homeschool

Special needs mom fighting for diagnosis

/ Jeanette / Leave a comment

I never wanted to be the mom of a special needs kid.  The idea and thought terrified me. Then I became very close with my cousin who one day just stop growing and no one knew why. He was like having a baby under the age of 1 for about 2-3 years. And I watched what my Aunt was going through and I definitely didn’t want it then. I had a perfectly healthy daughter and that was how I wanted all my kids. But then I met my husband.

I have a blended family. My oldest daughter and youngest daughter came from my husbands previous marriage. The mom got into some trouble and lost custody. The day I moved in, she quit coming around or calling much. Eventually she signed over her rights and I adopted the girls as my own. My middle and youngest daughter are only 5 months apart. But they are mentally and physically years apart. When I came into the picture Bri would talk but you couldn’t understand her at all. Only 3 words came out clearly. She was having a hard time potty training. Very small and petite in size compared to the other kids. It seemed like everything with Bri was on hyperspeed. And she was very impulsive and unaware of dangers.

We originally got the speech diagnosis and started her in an intense pre-k with tons of speech therapy. About 2 years later, we got the ADHD diagnosis. But within 6 months of being on meds, she turned violent and out of control. My little sweet petite girl could bust my lip, punch a hole in the wall and break a window all in one day. And yes she was only 6 or 7. From there we got the diagnosis of mood disorder. She has been on meds ever since. But I kept saying there was something more. That something wasn’t right. I homeschooled for a couple of years until her meds weren’t working and she became a danger to myself and the newborn in the house at the time. We decided that we needed a break and public school would give us that. But in school she was struggling. Inevitably getting in a fight because and I quote “the other girl wanted to”. She didn’t have any social common sense in my opinion. She will talk to you like dirt and treat you like dirt but the minute you do it to her; your labeled as mean and she runs to her room crying which then goes into a temper tantrum. She doesn’t understand right from wrong or just doesn’t care. I am not sure. She struggles in school with making friends and being on her grade level. No one has an answer, a solution and just keeps passing her along!

I have been to therapist that have suggest locking her in a closet to talking to her like she is a baby. I have been to neurologist, endocrinologist, psychiatrist, psychologist and had many IQ test done. But finally I might have a light at the end of the 9 year battle! It took the 5th psychiatrist to listen and say whoa, i think she might be this instead. But finally there is hope. And the scary part is I have suspected it all along.

Asperger’s!

I am really hoping this is the answer. I am exhausted and beginning to lose my drive. But I can’t quit; I know that. But it just sucks going on this journey.

I will say that with everything I picked up with my daughter and cousin, I have learned a lot. I can look at someone at the restaurant and say he is autistic or listen to a friend share her worries about her child and say sounds like a sensory issue.

But it still is hard…….

Homeschooling with a toddler part 2

/ Jeanette / Leave a comment

Part 1 talks about getting a schedule set for your older child that way you and her aren’t always wondering what’s next. And this also allows more time for you to play and be hands on with your toddler. With my toddler I have a toddler/preschool curriculum I bought (very cheap I might add) and I also use preschoolpalace.org and preschoolexpress.com to supplement.

At the beginning of the month I like to pick my themes and color for the month.

beginning of the month

I then go on the websites and through my own curriculum and pick out the activities that would interest Dakota.  Then take a blank monthly calendar and list one activity on each blank spot. I do not fill in the dates because that is not relevant to me. Basically I say these are the things I want to accomplish this month. Every morning I look at the calendar and say ok I have everything for this or I can fit this activity in between errands. As we do an activity I highlight it so I know what we have and haven’t done. Very simple and yet organizing. As you know life with a toddler is day to day. Today they could be sweet as pie and tomorrow their evil twin might show up. So with this kind of relaxing scheduling you can accommodate anything that life throws at you. Some days it is as simple as reading a specific story. Those are good on days when your toddler isn’t feeling well.

Also at the beginning of the month I like to hang up our theme posters on Dakota’s bulletin board. That shows Dakota pictures of what we are learning along with our color poster for the color of the month. Throughout the month as we do an activity I like to hang some of them on his board so everyone can see and he can show everyone. Sometimes it spills over onto the refrigerator because what Mom doesn’t have a refrigerator full of art.

Dakota’s board

By the end of the month our board is full and we take it all down saving some things of course and getting it ready for the next month.

Homeschooling with a toddler part 1

/ Jeanette / Leave a comment

Homeschooling a middle schooler while having a toddler at home can be VERY challenging. My son would very happy watching Toy Story 2 (has to be 2) or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse all day long but it makes me feel guilty! So I decided that there has to be some kind of compromise on homeschooling my older child while homeschooling my youngest. I needed to be organized, not my strongest area. But it was the only way to quiet my guilt and make me feel like a supermom.

First was getting my daughter on a set schedule. This way she knew what to expect and I knew what was coming next. I sat down wrote out all the subjects and then wrote out our timeline. Because we do have 2 other kids in Public School we have to finish by the time I go on my afternoon bus run. Now this is our second schedule, I had to some tweeking. I originally had math as our first subject because this is one she struggles with and I thought that if it was the first subject of the day she would feel refreshed and understand it better. But after many weeks of stressing because our schedule was being thrown off I moved it to our last subject of the day. This gives her the whole rest of the day to work on it ( if need be) and I am not stressing her out saying we need to move on.

At first we had Mondays off but my hubby didn’t like that. Another long story…..

One these days I promise I will tell all my long stories.

Okay back to Mondays. So on Mondays we do a review of what we learned the week before. Which makes sense to me more than Friday reviews because chances are they are going to forget over the weekend not from Monday to Friday when you have been working on for 5 days straight. Plus my youngest daughter gets out an hour early from public school.

Tuesday and Wednesday we wrap up everything as far as me teaching by 2:30 pm. I go for my bus run and my daughter stays working on math if need be.

Thursday and Friday, my youngest has tutoring so I don’t have to leave until 3 pm to get my oldest. That gives us and extra 1/2 hour so we try to fit in Music, Art and Clickschooling.

Then I factored in when my son would take a nap and also when lunch would be so I could schedule the more hands on lessons during that time. I also put a more hands off subject the hour before lunch which would give me time to make a healthy lunch (no sandwiches here, well maybe once in a while).

Yes I still have to stop and give the assignment and possibly teach a lesson or two but I am not sitting here dumbfounded going UMMMMMM when asked what’s next. We both had the schedule right in front of us and could easily look ahead of time and prep.

Part 1 accomplished!