Over The Hill Academy

Experience

2009-09-21T09:11:00.000-07:00

Again my excuses are poor but valid. Homeschooling has been rough this year. We discovered that poor Jess suffers from depression which hasn't been pretty. You see, in Asperger's patients depression goes the way of agressive and sometimes violent mood swings. Homeschooling hasn't been an easy task.

That and the fact that AO sucks!! I bought this after speaking to several people about great they were believing that I could sidestep the religious aspect. OMG, who were they trying to fool? Me, apparently. I now understand why so many of these CD Roms are on EBay for sale! Instead of being the visually positive tools of education that I thought, it's nothing more than a textbook on the computer. Confusing and doesn't give appropriate material so that the students can research the answer.

So now I'm backtracking to find material to use. We can't afford to buy anything right now since the dh was laid off and is working a min wage job that barely pays for gas and groceries. Fortunately I have a friend who is loaning us her Rosetta Stone Spanish CD Rom that she got for free. Now in Texas, you can't graduate unless you are bi-lingual in Spanish and English. Grreeeaatt. :( That will mean I will never get Jess graduated; she absolutely hates foreign language.

So I suppose that you can say that experience is the best teacher. Unfortunately it's a costly educator as well.

Oy!

2009-01-29T12:47:00.000-08:00

My goodness I've been gone awhile! LOL. Not surprisingly, work and school and my own business have gotten in the way of blogging.

I recently went out to purchase CD Roms for the girls' school. Language Arts for Alyssa and Science for both and then Spanish workbooks for Aly. I'm hoping more visuals with help poor Aly comprehend more. That and the fact that we put her back on Metadate! Her medicine alone cost $130!

And then the most horrible thing happened. The family computer crashed! Our laptop is so old that it can access the internet but can't handle downloading or CD Roms because it doesn't accept XP or Vista. SIL promised to build one for us via her work since she is the head of her IT dept. But you know how that goes. Promises for the many; solutions for the few.

I also am having another issue with my website. It is finally taking off only to hit a stall in all of this because my laptop cannot download photos of my jewelry and soaps from my digital camera. All this technology and I kenna use it!

So I keep doling out jewelry, soaps and candles and pray that hubby and his sister get my up and running soon.

A New Day

2008-10-13T10:28:00.001-07:00

(Even Mia the cat decided to get in the groove of school while Alyssa was attempting to do fractions!)

I decided a few weeks ago that I needed to get more organized when it came to homeschooling. Lately I have made a lot of personal changes which I was afraid might not be for the better. Apparently it has had a positive affect on Jess however.

I visited one of my favorite organizational sites called donnayoung.org. If you are a homeschooler and looking for a way to get organized then this site is the place to go. I decluttered and organized my dining-room-turned-office-workroom and set up notebooks with specific subjects and goals(such as Alyssa's math notebook is for nothing but math formulas that she is to write down so she can learn them to memory) and set up a binder that was filled with grade logs, daily planners and 6-week grade grids.

Usually Jess is not only my grumbler, she is my whiner and tantrum thrower when it comes to school work. This morning, she saw the individual Monday-Friday school schedule that I had posted on the bulletin board for her and her sister and...

She went straight to work! Amazing!

I was literally in shock on how easy she sailed through her copywork,journal writing, her speller, language arts, reading and typing! Jess, as you may know, is Asperger's and such subjects do not come easy for her thus she drags her feet[for hours] and complains and even cries over it.

Jess needs schedules and discipline. What she WANTS is to watch TV and do suduko all days. We always have had school Mon-Fri but I suppose seeing log sheets and planners and grids makes her feel more structured and organized than before. Whatever the case she jumped right into it. Let's just hope tomorrow is a lot more of the same!

Curveball

2008-09-11T10:56:00.000-07:00

Yes we've been thrown a curve ball amidst everything else that occurs during those first few weeks of new curriculum.

Alyssa had not been doing well with either school nor anything else. We had been on a Weight Watchers diet together..the entire family. Everyone was having their ups and downs but doing well. Except for Alyssa. The last straw was when she gained 11 lbs in a one week period and I discovered that she was sleep-waking AND raiding the frig at the same time!

Now I got panicky! G and I had talks with her and found that not only was she was sleep walking(which is an eery thing to watch) but her sister, due to stress, had gone back to talking AND singing(loudly) in her sleep thus Alyssa couldn't sleep. I attempted to make an appointment with our local GP to no avail and knew that I couldn't wait.

So now we're on a new program. Alyssa can sleep on the living room sofa if she likes as long as she doesn't get up and raid the kitchen. So she reads, does word search and quietly watches a movie of our choice and has a warm cup of General Foods coffee.

Yup, coffee. Which leads me to step two of this program: new diet.

Alyssa, if I haven't mentioned before is ADD, and the stress of school, our different work schedules, and her sister's ever-growing teenaged angst has sent her into turmoil. The new diet is specifically designed by a homeopathic doctor is for ADD/Autistic/Dyslexic patients. And it's a trip, let me tell you.

Here it is in a nutshell:
For the first two weeks

NO DAIRY PRODUCTS, especially cow's milk.

NO YELLOW FOODS. Especially Corn or Squash.

NO JUNK FOODS.

NO FRUIT JUICES.

CUT SUGAR INTAKE BY 90%.

CUT CHOCOLATE BY 90%.

NO NUTRASWEET.

NO PROCESSED MEATS and NO MSG.

CUT FRIED FOODS BY 90%.

AVOID FOOD COLORINGS WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

AVOID FISH.

NO CEREALS, CRACKERS OR PROCESSED BREADS

ONE PROTEIN SHAKE USING GF COFFEE DAILY

CHELATED MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS

'ATTEND' VITAMIN DAILY(PURCHASED VIA THE NEWIDEAS.NET SITE)

LOTS AND LOTS OF WATER

ABSOLUTELY NO COKES

AVOID ALL METALS THAT ARE IN CERTAIN FOODS.

After two weeks, she is allowed to be introduced to one of the no-no foods/beverages such as food colorings one at a time and for 4 days straight. This is to see what she might be allergic to before introducing the next one. But she still can't have sugar, chocolate, cokes or cow's milk anymore.

Then there's Jessica...

Apparently she has developed a severe sensitivity to synthetic clothing. Now I'm hunting down old 70's patterns for kurta and dashiki style tops, A-line and wrap around skirts and dharma pants that can be sewn using natural materials. In other words, she'll be the one dressed in hippie clothing, which is making a comeback. I know this because of the hundreds of hippie clothes sites that I have found and the clothes that I have purchased on-line. With everyone going eco-friendly, I suppose it shouldn't be such a shock. I rummaged through my closet and found clothing that I wore during the 70's when my family lived in a commune. A little adjustment but it fit her well!

What it gets down to is we're getting back to MY roots. Organic with all organic clothing. I knew processed foods were bad and attempted to steer clear of the lot but now it affects our children in unimaginable ways.

Alyssa has already shown signs of improvement. This weekend we get to begin turning the office into Jess' bedroom so possibly she can sleep better.

Still gathering homeschool supplies though. Even though I'm not the biggest fan of Alpha Omega because of the adamant desire to change history and science to fit their dogma, we have decided that it's the best route for the girls. Especially Alyssa!

You see, ADDers and Autistics seem to have all the brain activity in the frontal lobe area. When they are confronted with something that doesn't interest them, they have a tendency to literally shut down ALL lobe activity. NT kids brains slow down but dont shut down. And since AO is the only one to successfully use CD ROMS with their curriculum and stimulate the kids to learn...well whatever works, you know. There will be a lot of stop and start because 'Mom' will have to throw in some added information.

Unfortunately AO is pricey($40-$70 per CD)so it is a get-them-a-few-at-a-time situation. It's the only time I wish I had twins! LOL. We're still working out of Saxon math, American history, reading,spelling and thinking skills books from last year so we can wait. And herbology and mythology come right out of Mom's library anyhow! :) So the year has started off with a bang and a thud.

Curve balls are only welcome in baseball.

P.S. If you are interested in the diet, because it really seems to be working, go to www.newideas.net. Lots of reading material to be had on ADD/ADHD.

Dieting in Summer? Are you mad?

2008-08-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

Apparently. It's 105 most days here in North Texas and the girls and I have devoted ourselfes to Weight Watchers! Being hot, miserable and starving is never a good combination!

But we're doing a pretty good job of it if I do say so myself! We have even had moments of 'cheating' when we're out on one of our 'adventures'(as Jess likes to call them). But Jessica and I started at the same weight(gulp) and have both lost 7 lbs within two weeks and Alyssa has lost 4 lbs. That is only because she gained a few after a moment of weakness involving her Dad's "hidden" Malted Milk Balls! :)

Since the heat reigns us indoors pretty early in the morning our exercise consists of yoga, low impact exercise and 30 minutes on an air glider! Alyssa has also been consistent in her karate classes which has quite a few strenuous exercises on their own! So even though the weight just doesn't melt off of us, we are doing quite well and really haven't starved or cheated....too much. Jessica seems to be the only one to be able to bank points for the next day! Of course she is my strident schedule girl!

This journey all started when I bought a scale that was on clearance. Ours had died a slow agonizing death and I'm one of those who feels if something passes you need to replace it immediately. It quickly went on the shopping list in the GM section.

My 'GM'section is non-food items. A lot of them are at the bottom which indicates that they are replacements and not emergency or urgent purchases. Can you tell I'm ADD or what?

Anyway....afterwards I decided to weigh the girls since it had been a while. GASP! I was in shock at how much they weighed! Too many days of playing video games or on the computer and my babies had become couch potatoes in the worst possible sense of the word. I mean, I'VE been pregnant five times. I have an excuse but two teenaged girls? I don't think so! So off to the internet and WW I went.

We don't attend meetings because $100 a monthly doesn't seem like frugal spending to me and I've always been about frugal. So I searched out sites with recipes, lists, charts and points and went from there.

At least we're not gasping for chocolate nor chaining ourselves to the frig. Not just yet anyway.

Going Back To Another Time? Scary!

2008-07-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

A Minnesota court has decided to uphold a local church's ban on an Autistic teenager from attending church. His mother plans to appeal but it will be an uphill battle I am sure. The judge seems to think even the little sounds the boy makes were considered 'harassment'.

Then there was the issue of that now-famous plane incident when an Autistic boy and his mother were kicked off of a plane because he was having a meltdown. As the mother attempted to calm him, the attendants decided screaming at him was the best course. Anyone with an Autistic child knows better.

I'm certain that Autism and Special Needs advocates are agonizing over the course of events that has transpired in our society of late. Not to mention some idiot radio talkshow host announcing that Autism was a 'scam'. As Autism grows in numbers, the general public have felt a great need to not turn the other cheek but their whole bodies. The news stories have shown in great detail that society would just like to show a great many of the people with disabilities into homes, hospital wards..anywhere where they didn't have to know about it or them. As stated by Terri Mauro of About.com's special needs site, "Public opinion is not running toward accommodating those with behavioral differences, whatever their cause. (In churches, or in airplanes either.)"

But on the other side of the coin, parents of special needs children need to plan better. Informing the airline or even church ministers that these children were autistic beforehand would have helped tremendously. Being a parent of both an ADD and an Autistic child I have learned the art of preparedness. Scheduling and routine has always been a must. And then there are things that one must sacrifice for the sanity of oneself and the child.

We stopped taking the girls to church a long time ago. Once upon a time they liked to go but then they got older and changes were bound to happen. And yes, the adults-in-control were less than Christian in their own behaviors and attitudes. Not that my kids jumped up and down in the pews and screamed their bloody heads off but certain things that Jess espcially would do to self calm herself(she has tactile sensitivity to various things such as light, loud noises and crowds) did not draw favorable comments or actions.

When Jess was barely one, she liked to say 'hi' to everyone in church. The minister not-so-politely asked us not to return because she interrupted his sermon. She was one for cripes sake! And it's just escalated from there. Aly doesn't have the same issues as her sister but never felt comfortable sitting for long periods nor how they treated her sister. Bad feelings overall begin to grow. So now the girls don't even ask to go with their aunt or grandmother any longer. And we don't force it. the last conversation I want to get into at this time of their lives is why some Christians aren't very Christian.

It reminds me of the quote by Ghandi,"I like your Christ. But I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Why does it seem that we as a society go backwards instead of forwards with the tougher issues of our time?

It's Time

2008-07-14T08:43:00.000-07:00

With everything ekse going on(gearing up for school, work, working flea markets, writing), I decided(for some insane reason) to weigh the girls and myself. Oh my gosh! Well, that just ruined our day! Hence we three are all on Weight Watchers.

Jessica, who is 5'8 clocks in a 220 lbs. Alyssa is my height of 5'5 and is 185 and I gained all the weight I lost(and then some) and now am at....220 as well! Thank you Wal-Mart :(

So we started WW this morning much to the chagrin of my daughters. We are doing the flex system but the point system is really driving them nuts!

We are also putting Jess on the GFCF diet full time. We've only used this diet partially because it's just so expensive to buy the bread products. But now I'm paying the $80 a month for the bread,cookie and cake mixes for Jessica. Her temper has become more and more volatile and we're hoping cutting back on the processed wheat and sugar that is a large portion of her diet(as it is with a lot of Autistic kids that we have met), that it'll help control her out-of-control mood swings.

This morning, at 5:30, Gary found Jess on the computer. When he told her not she wasnt allow to be on the computer that time of morning and that she needed to go back to bed...well hell opened up! Within minutes, Alyssa ran and jumped in my bed and for the next hour I listened to hysterical screaming and stomping. I stayed in the bedroom with Alyssa because if I have learned anything I know that having me enter the room could make it worse. Jessica feels that she is being attacked just by the physical presence of both parts and will get worse. So I stayed put.

Afterwards, we both talked calmly and rationally to her and she literally pass out asleep within minutes. She's been fine ever since. As I have said before, life with an Aspie.

The diet will not only take more finances but more time on my part. Measuring and menu planning for when I am not home at night will have to be scheduled into my mornings. And then cooking special casseroles just for their diet, laying meals out on plates so I can make sure that they're getting the correct portions(not too sure Dad with remember).

All this just in time to go to work. Oh like I didn't have enough to do...

Dog Days of Summer Have Begun

2008-07-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

At least around here. Both our AC units began to go downhill. The girl's AC would make these horrible sounds when it turned on. So much so poor Aly was never getting any sleep! So off to buy two new ones. Each took about 2 hours to assemble and plant in the windows! Luckily, I was at work when this transpired so I didn't hear the grumbling and yelling that took place!

Softball is over, thank goodness! It was a rough year for Aly and even her Asst. Coach said that she was glad it was over. We were never told when the trophy ceremony was(much like most of her pracitce changes that we were never told about) so she didn't get one. But Dad and I have already arranged to have her one made by a trophy shop in Denton. I hate to see her go through all of that and not even get one!

Summer Recreation through our park started and ended. And now it's just hot!

We have started back to school since it's really too hot to do anything else. We are having teenaged angst/tantrums issues with Jess but, as I have said here before, Asperger's Syndrome and the teenage years don't bode very well anyway. Major changes in their television and computer habits have been made and not to either girl's liking. As my mother would say, 'Read a book!" LOL.

Next weekend I'll be selling my jewelry and soaps at the local flea market called 'Second Monday' who I've pulled Aly into helping me with the soaps. The jewelry is being made from scrabble tiles and Japanese origami paper so that's a bit more delicate than she can handle at the moment.

We finally got our stimulus check so homeschool materials were the first thing to be purchased. It gets more expensive the older they become.(sigh).

Hope your summer days are doing well.

Long Week With No End in Sight

2008-06-05T12:36:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a long week and odds are it is going to get longer.

Sunday was officially Aly's 13th birthday and she had a wonderful day. My brother who lives in West Texas and many of our friends called early(too early for my taste) to wish her birthday greetings. We are planning her 'coming-of-age' party[my family's tradition] next weekend so they were all filled with questions for me as well. The morning just flew by before we knew it.

My BIL arranged a cook-out for lunch with the traditional opening of presents. Her dad and I gave to her her first 'real' piece of jewelry. A sterling silver charm bracelet. It's difficult to get the thing off of her especially on softball nights! At the end of the month, her 'big' gift of a bicycle and a trampoline will arrive(but she doesn't know that yet). Her sister bestowed her with a Hannah Montana purse and she recieved plenty of birthday money!

Then we left for Denton for an afternoon of shopping for summer 'stuff' such as new swimsuits and short sets. She was quick to spend part of her birthday money as well. Of course we just had to have a Nintendo Dogs DS video game. The girl is nuts over animals. Her birthday was ended by dinner at her favorite resturant(Panchos) and ice cream at Braums.

As Aly would say, "It's my best night ever!"

Well that was the good side.

Then Monday arrived and the first day of summer rec for Jessica. It was a special summer rec in Decatur for special needs kids and she was all right with it. I mean, we discussed it with her and she 'wanted' to go. That is, unitl Monday morning where she melted into a tirade which concluded in tears, screaming and surrender. It was something special for her and I'm not going to force the child to go. So we didn't. It's now Thursday and we haven't made it there yet. Probably not going to. [sigh]Life with an Autistic teenager..what can I tell you.

Alyssa had a softball game Monday night as well. They lost by one point. I thought that was relatively good since they hadn't had a game since last Tuesday and the coach didn't think of having a practice.

As you can tell I'm not too thrilled with Alyssa's coaches. The head coach showed up for one practice and didn't show up for the first game. The asst. coach kids around too much at practices, has them for an hour because 'she has other things to do' and doesn't know a ball from a strike. Hmm, and why did they sign up for this? Even Alyssa knows that this isn't good. She told her Dad on numerous occasions that she thought they were going to lose because Coach ....... and the girls goofed off too much. Nobody could ever accuse her of not being on the ball, so to speak. The team has been doing well but that is of their own accord not from any instruction that they have recieved.

So losing by one point after almost a week off. Pretty darn good from where I'm sitting. Although Alyssa,as competitive as she is, didn't see it that way.

Tuesday was better for Aly, in a way. They won their game but she's now suffering from severe allergies which is dragging her down. Jess was in full frontal tantrum! Say hello to the kid and she began to yell and argue and whatever. She lost several priveleges before it was over. By the time I came home, I was exhausted. By the time I checked my website for my on-line business, I was wide awake. My website had completely disappeared as if it didn't exist! Nothing wakes you up more than having your primary income disapate into the wind! The bad part is that the site was on another site; not a private server. It's on Etsy.com and several of other artists' websites were complaining of the same thing.

Gary had to wake me at 4am since I fell asleep at the computer attempting to reconfigure my site and all the inventory that disappeared. (Etsy had it up and running by mid afternoon Wednesday.)

Wednesday was my day off. We haven't had school all week because of the chaos around here and I slept until 11am! Luckily I type out the girl's chore lists on Sundays for the entire week. They were troopers and got everything done while Mama tried to revive her energy. Alyssa was in major allergy attack again but Jessica was calmed today(still no signs of going to Sunflower Camp though) ;( They both helped me make soap. I have a flea market scheduled for July and have to get my jewelry and soap inventory up to snuff quickly. Soap takes several weeks to 'cure' so I have to get started now!

Now it's Thursday and I have spent all morning making more soap while the girls worked on computations. Alyssa still is in the throes of allergies but seems to be doing better. We'll see because we have yet another softball game tonight. Of course I'll miss it. I've only been to one this season all because I get Wednesdays off. And Wednesday here in Bible Belt Country is Church Night. I'm not Baptist so I was taken aback by how many times people go to church here. No softball on church night=I don't get to see her play.

The week has dragged on miserably with work, tantrum, allergies and everything in between. By Saturday Alyssa will have her 2nd birthday party; her 'girlie' party. Only two girls will be there but that's OK. They are good friends and I would rather see that than the ones that show up just to get into the pool for free.(Not like that's ever happend before:See previous blog if you don't understand). That's going to be followed with another trip to the wilds of Denton for her coming-of-age ceremony/party.

This week can end anytime now.....

Loss

2008-06-03T06:39:00.000-07:00

I had to think of this one for a few days before writing about it. Loss. What is it? Why are some of us affected more than others? Does loss affect us more as children or as adults? And what kind of loss does affect us the most?

I've had plenty of time to think on this subject. A whole marriage. During the first year of my marriage to Gary, we attended 12 family funerals and 2 friend funerals. Jessica's birth took a back seat to mourning as I lost my father exactly 7 days(and on New Year's Day) before her birth. My father-in-law joined my father on the following Thanksgiving. We lost my mother on my sister's birthday,in February, two years ago.

Not to anyone's fault but you can see why Gary and I aren't very keen on the holidays. But the one to take the passing of my mother the hardest was Alyssa, my youngest. It took her a year to get over the passing of my sister-in-law's beloved dog so you can just imagine having to deal with the death of her grandmother.

My mother had multiple cancers for over 8 years but she really didn't show the ravages until two years prior. When she gave up the fight, the cancer took her quickly. Too quickly for a 10 yr old. Alyssa is so afraid of forgetting what she looks like that she has made a small altar with pictures of my mother, a decorative fan made with my wedding flowers(made by my mother) and other things that my mother had given her. Seeing how she was suffering, both Gary and I both told her that it was all right. She needed something physical to pour her grieving heart into instead of her pillow. After a year and a half, she doesn't seem as tormented over my mother's death as she did, which is good.

The altar has also helped her to deal with another loss that little girls suffer quite frequently. A loss of a friend. Or someone that she believed was her friend. They hadn't known her very long but Alyssa called and emailed the little girl. Both Gary and I thought it was the beginning of a solid friendship.

Alyssa has difficulty with friendships. Not that she does anything wrong but she just makes poor choices in whom she chooses. We also think a lot of it has to do with 1) her ADD and 2)her parent's status. It is typically difficult for kids with ADD to form lasting friendships because of their immaturity. This is also a small Texas town and how much your parents have or don't have makes a difference in relationships here. I grew up in a wealthy household and never truly saw it until I married a man from a lower middle class family..and moved here. I was in shock of how 'children' treated each other depending on thier parent's social status and, a lot of the time, how their parents treat other adults depending on thier social standing!

My girls suffer from it in ways I could never have imagined. What their peers see is that we're poor. We try to teach them during school how to handle this and what will occur once they become adults. Both child will inherit a great deal upon turning 25. Unfortunately Alyssa will also inherit the responsibility of her AS sister as well. Responsibility and Accountability 101 is always in session in our home.

Here they have both seen what it's like to be on the short end of the stick. Here both adults and children literally snub Jessica because of her autism. I have watched since she was old enough to enter group activities how she was treated and rejected. The adults would not let her participate in ballet or gymnastics because "they didn't have time to 'deal' with someone like her". Unfortunately that is a direct quote.

I thought it would be different for Alyssa. After all, nobody knows that you have ADD unless you tell them, right? She might as well be wearing an insignia much like the WWII POW prisoners wore the way she is treated.

She has lost many potential friends. Because of the immaturity that ADD instills, we have even encouraged her to seek our girls physically younger than herself. She is just NOT into boys, makeup or sitting around gossiping like average 13yo girls do. She strives to become a "professional softball player"(as she calls it) and wants to go to college and play. She loves to be active like the younger set still love to do but the teenaged groups begin to wean away from.

Even in our homeschool group, the older girls wander off to quietly talk while she hangs around to play with the younger ones. Her only loyal friend in our homeschool group has become a 10 yo girl named Raven. The others have befriended her and left her in the dust already.

Even a younger girl who was involved in the same activities that Alyssa is in involved in has turned away. The girl now makes fun of her, gives her those mocking faces that girls this age are so good at, avoids her and now it has evolved into not speaking to Alyssa at all unless she absolutely has to. In short, girls this age can become social snobs in a heartbeat. Not that these girls are bad or mean intentionally. They move very quickly from girl to girl like bees to flowers.

Personally, I think it's the nature of the young female beast at this age. And poor Alyssa never understands why. But she is getting better. Each year at this time, she usually thinks every girl on her softball team is her best friend and wants to invite them all to her birthday party. This year when I asked who did she want to invite only one was mentioned. She told me that she had no friends on her softball team.

This has got to be marking her soul. I can pray all I want but it won't go away. I have my own scars from my youth. So I think loss does affect us differently as children than as adults. We carry a lot of baggage from our childhood and it is what creates the adult that we become. I just hope the lessons that she learns from losing dear family members and not-so-dear acquaintances doesn't mar her wonderful yet sensitive attitude. I hope it doesn't change her view that there is fair and not fair, right and wrong, good and bad. I hope she never stops believing that someone is watching over her at all times. Just because she is not as blessed with 'things' and wealth as her peers.

I hope she just remains hopeful.

Budget Time!

2008-05-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

While I was going through my email box, I recieved a rather interesting one that made me think. My ACLU newsletter had recieved a video and letter from a gentleman who had decided to devote his entire government check to the ACLU!

He stated that, yes, he could go out and stimulate the economy by buying a new TV or whatever. BUT...what could be more stimulating than helping a donation-only organization that fought to keep our rights as citizens. He stated several changes in our rights given to us by the Constituationthat have been altered or down right taken away since the Bush administration took control. Such as listening to our phone calls without permission, acknowledgment or the fact that we have done anything to warrant this, downright torture of prisoners(can you say 'Close Guatanamo'?) and our right to a speedy trial AND to know what we're charged with, if anything.

This man handed over a $600 check! This is the most courageous man in America. Can any of us say that we could or would willingly do the same thing?

Since viewing this video and reading Kenevan McConnon blogsite(kenevan-mcconnon.dailykos.com), I have been thinking ways that I could contribute more than my $20 a month to the ACLU. That is when the budget planning came into play.

It even made it more clear that this is what I needed to do when I visited one of my favorite sites, Living On A Dime. The site is exactly what it says; it helps cut costs, prepare cheaper meals and budget. I noticed writing down all of our expenses in preparation for our own stimulus check(and preparing for purchasing homeschool materials for next school year) that we spend way too much money on groceries. Food AND paper goods. My roughtly averaged $300 for food and $150 for other items gets thrown down the drain a lot. I blame myself since I work for Wally World and have a tendency to shop each time I work.

My goal is 1) to be able to contribute at least $75-$100 per month to the ACLU to fight for our rights and 2)afford a vacation in October to Houston. A vacation is something that we have NEVER had. In the 20+ years that I have been married and the many, many years of child rearing, we have never taken a simple vacation. The Texas Ren. Festival is our goal vacation spot(with a stopover in Galveston!) and to be able to afford to rent a hotel room.

If I stick to a strict budget(and my veggie garden will produce), I should be able to hole away about $200 monthly. I said 'should'. We'll see how it goes with reports here as to our progress.

But first a plan......(to be continued)

Change of Venue and Bigger Things

2008-05-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

Well I haven't even gotten that rebate check and I'm already changing my mind...curriculum wise anyway.

I'm a cheapie; what can I tell you. I couldn't bring myself to spending $60 a pop on five CD-Roms via Alpha Omega. I would have to buy two grade levels in history and science AND one for health. That's $300! Alpha Omega is good but not that good! There is the religious rhetoric that goes over the top. I have a friend who let me see her history disc and I, being a history student, was apalled at how history was changed to meet a Christian dogma! Oh no!

Then I found these lovely books..

The Story of Science series was written by the same woman that wrote A History of US. Her name is Joy Hakim and she is a wonderful writer. The language of the history books is geared towards the middle school kids and not the adults and she uses the timeline theory. She starts history from the beginning and doesn't jump around with plenty of visuals to make her point.

Her science books are the same. The books look more than works of art than texts and the student 'quest' gudes are the same. The first book starts with Aristotle and the third book ends with Einstein. They are also a reasonable price even for tightwads like me. The books run from $16-18 while the student guides are $10.36.

Both G and I decided that the Story of the World books would work for world history with several add-ons. Susan Wise Bauer's books have a tendency to leave out certain key elements of history or miswrite it. But then since both Mom and Dad are into history and have a large array of historical books, I think we can fill in the holes. It just means more reading for me. We're still sticking with Hakim's A History of US for American history. Health will be coming from SchoolSpecialtyPublishing.

Now to my rant: I just can't understand Christian curriculum companies feel a need to change history and science. The evolution thing? Fine, that's just a matter of personal opinion but pharoahs? WWI? The discovery of gravity? The atomic bomb? Does one's religious preference really have to come into play? I'm a child of the 60's and I see this as Big Brother coming into play...in a big way!

And I'm doing my best to combat it. My children will learn how I see fit not some mass produced religious rhetoric. And I thought homeschooling was about individuality.

Day Off Called On Account of Tantrum

2008-05-05T11:59:00.000-07:00

Today was an unplanned day off. Welcome to the world of homeschooling special needs kids! This is the reason that we homeschool year round. I know a great many homeschoolers who want to keep with the ps schedule. But to me, you might as well have them in ps if you're going to adhere to their traditions and moray!

Today was to be Aly's first softball game of the season. Then it rained. And rained. And..well the word 'gullywasher' comes to mind. Aly was disappointed when I explained that the rain would mean no game but that wasn't the problem.

Jess, the non-playing one was the problem.

She has to have a routine; a schedule. And when you deter from that schedule, well let's just say that it's not pretty. She is very upset and burst into tearful tantrums for the majority of the morning and into lunch. She knew that this also meant sno-cones after the game. She lives for sno-cones after the game. That is half the fun on going. Now, as she tells me, "No sno-cones forever."

It's hard not to smile or laugh at the dramatic way she phrases things. It's equally as hard to convince her that there'll be a game tomorrow and Thursday night. Plenty of time for sno-cones.

Since I work nights I have to get the girls started off to their schoolwork rather quickly in the morning. Especially since Jess has a tendency to drag her feet. It will usually take her 2 hours to do 28 questions in her Saxon Math. Not that she doesn't understand it mind you. Or it might be too difficult. No problem for a math whiz like her.

No, Jess likes to look around. Maybe a giggle fit or two. A little daydreaming possibly. But she eventually gets it done.

Well that doesn't leave a lot of time for me to get the mundane things done like laundry, dishes, get ready for work, prepare dinner for when I'm not home and then, of course, the actual leaving for work.

So we called it a day off. Starting fresh tomorrow(the tantrums lasted until about 1pm.) Next week, my schedule will change and I'll be going to work in mid afternoon instead of evening. This means getting up at the crack of dawn to get their days started instead of sleeping in until mid morning.

Ooooh, Jess is not going to like that!

Accusations? Ooh..I don't know.

2008-05-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

We usually take Fridays off. Every other Friday is when our homeschool group meets but to keep the girls on some sort of schedule(which really throws them off if they don't keep to that schedule) we just take every Friday off.

That usually means a trips to the park which give way to impromptu school lessons in herbology, science, religion,etc. Cleaning the house, shopping, cutting up food and storing it and recently stripping the bedroom walls of its horrid wallpaper for our upcoming project of painting.

It also is the day that I make soaps, shampoos, laundry soap, bread, etc. Internet friends refer that to being my 'hippie day' off.

First I was offended. I saw it as an accusation. How dare people who have never met me just brush me off as a hippie just because of my age and the fact that I homeschool! OK, I'm trying to save a few bucks since everything is so expensive. I'm just not willing to pay for the fuel costs for rice and milk and eggs.

I don't live in 'Mother Earth News' land but I do live in a small town. Yes, I do barter for fresh eggs by making things for a friend. So I cut my milk down with powdered because my family can go through 3 gallons in less than a week. I have to mail order my bread mix so I can make GF/CF bread for my kids. Buying it already baked costs twice as much. Yes, I do have a garden but it's only for veggies and herbs(to use in my soaps). Only my daughter grows flowes because she grew tired of not having any!

And I have a great recipe for laundry soap that has no dyes or perfumes and one 4 gallon batch lasts for months and costs about $1 a gallon. I make most of my clothes and make my own paint. And so if I WAS raised in a commune for a few years. I don't think I'm a hippie.

My daughter looked over my shoulder at what my hs friends were calling me and asked,"
What's a hippie?"

A person who is an individualist, who makes what they use, recyles,fights air and noise pollution, is big on natural things and nature. They were really big in the 60's." I replied.

"Weren't you born in the 1960's"

"Yes."

"Because that really sounds like you. Maybe you are a hippie."

As my face recovers from flushing, I realize that maybe they and she are right.

A song by the Bellamy Brothers popped into my head then and maybe the majority of us over-40 homeschoolers are just that..what goes around comes around. I'm afraid.

The lyrics to 'Old Hippie' by the Bellamy Brothers:

He turned 35 last Sunday
In his hair he found some gray
But he still ain't changed his lifestyle
He likes it better the old way.

So he grows a little garden
In the backyard by the fence
He's consuming what he's growing
Nowadays in self defense
He gets out there in the twilight zone
Sometimes when it just don't make no sense.

He gets off on country music
'Cause disco left him cold
And he's got young friends and a new way
But he's just to frickin old.

And he dreams at night of Woodstock
And the day John Lennon died
How the music made him happy
And the silence made him cry
Yeah, he thinks of John sometimes
And he has to wonder why.

Chorus:
'Cause he's an old hippie
And he don't know what to do
Should he hang on to the old
Should he grab on to the new.

He's an old hippie
This new life is just a bust
He ain't trying to change nobody
He's just trying real hard to adjust.

He was sure back in the sixties
That everyone was hip
Then they sent him off to vietnam
On his senior trip.

And they forced him to become a man
While he was still a boy
And behind each wave of tragedy
He waited for the joy
Now this world may change around him
But he just can't change no more.

Well, he stays away a lot now
From the parties and the clubs
And he's thinking while he's jogging round
Sure is glad he quit the hard drugs.

'Cause him and his kind
Get more endangered everyday
And pretty soon the species
Will just up and fade away
Like the smoke from that torpedo
Just up and fade away.

Peace,
Shirley

Budgeting of Time, Money and Curriculum

2008-04-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Since the rebates checks are beginning to roll in, I thought that it was a perfect time to start budgeting the money. $1800 is a lot but it can disappear quickly and then I'll be screaming because I won't have any socked away for the more needier of purchases. Like home school materials.

I spent three hours deciding what was better than what we used before and how much this is compared to that. Needless to say that my eyeballs feel like sandpaper!

We'll be using some of Alpha Omega's SOS products. Aly is having so many issues with textbooks that we decided to give her a few subjects with CD Roms. Alpha Omega has some of the best if not most expensive ones on the hs market. And when your kids share this book but not that...well it takes a while to devise a curriculum!

We'ved decided on:
Alyssa: Saxon Math 6/7
Easy Grammer 6
SOS Science 8
SOS History 8
Spectrum Health
BYKI Spanish
SOS Texas History
Spelling, Reading, Writing-CM Style
Herbology and Astronomy-Mommy Style!
Jessica: Saxon Math 6/7
Easy Grammar 5
SOS Science 6
SOS History 6
Spectrum Health
Spelling, Ready, Writing-CM Style
Astronomy and Herbology-Mommy Style

Both will take home economics and art.

The grand total will be $465.80 not including printing which isn't bad. About average on what I spend on the year. We're not into microscopes and lab experiments yet so it could be worse.

The rest of the money has been budgeting between 'half-to's'[like a new stove!] and the savings account. And then poof! All gone.

We had yet another 'wonderful'[groan] night at softball. Once again the assistant coach was the only one there; her and 5 girls!! I haven't seen the coach since the scrimmage that he neglected to let us know about! But then that has become a habit. The Asst Coach decided that she was only staying an hour because 'she had things to do'. When she was leaving another girl showed up because her father said that the schedule said 6:30 instead of 5. The coach wanted to argue but that is exactly what she did to us just last week! Hmm, something stinks in the city of Denmark!

They don't coach, they goof off. She spent 30 minutes lecturing on how to run a base!! The pitcher can't seem to get the ball across the base. And the majority of these girls have never played fast pitch. Yet the coaches don't feel a need to practice. I will not be surprised if a great deal of the games are called due to 'run rules' or forfieted because no players show up(they probably will get the wrong time).

We don't say anything to Aly(we only rant here!) but she came to me last night and informed me that she didn't want to play anymore but all the girls and the coach "goofted off" all the time. She stated,"We're not going to win a single game and I want to win some!"

Poor thing. And what are these people doing volunteering for summer softball if they cant devote the time to it??

OK rant over.

My Sweet Sensitive Aly

2008-04-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well last time I lamented over my 15 yr old. Today it's my 12 yr old. Do I sound like I'm raving a bit? A little whine with my cheese sort of thing? Well maybe.

My 12 yr old sweetie has Inttentive ADD...in other words A...D...Oooh Shiny! That would be her. Gorgeous, sensitive, smart...and maybe tad too sensitive. Right now we're pulling our hair out with her as well. She doesn't play with the neighborhood kids because, well to put it bluntly, they're cruel and spoiled. Aly doesn't have a bike; doesn't really care one way or another if she has one. A trampoline or a pool would be more her speed. But if you don't have the most expensive toys then you're just not in. She likes to play outside..well the few girls in the neighborhood make a point to use her and abuse her as they laugh behind close doors. The last time she attempted to play with a group of them, they told her that she was it in a game of hide and seek and then they ran off[from our porch] laughing at how gullible she was! Yet they individually seek her out when there's nobody else to play with. LUckily she learned her lesson.

She has made friends via our hs group and karate and none of them want to play with her away from these groups. They're too busy or have a schedule like most adults. She is especially fond of one or two and now feels once again as if she is being shunned because she hears and reads how they play with other girls.

She's lonely and hurt. I know a lot of them don't mean to be this way but it happens all the same. Her autistic sister is not much of a playmate either. And sometimes playing with Momma just ain't no fun, you know.

She is now on a softball team where the kids goof off way too much and the coaches barely coach. They had a scrimmage the other night and it's quite apparent that they will most likely not do well. And THIS has Aly upset. She thinks it's her fault. Jeesh. We explained that it couldn't possibly be her fault to carry a team of 10 other girls who don't care if they even play or coaches who would rather be somewhere else. But Aly lives in a world of black and white and never grey.

I want to stay home with her and comfort her and play with her. Anything to help her get over this loneliness and sadness. Somethings even a mother can't fix.

Not A Fun Day...or Weekend For That Matter!

2008-04-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

Dealing with an autistic child is one thing but having that sweet child turn into a surly teenager with behavioral issues...boy howdy! I thought I was accustomed to Jess' blowups-for-no-reason, tantrums of how I ruined her life but this turn of events was somthing that I was not prepared for.

This past weekend my husband caught Jess shoplifting! She had done this before just a few weeks prior. Both incidents were over bubble gum. Yes you got it. A simple pack of gum. She simply slid it into her pocket and walked out of the store without nary a soul noticing.

The first time her sister and I were actually with her. She told me later that afternoon as she removed it from her pocket and wanted to show me 'her secret'. After several hours of crying and lecturing. We told her that she would lose TV, her DS and all computer priveleges for one day. (We know better to extend it any farther because she won't remember why). She was upset and promised never to do it again.

This past weekend she did it again. Only this time she shoved the gum in her mouth before leaving the store. She went with her father to the store and found gum at the Kraft candy bin (the one where you scoop out what you want into a bag). I didn't even know they had gum like that!

Needless to say, 'Dad' was not happy and she got yet another lecture. We're still not certain that she understands that shoplifting is wrong even though she states that she understands. She said that the first time as well! The same punishment was handed down but this time she became angrier than I had ever seen her! She went into her room announcing that we had ruined her life and that we were horrible. Then the fun began. The kicking of walls until my computer monitor shook(her room is next to the office), hitting of walls until her knuckles were red and skinned, screaming, crying,etc. It was so bad that her sister opted to sleep on the sofa instead of being in the room with her that night which was 6 hours after the incident!

7am the next morning she was as bad as she was the night before. I felt awful about going to work and leaving my husband with all this meylay. He stated that after about 5 hours she was all screamed out. Maybe it was what she needed. But it sure got scary.

Now you would never believe that anything had happened. She agreed to put gum on the list when she had none and we've reminded her every day that stealing gum is bad. And regardless if Gary likes it or not she is going back on the GFCF diet! It seemed to calm her down immensely no matter how expensive it is! I don't want to experience this again anytime soon!

2008-03-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

Spring Translates Into Activity

2008-02-29T10:06:00.000-08:00

Has it really been that long? Apparently. Life and school have definitely been taking a front seat to writing or blogging these days. Hmm, where to begin...

Well we finally got our 'water issue' taken care of. Since we moved into our house a year ago last January, we have had a small lake in our itsy bitsy cellar. So much water that it was averaging about 3 ft every 24 hours. Our sump pump was running daily. Winter was especially a bad time because we always had to relay the hose[connecting to said pump] from the cellar and out the only entrance to under the house to up the cellar steps and out the back door! The hose would freeze if we left it in the 'warm weather' and much more convenient position. Also, because of the leak and the outrageous water bill, we were forced to go out to the street to turn off the water manually when it wasn't being used. This was a major pain when attempting to take showers and wash clothes I can tell you!

We had initially found a plumber by the name of Danny Hale. I mention his name only to prevent anyone that is local to our area and that reads this from using him. He had done the work for my SIL's shop and had promised, if hubby, dug the ditches for both the SIL's shop and for our house, that he would come and fix the problem the following weekend. That was 3 months ago! Gary kept calling with promises of calling back or being here the very next day. Niether happened. Even SIL began calling him about his promise to us. He had his cell phone number changed.

This is what gives plumbers a bad name!

A few weeks ago, after ranting to a fellow co-worker about our problme and knowing that we wouldn't have the $1200 to have our problem fixed, another co-worker announced that her husband was a plumber and volunteered his services..for free.(Don't you know he was thrilled..LOL). But he kept 'her' word and arrived last week, spent about 6 hours and discovered that all 3 of our outdoor spigots were leaking. The turn off valve(one of two which were right next to each other) were behind the shrubs just next my daughter's window which was causing a great deal of moisture thus seeping into the house and causing problems in thier bedroom as well.

Gary and I are still a bit paranoid and still check the cellar daily. But no water so we're planning a summer project of re-painting the girl's room now that we won't be battling water. Of course, it also means no free watering. We have to haul water outside for the various plants that cover my yard. Oh well, a sacrifice well made.

I'm also in the throes of soap and jewelry making for a new Ebay store. A friend of mine and I started making homemade and natural soap and candles plus my beaded jewelry. Definitely a time consuming occupation.

The girls are also being taught the art of soapmaking and help out with the jewelry. Amidst of that is their schoolwork and I'm afraid they are both developing spring fever. More whines and grumbles about school than in the colder months. Plus, Aly is seriously involved in karate class with softball season soon to follow. Jessica gets left out because of small town atheltics. They don't want her to play because of her autism and fear of her getting hurt. We have attempted to get her involved with everything from dance to gymnastics to softball with results from polite 'I don't think so' to downright rudenss. No wonder autistic kids have a tendency to put on weight if everyone is so afraid that we'll sue if she gets a scraped knee. Our homeschool group is a great help and I try to make time to get her involved with other activities. Unfortunately they are not very active such as soap making, knitting, etc. She refuses to learn how to swim and has no interest in biking. The only activity that we know that she would like would be Special Olympics and the closest town is over 30 miles away. That would also include transporting her several days a week. We have neither the money nor the time.

This is also a time of the year when Dad is less present. Gary works for a digitizing business that specializes in sports teams uniforms. By mid March until August, he will be busy, busy, busy. We were planning on going to see my brother in West Texas and collect my late mother's dining table and hutch but now we're not sure.

So as spring is upon us, our lives makes changes and take turns on another winding road. Hope yours is doing the same.

2007-12-05T11:24:00.000-08:00

Today we were reading the story of Moses as part of our religion class..again. Poor Aly has such a problem with memory that we have to go over and over certain lessons. I finally found my old Children's Bible that was published back in 1962. I recieved it as a 10th birthday present and kept it all these years because of the wonderful pictures.

It's a good thing that I did because it definitely helped both girls associate with the story. They could remember the story of Hannukah from last week[mainly because of the books with wonderful artwork that I found] but Moses simply visited their brains and left as quickly. So the animated version of the 10 Commandments is back on the Netflix list!

Of course studying Ramadan is going to be interesting. Since our little library has nothing, and I do mean nothing, on the subject, then I will have to rely on the internet. And it just doesn't work the same.

Gary and I have been talking about my putting in to have Sundays off from work. While I would absolutely love that, I just don't know if it's feasible. I went to work at WalMart several months ago because Gary decided to join the family business at a major cut in pay.

It's wonderful to see him happy when he leaves for work but we struggle so these days. My pittance seems to get us over the hump especially at the first of the month. I feel guilty because I'm not at home at night or on weekends but it is a sacrifice that I'm willing to make if it means that I can still homeschool the girls and afford my eyesore of a house that we have come to love. Regardless that it's drafty,have a cellar filled daily by the underground spring that pours into it, the ongoing battle with roaches because of said spring and that it needs new cabinets, flooring, and paint.

My job doesn't allow us to afford certain luxuries such as eating out or new clothes. Those are luxuries with a capital 'L'. It's the 'how far can we stretch the gas and phone bills before they get nasty about how late we are' kind of topics that we ask each other on a regular basis.

We pray a lot but still the 'pay now or else' list seems to get longer than the 'pay on the due date' list. And now Christmas is upon us. The girls don't ask for much and the family picks up a lot of the slack since they are the only grandchildren/nieces on both sides. But it's the cards, giving to local churches' food banks, and the costs of special holiday meals and do we spend the money to go visit my brother or miss out seeing him for yet another year. The list can get pretty long.

Alyssa asked what I really wanted for Christmas when I replied that just having our family together was enough. I thought long and hard and stated that it would be nice to get my antiquated sewing machine fixed. She then went into her room and both Jess and Aly came out with exactly $37.14 in change. All nickels, dime and pennies and told me that was all they had.

OK, the water works turned on in full force.

To think that they were willing to give up all of that when they would usually be espousing about how they wanted a certain game or book or movie. It was too much for me to take. It made me think of not too long ago when I had to go and live with my mother in West Texas because we couldn't afford our rent while Gary stayed at his mothers and drove back and forth to Boeing.

Government 'says' that they are fighting for the nuclear family but all they really seem to be fighting for is keeping their pockets lined with those million dollar retirement deals. Everything sky rockets while we get 25 cent raises. I wonder how families with children in public schools even make it. I know I couldnt afford to pay for what the school demands in supplies and then have to re-buy everything five months later!

Although I would love to stay at home with my girls, I don't have that luxury. In fact, I have the total of four other money-making ventures just to be able to pay the bills AND homeschool my girls. I often think of how my grandparents did the same thing back in the 20's through the 60's. I don't remember a time that both grandmothers did not work and my maternal grandmother didn't have a public school to rely on either!

I feel as if we are going backwards than forwards. History is repeating itself and we just aren't taking notice.

Slowly But Surely

2007-12-04T12:38:00.000-08:00

Everyone I speak with has already gotten their lights up and the tree decorated and a good portion of the shopping completed! Lord..grace me with the patience to deal with the super Christmas moms or the foresight to be one of them!

The only reason that my tree is up and decorated is that my 12 year old got tired on waiting on me. We still have a dining room filled with green and red plastic totes reaming with decorations. And I'm positive that the girls will be sorely disappointed when they realize that there will be no lights on the outside. We now live in a 2-story house with no tall ladder. Ah the pains of a working and homeschoolling mother and a father too tired to care. Too many mundane things to do and too little time to devote to Christmas.

But slowly I am getting the holiday decor out. Thier gifts are made or bought which consist of full-length aprons, homemade lap desks, and a few items for their stockings. They get one large item each from us which will consist of a bike and a ping pong table but that will have to wait until my next payday.

Wal-Mart is not big on giving back to their employees this time of year. In fact, to warrant the Christmas bonus you must be an employee for 5 years. But we did all recieve a 10% discount(besides our discount cards) that we may use on only one item.

I think I would rather have that free turkey or ham from days of past.

Not that I'm ungrateful. After one of my managers announced that none of the 20+ seasonal employees will be hired permanently, I am quite grateful. My town is one that is not filled with jobs. I am grateful that we have been graced with what we have. But again, that doesn't leave a lot of time for the commericialism that 'honors' Jesus' birth.

My 14 year old, who has Asperger's Syndrome and never asks questions that loom with ponderings of life and philosophy, asked a rather interesting question. As I was plowing through making chore lists, bills and the next day's school schedule, Jessica asked why Christmas was called Jesus' birthday. She informed me that what she had read he was born in the fall when it was still warm. But her aunt always said that it was Jesus' birthday.

That will make you put down your pencil and in a hurry.

Welll........

After a long three hour conversation(which definitely made me call work to tell them that I would be a tad late), we discussed the facts of the bible and Emperor Constantine wanting to celebrate Christ's birthday, how we 'honor' him on Christmas and how it helped ancient Pagans accept the 'new' religion with it being right on top of their old holiday, Yule. We also talked about how much easier it was for little children to understand Jesus and Christmas by telling them that it was Jesus' birthday and nobody really knew exactly 'when' he was born....A looonnggg conversation especially with a teenager that doesn't really understand philosophies but dwells on facts and a tween that I have to repeat everything for.

After I was spent and ready to call back in and say that I wasn't coming at all, Jess justs says, 'Oh O.K.' and she and her sister trot back to their room to play video games.

Yikes, there are days I wonder if we all sat down and had to recite the whys and wherefores of the holidays, would we feel the same about them? Would we make them simplier? Buy more expensive gifts? Or just chunk it all and sit with our children more often and remember these days of our past. Or even the days when we won't have them at all?

Think about it.

You Win Some; You Lose Some

2007-11-28T20:18:00.000-08:00

Today has been long and very difficult.

This morning we recieved a call from my SIL who informed us that Gary's brother who had just visited us for a week, had a very serious heart attack. My husband, his sister, her husband and my MIL headed out to Baylor for the day and night. My BIL's prognosis isn't good since the stents in both of his legs were failing as well and putting more pressure thus making his heart to beat quicker.

A lot of prayers and candles were lit here today.

And it may have been because of what is happening to our dear family member that set the tone for the girls. I let them sleep late but the day was long and full of tantrums and general negativity.

Although Alyssa did wonderfully about getting the work done, she was a bundles of whines and refusing to do what she was told. Jessica did not have one positive moment all day long. Refused to concentrate on her work and, in fact, spent over 4 hours doing one 29-question math lesson. But then Autistic kids do have a tendency to daydream and it has always been difficult to keep her on task. Today was just worse.

Then Jessica screamed, cried, pouted, refused to do her daily chores and finally just melted into a major flareup.

When we had to finally leave at 5 to feed my MIL's dogs and cat, she blew like a volcano announcing that she hated me and to 'get lost' and various other things. Now this might be a major facto in a NT homeschooling household but not here. Aspies, in fact most verbal Autistic kids, are known to wear their heart on their sleeves and say what they are feeling that moment. Jessica has never been one to hold back.

So we sat down at Grandma's kitchen table and had a long talk about what had happened that day and why and how we could make it better. New rules have been implemented(that Dad doesn't know about yet and, yes, he will be following) and though they weren't thrilled, it was definitely better than facing Dad for 'D' Day as we call it.

A new mood evaded us and the house. We sat down as a family and watched a wonderfully inspirational film that listed all our spirits, even Jessica's! I think a lot of my youngest daughter's issues were because of her uncle. She has death issues since she has lost so many that were quite close in the last few years. Jessica, I believe, was just feeding off of the negativity of the house.

So you win some and you lose some. Even though children never understand 'why' they might be angry or whiney or have a bad case of "I don't wanna's", they do seem to absorb tension and dark moods from those around them. Hence another reason why we homeschool year round. As a special needs homeschool, we have more of those than most.

Today will be better...hopefully for us and I pray a lot better for my dear BIL, Wayne.

One Busy Week And A Field Trip To Boot!

2007-11-16T11:02:00.000-08:00

It’s been a busy week here with the onset of winter. Several activities during the past week popped up unexpectantly that have kept the girls busy. And that is always a good thing! ;)
First of all, last Friday after the home school group gathering, I was informed that a local church would have a magician present. Aly loves magic and has several books on the subject so I thought this would a perfect time for the girls and I to spend some time together. I try, because of my work schedule, to find something for the 3 of ‘us girls’ to do together on my night off. And this was a perfect excuse to leave Dad at home.

The event was part of the church’s revival week, which is something, that none of us, not being Baptists, are quite used to. The beginning event was completely geared towards their Sunday school classes and was quite boisterous. When you have 100+ kids screaming at the top of their lungs in a very acoustic building…well the result for two noise sensitive children is not good. I feared that we were going to have to leave before the magic ever started to due the obvious pain that the girls were in. Jess had her ears covered and her head in her lap while Aly had her own ears covered and her eyes were welling up. Aly was also quite scared.

But then the magician, a very charming gentleman, stepped forward and began to perform a few tricks. This elated the girls and they wouldn’t have left for everything. Aly stayed wary through the first part because the magician directed the Sunday school kids to begin singing songs and doing hand signs that they had learned in class. But the magic performance kept them interested to the very end and I even purchased a card trick at the gift stand (which the magician was more than happy to show them how it and another trick worked). All in all it turned out to be a good night.

On Sunday, Gary and the girls went to Six Flags. I had to go to work and my SIL’s company was having their yearly company picnic there. So she wrangled 3 more tickets. At first, Gary didn’t want to go but I reminded him that he hadn’t been spending any time with the girls since I went back to work. He decided this would be a good time (with a little nudging) to be with the girls….even if he had to endure the Sponge Bob ride.

Needless to say I was met at the door at 10 o’clock at night with wonderful stories and a very sore and exhausted husband. ;)

Our school day on Monday was thwarted by numerous business calls. A gentleman who wanted to buy 30 lbs of pecans for his fruit/veggie stand, the manager of a plant that buys private seller’s pecans and an editor who wanted to discuss edits to my most recent submission kept my morning tied up. In fact, upon e-mailing her new best friend, told her that she didn’t have much school because Mommy talked on the phone all day! Well that wasn’t EXACTLY the case. School was had even if it was short.

Our study of the desert came in order for a trip to the Fort Worth Reptile Center. It was the first time either had ever seen a horny toad! LOL. I remember when the horny toad was a major part of my growing up in New Mexico. I loved to feed them ants and flies. I also loved to follow them as they scuttled across the sandy gravel that made up our backyard. To think that the only time my own children would see one would be in a museum like reptile center is sad and strange at the same time.

NOW my oldest wants to see what a Jackrabbit looks like. It was her desert animal of choice to write a paper on. Our town’s mascot is a jackrabbit and nary one to be found. I think she’s just going to have to do with a picture for that subject.

I’ve always found home schooling amazing in that I learn as much as the girls do. It took a couple of months before fractions came back to me! And I do have one who loves to ask questions. So we’re off today to learn the flora of deserts. Wonder where I’m going to have go to show them THAT as winter closes in and the desert is just too far to drive. Field trip, anyone?

2007-11-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

San Diego Dating

Ignore the link please! LOL

Well at least I know that everyone can read this blog! LOL.

Well today was Park Day with the homeschool group. The day started out foggy and chilly but warmed up quickly. Several members were either sick or involved in other things. But plenty of kids so plenty of laughs and giggles and small fingers hungrily devouring the snacks we brought. We attempted to have a devotional but it evolved into a really wonderful conversation about homeschooling. Some things were said as advice to the newest member but I kept quiet. Nobody else seemed to disagree so I knew my raising my voice in protest would have probably fell on deaf ears.

Besides I believe that everyone is allowed their own opinion. It doesn't make it right or wrong; just different and definitely a no-win situation when it comes to debating it.

But good points were made about not feeling guilty when you have to do errands or clean house or anything else that might take away from school. I don't ever feel guilty because we homeschool year round so they get more educational training than most public school kids.

But I do know there are a lot of mothers who are saddled with angst and guilt over their kids. Maybe it's because they haven't hs'd as long as I have or maybe they are still having 2nd thoughts about hs vs. ps. Who knows. That's a question for each individaul to answer.

Overall it was a wonderful trip and Aly got to spend a great deal of time with her 'new best' friend, Ashlyn. She now wants to sign up for karate in Ashlyn's class. So it's time for me to do some checking out. It's wonderful for her to find someone that she has so much in common with and what she wears, what she has, what her house looks like and how much her parents have doesn't play into it. I think that's another ps issue. All of the kids that have come and gone from her life have all been in ps. And they have all have these money-means-stature=whether-or-not-I'll-be-your-friend issues. So a really nice kid with great values is a breath of fresh air.

Back to the books!

2007-11-07T12:31:00.001-08:00

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Non-Reader
Fad Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Homeschooling Styles

2007-11-07T12:09:00.001-08:00

Tuesday is Library Day here. The girls make certain that they get at least two of their subjects done before lunchtime so we can go. I have just recovered from 6 days of fighting the flu so I wasn't feeling much up to the challenge. But, as Jess tells me, it's Library Day!

So we went while the girls poured over books and movies. I sat in a chair hoping to regain some of my strength! They would both come to me for approval on what they were getting. Sometimes they bring books and movies that look good on the cover but I know that they are not 'appropriate' or suited to that certain child. Aly does have a tendency to pick up books that I know she'll never read or movies that is definitely an adult-esque film masqueraded by juvenile cover art. I think that is how they get lazy parents to buy inappropriate movies for their underaged children.

But anyway....a woman whom I had seen in the library the week before approached me. She had spoken to me before about homeschooling. She came to me to tell me that she had taken her son from ps and was homeschooling him. Then she gave me details. All I could was smile and wish her luck.

Deep down I was screaming. She was homeschooling him as if he were still in public school! So WHY did we take him out in the first place? I've homeschooled well over 10 years(won't tell you the exact number for I don't want to show off my age)and I have seen the mistakes of the newcomers. The woman didn't ask me for advice or comments on her new 'school' so I felt it wasn't my place to tell her anything. I just pray she sees what she is doing or what she is not doing.

Although I don't agree with a lot of parent's homeschooling styles, I don't say much. Maybe a strident educational environment works for them. Maybe packaged curriculum is exactly what their student likes. Mine, however, are not that way. I homeschool two special needs girls; Aly just has Inattentive ADD issues but Jess has Asperge's Syndrome. This is a high functioning autism for those who don't know and it's a trip to teach a child. I sympathesize and understand why schools cannot, in their mass education style, handle a child like my baby. There are days when I can't handle her either! LOL.

We homeschool all year because taking a week for Christmas or Easter is just not do-able. Taking the weekend off causes major emotional breakdowns for Jess. I was sick for a week and Aly was literally tearing her hair out in boredom while Jess loved it! So this week has been a Monday, everyday! Once that routine is broken, it's a difficult road back.

We have no desks. We don't even have a dining room table at the moment.(NOTE: Still at my mother's in West Texas and with our work schedules and my brother's work schedule and no truck to retrieve it in...well you get the picture). So schoolwork is done where they want to be at that moment in time. Aly likes to lie on the living room floor and Jess likes to do hers in her lap as she spreads out with the dog across her legs! Only when we study religion or do handwriting do they sit in individual chairs with TV tray tables as desks.

They do work together and separate. Their grade levels are so different from one another that it's not feasible to make Aly keep up with Jess or vice versa. But they do meet up with certain subjects. And we always save art and music for Fridays after the Park.

While Aly can speed through her work, Jess can take 45 minutes to write 5 lines. Her Saxon math assignments are always 25 questions which will take her almost 2 1/2 hours. It's not that she can't but time has never been an issue for her. It's like that scene in 'Crocodile Dundee' when he is about to set out into the outback with the female reporter and has to ask when a certain day is. His business partner remarks,"Doesn't know, doesn't care". That would be my Jess. Time has never been an issue unless it's dinner or when 'High School Musical' will be on that night. Although it's aggravating; it is also wonderful and I wish I could do that.

Aly is a different story. She forgets easily so her work is more visual than spoken. Lots of projects! PS stole away her love of reading for a time with their 'dumbing down' pamphlets and short story hand outs. But it has returned. And again we make it visual so she can actually imagine what the story is. Of course her new friend who loves to read is a great inspiration for her as well. Everyone needs someone to share and inspire and Aly has certainly found hers! She swears she hates math but excels at it. I think it's just the work of it that she hates. Always so busy and doesn't have time for those things that might slow her down.

Unschooling has never been an option here but they are given choices of what they want to study...to a point. I have a massive amount of research books for my own writing and books for theirs. The local library isn't exactly the best in books they need for their studies so I end up searching online and off. And then exchanging those that have been used for their purpose through BookMooch.

We would never use boxed curriculum because that would be wasted money. I do use a curriculum called Old Fashoned Education that uses free public domain works that I print through Gutenberg Press. Some date back to the 1800's. But you know history hasn't changed since then and spelling/grammar certainly hasn't! They also use the CM method that I have come to love working with. I was even able to get her entire 6 volume set on homeschooling via Gutenberg which was half the price of buying the books!

So as I look back I am certain that my hs style would not match the criteria of anyone else's. But then most hsing parents that I know of don't have to deal with the joys that I go through either! I have even decided to write an inspirational homeschool book about homeschooling my autistic daughter(thank you Tina!)Of course it helps that I used to be a teacher and use some of that to help out the girls. And who said I never used the degrees that I have? :)

I imagine the woman at the library will finally get around to asking those questions in time. It takes time to learn your way. You have to hit those loose stones first before righting yourself and look for that helping hand even though pride tells you something else. She did ask for my email address yesterday.

So what works for you?

The Will...A Terrible Thing To...Deal With!

2007-11-05T14:22:00.000-08:00

I love Charlotte Mason, I really do. But...apparently she had never been confronted with Autistic teenagers in her many years of teaching!

I'm referring, of course, to her teachings on 'The Will' or willpower vs discipline. Training up The Will was pretty simple with Aly but attempting this with Jess..well it's a brand new ballgame. She has Asperger's which means she is not logical or analytical by any stretch of the imagination.

And we are not big believers in spanking or corporal punishment of any kind but there are those days..jeesh. We even started our day with our bible lesson being on the subject of anger. I thought she got it but as the day wore on it was obvious that teenaged angst won out over lessons and consequences of actions.

It's difficult with Jess. Autistic kids have a hard row of it around this age. Most NT kids have issues with mood swings, angst, anger and riding the fence between childhood and adulthood. It's even worse for teenaged Autistic kids who live with emotions "on their sleeve" so to speak. When they feel something emotionally, they really feel it and it emotes on whomever happens to be in their path. I get it the worse because I'm the one who is responsible for teaching her how to attempt to reign it in and I'm the one who hands down those consequences. It took Dad a long time to understand that he couldn't give her loud commands, yell or threaten her. It always made it worse.

Instead it is I who have to keep control on my feelings by talking calmly and quietly as she rages. And I'm the one who has to hand out punishments hence the reason that I get the scowling looks, the clenched fists and the storming around the house.

So today she has raged...1)over having to do dishes and 2) the fact that I wouldn't give her the answers in math. So she lost her afternoon snack AND her favorite books(she reads 2 at a time)! It hasn't been fun today.

So Charlotte, as much as I love your teaching styles, I really don't think it's working. And after 10 years of homeschooling this one I think I have enough on-the-job experience to know! I just pray God intervenes where Charlotte hasn't been able to help!

Onto Bigger And Better Things......

2007-11-02T15:11:00.000-07:00

Well Halloween has come and gone and so has our theme unit on the subject! Our small Texas town thought it would be better for the public school to trick-or-treat on the previous Saturday. We, being traditionalists, held out for Wednesday.

This meant, of course, traveling to another town for Halloween festivities. We drove about an hour away to the city of Denton. They were holding thier 150th city anny so they threw a big celebration at the courthouse sqaure...or should I say 4 celebrations. There was a treasure hunt, masquerade ball, a haunted house and the trick or treating/carnival games. It had a lot of corporate sponsers and most everything was free. The girls had a wonderful time.

Some woman was making balloon animals and Jess requested a flower while Aly wanted a puppy(of course) and the Girl Scout table had them hammering out their own keychains. I think the best thing was the fact it was across the street from our favorite bookstore, Recycled Books, which was open! I think we spent a longer period of time in there than at the festivities. But minimal candy was had(jaw breakers were handed over to Dad to pass out at work), books and movies were purchased and a long-awaited "adventure"(as Jess likes to call our outings) had very excited girls chatting happily all the way home in the van!

So now I'm researching what we shall study this month while I nurse the remnants of a cold that appeared on All Hallow's Eve. Aly has taken upon herself to be my nurse maid by bringing me OJ, hot green tea, the mail and keeping me company while we watch The Transformers, Meet The Robinsons, Ferngully and numerous other Disney-esque movies that she just 'knows' I'll love. (Now if I can only get her not to give me blow-by-blow descriptions of everything). Of course her reading to me is an adventure. If she runs across a word that she doesn't know or something that she wants me to explain, my nurse maid has no problem waking me from my drug-induced slumber to ask.

That's my girl...always asking questions.

WARNING: Not The Yuletide Movie You Expect For The Kiddies!

2007-10-29T14:52:00.000-07:00

A friend sent me an e-mail about this supposedly children's movie coming out around Christmas. Then another, and another. And now I have a total of 5 e-mails about the same film, The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman.

So it made me curious to do a little research seeing that is what I do. The film's website painted it as another Narnia but after several hours of researching and remembering of reading this trilogy, I learned it was far from what Hollywood is painting.

And you should be warned.

The Golden Compass is a book in a trilogy about killing God. Cheery huh? Sounds exactly the type of film I want my young influential minds to see. The author, Phil Pullman, is an atheist and has more than just a few books directed at children dictated his hatred for God. I remember reading the books of this trilogy called His Dark Materials and it's a lot worse than what this film portrays including castration and female circumcision!

There are plenty of paperback books and even an XBox game to follow just in time for the holidays!

It doesn't matter if you're Christian, Jewish, Pagan, Muslim or anything else that believes in a divine power. These books are the worse kind of literature(and I use that word lightly) to hit the children's bookshelves. I often told those who were against the Harry Potter series that there was a lot worse out there than HP. And here my opinion has been solidified in fact.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp

This is the link to snopes that explores the film in more detail if you care to do your own research. But be warned, this is not for the children of your house. Even the author has stated that all of his books are about killing God!

Not exactly the light holiday fare that most parents are looking for. So be cautious this December and you want to take in a movie or two before letting Junior spend an afternoon at the cinema!

All Hallow's Eve Or Whatever You Call It

2007-10-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

The weather here in Texas has changed abruptly. Too abruptly for my taste and the girls. One day it's 80 and then the next day it's 40! The traditional changing of the closets took over the morning homeschool for a day. We had to remove what was left of the tomatoes that had not turned to their rosy color. The transfer of summer clothes and the winter clothes is an event that takes several hours.

And of course, the girls felt that if they were going to have to haul down totes to exchange clothes then we might as well bring down the totes filled with Halloween decorations and costumes. Definitely a child's thought process at work.

We also decided to devote our social studies class for the month to studying about the true history of All Hallow's Eve and Halloween. It has become the girl's favortie subject and one of the more difficult ones. We don't just use library books, which are pretty useless and give false information. Well our library is pretty useless but that's for another time....

The girls have had to pick a subject and research it on the internet and write an outline on it. Both hate to write,and yes, they are the blood daughters of a professional writer! So we write minimal papers and create a great deal of visual projects such as the Irish version of Jack O Laterns, making antiquated versions of recipes that were made in the 1500's for All Hallow's Day and studying the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and the period's similarities and differences to our own. They even made a comic book about the witch trials.

We have an ancestor who was one of the last women to be killed because of these trials so they also do internet research and write individual papers of the people who were killed out of fear in 1692.

Both hubby and I feel that you can't move on in life unless you learn from the past, whether it's something uncomfortable or extrememly personal. That is why we spend the month of October relating what is the truth and what has been stretched from folklore. You can't be a forgiving, patient person if you think bad thoughts about others that you don't know.

The in-laws don't like this technique but my own parents did this for me and I feel a 'need' to let my children know what is beyond their front door, their town and even their country. It's far different than it was in the 60's when our only fear were Russians and Cubans. To be ignorant of other people's beliefs is what got our foreign policy in the mess it is today.

You have to walk in another man's shoes......

Autumn and the Business of Pecans

2007-10-12T14:40:00.001-07:00

Well it's about time for some cooler weather! Living in a 60-year-old house that does not allow for central air conditioning to be installed makes one yearn for cooler days.

October has always been this family's favorite season. The coolness, the changing of the leaves and not to mention Halloween for the kids. And the money..yes money.

We have 8 pecan trees, one paper shell and the others native that give off an abundance of nuts. The girls have had a lesson in marketing and business due to our trees. We have to go out each morning to collect the small orbs, crack them, package them, advertise and sell them. We have sold over 30 pounds and are still going strong.

The girls and I drove to the local fruit stands and to groceries to find out how much the competition was selling their nuts for. And we learned a lesson in beating the competitor. Ours sell for $5 a lb shelled and $4 unshelled($3 unshelled for the natives since they are so much smaller). Most kids have lemon ade stands. We have pecans.

I think the one lesson that no child likes when it comes to selling home grown crops(me included) is the gathering. The sore legs and back and then the 'nut stains' is not the most enjoyable part of our business venture. However....the girls get a quarter of the profit so it makes up for it all!

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Random News

Things are beginning to turn around in our household. Since I got my PT night shift job at Walmart, the stress has been reduced and my muse has returned. I haven't really written anything since March but now the creative juices are flowing. I sold a short story a month or two ago for $300, working on a fantasy short story for 'Realms of Fantasy' and have a fantasy-romance manuscript half-way completed for Harlequin.

Plus, my SIL finally realized what a gem she had in my husband. Since he went to work for her(and I use that term loosely), she has played games with him being her only full time employee. One week it would be $500 then next only a $100. He had enough so he got a night job working at the same WalMart but back in receiving.

Apparently that stirred something in her to offer him a full time position and a standard salary to boot! And on paper! She can't offer him insurance(and Walmart's is waaayy too expensive for the four of us) and we'll have to pay our own taxes at the end of the year(which I have to anyway due to my writing). But it's a start. Even the girls notice a difference.

Today was also an eventful day because we actually met some rather nice local homeschoolers. I was beginning to think that either there weren't any here or they were all so anti-social that they must burrow beneath the ground during the day like some kind of nocturnal beast.

But the mothers were all grand and the girls even made a friend. This is something Aly is scared to death of...meeting other peers. She's been hurt so much by children her own age because she's just not a mature as they are. Or should I say she is not as rude, crass and attempting to act as if she is 21 like the neighborhood public-school children that surround us. Is it just me or is there truly something in that PS water fountain that makes perfectly normal kids into brats?

And believe me, I get a good taste of them working at WallyWorld. It's really sad that parents either have to push these kids into adulthood before their poor lil' bodies are ready or they don't think their precious ones should answer to anyone or anything. A 5-year-old threw a single penny(at work) at such a velocity that it not only hit me in the forehead but it left me with a mark and a splitting headache for 4 hours.

And what did the parents say? "Now honey you don't get your penny back for hitting that nice lady". That was it. No apology. No reprimand of the child. Instead they bought him, at 10 pm, a large bag of M&Ms. That's it, let's make him even more hyper by giving him chocolate late at night.

My mantra has become, "another good reason for homeschooling'.

Homeschooling and the Part-Time Job

2007-09-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

I do wonder how parents, especially single mothers, are able to work AND homeschool. Now I know. As the husband and I struggle with finances, I took a part time job at Wally World. G is waiting to go through an onslaught of tests for TSA. TSA is the Homeland Security division where airport screeners and security are hired. Great pay, wonderful benefits but patience is always required. He finally quit a cabinetry job that was literally killing him. So I am now juggling a part-time night job and homeschooling during the day. And did I mention that G is attempting to quit smoking during this time?

Yea, not pretty.

Since I arrive home from work around 11:30, I now don't wake up at the crack of dawn. Instead school has been pushed back to 10am so I can get some rest and the girls complete all chores that they would normally do in the afternoon. Then our school day doesn't end until about 5 or 3, depending on when I have to begin getting ready(Dad takes over the 'easy' stuff sans math, science and reading when I leave). :)

Even when I am off during the week, I still have gotten into the habit of sleeping until 8:30-9:00. I think this new schedule suits my Asperger daughter since she likes to stay up past midnight reading(thanks to the movie, 'Matilda') and likes to sleep late even more. My 12 yo, A, doesn't like it because it cuts into her play time with nieghborhood friends. So we have cut a deal that she doesn't have to do all of her schoolwork on weekdays but will finish up on Saturday mornings. Dad and I even had her sign a contract when, down the road, she decides that she doesn't like her Saturdays taken up with school. And we know it will come to that eventually.

Yesterday, she was none too happy. She nodded off in her religion class due to her allergies and I told her to go to bed. She slept until 1 and then she had lunch only to be faced with several hours of school work which meant no playtime with friends.

I am in the process of editing a romance manuscript that was supposed to be sent out to Harlequin. But I'm so exhausted between homeschooling, working and stressing out over finances that I've just put that on hiatus. Maybe when my body gets accustomed to its new schedule, I can get back into the swing of things. After arriving home and when everyone else is in bed is when I fire up the computer and I don't turn it off until 2am when my energy wans into exhaustion and I'm ready to sleep.

I don't know how single homeschooling mothers with full time jobs do it. And I don't think I want to find out. I'm praying that G will get the position at TSA so I can go back to just writing and homeschooling. G's shift will change every few months and we both know that it will most likely collide with my own. Then there is finding someone to be with the girls because I am not leaving them home alone in this time and day. And we both also realize that the in-laws will be no help. They have always had plenty of critiques about how we raise our daughers but has put on airs that they are an albatross around their necks and invade their precious time of doing nothing.

We don't get upset like we did when they were young and attempt to change the situation. We just accept things that we can't change and know that the girls will grow up knowing what thier relatives are like without any help from us. Sad but true.

So time to make my children's lives unbearable.....history of the 1500's beckons.

3-Day Holidays

2007-09-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

I really do hate them. I usually don't allow the girls to have these 3 day holidays especially J. J has Asperger's Syndrome and it takes her off of the 'flow' of her routine. When she was younger we couldn't even let her have weekends off! Now, at 14, she can handle having the weekend off and getting back into the school schedule as long as I remind her several times before she goes to bed what the next day will hold. She'll moan and whine but by morning J begrudgingly gets back to work.

But I let them have yesterday off and am now paying the price. Dad was off work and school never seems to do well when he is at home. It's almost as if it is an excuse to goof off. Now I'm paying the price.

A dear friend stopped by to return one of my Christopher Moore books so I gave them some free time. Now I'm sloooowwwwllly working them back into those three R's. We even made our weekly trip to the local library and came back with lots of books on the Civil War(our required reading is 'Little Women') which didn't help J at all. She knew EXACTLY what that was about no matter if one of them was a Magic Tree House book.

After all the years that I've been homeschooling I have definitely learned one thing. Pick your battles. There are just days when you give up and start over tomorrow. But because of the classes it throws us off for the entire week.

Arg. I hate 3 day holidays.

A Good Old Fashioned Education

2007-09-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

That is what A tells me anyway. After spending hours of printing off E-books from GutenbergProject via the Old Fashioned Education curriculum, that is what my 12 year old wonderchild informed me. I had to laugh.

There are times she is a 12 year old that is housing the soul of a 60 year old. Even the kids in her SpiralScouts group tease her about being more of a grownup than a child.

But the ebooks that were originally published before the 1930's are actually a fresh change from the more modern curriculum. I was shocked by what I downloaded because my own grandmother, who was a teacher in the 1920's, used the exact curriculum(except that they were in hardbook form) when she taught in Pecos, Texas.

Actually the grammar,spelling,math and reading books are easier to comprehend. Some of the ebooks I decided to avoid simply because the history and science from the 1920's are, well, a tad out-of-date for middle school students. The good thing about this curriculum is that you can opt out of anything. Since we don't follow a fundamentalist Christian dogma...face it, we don't even follow a Christian dogma..we opted out about 1/4 of the curriculum. And then there's the Spanish, Irish, music, etiquette,home ec, art history and herbology.

Yea, unschooling is really not in our agenda. Most think I teach too much but if I don't keep a strict schedule then the trouble begins. Having a kid that has Asperger's and the other with ADD, keeping them busy 24/7 is the only way to go! And to think all of A's and J's friends think homeschooling would be boring...

What Happened With Walmart?

2007-09-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

So, Walmart happily encouraged the parents of America to buy their school supplies with them because they understood. They knew how difficult the high price of gas made it on Moms and Dads to drive everywhere looking for the best price on school supplies. They understood how upset the public school buying public at spending $100 minimum per child on pens, paper and folders.

So what happened?

Walmart attempted to become upscale much like what Target was doing. Several stores attempted this which was for naught and literally blew up in Wally World's face. Their profits dropped like a brick in a water pail. In fact, none of Texas' Walmarts hired seasonal help in 2006 because of this. But what better time to make up those greenbacks than during a time when parents are forced to buy hundreds of dollars worth of supplies and nary a layaway program to be seen.(Walmart did away with most of their layaways at the same time they decided to carry more high scale inventory).

But alas those cheaper prices weren't so cheap. They simply changed the way of packaging the merchandise. You can't just buy a pack of 10 pencils but you must buy a pack of 50 pencils. Yea...let them charge .10 for that. Then, when most schools weren't handing out supply lists until the first day of school, ended their 'we know how you feel' campaign. Afterall they have had their supplies out since last May(although their campaign only started mid-July) and it is the beginning of September, afterall. We have to get ready for Halloween and Christmas!!

Again, another notch in the belt of pro-homeschooling. I purchased 2 folders(priced at $2.38 each because one had a puppy on it and the other had a picture of the 'High School Musical' cast)and 2 packages of pencils.

Luckily, I use 'Old Fashioned Homeschooling' via the internet in which I print everything through public domain sites. Therefore my black ink cartridge bill can be a tad higher than most. I can assure that DO NOT buy them from Walmart.

The 'we're-looking-out-for-the-working-man' attitudes of big business makes me grateful for two things:
1. I've homeschooled for over 20 years and therefore do not fall victim to this type of commercialism.
2. I'm a nice Pagan lady who doesn't buy into the commercialism of the winter holidays.

FEAR

2007-08-31T11:38:00.000-07:00

A message board that I find myself quite addicted(www.denimjumper.com) to had a question that I felt was a valid subject. And this is what I had to say....

Of course we homeschool out of fear. Some have different types of fear and different degrees. They might even call their fear by another name such as 'bad experience',lack of patience, indifference, apathy, agression and/or violence bestowed on that child hence creating apprehension that the school won't do anything while the child/ren gets pummeled on the schoolyard, etc, etc.

But there are other emotions that play a stronger part when we as parents have had enough and run to the other side of the street with our offspring. Shock that the little red schoolhouse from our childhood fantasies doesn't exist for our own children. Digust that the school administration keeps dropping that proverbial ball no matter how many meetings you have. And finally, anger that the school districts everywhere, regardless where you live, are a business. And that business is about the many and the easily led lambs to slaughter rather than the individual. Anger because only a handful seem to care beyond their 8-5 work day and that paycheck. And that handful is usually overworked teachers that can't do a thing to change the system.

Then fear really takes over when you take that first step off into the abyss of home education. The fear of being alone, the fear of 'am I doing the right thing?', and definitely the fear of screwing up your child's future that it is irrepairable.

For some of us now, after time passes, do this out of love or enjoyment. But our emotions, and possibly that emotion was fear once upon a time, are what steered us away from that cliff as the others jumped off like lemmings. Sometimes fear can be a positive motive. After a while that feeling of fear subsides and becomes enjoyment, exhaustion and finally pride because you know that you did the right thing.

...Anyone who says, "No way! I wasn't pushed into this direction out of fear of what was happening and would happen to my kids!" is lieing. Of course we are directed by fear. As parents we live on it, eat, breathe and have nightmares about fear and our kids. I don't know many parents who don't have at least 1/4 of their thoughts being fear of the future for their children. And if you have special needs children, it is definitely doubled.

Things change as you get older and have spent some time (meaning several years in time) teaching your children before the fear subsides into calm or enjoyment or, as one parent stated, fun at what you are doing. Of course that 'fun' usually occurs when the children are quite young and you as a parent aren't having to re-teach yourself Algebra, Chemistry,Calculus, World History, Biology, etc. I must admit I have learned more in teaching my middle school and high school aged children that I knew when I was that age and in school. But fun? That is not exactly the word that I would use.

Fear stirs a great many emotions. It can become that long row of dominoes sitting on a table. One falls into the next becoming something else. Just like fear becomes apprehension, apprehension becomes doubt, doubt becomes exhiliration at your child's first homeschool test(and aceing it) and that becomes a bit more calm which results in actually enjoying creating new things to help them learn which initially becomes pride. Of course there are always those fall back and punt periods where you rack your brain, cry on your friends and family's shoulders because Junior just isn't getting it. But as you cross the cragged rock you will see the green valley on the other side.

You fear that you are not doing it right or should you have taken him/her out of school because they're missing all that (shudder) socializing and teams sports. You fear about what will happen to your child/ren when it comes to graduating high school and what about college. Can you get a scholarship if you are home educated?

Yes, fear guides home schooling. For better or for worse. And unless you can't even spell your name or count to 100, it will definitely be for the better.

A Day of Reading and Avoiding Game Sites

2007-07-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

I am attempting to get Aly in the mood for home schooling once again by slowly introducing her to our school. It's been four years so it'll be a rough adjustment. Baby steps is always good. She has been doing about two subjects a day but today was full fledged school.

I got the always-sleeping-until-10 girls up at 6am. We went for a nature walk with an hour spent drawing in their notebooks which became a discussion concerning realism in art. Then followed by grammar, math and both reading from 'Little Women'. Aly is studying spanish so she finished writing the words that she has been having problems with. Apparently the public school has been letting her get away with writing in print rather than cursive. While I don't see harm in that, I do see harm in doing that continually and what I feared happened. Aly has forgotten how to write in cursive. And she has such pretty cursive too! So she has to write all her subjects, especially grammar and spanish in cursive.

Her sister didn't finish until 2. But it takes Jess far longer to finish anyway. She has a tendency to drift off. So I sit her next to me so I can gently prod her by touching her elbow and softly calling her name. It took her only 2 hours to do her 25 math problems..LOL>

It's also difficult to get Aly to like to read again. Before ps, she loved to read. She LOVED school. Now it makes a grenade to get her near one. The problem is that she has poor comprehension skills due to her ADD and thus the schools gave her a load of 'dumbing down'. Booklets and 3rd grade books such as Junie B Jones and even worse. So now, getting her back interested in real books is a chore. We started reading 'Little Women' today in school which she "said" she enjoyed. Sometimes she just says those things because she wants my approval. I still read to her at night and have been slowly introducing her to good books. Right now we are reading "The Martha Years:Little House in the Highlands" which is about Laura Ingalls Wilder's great grandmother in Scotland. Our family is from Scotland so she is slowly getting into it. Once I have her back in form, we'll begin to trade off reading duties. It's definitely a slow process.

I let the girls play computer games for about an hour a day. We never had any problems because the girls know the rules and follow them. So when Aly told me that a boy at Vacation Bible School told her of this 'great' gaming site, I didn't think anything of it. I had met the boy and his mother. Good kid; good family.

But then I walked in to see her playing a game where 2 Eskimos with clubs were chasing a white baby sealand freaked. In the game, she had to 'capture' the seal, they clubbed it and the seal's head was decapitated, blood spurted out and the seal disappeared, thus she got a point. Immediately she started screaming. I was standing behind her with my mouth open not able to move for a few seconds and then she turned and began to cry. Now she played games where a character has to capture another character and they usually disappear. No violent acts and certainly no blood or decapitated heads involved!!

Needless to say, we won't be playing on that game site any longer. And she had the worst nightmares that she has had in a while. The last one being when she was at a girlfriend's and say the last 15 of 'Ghost Ship'. She was in bed with us for 2 nights! I also slept on the sofa last night so she could sleep in bed with one of us and Dad was snoring too loud to now that she was there. She sleeps in bed with her sister but she insists on crawling in with us when something like this happens. Don't ask. Therefore, it was not a fun night for me.

But I did pop off a rather heated letter to this site's company over the need to have warnings for parents and kids to let us know that this is definitely an adult game situation.

What I was not surprised at was the fact Aly didn't want to sit anywhere near the computer today and hasn't played one thing. No bratzgirlz. NO Nick. No Disney. She decided to paint during her free hour of video gaming. I would to, darling.

Pleade Take Up My Precious Time

2007-07-19T16:00:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a lovely woman that is my OFE group. She is also homeschooling an Aspie teenager. May God have mercy upon her soul if hers is anything like mine! But I digress.

We began discussing homeschooling groups and boards and how, a lot of the time, we just listen and never respond. Why? Because parents who has kids who aren' even school age are joining homeschooling groups. Oh they aren't just picking the members brains to see if they would like to homeschool or not. They come to stay and stay.

I have issues with this. I have homeschooled for many, many years and my babies are almost all grown. I have two still at home; one is 12(going on 40) and the other is 14. Honestly, I don't have time in my already hectic schedule to discuss first graders or, worse yet, people who have 6 week old infants or none at all.

Go to Amazon.com and pick a couple of books for cripes sakes. Read. Learn. Read some more. But stop filling groups and boards with mundane gibberish! I think the majority of the parents, mostly mothers, have enough worries on their minds such as curriculum, whether to teach their faith, getting the family on thier side, which materials are the best and the most inexpensive. They don't have time to worry about some young mother who is worrying about a child who won't be ready to be educated for another fours years! I don't have problems with the mothers who go into these groups, pick our brains and then, after learning all they could possibly know, leave. There are plenty of groups for chatting on a number of topics..please don't take up our precious time and the precious space that could be filled with someone who is actually a homeschooling mother of a school-aged child!

All right, I am finished. Class dismissed.

Vacation Time? Not Hardly!

2007-07-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

While many other homeschoolers are half-way through their summer vacation, we have just begun ours. At least for a little while. We don't exactly begin school in August. I know a great many homeschoolers like to keep their schedule with the public schools but we find that a nuisance.

We homeschool year round so why bother? I suppose if you have normally taught children that don't have problems with learning, that would be fine. But not us! If I allowed the girls to take a holiday or summer break I would pay for it ten fold by the time school began again! So now we adjust classwork to maybe 3 hours per day and at the moment I've allowed them to have a week off since I'm in the middle of repairing plumbing!

Not that education stops...not by any means. The education of plumbing began! By the time the week is up they will most likely know the name of each tool, its purpose and why leaks happen!

But next month will bring new changes. We will re-start homeschooling Aly, my 12 yo ADD dd. She so wanted to attend public school so we allowed it as long as she kept an A/B GPA. Unfortunately she was also put back into Resource or Special Education because of her ADD. Oh yes, she kept a high GPA average but what is high when you are in special ed? Yes you guessed it, they gave her lower than her grade level work to do to keep her grades high and make them look good in the process.

So instead of sending her back we attempted to transfer to a better ranked school back in May. They informed us several weeks ago that they did not have the room. Of course they also had to call the Principal of her former school per protocol. Ah there's the rub! But it doesn't matter but her Dad and I decided it was time for her to come home.

The school had her reading 3rd grade level books like Junie B Jones when, at home, she was reading 'The Secret Garden' and 'Little Women'. The school had her at a 5th grade level in math and in grammar. Unfortunately, in grammar, she was missing key elements in 4th grade which the school didn't quite pick up on. They also informed us that 'we' were going to have to get her caught up in 5th grade math before the new school year and we were going to have to bring proof!?

As Gary likes to say, "What do we need you for?"

We don't. This upcoming year we have decided to use a program called OldFashionedEducation where the texts are actually free domain books offered through online sites like Project Gutenberg. From what I have seen of these texts, they are a great deal better than the expensive ones offered today both in schools and via hs sites.

So what do you do when you find one more added to your school when you least expect it? Well when you have lemons, make lemonade. I created a desk in our small office/school room and have already began giving Aly a few sheets a day to get her acclimated to begin at home once again. Which she is not happy about.

I believe she misses the companionship of the other kids even though she had few friends and the few that did talk to her, did it rarely. LIfe with an ADD social butterfly is quite different than life with an Asperger's teenager. Jess was happy just to be in the room with other kids without socializing. Aly wants to socialize but doesn't know how.

I often wonder who is going to school..me or them?

Homeschooling and The Asperger's Child

2007-04-09T16:47:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been writing for Associated Content. It's a place to get articles and blogs published and get paid for it. And yes, I've been writing about homeschooling. Lots of articles there concerning homeschooling and it might be the place for you all to voice your opinion. Go check it out and please stop by my way, www.associatedcontent.com/shirley_hill Below is one of the articles:

There has been great debate and general arguing about home schooling. Are they religious zealots? Hippies that try avoid any type of government control over their lives? Or possibly those rabble-rousers that would rather torch the public schools all together?

And the beat goes on and on and on.

But there are more reasons to home school than the average news program or magazine would have you to believe. One reason, and the primary reason that I home school, is Asperger’s Syndrome. My teenaged daughter was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome when she was only four and it has been an educational struggle ever since.

The official definition of Asperger’s Syndrome, according to Wikipedia, is a neurobiological, pervasive developmental disorder related to autism. It is recognized by the medical community as one of five neurobiological pervasive developmental disorders or PDD considered to be part of the autistic spectrum. It is typically characterized by issues with social and communication skills.
Asperger’s children or Aspies as they are sometimes referred to, can have mulitple and complex issues which manifests in both the positive and negative upon themselves and those around them. And due to the mixed nature that this may cause, it is still remains controversial among parents, educators and even members of the medical communities.
Asperger’s Syndrome was named for a Viennese physician, Hans Asperger, who in 1944 published a paper which described a pattern of behaviors in several young boys who had normal intelligence and language development, but who also exhibited autistic-like behaviors and marked deficiencies in social and communication skills. In spite of the publication of his paper in the 1940's, it wasn't until 1994 that Asperger Syndrome was added to the DSM IV.
Since then children with Asperger’s Syndrome and other autistic spectrum disorders have growing by leaps and bounds. According to the Centers for Disease Control(CDC), who released their findings back in February, show an average of 6.7 out of 1000 children had an Autistic Spectrum Disorder in the six U.S. communities assessed in 2000. An average of 6.6 out of 1000 children were found to have an ASD in the 14 communities included during the 2002 part of the same study. Presently AutismSpeaks is now running television ads stating that 1 out of 166 will be diagnosed with Autism or ASD.
Yet the U.S. public school system is not prepared for such an onslaught to the special needs programs. At this moment, there are only a handful of private schools that accommodate solely the education of autistic children and they are, for the most part, in the East Coast states such as New Jersey and Connecticut.
The ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ has done a grand job at chasing good teachers away from the public schools. Too few educators, too many kids, and too much bureaucracy. Now the teachers have twice as much paperwork and not enough time to teach. Not to mention being bullied into passing students that don’t even complete the work.
So what is a parent of an autistic child to do when the schools can’t even keep up with the normal learning children? What happens when you watch your special need child sit in a corner coloring instead of learning all because the teacher doesn’t want your child being disruptive? And you watch your child fall further and further behind and essentially fall between the cracks of a system that is overwhelmed at best.
Home schooling has become a viable answer.
An unsourced National Home Education Research Institute statement an estimated 1.9-2.6 million children in the U.S. were home schooled in 2005-2006. 69,000 of these children are what are considered special needs.
My daughter is an extremely bright 14-year-old teenager who is taking 11th grade level-Calculus and Geometry, is a 6th grade level in Science and Social Studies but is only at a 5th grade level when it comes to grammar. She reads and comprehends well but I don’t believe that she’ll ever read Shakespeare. The idea of placing her in a public school is futile at the grade levels she is at.
Then again, when was the last time you could tell someone what a dangling participle was or could name every U.S. President in order and the years that they were in office?
But I’ve always believed the education is more than knowing how to squeak by a TASK test. Education needs to be about character and how to survive in this world. Social clubs and high school sports are a wonderful part of public school but when it comes to making it in the adult world, that MVP trophy or debate ribbons that are gathering dust on the mantle doesn’t mean very much when the rent is overdue.
The naysayers may think that I can’t teach my child or even child for that matter, all the subjects that she needs to know. No parent could possibly teach a child everything that they need to know, I have heard often. But at the end of the school day, those educators go home and forget about my girl. I don’t however. She is my responsibility now and in the future whereas those concern educators will forget her name over the summer.
And as my daughter grows and learns, I do the same. No, I am not a professional at each and every subject but I can learn in the same way that she can. In the beginning, I had forgotten about calculus, the Civil War and what abbreviations went with what chemicals. I do have the ability to pick up a book and read. I have come not only a knowledgeable parent but also an even more knowledgeable teacher.
When my daughter has a meltdown, I can handle it with patience and love. Not by sending her off to a corner because she is ‘disruptive’. When she is tired of looking at diagrams and numbers, we can retire to a spirited game of volleyball or basketball. When she is mentally exhausted, we can take breaks. Not be scolded because she is staying up with the rest of the class.
Socialization? She has a neighborhood full of kids and a sister who plays with her. My daughter belongs to a local chess club and Camp Fire Girls. In public school, the children aren’t allowed to talk in class, while walking to the bathroom/lunchroom/classroom and barely can speak during lunch. Where is the socialization in that?
In public schools, the rate of violence of student against student, shootings, on campus rapes, gangs and teacher and student sexual relations have doubled in the past ten years. My sweet Asperger’s daughter who would rather watch Nickelodeon than MTV wouldn’t stand a chance.
So those who would protest against my special needs daughter being home schooled rather than educated in the public school system, can take a step back and let out a breath. Because seeing is believe and I believe that my daughter is better educated and better for it than anything an overcrowded school could give her.

Has Homeschooling Become Too Big?

2007-03-30T10:37:00.000-07:00

A post in a hsing group that I belong asked the question,"Which are better, ps kids or hs kids?" It led to some interesting revelations. The following is mine take...

I am one of those 'veterans' of the homeschooling set(starting in the early 80's) though back then it was just referred to as 'at home teaching'. There was no such thing as a hs community, no hsing families around us and no hs groups to deal with. We began while we lived in a very remote area and had to do the ham radio bit in the beginning. Books were literally impossible to come by since the bookstores weren't filled with them and the internet wasn't exactly what it has become today. Sometimes I think we have access to too much information but that's another story for another time.

Now I only have two left at home but find there is no great difference between hs kids and ps kids. Some are nice and polite and some are not.

To decide against the kid next door because he attends public school and kicks the neighborhood strays versus the other kid who dresses nicely and speaks politely in public is a bit of a bigoted argument. It's like deciding your child can be friends with only Christians or just children of your race and not anyone else. The prisons are filled with Godly people and the most successful person in town may have gotten where he is by nefarious ways. Yet that boy that you just 'can't stand' could grow up to be the most gentle and friendly parent at the volunteer center.

It's not how a child is educated but how they are 'brought up'.

But I do have to agree with the bigoted remark for several reasons.

1) I live in a small Texas town at the moment and have seen supposed homeschooled kids running amok in the streets. The parents don't want to deal with the beauracy of ps yet are too lazy to actually teach their child. There are many hsing families here but of different genres, so to speak. Some want nothing to do with anyone(fighting against the system so to speak), some are devoutly Christian and prefer to run in those circles and there are a few of 'us' that homeschool solely for the reason of education not religion. Since I am not Christian and in all the years that I've lived here, I have never met a hsing family of our faith. That does limit your involvement with others.

2.)There are also those adults who will look down thier noses at hs'ers just because it's new or different or possibly they feel we're following the newest trend. And let's face it, hsing has become very trendy; just look at all the hsing websites and companies that have appeared in the past 10 years. HSing is big business these days. Maybe too big. There are too many parents that think if the kid isn't learning as they see fit, then it must be the curriculum's fault. "Let's get a new curriculum!" Some, I know, use it as a babysitter in place of that public school teacher. Slap a couple of CD-Roms in front of the child and stroll back to watch 'The View."

Um, have you ever thought of actually teaching the poor kid? All curriculums can do is repeat facts that you have seen time and time again. It takes that human being to actually get it through to the student. And what exactly was the reason that you took him out of school in the first place?

3) Then there is the fact of no extra-curricular activities. Here in small town Texas, if you aren't willing to play sports then you may be sitting in front of the TV becoming ever so much larger and paler for your lack of effort. It doesn't bode well when you want your kid to mix and mingle with thier peers, or should I say that dreaded word, 'socialize.' The nieghborhoods aren't like what I grew up in because households that have at least one parent at home are few and far between. We are fortunate to have a neighborhood chock full of kids but they are ps kids. You pick your battles.

I can't say that I don't want my child NOT to play with hs kids or not to play with ps kids. That's a good case of biasness if I ever saw one. Won't they, as adults, have to play nice with other adults that may or may not be good for them?

Now the boy who attempted to shot-put a stray through the nieghbor's hedge or the little girl who takes great joy bullying other kids then go crying to her mother that everyone is mean to her....THEN I'll take action. Then I will become a bigot I suppose. I agree that some hs groups aren't the healthiest fruit in the emotional basket I've ever seen but you can't blame the school system for that. But I can say the same for public school kids as well. Regardless how they are educated, they learn behavior from one arena and one arena only. Yep, the parents. The apple doesn't fall from the tree sort of theory.

And you cannot blame it on 'how' families homeschool. I've heard the bellows and bellyaches over, "It's your fault because you're an unschooler or you school this way or that way". This argument is as old as the socialization issue and will never go away I'm afraid.

But I confess, I have always run my homeschool like a classroom because I 'need' to, to make it work. I'm sure I can hear howls of protest from homeschooling parents and even a handful of unschoolers. But four out of five of my children were and are special needs. My oldest and 4th born have Aspergers and OCD while the 2nd and last born have Inattentive ADD and OCD. And my poor son was jumped in the middle with no disabilities and with 4 sisters to contend with. Discipline becomes more important than education when dealing with special needs children. I was a ps teacher and University professor before I became a parent so I don't think running a hs like a classroom stifles their imagination but again it's all the way that parent wants to teach.

My 11 yo speaks 5 different languages of her own accord, plays piano and is proficient in art, especially charcoal sketching. Her 14 yo Aspie sister could most likely sew a dress by hand that resembled something that came off of a sewing machine, could probably run circle around Stephen Hawkings, makes 3-D puzzles for fun and is already studying C++! This was nothing that I pushed but things that just evolved over time.My 11 yo struggles through reading comprehension and that same 14 yo is still learning grammar at a 4th grade level but when was the last time YOU used a past participle or could even tell anyone what the definition of it was? Of course then, I don't think there are too many that have a class in etiquette nor counts off 'points' for not saying thank you 5 seconds after receiving something or for making fun at a sibling for a lower grade.

I think hsing becoming 'big business' has been more of a downfall than any damage a lone parent could do. My 11 yo has friends in the neighborhood and is involved with activities while her sister, naturally, struggles with those issues. It's more difficult for Aspies than for NT kids I'm afraid. She can't be involved in a lot of sports programs because of her Autism. She would rather just 'play' while the others are semi-pro! Girl Scouts was a joke and the gymnastics coach was very undiplomatic when she said 'No!' (She only coached 'winners' that she could take to state).

J wants to be involved but doesn't know how to be. So we arrange one-on-one 'playdates' with other kids that are on her level, who are most understanding when she just walks away to play by herself. Nobody to call her 'wierd' or a freak or whatever.

So it all gets down to variables. Does the parent get involved or leave it all up to a 'curriculum'? Do you teach a NT or a Special Needs Child? Is your town/city more open to hsing or close minded? It's never just one thing but many that make up our decisions about how we allow ourselves and our kids be affected by outside forces. And those variables make up what we do about it.

Whether we particulary like it or not.

Homeschool Books: What's The Point?

2007-03-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

I just joined this wonderful online book exchange website called BookMooch. It's an international site which not only carry reading-for-pleasure books and homeschooling books as well. It's a good thing, too! I have tons of homeschool books to get rid of.

Not your normal textbook or workbook type but those 'Why You Homeschool' and 'The Joys of Homeschooling' and '1001 Ways To Homeschool on .50 a year." OK, maybe the last one was a slight exaggeration but you know what I mean. And how many homeschooling parents out there have bought into these things hook, line and sinker? And how many feel like you threw good money away because book 987 says the same thing as book 3, just re-worded a bit differently.

Of course homeschooling is big business these days. A far cry from what it was ten to twenty years ago when you fly by the seat of your pants. But you would think by this time the publishing houses had just about had enough doling out the same ol' thing. I can't remember the last time I saw a homeschooling how-to book on the New York Times bestseller list.

There is one book sitting in a box at this moment with a chapter devoted to the question,"How Can I Do My Housework If I'm Homeschooling?" You mean you need a chapter in a book for this? You actually need instruction? It's like the instructions on a bottle of shampoo: Wet hair, put small amount in hand and place on scalp, massage, rinse hair, repeat as needed. Yea, well I can pretty much figure that part out thank you very much.

So I made a new resolution(yes, I know a little late in the season) NOT to be another homeschooling book no matter how good it sounds.

I know that they are attempting to suck in the new ones with that 5-year-old at home. They feel they need someone to lead them by the hand. Turn on the internet, look up the word 'homeschooling' and wa-laa..no need to spend $30-40 on a book! These are the same people who run to homeschool fairs and buy any and everything that is offered and then cry foul when they learn they just spent $900 on items that are about as useful as a paper weight.

Some never will and for those, the publishing companies await you with open arms.

Beauty Is Not Happy With The Beast

2007-03-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

After dealing with Aly being sick with what appears to be the flu for a week now(she returned to ps on Thursday just to be told by her teacher to keep her at home)! Jess has now acquired it! Oh yea, what fun for me!

Jess is my stronger-than-a-bullmoose-in-heat child when it comes to becoming ill. She never, absolutely never, gets sick but when she does...hoo boy. Stand back because life as you, the parent, know it is over..at least temporarily.

Not that she's a bad child when she's sick. Aly whined and carried on about being tired of being sick because 1)she couldn't play outside, 2)she couldn't play inside and 3) she was bored. Basically all the reasons she sights when she is well also. But Jessica, oh I pissed off the Gods today, she is a terrible sick person. Almost like when a doctor is sick..never good.

But she doesn't have the same symptoms as her sister and, in fact, I believe that she is worse. At least niether has spewed Linda Blair soup which I am always grateful. But I cannot keep her water glass full enough, can't have enough Sprite, can't fluff her pillows enough and can't keep her comfortable enough. She's hot...I turn on the fan. Seconds later, she's cold so I turn on the heater (per her request).

Besides that her father, the truck driver, has become needy and wants me to sit on the phone with him for hours on end without him uttering a single syllable towards a conversation. And her younger sister, who only has a cough and some congestion left, is TOTALLY bored and insists on every milisecond of my free time to be spent on her. Hence, I kicked her out of the house to get some fresh air(and me some time to regain my sanity).

Needless to say, I'm exhausted.

Then the package arrived from Fed Ex. Since I didn't know about the secret friend on Denim Jumper until it was too end, I knew it wasn't that(even though at this point I could probably use it)! It was the box of curriculum I had order from Rainbow Resourve two weeks prior. And it was the most welcome site to change the mood around the ol' homestead..or at least I thought.

I was thrilled to see the books and more than elated to find that it was exactly what the description had stated thus would work out well with my Aspie teenager.

Her language arts materials were minimal since I don't find a reason to harp on hanging participles with an Asperger's child. I had bought Easy Grammar which covers the basics for grammar, and Reading Detective for thinking skills and comprehension(which reads like small detective novels). She continues on her vocabulary which is derived from Word A Day online, copywork from passages of the piece of literature she is reading, her nature journal from our daily walks and reading 2 chapters a day from said piece of literature.

Her math is Saxon Math for 6th grade and Saxon Calculus. Her science is called Science Basics which that is definitely what it is. She also has an extra workbook for experiments connected with her science lesson regarding lab experimentsplus a skeleton for her anatomy/physiology, plants and a small hothouse for aid in her plants section.

Her American History came with a set of books called The History of the US which are quite visual and nice short chapters so she doesn't get bogged down. I also ordered the Usborne Book of World History(more visual aid), Graphic History books on events during the Revolutionary War which are like the old Classic Comic Books of the 1960's,an American Education Publishing book ,The Complete Book of United States History, which are, yes, more visuals which she enjoys and Spectrum Geography book.

She was not happy though when she realized what was in the box. Even her sister was thrilled over all the workbooks but then she is a workbook kind of girl. And Jess, well Jess could live out here days happily knowing that she would never have to read another syllable in her life.

So the sickly beauty was really ticked off at her Grendel, the beast(aka school-work). She whined and carried on that she was too sick to do either chores or school work. Even when both Aly and I tried to convince that she wasn't having to do it right this instant..it was too no avail. They were here and soon it meant that she was eventually going to have to do both.

I believe I sense a milking of her malady coming in the not too soon future.

Meanwhile, I think I will retire from the duldrums of motherly duty and allow my dear husband to dote on his child. Since he has missed the accolades that I've endured for the past week. It's only fitting that he might be endowed with the pleasures of parent-hood.

Homeschooling, Deadlines and the Sick Child

2007-03-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

Anyone that has more than one child knows the trials and tribulations of homeschooling while nursing a sick one. I feel like Lucy in the episode with the conveyor belt and the chocolates. You just cannot move fast enough!

Gary and I picked Aly up from school to have her complaining about a headache, sore wrist that was sprained over the weekend in a neighborhood soccer game and just 'not feeling well.' Since she acquired the affliction that both of her parents suffer from which are severe allergy attacks, I just assumed that her headache was seasonal allergy-related.

Until I got home that is. She had a temperature. By this morning, it was 101.3 so she is downing green and grapefruit tea, hot chocolate with cayenne(helps stimulate the phlegm), homemade cough medicine made with apple cider vinegar and ginger, lots(more) echinacea, sage gargle and plenty of garlic in her food.

Meanwhile, Jess thinks because ALY is sick that she deserves a day off. Any port in the storm I suppose. So the war has been on this morning. A fun project was to draw out the classifications of the family pets using pictures that she had cut out from magazines. The mine set has changed because of Aly being at home so now it's a major ordeal.

Of course all of this didn't help last night. Gary hurt his back and shoulder again after spending the entire morning and half the afternoon fixing his mother's hot water heater. That combined with his need for rest and the fact that he was supposed to leave last night for Salt Lake City, didn't help matters much. So of course he and I had a blow-out.

Over of all things, the girl's GameCube.

My brother had given us a second GameCube that he had re-done after dust had settled into it. Now it decided not to 'read' the game discs. After spending 15 minutes at it, he screamed at me first. I just left the room knowing what was about to happen and attempted to hustle the girls out of the room. Good ol' stubborn Aly just had to stay with Dad.

Within minutes, he threw the controls down, yelling and cursing for Aly just to throw it away...in different terminology of course. I could tell that the pain was talking but would not tolerate him taking it out on an 11 yr old. One word escalated into another and I told him to apologize to her for his behavior. He wouldn't, of course, so I told him to leave until he could.

So he packed while I soothed the girl's hurt feelings. All the while I'm supposed to be getting a deadline on a story completed! He finally came back and apologized, didn't leave because the only way to his truck was by me and he knew that I would tell to start walking and subsequently decided that he should take the herbal muscle remedy that I offered earlier even if it does taste like crap. He didn't leave until this morning when he had rested(the herbal remedy will make you sleepy as well) and he comforted poor Aly in his lap for several hours.

I spoke to her after he left this morning about what happened and she seemed to understand that it was the pain not her Daddy talking. I wish there was another line of work that he could get into besides trucking but when you're 52 and worked the past 15 years in the aeronautical field, beggars can't be choosers.

So I stayed up until 1 this morning re-editing my story and sent it out this morning. The last few weeks have been a trip for me. After dealing with my mother's funeral AND my control-freak/bipolar sister and numerous other things on the home front that Gary doesn't notice, I had had enough last night. I thought I did pretty well until Aly broke a trivet that was my mother's. Combined with watching The Ghost & Mrs. Muir(for the first time the ending began to make me cry due to the fact that it made me think of my mother) and the turmoil with Gary, Aly's sickness and Jess' insistence on resistance to schoolwork, I just cracked.

I think it may be a short day because, besides a grousing teenager and a sick tween(whom I'm fetchin' and carryin' every 15 minutes or so), I also have a cat that is throwing up hairballs sporadically in strategic places(aka places where she knows you'll step in). If the dog starts throwing up anything, I think I'm packing for Barbados.

And Just Who Are You?

2007-03-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

I was thinking about my other blogs, which are many. A blog for each subject. Afterall my more artistic friends don't want to read about my homeschooling and the homeschoolers would be bored with analystical discussions I have in my other blogs. So there you go....but I digress. Introductions are needed in the land of homeschooling:

So let's start with this motely crew, first Dad.

My husband Gary is not a very demonstrative guy. Once he gets to know you, he's a talker. He drives a truck, against his will I might add. He would prefer to be at home every night and work at his old job at Boeing during the day. He loves Harleys,vampire movies and taking trips. Hates exercise(as you can tell) but will take walks with us girls just because we want to. He has worked since he was 5 gathering drywall nails for his dad which later turned into being a professional drywaller himself. Would love to have our own herbal business(yea you heard right) and doesn't like the 'establishment' so is all for homeschooling if that's what they want.

Then there's me which you already know too much about. Mid-40s, Pisces, a 'C' personality, sufferer of AdultADD, Lupus, and arthritis and the youngest daughter of housewife and oil field engineer/former army commander who dragged me and my two older siblings all over the world.

German/Sioux(descendant of Chief Quanah Parker) on my father's side and Scot/English on my mother's. I hold 6 degrees in various subjects. I homeschool because I used to teach;both elementary and university level. Was once a studio and tour musician,collegiate volleyball player and a theater tech building sets but now I'm a author who specializes in fantasy romance and homeschools my oldest daughter, Jess. I'm renovating our 'new' house which was built in 1944. I love history especially concerning Scotland, geneaology(did I spell that correctly?),stitchery(especially antiquated forms of embroidery), beading, vegetable gardening, herbology, egyptology,motorcycles, opera, theater,movies and music. And I do try to squeeze in some writing and editing after all of that!

Jess(with our 3rd child, Lightning) is 14 yr old and packed with heart-on-her-sleeve emotion and teenaged attitude. As they say in "The Quiet Man", '..that hair is no lie..." Both girls come with tempers to befit their heritage. She has Asperger's Syndrome, a high functioning part of the Autistic Spectrum Disorder and OCD(can organize any and everything). This means she immensely intelligent with anything dealing with numbers such as math, historical dates and science and she is too so great with anything dealing with abstract thought, and language arts! She's a 3-D princess in a 1-D world! She loves any and all musicals(just like your momma), dancing(taught herself the RiverDance style at age 4), Gameboy Advance(esp. puzzles like Tetris), Suduko and Kokuro and anything analytical. She's sweet, kind and thoughtful except when she is having a bad day. And its best just to give her wide berth then. ;) She's 5'7" and growing with a size 11 women's shoe. Not an ambitious bone in her body and tends to be a tad on the lazy side especially when it comes to chores and school. She is definitely a teenager and growl when she doesnt want to do something. She loves Care Bears, High School Musical, Hannah Montana but will sit and watch Blues Clues and Sesame Street. But hey an hour of Elmo and Grover does my heart good as well!

The captive in her arms is my 3rd baby Lightning. He came to us 3 yrs ago when a person that I knew was moving into a rental that wouldn't allow pets. So she was just going to 'put him down' at not even a year of age. Well I wouldn't for that so Mr. $500 purebred Jack Russell complete with papers came to live with us and be spoiled rotten. His nicknames consist of Squirtblossom(because he keeps peeing in my kitchen!), short buggy, mole boy(he has a tendency to get his head stuck in mole holes while chasing them) and piglet(well he has gained a little weight). He's sweet, a little exciteable around dinner time or going out, not hyper like we thought Jacks were and is definitely a lapdog. Not a non-sheddable lap dog but a lap dog just the same.

And there's my youngest, 11 yo Aly. And yes, the hair is no lie either! Temper to match! She's just shy of 5'4, blue eyes and has Inattentive ADD. Which means my children are like oil and vinegar. While Jess would rather be alone, Aly wants attention, attention, attention. Although she's not technically hyper she is always on the go and bores easily. She loves volleyball and softball. She attends a small public school(her choice-she was hs'ed for the first four years) that has only 9 six graders, including herself. She is our resident animal nut, bringing home any book any library has on any animal! She's also in love with Animal Crossing and Madagascar video games(see an animal theme going here?) She plays piano and excels in languages. She already is knowledgable in gaelic, spanish and german. She does have a tendency to avoid things that might be too hard(like school), will hurt(like brushing her hair) or will get her in trouble(like 'forgetting' to tell us that she went across the street to a friend's house 10 minutes before dinner). She's got the greatest smile, the wickest laugh and the desire to make everyone laugh with her million and one knock-knock jokes.

Oh and this is Miss Thang, our resident Diva and major manipulator of our Jack Russell, Lightning. She rules the roost from her throne formerly known as my bed. After one quick slash across the dog's nose three years ago she was had him under her paw. And he knows it. He doesn't dare even look at her without creating displeasure in her highness. But she's my kitty and I love her. She's weighs as much as a lead doorstop and likes to sit on my chest if I lay down to watch television thus making me quite uncomfortable, but she is my baby.

I have other children but they are all grown and gone so I won't go into their profiles. They might be upset. The others live with me so they'll just have to deal with it!

We homeschool at a secular and definite eclectic route. I used Calvert with my oldest but it's just too intense and abstract for Jess. I struggle for months to find something that is not solely Christian(we're not) and not abstract nor literature based. We read books; nice normal books that you find in the library. I think these days they call them 'living books'; we just called them decent pieces of literature. Writing is also not in Jess' forte so we keep in the visual-3-d world instead of 'what would you do if..." or 'what do you think would happen if..." Who cares?

So our style is sort of/kind of eclectic, classical, secular with a bit a CM thrown in. I like her style but not the religious element. So this is what we are doing this year. Blink and it may change.

History: History of US Book I-First Americans and Book II Making 13 Colonies plus supplementals and plenty of books that Mom has.
Scottish history: History of Scotland and supplemental Scottish Chieftains.
Geography: Spectrum Geography Grade 5
Critical Thinking: Reading Detective
Science: Science Basics: Human Body and Health;Science Concepts & Processes and Plants.
Herbology: Basics to herbology
Math: Saxon Math 6 and Saxon Calculus
Grammar: Easy Grammar
Foreign Language: German, Spanish, Gaelic via byki.com
Art: Art Basics with Thomas Kinkade-vhs
Typing: taught by mom
Computer: cryptography
Writing: journaling-CM method; nature notebook
Religion:Judaism(various texts) and Celtic Gods/Goddesses(various texts)

Don't think that I'm being cruel with all the courses. It will take her a physical year to get through it all and she has class 7 days a week(3 hours on Sat-Sun) and throughout the holidays. She goes in 20 minutes intervals with lost of breaks. We discovered if we let her have weekends and holidays off that she is Linda Blair on the pea soup day by Monday. So we don't do that anymore.
Alyssa actually does the art lessons via Thomas Kinkade, spanish and Irish Gaelic and worksheets on the weekends just because she gets bored! LOL.

Everyone has one of 'em !

Why Is Ordering Such a Pain?

2007-03-02T07:12:00.000-08:00

I didn't get to bed until after 11 last night, which is waaaayyyy past my bedtime. I'm a morning lark and usually pass out by 9pm. I can't blame it on my hectic schedule or age...been doing it since I was a child. My youngest Aly does the same.
9:00-"But I'm not tired!"
9:01pm:Zzzzzzzzzz

And why was I up so late into the twilight you might ask...ordering homeschool supplies. Arg. I hate the months-long search for materials, the not-t00-exorbantly-high prices, making certain that the desired product is still in stock and praying the computer doesn't give up on me(it did 3 times the night before last).

What I wanted I couldn't get or, should I say, I wasn't paying those prices. $109 for one student textbook?? And that doesn't even include the teacher's guide, workbook, or answer key??! Are you mad? What are they made out of? Gold? Silver? Mink??

So I posted in Denim Jumper for help from the 'ladies' there. (Note: Have never seen any guys there so I am not being biased, just judgemental) ;) I think I had 8 windows up comparing prices from this place to that place. Actually buying for a new year in March actually helps in cutting down the propaganda that I usually recieve from hs sellers. And I always order a few subjects per course at a time so as not to overload the credit card but yet get that no S/H benefit.

Hey, every cent counts in the hs game, you know! It still cost about $300 but it writes off well on next year's income tax.

My main problem has always been getting science and social studies material that don't expect a LOT of writing, literature-style reading, debate, discussions or 'what if's'. It's not exactly a walk in the park when dealing with a 14-yr-old Aspie that is considered to be in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 11th grade in different subjects. But she needs concrete not abstract and her classes will take a full seasonal year, not a ps year. She gets no breaks on the holidays or weekends(she only has 3 hours days on Saturday and Sundays) or she would lose ground and have full blown meltdowns by Monday. We had to take several days off due to my mother's funeral and the computer not working so when we started up yesterday once again, it was bedlam! Ah, such is the life of the routined Aspie teenager. So when you see her schedule, don't freak out. Most of her classes are taught at 15-20 min. intervals.

And my SIL thinks I should let her go back to public school. ROFLMAO!!!

So her agenda this year is...(drum roll please):

American History-5th grade(at the moment only covering American Indians, Colonial Life and Revolutionary War) via Power Basics books. USBorne Book of World History,Complete Book of US History,Graphic History books(which are really cool; they resemble the old Classic Comic Books if any of you were raised in the sixties) as supplements. She is also continuing her studies on Scottish History via a Scottish text called The History of Scotland(well, duh) and a supplemental book called The Scottish Chieftains.
Geography: Spectrum Geography Gr. 5
Grammar:Reading Detective A1 Combined Volume (critical thinking) Easy Grammar Grade 4 - Easy Grammar Grade 4 Workbook , journaling, daily writing(much the CM method but she writes paragraphs from the 'book of the month').
Reading: Reading from what is referred to as 'living books'. Instead of writing something on comprehension, she draws a 3-square comic book style synopsis of each chapter. Two chapters per day.
Science:Science Basic 4-5: Human Body & Health Science Basic 4-5: Science Concepts & Processes Science Basic 4-5: Science-Plants World of Science workbook. She works in our gardens a great deal to understand the plant subjects. We use an old retro skeleton game to study anatomy, and we've constructed a small lab upstairs complete with microscopes, lab experiments,etc. Continuation of Herbology
Math:Saxon Math 6/5 3e Homeschool KIT (has difficulty on some 6th grade formulas)
Saxon Math Calculus
Art:Continuation of Art Drawing Basic with Thomas Kinkade (VHS) S
Foreign language:Spanish and Gaelic via byki.com
Music: continuation of piano lessons
Computer:continuation of cryptography
Religion: continuation of study of Judaism and Celtic gods/goddesses

Here We Go Again

2007-03-01T19:51:00.000-08:00

Well I used to have a blog site here. They must have hidden it away in a drawer somewhere much like TinkerBell in the nursery. Because it is nowhere to be found. So, alas, we start again. The travails of another homeschooling, working and writing mother who can get niether sleep, peace or any work done!

Alyssa returned to school Monday after having a four day weekend due to Mother's funeral. I think we were all glad to be home. Gary didn't return to work until Wednesday and since we had many, many errands to run; well Jessica got an even longer break from school. There are times it is nice to be homeschooled year round.

But alas, tonight I was able to order her new school supplies. She is not happy. Niether am I for that matter for I know what lies ahead. Tantrums, tears and exasperation! And to think mothers of NT children have the nerve to complain!

I finally got the script for Chantix, the smoking suppressant, which is supposed to be the best on the market. Finally! No more spending half a paycheck on Gary's cancer sticks! $130 a month! And besides that, we just buried my mother who died of complications of lung cancer. Enough reason to stop I would say. The scripts to this jewel, however, usually run about $115 a month. Luckily, JB Hunt is attempting to get thier drivers to quit so it was only $25. Thank you Gods!

Well toodling off to bed now. Kids are asleep. Dog and cat are asleep. But the phone man will most likely be on my doorstep when the sun rises. And there is that 'school' thing..sigh.

Shirley