Sep. 1, 2006 - Cottage Schooling in Indiana
We began our new school year August 15. When I was homeschooling at home without the cottage school, I home schooled year 'round. But I like having my summers off now to just do summer things, and enjoy my children without the push, push, push of learning academics!
I know a lot of people believe in "unschooling." I think that is an incredible option for kids who are self-starters and read well and are bright enough to be curious and want to learn new things. But for my children with special needs, I find I need to push them to try new things.
My twin boys, age 11, have autism. New things are scary for people with autism. Their primary emotion is fear. So anything new is troubling to them. My boys ask me over and over again about what is coming next, or what is going to happen over the weekend, or at church, just so they won't be surprised by anything unexpected. They have a high level of anxiety and just getting through a regular day is very difficult for them. When I can, I use a visual schedule to help them get through the day, and we try as much as we can to keep to the same schedule if not daily, weekly. Still, real life is not the same each day, so each day presents its challenges.
I find myself feeling very frustrated sometimes and at other times angry at the disease that has wracked my twin boys' brains. It's not fair! It's not right! And I look forward to heaven so much when their tongues will be loosed and they will be able to speak and sing clearly!
My 15 year old is diagnosed with bipolar, and sematic-pragmatic disorder which manifests behaviors similar to Asperger's Syndrome. He is also considered "gifted." This only means he has a higher IQ than the average person. (I believe we are all gifted!) He is much more intelligent than I am and is able to do math far above my level, which is why I am grateful for the math teacher that we have. She has a degree in computer science and is a math whiz herself!
I have another student in modified 10th grade, with mild mental retardation, and another student with severe emotional issues who is in a modified 2nd grade. Both of these students exhibit the symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder.
How on earth am I able to teach children with ODD? The If-Then chart! It works WONDERS! Check it out!
This is how our day goes at Liberty Christian Academy Cottage School. (http://libertyscholars.com).
First, when the students arrive, I have already placed seat work at their desk for them to do. For the older students it's usually a puzzle (Sudoku is a popular puzzle of choice this year) and for the younger it is usually a simple crossword puzzle with pictures for them to color with markers if they wish. No one is required to do the coloring, but you'd be amazed how often even the 10th graders get out the markers and enjoy decorating their papers!
I have posted a purple poster at the front of the room that lists everything the students need to remember to do when they first arrive: Use the rest room, fill their water bottles (we keep water bottles at our desks at all times because water lubricates those brain cells!), and get out their supplies and Bibles. They are also encouraged to write prayer requests on the board. I used to go around the room and ask for prayer requests but it took up a lot of time. This way, they are written down and I won't forget to pray over anything.
By 8:15 AM everyone has arrived and we do our pledges to the flags and Bible. The child with extreme emotional issues is allowed to wiggle a little during this time. All the other children are encouraged to be as respectful as they possibly can be. I am very proud of the students' progress in this area. I think it proves that what you expect from children no matter what their abilities, you will get.
This year we are learning to sign to some patriotic songs, so after we say our pledges we practice one of the songs we are learning. Then, we sing an old hymn out of an old hymnal.
After we sing we are seated and we pray over the prayer requests. I usually pray and I pray about issues we're having in school and the kids are having at home. We have seen so many miracles as a result of this prayer time!
Then we have a short Bible lesson. Right now I'm using Considering God's Creation by Moritmer and Smith. It's a science curriculum but since we are studying Ancient History this year, it is really a wonderful way to start the year. Once a week we study martyrs and missionaries, too.
We close chapel by reciting the Lord's Prayer and setting up tables for snack time and lunch time.
By now it is 9:00 AM and we split up into classes. All the students except the 10th grade boys do math at this time and I work with the 10th grade boys on English and Life Skills as well as Latin, Greek and Speech.
After recess I read out of a classic to everyone. I encourage the older students to listen to the good grammar and the descriptive phrases. But to be honest, they love the stories as much as the younger children! I am reading the Burgess Animal Book by Thornton Burgess aloud right now. I pull real pictures of the animal I am going to read about off of the internet and pass them out before I read for the students to look at or even color if they wish. This keeps their hands busy during this time.
After the read aloud the younger students are assigned an older student to read to while I work with the beginning and struggling readers. The little guy with emotional problems is so self-defeating it just breaks my heart. He gets extremely upset before he even tries. He is thoroughly convinced he can't do it. The fact is, he really does have a difficult time, but this is the first year I'm seeing progress, and that makes sense because he is nine years old now, and a lot of boys can't decipher letters until then. He is a brilliant little mathematician. He must get it from his grandmother who is the high school math teacher! :-)
After the beginners read to me, I assign practice reading for the evening hours with family. Usually I only assign about 15 minutes of homework because I don't believe in taking up the entire evening with homework when these kids haven't been with their parents all day long. They need a stress-free, bonding-time with their folks, and if parents wanted to home school their own children they wouldn't be sending them to me for school!
After reading it's time for the older boys to have math while I work with the girls in 7th and 10th grade in English, Life Skills, Greek, Latin and sometimes Home Ec.
Ooops. I need to back up. While I'm working with the older students in their subjects in the mornings, I also work with the little boy with emotional problems. We had a rocky start this year, but he is doing better now. I have learned that he loves to stamp his own paper -- so that's been a great motivator for him! Whew. God is so good. I wasn't sure if I could take another year of working with him, to be honest, but he has really done well this past week. I covet your prayers working with this little guy! And so does his grandmother!
At noon the child with emotional issues goes home with his grandmother to do homeschool activities. He is just not able to handle a full day of school. After lunch and recess we have another reading time where the students are read to.
Afternoons are spent studying chess, science, history and whatever else we need to do. We do a lot of nature studies as well as field trips that help the students with real life skills such as counting their change after ordering a meal, or budgeting for a shopping trip. But we also do a lot of trips that are just plain academic. I love history the most out of all our subjects so we do a lot of field trips that have to do with history. And we take one camping trip every year in September. This is to help the students identify with living without electricity and other conveniences of modern society.
I do have two adults helping me full-time with the younger students, and two part-time adults who help me with math and art. They are a true blessing to us as they all volunteer their time here! I am so grateful to God to be able to put my children in this homeschool-friendly environment with homeschool philosophies and ideals. I home schooled my other children for 13 years before starting this cottage school 4 years ago! God is good all the time and all the time God is good!
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Sep. 14, 2006 - Untitled Comment |
| Posted by humpty |
I love your blogs. I cannot at them to my Bloglines. You do not have a link to RSS Feed in you links column and that is my second option to add a blog. Would you mind trying this: Go to your blog manager, click "Site Feed (RSS)" in the column and change "Publish Site Feed" to "Yes" and don't forget to save.
I have had some do this and it still did not work, but I can hope. I have almost 100 blogs I like to read and Bloglines lets me read them so much faster and let's me know if a new blog has been posted.
Thanks,
Liz |
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About Me
I have 5 children and three grandchildren. My oldest two children are married with children of their own. My youngest three are still at home. My middle child is 15 has bipolar, semantic-pragmatic disorder, hypothyroidism, adhd, dyslexia, giftedness and other issues. My youngest children, twins, are 11 and have autism, mental retardation, communication disorder, and all the behaviors that go with those lovely diagnoses!
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