Releasing the Butterflies. Firefly...

"Butterflies are self-propelled flowers."  R. H. Heinlein

In the beginning, there was a little baby girl, born less than a week before Christmas.  She had a full head of black hair, and she liked to sleep.  A lot.

Our Firefly came into the world quickly and quietly, with no hint of the chaos that was to rule our lives for the next ten years.  It has been a journey.  A long, stressful, tough journey.  A ten-year, on-going journey that we never expected.

Year One:  Sickness

Firefly spent her first year back and forth to doctors' offices:  pediatrician, neurologist, opthamologist, ENT, allergist, pulmonologist, neurosurgeon, geneticist.

She had bouts of RSV, asthma, eczema, ear infections, surgeries to place ear tubes, remove adenoids, open closed tear ducts, CT scans, X-rays, sweat tests.

BUT...

She was adorable, petite, precocious, and hungry.  Always hungry!  She was quick to crawl and stand and walk--by ten months.  She loved her big sister and was quick to smile.

Year Two:  Terrible Twos with a Twist

Some sickness, continued.  Different specialists and different procedures.  Add endocrinology and orthopedics to the mix, as well as some physical therapy.

And, then, sometime during that year, she discovered the tantrum.  By the time she was two, we had eliminated red food coloring from her diet and had her in two different child psychologists' offices, sure that something was "wrong" with her.

I'm pretty sure both of them thought we were crazy.

BUT...

She went from walking to running.  Fast.  She was talking in complete sentences by 18 months, and potty-trained just after two years old.  She was smart and funny and still, quick to smile.

Year Three:  More of the Same

Or actually, more of the worse.  More tantrums.  More often.  More violence.  More volume.  More destruction.  More unrealistic expectations.  More crying into pillows at night (this one is me, not her).

More wondering about my ability to parent.

More uncertainty.

More arguments.

More specialists.  Fewer answers.

BUT...

She was still learning new things every day.  She was athletic, but still tiny.  She was incredibly strong. She loved to sing and pretend to read her books.  She could take amazing care of her baby dolls.

Year Four:  Throwing Up Our Hands

This is the year I think we officially tried it all.  Massage, chiropractors, more psychologists, holistic doctors.

Nothing was helping, and we were being held hostage by our four year-old.  I had to physically restrain her at the park one day, in front of all of our friends.  She literally screamed right into a police officer's face one day when he was checking on her because I know he thought I was hurting her.

I. did. not. know. what. else. to. do.  And by this time, I thought I was crazy.

BUT...

She was a charmer.  She could handle anything physical that would be a challenge.  She was competitive, but incredibly nurturing.  She was a joy to be around when she was happy.

Year Five:  Still Searching

And finally, a diagnosis.  Sensory Processing Disorder--big time.  Generalized Anxiety Disorder.  A "to-be-named-later" chemical disorder.

Several weeks beating myself up until I finally agreed with medication, which made a world of difference.

I dropped my five year-old off at kindergarten and she had her beautiful smile on her face--which I hadn't seen in weeks.

The diagnosis brought relief and heartbreak, but it didn't "fix" her.  We still had an over-sensitive, bossy  kiddo who could throw some monster tantrums, and who did--daily.  They just didn't last as long.

BUT...

She learned how to read.  She could hold it together at school.  She made friends easily (even if she didn't know any of their names!)  She lived larger than life.

Years Six, Seven, Eight and Nine:  Treading Water

Occupational Therapy, Psychology, Psychiatry, Counseling, Speech Therapy, 504s, Homeschooling.  We've tried so many, many things to try to help Firefly (and ourselves) navigate through this life we lead.  Three steps forward, four steps back.  Good days and bad ones, and really, really, "I-can't-do-this-one-more-day" horrific ones.

BUT...

She grew (a little bit).  She connected with other kids.  She developed interests and abilities we never would have thought of.  She made a beautiful relationship with God.  She loves animals, and babies, and other related "cute" things.

Year Ten:  Where We Are Now

We have a daughter with at least two, and possibly more diagnoses.  We have a daughter who is on medication every day, and who we still traipse back and forth to counseling and psychiatry appointments.  We have a standing email conversation with the OT.  I know terms I never would have thought I could pronounce, and know the ins and outs of procedures at the Children's Hospital very, very well.

BUT...

She is healthy.  She is alive.  She is thriving.  SHE is so much more than her diagnosis.  My problem is that I forget to see that, and because of that I am so thankful to Susan for starting this thread.

I see the struggles over math flashcards.  I forget to see that, after a year of working on them, she knows her multiplication facts.

I see the child who refuses to dress in the morning in a timely manner.  I forget to see that she CAN now get dressed--on her own--without a falling-down one hour tantrum.

I see the writhing on the ground when her nails need to be cut.  I forget to see that she is not screaming or ripping out her hair when I do have to cut those nails.

I see her being bossy.  I forget to see that she is trying her very best to control something in her environment, because unpredictability = terror for her.

I see uncooperative, slow, cranky, and irritable.  I forget to see spunky, strong, independent, and amazing.

Because she is amazing.  She is fierce.  She is hilarious.  She is sweet and funny and courageous.  She loves life, loves her friends, loves her family, and loves God.  She has a gift for soccer, and a gift for caring.

And she has a bravery that I will never come close to achieving myself.

God gave Firefly and I to each other for a reason.  I don't know why He chose me for her, but I'm learning why He chose her for me.

She has taught me patience.

She has taught me faith.

She has taught me to laugh, and to cry, and to lean on my husband, and my Father.

She has taught me that butterflies come in all sizes and shapes and colors, and that they work on their own time schedule.  While the caterpillar may be slow, uncooperative, clumsy, or in any other way, "not what we had planned", the butterfly that emerges is always a beautiful work of art.

Join some of my friends as they celebrate their butterflies:

Susan

Hold Onto Your Butterflies, but not too tightly

@Homeschooling Hearts & Minds

Chareen

Anticipating the Butterfly

@ Every Bed of Roses

"J" is for Jesus...

There doesn't seem to be any other possibility for me to choose this week, as my head and heart try to wrap around the tragedy in Oklahoma.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.". John 3:16

May Jesus and His loving Father wrap their loving arms around all of the victims and families in Oklahoma, to comfort them, and help them to heal.

Year End Evaluation--of Our Homeschool

We are three--count them--THREE days away from the "end" of our school year!!!!

Amen.

Not, mind you, three days away from actually finishing anything.  Just three more schooling days before I leave for a fun homeschool convention and then it's Memorial Day and I refuse to school after Memorial Day.  (And, yes, I've learned about run-on sentences this year, lol!)

And there is a bit of a footnote to this, since we will technically be doing "school-like activities" over the summer, but more on that a little later...

BUT--did you hear?  THREE more days!

And since I am such a nerd, I'm already well into the planning for NEXT year, with lists and highlighters and calendars (oh my!); however, now is a really good time to look back at this year and see what worked--and what didn't--for us.

I started with this post by looking up what I had proudly announced as our (drum roll, please) curriculum choices for this past year.

And then I choked on my popcorn.

Umm, yeah.  I was tremendously ambitious and / or delusional.

What we are doing now is sooooo not what we started with!

So with no further ado, here is our curriculum list for the year--edited--as in, after I knew better...

Group Work:

Expedition Earth--this was great!!  We loved it and had a blast with it, and we will be able to use it for many, many years to come.  Because we went really slowly with it.  As in, took four months to make it through the Arctic, Antarctica, and most of Asia.  When we started again in January, we switched away from Geography into Apologia Science Land Animals, since we were blessed to be able to borrow a copy.  I think I'll do the same thing next year.  Half a year of Geography, half a year of Science.

Or maybe not.

Nature Study--yep.  Failure number one.  OK, OK, I won't call it a failure.  It was (the first) one of those things that fell through the cracks when life interrupted.  

Bible--Community Bible Study was a huge hit!  We studied Hebrews and Daniel this year and really enjoyed the studies.  As for We Choose Virtues and Character Studies, those were great tools that we didn't take advantage of much this year.

French--Ahem.

Poetry--Double ahem.

Picture Study, Composer Study--Let's just say that Firefly took an art class and both Firefly and Bug are taking piano over the summer, K?

Kindergarten:

Heart of Dakota Little Hearts for His Glory--We love it!  Really love it!  Just don't ask what unit we're on, OK?  Suffice it to say that we did not finish the book for this one, but I'm pretty confident that that's going to turn out all right in the end.  It is set up perfectly for workboxes, easy to use, fun for my Bug, and has been a joy.  We're going to move right into Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory next year.

Handwriting Without Tears--this is a great tool for handwriting, especially for my handwriting-allergic kids.  You can read my review of this program here.

Explode the Code--again, a favorite!  Bug worked almost through book one this year.  We're going to keep this one up.

Singapore Math--yep.  This one didn't last.  Mostly because I got the chance to review some other math programs that worked better for Bug.  He loves the computer, so A+ Tutor Soft was a good match, and we are in the middle of reviewing Math Mammoth.  We may not go back to Singapore for him just yet.

Abeka readers--didn't touch them.  Oops.  Mostly we used the library for readers when he began to read well.  And then our homeschool community formed a Boys Book Club, which has been wonderful!

Fourth Grade:

Math Made Easy Multiplication and Singapore Math:  Well, we did finally, finally, FINALLY finish our Singapore 2B math book just this week.  It's only taken two years, but who's counting?  Granted, math is nowhere near Firefly's best subject, which I know I've mentioned before (you know--tears and tantrums?  THAT math?)  Multiplication Made Easy was wonderful, and we have finally mastered multiplication tables.  But since we have ALSO mastered math tantrums, we are moving into Teaching Textbooks next year (OK, next week) to take the mean math teacher label away from me.

Abeka Reading and Science / Writing Tales:  Firefly liked them--well, kind of.  We have discovered this year that she enjoys learning in a much different way, so we moved away from a set reading / writing / vocabulary / science curriculum and into unit studies.  Thank you, Amanda Bennett!

So, much of her leveled science has been through the exploration of dogs and horses through the unit studies.  Her reading and comprehension has been from library books about--you guessed it--dogs and horses.  Her writing has been reports on things she learns in her unit studies, although we have recently introduced more formal grammar and writing studies from Essentials In Writing, and even more recently, Institute for Excellence in Writing (which we just started reviewing).

Handwriting Without Tears--We finished the book!  In case you're keeping score, we actually did complete two books this year--I'm not saying which year we started them all.

All About Spelling--Firefly is a horrible speller and we have struggled with spelling for some time.  I kept reading praises about All About Spelling, and just finally bit the bullet and ordered it.

Oh boy.

Yes.  This is the one for us.  She has worked almost through Level Two and is getting it.  That makes me happy.  I think we'll stick with it.

Seventh Grade:

Biggest. Change. Ever.

Turtle started the year in public school, so her curriculum choices are completely different than they were in August, as we pulled her back home in December.  We then spent several weeks laying low and trying to figure out what we would do and playing trial and error with different choices. 

We ended up, currently, with a virtual class for Language Arts, Teaching Textbooks for math (remember taking away the mean math mommy?), Community Bible Study, and she is just two weeks into a virtual photography class (which is for another post, but, can I just say I am thrilled that she has decided to pursue something she is passionate about?!)

What didn't work?  Oh, my, the list was long!

What will we use next year?  Oh, my, that list is also long!  I'm feeling some pressure to get her ready for high school and I'm sure I'm going to overdo it.

Tremendously ambitious and / or delusional, here I come again!

Check out what worked (and what didn't) for some of my CrewMates by clicking here...

I'd love to hear about your favorite choices this year.  What will you definitely be using again?  What do you hope you never, ever see again?  Leave a comment below...

"I" is for Ipad...

I love my iPad!  When I first got it, the original iPad, for Christmas one year, I was incredibly mad at hubby for having spent the money on something I didn't want and would never use.

By the end of that Christmas Day, no one else was allowed to use it!

I use it all the time, but have now graduated to letting my kiddos use it too--for school time...

(insert evil laugh here...)

Here are our top ten favorite apps (not top ten favorite FREE apps, mind you) for the iPad:

1.  Stack the States:  We went all out and purchased the "not free" version, and have many times used this as our geography lesson for the day.  It's a very favorite--of mine and of theirs.  (.$99)

2.  Stack the Countries:  See above--except this one covers the whole wide world!! ($1.99)

3.  Math Bingo:  My kiddos love them some "Bingo Bugs"! ($.99)

4.  Shopping Cart:  Confession time--I've never actually watched my kiddos play this one.  I've stood by and listened and know that it does legitimately have something to do with math, but that's about as far as I've gotten.  But Firefly, especially, really likes it.  ($2.99)

5.  Teach Me Kindergarten and Teach Me First Grade:  This one I've watched.  And it's a winner! ($1.99)

6.  Kindle:  SUCH a great tool, both for me, and for my younger kiddos as we've started reading some of the classics, like The Black Stallion.  It seems to be so much more fun to read when we can do it on something electronic, I guess!  (FREE)

7.  Homeschool Helper:  THIS is the planner that works for us.  I've slacked a bit over the past few weeks, but it really helps me with my lesson planning, workbox filling, and what-did-we-do-again-today question answering.  It also keeps track of attendance, reading logs, and field trips.  ($4.99)

8.  Math Quiz Game Show:  My kiddos think this is hysterical, and I like that I can choose the categories and the level for them before they play. ($1.99)

9.  Boggle:  Yes, it's a game, but it's great for spelling...AND I love the Boggle letter shaking sound--I'm not going to lie!  (FREE)

10.  Candy Crush:  Look, if that's my biggest guilty pleasure, I'm in good shape--and good company, too, I'm sure! (FREE)

*wink*

What are your favorite iPad apps?  How do you use yours for schooling?  Do YOU Candy Crush?

Releasing the Butterflies. Bug...

This is the second week of my friend Susan's Releasing the Butterflies month.  It's all about celebrating our children for what they ARE, as they escape their cocoons and turn into what they are meant to be.

Last week I celebrated my oldest, my Turtle, my beautiful daughter.  This week, I'm skipping ahead a bit to celebrate my youngest, my only son, my Bug.

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."

Rabindranath Tagore

Each week, as I've sat down to think, really think, about my kiddos, I've searched for a butterfly quote that speaks to me about each one.  Last week, it was about how nothing in our beginnings spoke to what my daughter would become, or what I would become, in learning how to be a mom.

This week, the quote above spoke to me, as I think about my last (most likely) child.

We were pretty cocky, my husband and I, when we talked about whether or not we would have a third child.  I think we truly, pridefully, thought it was our decision to make.

That was in the land of before--as in, before I figured out what it truly meant to know God in all His glory.  So, yes, in the land of before, we hemmed and we hawed (or however you spell it--I went for phonetically, lol!) and we kept thinking and questioning and wondering.

Because, although we lived in the land of before, we also lived in the land of after.

After we had Firefly.

After we had gone through what seemed like a million medical scares.

After we were using up lots and lots of time and money trying to "figure her out".

After we were exhausted by her never-ending, ferocious tantrums.

After.

"What if's" filled our minds.  I even remember saying, quite clearly, "if we get another one like her, I really don't think I can handle it."  (Again, a rather cocky thing to say, I understand now.)  

Back and forth, over and over.  And then, finally, we thought we made a decision.  A "throw caution to the wind, let's go for it" kind of decision.

Three weeks later brought a trip to the emergency room with Firefly and asthma, and a decision that "it will really be OK if these are the only two kiddos we have."

Two weeks after that, a positive pregnancy test.

Haha!  Joke was on us.

Thank you, God!

Because several months later we had a brand new baby boy!

And he was beautiful.  And perfect.  And sweet.  And wonderful.

And you know what?  I'm pretty sure that's when we started paying attention to how much God had been paying attention to us.

See, we had this baby because we told God we trusted Him.  And He blessed us with this awesome little bundle of boy.

And now to go back to my quote?  It's all about counting the moments.

I can remember sitting with my little guy when he was about three months old, holding him up on my chest while he was sleeping and feeling his little hands scratching my skin when he twitched in his sleep.

And telling myself, "remember this".

I can remember the only way I knew he was sleeping when I would rock him is that he would be still.  That was the ONLY time he was truly still--when he fell asleep.

I can remember his great dimples.  He still has them and I think they are adorable.

I can remember his "bunny hop" crawl that was the cutest thing ever, until my friend, the pediatric physical therapist saw it and told me it was bad.  (In all honesty, it was still pretty cute, though!)

I can remember his first steps, that came way later than we expected them, and how proud of himself he was.

I can remember that with my third child, I finally got those coveted, "where is your mouth?" pictures for a scrapbook--that I've never had time to create.

I remember moments of this little guy's life so far, and I remember reminding myself to remember.  He's six years old, now, which is so young, but at the same time, so, so much older than that little one in the pictures.

Six years from now, what will I remember?

My Bug, with a loving, generous spirit.  A joyful sense of humor.  A passion for learning.  A busy, full mind.  Kind.  Sweet.  Funny.  Smart.  

He's making his own friends, now, and it's fun to watch them together.

He loves sports, his Daddy, his Poppy, and his Granddaddy.

He loves to torture his sisters, especially Firefly.

But he is loyal and fierce when he needs to defend his family.

And it's a horrible picture because he wouldn't sit still (see a pattern here?), but I just HAD to have a shot of that missing upper tooth, because it's the cutest thing ever--except for maybe that bunny hop crawl.

My Turtle butterfly reminds me of growth--mine and hers and ours together.  My Bug butterfly reminds me of promises.

Promises of mine that I would trust God.

Promises to myself that I would remember and count the moments.

Promises from God that He is and He knows.

He gave Bug to our family.  And we love him so very much!

Join some of my friends as they celebrate their own butterflies!

Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses

Hoping for the Butterfly

Susan @ Homeschooling Hearts & Minds

Giving the Butterfly Time to Emerge

Spanish For You. A TOS Crew Review...

I don't know about you, but teaching a foreign language in my homeschool is something I've always wanted to do.  Each and every year, it gets put onto our schedule, each and every year it gets started, and each and every year we get into the second month of school and it doesn't get done anymore.

Every year.

So, naturally, I was both giddy and terrified when the opportunity came up to review Spanish For You!  Giddy because I was just. so. excited!! about being shown how to teach Spanish to my kiddos.  Terrified because I was just. so. sure!! how this was going to end up, based on our past experiences.

Ahem.

What Is Spanish For You?

Spanish For You is marketed as "a curriculum that is simple to use, effective in approach, and exceptionally affordable" (from the website).  It is a Spanish curriculum that is aimed at kiddos from grades 3-8, and was developed by a Spanish teacher.

One thing that makes Spanish For You unique is that it is not presented or taught in the "typical" way.  Spanish for You is divided into themes, and the curriculum is sold and taught that way. For example, we received the "Fiestas" theme, which is based around celebrations.  There is also an "Estaciones" theme (seasons), and a "Viajes" theme (travel, which is currently only available as a 4-6 week-trial).  All of the lessons center around this theme, and vocabulary, verbs, and grammar are taught through "real-life" lessons.

Each guide can be used for all target grades for an entire school year.

What Did We Receive?

We received the Fiestas package, which included a soft cover book, a 24 or 30-week Lesson Guide for each grade we needed as a download (we used the 3-4 grade lesson plan and the 7-8 grade lesson plan), a PDF file of self-checking worksheets, again for 3-4 grade AND 7-8 grade, downloadable audio files of the entire curriculum from both an instructor and a native speaker, and a PDF file of flashcard / activity pictures.  Our entire package is priced at $64.95; however, grade-specific packages can be bought for $39.95.

The Fiestas book includes some notes for parents / teachers, and then has a very cool reference section that includes some of the Spanish basics:  the alphabet, common words and phrases, commands, colors and numbers, making and practicing flashcards instructions, games and activities for practice, and information about the different fiestas we would be learning about.  The book then splits off into the lessons, and there are five lessons total.  Five lessons doesn't sound like a lot, but four weeks into our review period, we had only finished up one lesson--barely!

The downloads came right away are were easy to access.  However, there was some confusion when it came to figuring out which specific audio file went with each lesson.  They weren't always listed in the order that they were needed and sometimes they were hard to find when I needed them.  New downloads, though, will be grouped differently, and should be easier to identify and use.

How Did We Use This Curriculum?

Although it is specified for Grades 3-8, I chose to use this curriculum as part of our daily group time for all three of my kiddos (K, 4, and 7).  I figured that Bug could benefit from hearing the instruction, but my real audience would be my older girls.  While the lesson plans for Turtle showed 24 weeks of instruction and the lesson plans for Firefly showed 30 weeks, I was able to nicely combine both for a pace that worked for both girls.

I started by going through the book, which clearly spelled out "How to Use This Curriculum for Home Use" and gave a Lesson Guide Note for parents.  The guide states that it is set up for four days of work each week for 10-30 minutes each time, which is about exactly how we used it.  It also states that while the lesson plans are flexible and can be modified, the order of the work presented should be followed because it is very specific.  (We managed to do that too!)

Each "week", (I will use the term loosely, as we definitely slowed this curriculum down a great deal) there is a guide of the new vocabulary you will learn, the new common words and phrases, and some suggestions for practicing these.  The week is then broken into five days of plans, with different types of activities each day, from listening to the audio files, to playing card games, reading lessons, making sentences, completing worksheets, or singing songs.

What Did I Think of the Curriculum?

Playing "como te llamas?"

I'll be honest (which I guess is the point of the review, right?).  I was pretty much on the side of terrified when we actually received all of this information.  I didn't want to jump right in as is suggested.  I thought that surely my kiddos (and me) would need to start with basics like the alphabet.  How on earth were we supposed to fly right into "hablo, habla, hablamos" and "la comida" and things like that?

So,....I emailed the nice people at Spanish For You and asked them all kinds of questions.  And they reassured me that, yes, I could just dive right in and we'd be fine.

So I did.

And we were.

Amazing!

The first day we were all overwhelmed and that terrified feeling I had stuck around.  But day two was easier.  And day three.  And the lesson plans just gave us small little chunks to bite off, and we managed to do it.

And my kids learned it.  They loved that they could do it, and they loved that they had a friend who only speaks Spanish that they could actually (minimally, but it was better than nothing) communicate with her.  It must have been a riot to her that we kept talking about cake and candles, but, hey--it was a start, right?

The book was wonderful--simple illustrations, not too overwhelming visually, and full of resources for doing different activities to review vocabulary.  The audio files, though, were invaluable!  I don't speak Spanish and I'm sure my attempts at it were pretty pathetic.  However, we could just go to the computer to hear the lesson both from a teacher, and from a native speaker, which was a huge bonus!

I also really appreciated the lesson plans being done for me.  I love check-off-the-box curriculums.  At the same time, though, it was flexible enough for me to be able to combine the two plans, and to slow the plans down and take more time when we needed to.  The variety of review activities, and the simplicity of the worksheets were an added bonus!  It definitely kept my kids' attention.

This was one of the favorite's--BINGO!

What Did They Think of the Curriculum?

"I liked the birthday song.  That was fun.  Especially when we made the video.  I liked the BINGO and the other games like that.  And with the flashcards, where either my mom would put up the Spanish word and we would have to say the English, or she would hold up the English word and we would have to say the Spanish word."  Bug, age 6

"I really liked it.  It was really fun because you get to do fun stuff with it and play BINGO and it's really easy to now remember the Spanish words.  I really like the way that my mom taught it and how the recording worked.  It was really fun to learn the Spanish word and be able to talk to one of my friends that knows Spanish.  It was fun to hear her say stuff back to me in Spanish, some that I didn't know, but some I did because of this program."  Firefly, age 10

"I liked it.  It was fun."  Turtle, age 13  (She's quite a talker, that one.)

Overall, I think this curriculum is a great deal for what you get.  It is definitely one we will continue to use in our homeschool!

I'll leave you with some non-professional grade videos of my kiddos and myself showing off what we learned (please be kind and remember I'm learning too lol!).  One is a game of "Simon Dice" (Simon Says), and the other is the "Happy Birthday Song".

You can also check out what my Crew-Mates thought of the programs they got to review:

Wordless Wednesday. Distraction...

Nothing like a little terror named Tigger to mess up your school plans!