Moving into winter

Winter Lit:
Polar Express
The Little Match Girl (When we got home from work, she told me the story, and then told me she didn't like it, because it was sad)

Math:
Graphing using pieces from Polar Express, and polar express themed word problems (simple ones)

In addition, she goes and checks the thermometer on the patio and charts the temperature for the day.

We are working on graphs, and charts, and fast addition facts. She took a 3 minute timed test, and got 100% on it on Wednesday.

Science:
The temperature charting leads right into science, as we study what changes are going on in the weather, such as, why can we see our breath when it's cold? We are also studying how organisms are classified into the 5 systems (Animal; Insects; Bacteria; Fungi; etc)

Spelling:
We are pulling spelling/vocab words out of the lit books we are reading and using them in a sentence.

Last nite, she and Grandma made Stone Soup for dinner, based on the recipe Brittani wrote from the Stone Soup book.

Thanksgiving Lessons

Language Arts: Currently reading Molly's Pilgrim and Stone Soup and discussing the concepts behind those 2 stories.

Science: What happens to the trees in the fall, as they prepare for winter? (YES, we do have trees in Arizona. We do have a winter, it's just really mild) Discussing weather changes, and seasonal changes.

Social Studies: Having our own "Stone Soup" for thanksgiving, discussing how other cultures celebrate thanksgiving, and discussing things we are thankful for.

Math: Learning to read and follow a recipe, extending into fractions (adding and subtracting)

PE: Still loving the kids yoga dvds, learning to pump her legs on the swing, and hopscotch on the patio

Another lesson in responsibility

Friday nite I discovered that not only had Brittani ripped apart a handmade toy, but she had HID the evidence under her desk. In discussing this with her, we also found out that she had ripped a hole in the sheet on her bed, and was leaving her CDs on the floor. So, as part of the discussion with her, she has been told that since she obviously doesn't care to have nice toys and nice furniture, it has all been taken away, and she will have the oppurtunity to earn it back. We have been discussing with her that we go to work each day so that we can make money, and that money is used to buy groceries for her to eat, and pay rent for a place to sleep, and electricity so we have lights to see. We discussed that HER job is to learn, and to do her chores. Her chores really aren't that big. Scoop the catbox each day (because if you do it daily, it takes MAYBE 5 minutes), fold and put away her OWN laundry, and make sure her cats have food and water in their dish. (Going to be getting an automatic water dish soon, I think, and probably an automatic feeder so that she only has to check to see if they are full)

Doing her chores is worth 1 BritCoin for each chore, each day they are done. Doing her schoolwork is also going to be worth 1 BritCoin for each subject's work she does. These BritCoins will be used to earn back her toys and other furniture, and hopefully teach her that while "work" may not be fun, it is a necessary evil. Mayhap she will also learn to save "money" for future purchases.

On another note, we get the keys for the house this coming friday (the 23rd) and will start moving in slowly until we do one big push the first weekend of November, renting a Uhaul to get the big stuff.

Sometimes it just happens

So the math set has arrived. We are using Saxon Math 2 (2nd Grade) and I specifically ordered the manipulative kit to go with it. Last week was spent with Brittani exploring the manipulatives and telling me about them. She really likes the Pattern Blocks.

Also in the last week we have acquired a box of age appropriate "research books" from a friend in my homeschooling group who was moving and didn't want to pack them. Amongst these are books on cell development, the common cold, horses, castles, knights and others. She has had a lot of fun reading about knights and castles and medieval life.

We are still waiting to be able to get her English, History, and Spelling books. If anyone would like to donate to that fund, you can email me for my paypal address. Formal classwork hasn't started yet, as we are preparing to pack and move, and I don't want to get her all used to studying in one place, only to have the adjustment I know is inevitable in the new house.

Discovery

I've got her Handwriting and Science books on the way via UPS Ground, looking forward to that. Should be getting Math shortly.

I found this website, published by World Book, that shows what she should know, according to Public School standards, by grade level. It was linked by someone in my homeschool group. I will bold the things that she knows. Oh, this is the second grade list. More wanting to explain where we're at and what we should be working towards this year.

Social Studies
* Holidays and festivals
* Patriotic celebrations
* Communities in other lands: past and present
* Family and family history
* Families around the world
* Neighborhoods
* Community services and helpers
* Shelters, stores, and food
* Citizenship and social responsibility
* Interdependence of people
* Basic geography: oceans, continents
* Map skills

Science
* Useful and harmful animals
* Life cycle
* Birds and insects in winter
* Animal babies
* Animal defense of themselves and their young
* Plant and animal food
* Dinosaurs and other extinct animals
* Food chain
* Plant reproduction and growth
* Habitats and homes
* Weather and its effects on earth
* Effects of the seasons on the lives of people, animals, and plants
* Climate
* Water cycle
* Air and atmosphere
* Magnets and forces
* Gravity
* Earth and sky
* Sun, moon, planets
* Simple constellations
* Exploring space
* Scientific method and scientific inquiry (to an extent)

Language Arts
* Reading silently for purpose
* Dramatizations and interpretative or oral reading
* Use and meaning of quotation marks in reading* Story development: beginning, middle, end
* Simple book reviews
* Listening skills
* Organizing ideas and impressions
* Alphabetizing through second letter of a word
* Using dictionary guide words
* Vocabulary development
* Homonyms, synonyms, antonyms
* Methods of word attack
* Ways to study spelling
* Simple punctuation and capitalization
* Refining manuscript handwriting
* Writing independently in manuscript form
* Brief and simple letters and journals
* Narration, description, letters, poetry
* Increasing skill in handling books: table of contents, and index

Health and Safety
* Personal cleanliness
* Dental hygiene
* Basic food groups
* Communicable diseases
* Preventive measures against disease
* Neighborhood safety

Mathematics
* Counting, reading, writing to 1,000
* Counting by 2's, 3's, 4's, 5's, and 10's
* Ordinal numbers to 10
* Zero as a place holder
* Using sets and number facts
* Addition and subtraction facts to 20
* Basic multiplication and division facts
* Multiplication and division facts as inverse operations
* Multiplication properties of 0 and 1
* Place value through 100's
* Fractions in daily life
* Decimal numeration system
* Basic concept of ratio
* Geometry puzzles and activities
* Estimation
* Common customary and metric measures of time, weight, length, volume, shape, temperature
* Telling time and using the calendar
* Handling money (coins)
* Problem solving
* Charts and graphs

This gives me a jumping off point of knowing where I'm at, and what I need to work towards, lesson plan wise.

A Lesson In Responsibility

All last year, Brittani requested a cat. I kept telling her no, for 2 reasons. 1, I am highly allergic to cats, and 2, I wasn't sure she was ready for the responsibility of having a pet. A few things happened to change that.

Our wonderful next door neighbor took in another neighbor's pregnant cat when that neighbor moved. Cat had kittens on my birthday, and neighbor offered them up to anyone who wanted one. Well, it must be a sign, since the kittens were born on my birthday, so we decided to take one.

The kitten has been a lesson in responsibility and compassion for Brittani. It is her job to make sure the kitten has clean water and food in his dish. It is her job to use the scoop to scoop out the cat chunks from the cat box, and together we make sure that he has clean litter. And occasionally she needs the reminder that 5 out of 6 ends are pointy. :)

We have her Science and Handwriting books, and will be starting next week. Still waiting for her Math, English, Spelling, and History. And Muzzy for Foreign Language is going to be her Christmas present.

A new beginning, a new school year

Hi. I'm Cheryl. I have a 7 year old daughter named Brittani, who has Asperger's Syndrome. If you don't know what this is, I encourage you to click the link for an explanation. Don't worry, I'll wait.

Brittani went to a public school for Kindergarten, before we really understood why she was different. This did not go well, as she was always "in trouble" with her teacher because she didn't want to transition activities, didn't understand non-verbal cues (aka body language), and didn't understand personal space. After Kindergarten, myself and her step-daddy Sterling got very tired of going to school meetings with her teacher and principal. We started looking for other alternative places for her to go. We found one in a charter school with a smaller class size, that was willing to work with us. At the beginning of the year, Brittani was evaluated by their school psychologist and we were able to receive an educational diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome. We were in luck. Her First Grade teacher had been specially trained as a Special Education teacher, and did most of her experience that way. Things started to look up, and after entering First Grade at a Kindergarten level, she exited it at about the same level the rest of her class was at halfway through the school year.

Things took a turn for the worse, however, when this wonderful charter school had a change in management. They let go 17 out of 20 of their experienced teachers to hire all new first year teachers, including Brittani's wonderful First Grade teacher, and her Resource Room teacher, they narrowed down what used to be 2 Second Grade classrooms to only one, and there were 42 graduating First Grade students. Needless to say, this is no longer the place for her.

I started researching my options. We found the Montessori school we had tried to get her into last year, but we were wait-listed. We found a spectacular private school especially for children with learning disabilities like Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, Dyslexia, etc. However, it is insanely cost-prohibitive to send her there. All of the places we looked at were either out of our budget, or out of our age group. And then someone on a message board mentioned homeschooling. I started researching it. And I researched it some more. I realized that I could piece curriculum together for her, and her grandma and I could teach her at HER pace.

So this is where we stand. All that's waiting is for us to be able to go up and get her from her bio-dad's house in Northern California.