Learning at Home - K4 Week 1, Day 2

Our lessons for the next few weeks will focus more on learning the alphabet, than anything else.  Abbie seems to still be struggling with her letters, and I wanted to make that our primary focus for a while.  I used the Confessions of a Homeschooler K4 Curriculum, and altered a few things slightly!

I had 3 main activities planned, and she did well with them!

The Vowel Sorting Game could have been made more difficult by putting consonant letters on the board as well, and I may try this the next time we use it!

She really enjoyed this game, because she was good at it!

The clothespins have Uppercase letters, and wheel has Lowercase letters.  Her job was to match them up.  This was a struggle for her, but she stuck with it.  The other side of the wheel has Uppercase, and we have clothespins with Lowercase letters too, so we can go back and forth!

I had to help her some, but she was very proud of the completed wheel!

This game was fun and different!  We used the game board that came with the curriculum, and I pulled out 2 game pieces from the SORRY game, and the alphabet die from the SCATTEGORIES game!  We rolled the die, and if you could say the letter correctly, you moved to that spot!  Abbie got frustrated when the game didn't seem to have an end.  I might have to add a few rules to give it some more structure in the future!

Abbie seems to enjoy our homeschooling at the moment, and I informed the school today that we would be holding her back a year!  She is excited about learning at home with me, and I am excited to see what the next year holds in store for us!

Feeding my Toddler

We have waited for 6 months for our appointment with The Feeding Clinic & the Children's Hospital of Richmond.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, and I was incredibly anxious about what this appointment would entail.  The clinic is on the complete opposite side of town, so we loaded up and started the journey!

I had never been to this Children's Hospital campus, and it is really quite beautiful.  There was a beautiful courtyard in the middle of everything, that made me want to unpack a picnic lunch with my sweet boy!
Maybe on our next visit, I will plan better, and bring lunch!

Looking out into the courtyard...

It looks like a page from a magazine!  So beautiful

We found the waiting area of the Feeding Program, and Brady immediately fell in love with a spinning toy mounted on the wall of the kid's area!  He had so much fun, and was in such a great mood.  I was in such fear that his day would be ruined soon, and let him have as much fun as he wanted!

Spinning the wall wheel!

My sweet & happy boy!

Once we were called back, we headed into a room to get Brady's weight & height.  The nurse even let him play with a stethoscope!  Brady loves stethoscopes!

Finally, we were led to an Exam room.  

A nutritionist, and a nurse practitioner asked us a million questions, to get a general idea of what Brady's world is like. Once they were done, we met Mrs. Cynthia!  Mrs. Cynthia is an Occupational Therapist who specializes in Feeding, and she was accompanied by a Behavioral Psychologist.  They both evaluated Brady while he ate! We were told to bring 2 things that Brady enjoys eating, and 2 things he refuses.  They had him eat a snack he enjoys first, and watched his biting, chewing, and swallowing.  Then they asked us to present something that Brady usually refuses... so I handed him a grape.  To my complete surprise, he ate it!  Not only did he eat it, he also ate another grape when it was presented!!  2 grapes... this was madness!  He has never touched grapes, and when we did let him try them, he would bite into one and spit it out.  The 2nd snack of refusal presented was a cheese stick.  I was stunned when he took the cheese stick when I held it out, but even more surprised when he put it to his lips.  He has NEVER eaten cheese, and in fact... holding the cheese stick is something that floored us!  He didn't take a bite, and the therapists were able to see his reaction of refusal.  We were given 2 instructions until we are able to get outpatient therapy... which could be months.  (The waiting list is crazy long.)
1 - Stop forcing food on Brady that he is refusing.  We can put it on the plate, but we can't encourage it at all.  Apparently fighting with him to try it, only encourages his will to fight with us.  They want meal time to be all pleasant until we can get into therapy and learn the correct ways of encouraging him to try food.
2 - THIS ONE THREW ME!  No more mixing of consistencies.  We have been adding canned mixed veggies to veggie baby food, and also purchasing the "Gerber Lil' Bits" foods, and learned today that this is a terrible thing to allow.  This type of food, allows Brady to learn how to swallow food that he should chew.  It poses a choking risk as well, but that isn't the key issue.  If we do not teach Brady to chew food correctly now, it will be impossible to reverse it later.  So... back to purees, and solid, stand alone foods.

It sounds like we have been put on the waiting list, but I am not sure if this is official.  I was so proud of Brady this morning!  He sat patiently and quietly for more than 30 mins in the exam room.  He never made a sound, and when presented with 4 different foods, he was calm, and ate them like a big boy!

I am glad that we visited the Feeding Clinic, and am looking forward to what else we learn from them! Please pray that Brady is put on the waiting list, and we are able to get outpatient therapy services soon.  He will benefit so much from this!

Learning at Home - K4 Week 1, Day 1

As I wondered what in the world I was going to teach Abbie, I remembered that I had already purchased a curriculum last year!  I adore the Confessions of a Homeschooler blog, and I purchased her K4 Curriculum last year, completely forgot about it, and hadn't touched it!  Well, I pulled out the schedule for Week 1, and started getting things together.  She has made this process so incredibly simple!  

I plan to do a bible verse every week, and since this is one of my favorites, I thought we would start with this one! I also printed the weather chart & days of the week chart to help us learn.

We started off by saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and singing a few songs.  Abbie enjoys learning, and we have fun together, so she was very happy!!

First we started with a couple of worksheets which helped practice our uppercase & lowercase matching.  

Next, we did a small puzzle, which proved to be more difficult than I expected!

And we did a Memorial Day 3D Star craft to work on scissor skills.

Our first day was short, but productive.  I am getting a real feel for what Abbie knows and understands.

Held Back... & Homeschooled

The list of reasons to homeschool is long, and it is an option that more and more people are beginning to choose for their families.  Busy schedules, dislike of material taught in public schools, more family time, focused learning time... I could keep going, but I don't think it is vital.

I have been praying about the decision for a long time.  Trying to decide what was best for Abbie, and not what was easiest for me.  My husband and I have decided to homeschool Abbie.  While, some of the reasons above were appealing to me, and definitely factored into the choice, the biggest reason is pretty simple.  I DON'T BELIEVE SHE IS READY.  She turned 5 in February, so by all factors, she should begin Kindergarten in September.  We went to registration, we turned in all of the required documents, her immunizations were updated, and we are set for school... BUT WE AREN'T GOING!

It has been something I have worried about.  I have seen signs that she wasn't ready, but I didn't trust my gut.  I saw signs that something wasn't quite right with my son, around 4 months old.  I noticed it again around 6 months old, but everyone just kept telling me I was overthinking it.  On a hunch, we went to the pediatrician at 9 months old, and eventually we had a life altering diagnosis on our hands.

Starting school may not seem as big as a life changing diagnosis, but it is.  If she starts now, and isn't ready, she could fall behind quickly.  I am not willing to let her struggle through school for the rest of her life, because I made a choice of convenience.  Homeschooling is NOT easy, it is not convenient, and right now, it seems very overwhelming, but I know this is what is best for my daughter.

We will also be joining a local homeschool CoOp called Classical Conversations!  At home we will follow a curriculum that I have yet to choose, but am exciting to shop for!  I am looking forward to spending a lot of one on one time with my daughter, and really building a solid foundation in her education together.

I do not believe that homeschooling is the right choice for every family, but for our daughter, I believe this is God's plan.  I hope that those who know our family, will be supportive and encouraging in our adventure this year!  We are nervous, and very excited about the journey ahead.