The Night Shift

I really appreciate all the support I have received with homeschooling Mary!

It really has made a world of difference to us.

Things have really started rolling.

Math

I LOVE this curriculum and Mary does to.

After testing, we started the 6/5 series of Saxon.
The areas that Mary struggled in
Critical Thinking
and
Memorizing her Math Facts
(Mental Math)
These are things that are gone over every day in each lesson

repetition, repetition, repetition...

Math was already her "Favorite" subject
NOW it really is.


Language Arts

In Language Arts I decided to focus on the Basics with Mary.

Since she was struggling in READING & SPELLING mostly.

I started with ...

SPELLING WORKOUT LEVEL D

and LOTS of reading, reading and more reading!

all kinds of books

books from the home shelves and books from the library.

We read them together, out-loud and independently.

I really have struggled finding a curriculum that was the right fit for Mary.

Do you want to know why?

Hmmmm....

let's see,
maybe because after only a couple months of homeschooling I realized without a doubt that Mary has

Dyslexia


This shouldn't come as any big surprise, considering most of my siblings and father have it.
I have always suspected that I may have it, however I was never diagnosed.
One of my brothers has sever dyslexia and went to a private school that specializes in dyslexia.

The GOW School


Here are a couple sites to check out:

Symptoms

37 Common Characteristics

Research & Information

So what does this mean for us?

Well, honestly not much!
Will I have her tested?
NO!
I really don't see the point.
I will  make adjustments in what and how we study "English".
But for now... no TEST needed.
We will simply keep on keeping on!
She went through the public school system up to 5th grade without one person even hinting to this possibility.  Even after I specifically asked a couple of her teachers, who emphatically responded... No!
Again, this shouldn't surprise me.

It is not my intention to bash the public school system or any teachers, they truly have their hands full as well as tied.


Then...
I met an angel at the Barn.
She took me under her wing and shared with me so much of her knowledge and experience.
Then she opened up her own private home library of Resources.
WOW!
Let me tell you, it is extensive!
"BONUS"
Two of the most useful things she gave us were...

Hooked on Phonics





& 

Circle C Books

with Free downloadable Unit Study Guide 

we are currently reading





and doing vocabulary & questions

She has really made an improvement.

Last week when she was suppose to be cleaning her room, I walked in, to check on her progress
...and there she was laying on the floor with pillows, blanket
and a STACK of books beside her.

The room was still a mess...

but I just smiled and quietly shut the door.


This is the Language curriculum I want to use this Fall
it is suppose to be one of the best curriculum for children with dyslexia.

Reading Horizons Program

The rest of our curriculum is in place for this year...

History




Science




Music



I have told her that when she finishes this course I will allow her to pick any instrument she would like to try next.
She wants desperately to play the violin (fiddle).


As for

Art

The Tree of Life
by Gustav Klimt


I hope you catch the punny!

We have become comfortable in our homeschooling routine or lack of routine.

Now a new wrench has been thrown into the routine.
Bill started to work a Night Shift.
I am not complaining...
we are blessed to have the work, overtime and shift differential.
He started last Wednesday and 2 days later we got the computers back.
My problem is "CHANGE".
I kinda fall apart with any little bit of change.
It's true, I do not adjust well to change.
Even "Good" change.

You would think that these two things would not effect me that much, however it has.

The apple doesn't fall to far from the tree,
Budgeting time is somewhat of a task for me as well as Mary.

Never a dull moment around here.

If there is anywhere I need to go or errands to run I need to have them done before 4:30pm now.

Yikes!

That includes trips to the barn.


So, we will try some temporary changes...

Barn on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings & class in the afternoon.

We will see how this works.
Wonderful thing about free will...
if something doesn't work, we get to make another choice!