjoyed it. I haven't done a lot of reading in the area of professional ethics, so it was pretty new to me. About 50-65% of the information covered in the course pertains to adult / medical speech-pathology practice, but the other half pertains to pediatric scenarios. I found the discussion about the four main tenants of professional ethical decision making (respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice) to be useful and keeping this information in mind during practice would definitely help in prioritizing and decision making.
In summary, I found the Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology to be an easy, interesting read. The information covered in the course is thought provoking and I believe easily integrated into improving the quality of professional practice. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward and quick to complete. I earned 0.2 more continuing education credits towards the 1.5 I need to earn this calendar year. At this point, I am over the halfway mark to my goal of 1.5 CEUs.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 5: HFA, AS, & NVLD: Differential Diagnosis by the SLP - 0.3 CEUs for next Friday! (The acronyms refer to High-functioning autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and nonverbal learning disorder.)
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
If you missed it, catch up on my Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch up on my Week 2 review: Evidence-Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs. If you're still going strong when you finish that one, check out the Week 3 review: Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children - 0.2 CEUs.
I will admit that I was initially unenthusiastic about this one. However, as it turns out, I enjoyed it. I haven't done a lot of reading in the area of professional ethics, so it was pretty new to me. About 50-65% of the information covered in the course pertains to adult / medical speech-pathology practice, but the other half pertains to pediatric scenarios. I found the discussion about the four main tenants of professional ethical decision making (respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice) to be useful and keeping this information in mind during practice would definitely help in prioritizing and decision making.
In summary, I found the Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology to be an easy, interesting read. The information covered in the course is thought provoking and I believe easily integrated into improving the quality of professional practice. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward and quick to complete. I earned 0.2 more continuing education credits towards the 1.5 I need to earn this calendar year. At this point, I am over the halfway mark to my goal of 1.5 CEUs.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 5: HFA, AS, & NVLD: Differential Diagnosis by the SLP - 0.3 CEUs for next Friday! (The acronyms refer to High-functioning autism, Asperger's Syndrome, and nonverbal learning disorder.)
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
If you missed it, catch up on my Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch up on my Week 2 review: Evidence-Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs. If you're still going strong when you finish that one, check out the Week 3 review: Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children - 0.2 CEUs.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Focused Elsewhere
Once I finally made the decision to homeschool, my attention has been completely focused on homeschool planning and my blogging has predictably decreased. I will try to find more balance. Of course, we've also weathered two stomach bugs, 4 colds, one case of croup, one episode of pink eye, and an ear infection that was only detected through a failed hearing screening at an annual checkup. I feel like I've been handling administering multiple doses of prescription and over the counter meds every day to multiple children for a solid month.
On the homeschooling front I've been busy. I decided that if I was going to homeschool kindergarten I should familiarize myself with the Missouri State Standards for kindergarten. I found them here: Missouri State Standards. One thing led to another and in my usual obsessive way I ended up making my own checklists. I'll post them for anyone who happens to be interested in a couple of days. I've created a printable checklist for Communication Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education, Art, Music, and Dramatic Arts. I spent way too many hours working on this, but I feel good about being familiar with the standards for kindergarten and having a checklist to make sure we cover everything over the course of the year.
I also made my own homeschooling planner, printed it, and will be binding it as soon as Amazon sends me binding combs of the proper size. Again, I'll be sharing process and pictures shortly.
I will be continuing to use RightStart Math Level A. I continue to be extremely happy with the program. Ava will start at the beginning and Michael and I will continue where we left off at about 1/3 of the way through the level. I've reviewed about a month worth of lessons, making notes on the lesson plans and preparing the printables/consumables to go along with them.
I will continue to work with the Usborne Very First Reading Set (read about it here, here, and here), but for a time I will take a break from those. I want something that teaches phonics and decoding in a more organized fashion and I've chosen All About Reading Level 1. I love this program. I've done several of the beginning lessons with Michael and I really like the program. He's ahead because of the work we've been doing with the Usborne books and so we're doing two lessons at a time right now. When the All About Reading program catches up with his current abilities, we'll slow down and take things at his pace. I've reviewed and prepared the supplementary materials for approximately the first month of All About Reading lessons. I'll do a more thorough review of the All About Reading program soon.
I'm still working on science, social studies, and related arts planning. I figure the first month or more will be experimental in nature. We'll have to find the right balance of structured lessons, pre-school style activities, life and chores, and free play.
And that brings you up to date on what's been keeping me busy these days. I am about 3/4's finished with the /f/ speech therapy kit. I will admit that I haven't touched the file for about two weeks. I'm about done (I think) with homeschooling preparations for the time being, so hopefully I'll have some more free time to pick up that project again.
On the homeschooling front I've been busy. I decided that if I was going to homeschool kindergarten I should familiarize myself with the Missouri State Standards for kindergarten. I found them here: Missouri State Standards. One thing led to another and in my usual obsessive way I ended up making my own checklists. I'll post them for anyone who happens to be interested in a couple of days. I've created a printable checklist for Communication Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Physical Education, Art, Music, and Dramatic Arts. I spent way too many hours working on this, but I feel good about being familiar with the standards for kindergarten and having a checklist to make sure we cover everything over the course of the year.
I also made my own homeschooling planner, printed it, and will be binding it as soon as Amazon sends me binding combs of the proper size. Again, I'll be sharing process and pictures shortly.
I will be continuing to use RightStart Math Level A. I continue to be extremely happy with the program. Ava will start at the beginning and Michael and I will continue where we left off at about 1/3 of the way through the level. I've reviewed about a month worth of lessons, making notes on the lesson plans and preparing the printables/consumables to go along with them.
I will continue to work with the Usborne Very First Reading Set (read about it here, here, and here), but for a time I will take a break from those. I want something that teaches phonics and decoding in a more organized fashion and I've chosen All About Reading Level 1. I love this program. I've done several of the beginning lessons with Michael and I really like the program. He's ahead because of the work we've been doing with the Usborne books and so we're doing two lessons at a time right now. When the All About Reading program catches up with his current abilities, we'll slow down and take things at his pace. I've reviewed and prepared the supplementary materials for approximately the first month of All About Reading lessons. I'll do a more thorough review of the All About Reading program soon.
I'm still working on science, social studies, and related arts planning. I figure the first month or more will be experimental in nature. We'll have to find the right balance of structured lessons, pre-school style activities, life and chores, and free play.
And that brings you up to date on what's been keeping me busy these days. I am about 3/4's finished with the /f/ speech therapy kit. I will admit that I haven't touched the file for about two weeks. I'm about done (I think) with homeschooling preparations for the time being, so hopefully I'll have some more free time to pick up that project again.
Friday, February 8, 2013
CEU Challenge: Week 3 - Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children
This week I took the Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children course at LinguiSystems and received 0.2 CEUs or 2 hours of Continuing Education Credit.
This course was really fantastic. If you're working with really young children who have limited verbal skills and are wondering where to begin, this course takes you through the basics. It begins by reviewing the pragmatic prerequisites that are necessary for verbal communication: joint attention and turn taking. Then the author reviews pragmatic acts that are essential in communication: greetings, initiation/requesting, and negating/protesting. All five of these pragmatic skills are often valid targets with nonverbal or minimally verbal children. Then she discusses vocabulary intervention in terms of what to target and how to target it. She offers many, many practical suggestions for how to structure therapy with this population. She provides links to internet resources that can be used in planning thematic therapy sessions and describes therapy activities to include in your therapy sessions. I strongly recommend reading this one even if you have no need for the CEU credits.
I know I have some parents out there that follow along. You would probably also benefit from reading this material. I believe that there are many suggestions you could use at home with your children.
The Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children course was well organized, well written, and easy to read. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward and quick to complete. I earned 0.2 more continuing education credits towards the 1.5 I need to earn this calendar year.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 4: Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology - 0.2 CEUs for next Friday!
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
If you missed it, catch up on my Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch up on my Week 2 review: Evidence-Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs.
This course was really fantastic. If you're working with really young children who have limited verbal skills and are wondering where to begin, this course takes you through the basics. It begins by reviewing the pragmatic prerequisites that are necessary for verbal communication: joint attention and turn taking. Then the author reviews pragmatic acts that are essential in communication: greetings, initiation/requesting, and negating/protesting. All five of these pragmatic skills are often valid targets with nonverbal or minimally verbal children. Then she discusses vocabulary intervention in terms of what to target and how to target it. She offers many, many practical suggestions for how to structure therapy with this population. She provides links to internet resources that can be used in planning thematic therapy sessions and describes therapy activities to include in your therapy sessions. I strongly recommend reading this one even if you have no need for the CEU credits.
I know I have some parents out there that follow along. You would probably also benefit from reading this material. I believe that there are many suggestions you could use at home with your children.
The Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children course was well organized, well written, and easy to read. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward and quick to complete. I earned 0.2 more continuing education credits towards the 1.5 I need to earn this calendar year.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 4: Introduction to Ethical Decision Making in Speech-Language Pathology - 0.2 CEUs for next Friday!
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
If you missed it, catch up on my Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs. Then catch up on my Week 2 review: Evidence-Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs.
Friday, February 1, 2013
CEU Challenge: Week 2 - Evidence-Based Practice
It's a good thing I committed to taking these online CEU courses once a week. I'll admit, I left things to the last possible minute this time. This week I took the Evidence-Based Practice course at LinguiSystems and received 0.2 CEUs or 2 hours of Continuing Education Credit.
This was a very nice course on why clinical decisions and therapy methods should be based on a combination of high-quality research evidence, practitioner expertise, and client preferences and values. The course discusses how to locate research and evaluate the quality of that research. It also discusses what to do if you cannot find high-quality research available to answer a specific question. I really do believe evidence-based practice is critical to efficacy in therapy.
Two years ago, when it became apparent to me that Ava's speech was significantly delayed in a manner consistent with a motor-speech disorder (apraxia) I knew that I didn't know enough about apraxia treatment to help her. I needed to know more. I dug into the online ASHA archives for any journal articles written about CAS. I purchased the Source for Childhood Apraxia of Speech and read it cover to cover. I came to understand that the evidence shows that CAS cannot be treated with the same treatment methods as a generic articulation disorder or even the methods most appropriate for children with phonological disorders. If you treat a child who has a motor-speech problem that way, treatment results will not be maximized. Therapy progress will be slow.
My research led to an increased understanding of CAS. Understanding CAS helped me to understand the best ways to treat CAS. Understanding the most effective treatment methods helped me to help Ava. As a side effect, I was able to share a lot of that knowledge on this blog. I have also been able to create therapy materials that focus on the unique needs of the CAS population. I wouldn't have been able to do any of that without digging into the research first.
The Evidence-Based Practice course was well written and easy to read. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward and fairly quick to complete. I earned 0.2 more continuing education credits towards the 1.5 I need to earn this calendar year.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 3: Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children - 0.2 CEUs for next Friday!
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
If you missed it, catch up on my Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs.
This was a very nice course on why clinical decisions and therapy methods should be based on a combination of high-quality research evidence, practitioner expertise, and client preferences and values. The course discusses how to locate research and evaluate the quality of that research. It also discusses what to do if you cannot find high-quality research available to answer a specific question. I really do believe evidence-based practice is critical to efficacy in therapy.
Two years ago, when it became apparent to me that Ava's speech was significantly delayed in a manner consistent with a motor-speech disorder (apraxia) I knew that I didn't know enough about apraxia treatment to help her. I needed to know more. I dug into the online ASHA archives for any journal articles written about CAS. I purchased the Source for Childhood Apraxia of Speech and read it cover to cover. I came to understand that the evidence shows that CAS cannot be treated with the same treatment methods as a generic articulation disorder or even the methods most appropriate for children with phonological disorders. If you treat a child who has a motor-speech problem that way, treatment results will not be maximized. Therapy progress will be slow.
My research led to an increased understanding of CAS. Understanding CAS helped me to understand the best ways to treat CAS. Understanding the most effective treatment methods helped me to help Ava. As a side effect, I was able to share a lot of that knowledge on this blog. I have also been able to create therapy materials that focus on the unique needs of the CAS population. I wouldn't have been able to do any of that without digging into the research first.
The Evidence-Based Practice course was well written and easy to read. The 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward and fairly quick to complete. I earned 0.2 more continuing education credits towards the 1.5 I need to earn this calendar year.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 3: Intervention Programming for Nonverbal Children - 0.2 CEUs for next Friday!
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
If you missed it, catch up on my Week 1 review: Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs - 0.2 CEUs.
Friday, January 25, 2013
CEU Challenge: Week 1 - Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs
As promised, I took the Counseling Theories and Skills for SLPs course at LinguiSystems and received 0.2 CEUs or 2 hours of Continuing Education Credit.
It was a nice course. The presentation was easy to read and the 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward. It was a good reminder of how counseling skills fit into our scope of practice as Speech-Language Pathologists in a variety of settings. It explained several counseling theories and reviewed specific skills and techniques that can be applied in key moments like conveying a diagnosis, first therapy sessions, and discharge. It also discussed when to refer a client to another appropriate professional.
I enjoyed the reminder that our clients and their families experience a spectrum of emotions in response to the problems they are experiencing and that helping them navigate those emotions is an essential part of effective speech therapy that is easily forgotten.
As a parent of a child with a speech disorder I vividly remember the intense emotions I experienced when Ava was diagnosed and how helpless and paralyzed I felt at first. Even as an SLP, I needed time to handle emotions before I could work productively towards helping her.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 2: Evidence Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs for next Friday!
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
It was a nice course. The presentation was easy to read and the 20 question multiple-choice quiz was straightforward. It was a good reminder of how counseling skills fit into our scope of practice as Speech-Language Pathologists in a variety of settings. It explained several counseling theories and reviewed specific skills and techniques that can be applied in key moments like conveying a diagnosis, first therapy sessions, and discharge. It also discussed when to refer a client to another appropriate professional.
I enjoyed the reminder that our clients and their families experience a spectrum of emotions in response to the problems they are experiencing and that helping them navigate those emotions is an essential part of effective speech therapy that is easily forgotten.
As a parent of a child with a speech disorder I vividly remember the intense emotions I experienced when Ava was diagnosed and how helpless and paralyzed I felt at first. Even as an SLP, I needed time to handle emotions before I could work productively towards helping her.
Did anyone else take this course? What did you think?
Don't forget to complete Week 2: Evidence Based Practice - 0.2 CEUs for next Friday!
See the complete 7-Week Free CEU Challenge here.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Final G Printable Speech Game: Finish First Game Board
Practice /g/ in Final Position
Click on the image to open it to full size and then right click to save it to your computer.
Print the game board and gather a die and a small game piece for each player. Put the game pieces on the start box, decide who will go first, and let that person begin by rolling the die and moving that number of squares on the game board.
You can have the players practice the words in isolation, in pairs, in phrases, or in sentences. You can provide models and cues if necessary. Adapt the stimuli to the level your student needs to work at.
When you're done, review the words for additional simple drill practice. Then send the game board home or to the classroom for extra practice.
If you are a parent practicing at home, save the game board in a binder to play again another time. You could also have your child play with a younger or older sibling or send it to an aunt or grandparent's house for extra practice.
This worksheet was adapted from the medial /f/ version of the game board included in the /f/ Speech Kit that will be available soon in the Testy Shop.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Never Ever Brag - It Doesn't End Well
Late last week, my 5 year old son apparently got sick in the middle of the night. He took care of things all by himself, managed to throw-up in the potty, and put himself back to sleep. I didn't learn about it until the morning when he was mostly back to normal. We kept him home from school that morning, just to be safe, but other than fatigue and a lack of appetite it was the easiest 12 hour stomach bug ever weathered by a parent.
Now, instead of silently worshiping my good luck in the privacy of my own mind I may have mentioned to several people over the weekend how amazingly lucky we had been and how proud I was of Michael's ability to take care of himself. We also had the most social weekend we've had in the past 12 months with a playdate Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Oh, and the children spent one full morning at my parents' house where my mother is recovering from major surgery.
On Sunday, as I sat in the living room with Michael, Ava, and our guests, Ava threw up right into the center of all the fun. In waves. I'll spare you any additional details, but let's just say our guests left as quickly as possible as we were simultaneously trying to comfort Ava and clean up the impressive mess.
She laid pitifully on layers of blankets on the living room floor not even wanting to watch television for 45 minutes or so before begging me to put her to bed at 5pm. So I did. An hour and a half and one destroyed bed later we were right back where we started - on the living room floor on layers of blankets with a bowl and a container of hand sanitizing wipes nearby.
I spent the evening periodically rubbing her back, holding a bowl, and wiping her mouth before she fell asleep exhausted on the floor and I fell asleep exhausted on the couch. In the morning as I crawled out from under the covers on the sofa, instead of, "Thanks, mom - you were awesome!" I got, "Hey mom, your bottom is bare." For the record - I did have undies on.
Now I'm just hoping that somehow, miraculously, we will escape further fallout. I'd love to avoid the bug myself, but I super want my mom to manage to miss it this time. A stomach bug is terrible enough without dealing with post-surgical incisions at the same time. Wish us luck.
Now, instead of silently worshiping my good luck in the privacy of my own mind I may have mentioned to several people over the weekend how amazingly lucky we had been and how proud I was of Michael's ability to take care of himself. We also had the most social weekend we've had in the past 12 months with a playdate Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Oh, and the children spent one full morning at my parents' house where my mother is recovering from major surgery.
On Sunday, as I sat in the living room with Michael, Ava, and our guests, Ava threw up right into the center of all the fun. In waves. I'll spare you any additional details, but let's just say our guests left as quickly as possible as we were simultaneously trying to comfort Ava and clean up the impressive mess.
She laid pitifully on layers of blankets on the living room floor not even wanting to watch television for 45 minutes or so before begging me to put her to bed at 5pm. So I did. An hour and a half and one destroyed bed later we were right back where we started - on the living room floor on layers of blankets with a bowl and a container of hand sanitizing wipes nearby.
I spent the evening periodically rubbing her back, holding a bowl, and wiping her mouth before she fell asleep exhausted on the floor and I fell asleep exhausted on the couch. In the morning as I crawled out from under the covers on the sofa, instead of, "Thanks, mom - you were awesome!" I got, "Hey mom, your bottom is bare." For the record - I did have undies on.
Now I'm just hoping that somehow, miraculously, we will escape further fallout. I'd love to avoid the bug myself, but I super want my mom to manage to miss it this time. A stomach bug is terrible enough without dealing with post-surgical incisions at the same time. Wish us luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
