Review: The Schoolhouse Planner November Module: AMUSING MATHEMATICS

Amusing Mathematics is the latest unit study by the folks who bring us The Schoolhouse Planner. For $7.95, it is a 48-page e-book that provides a wide range of games, activities, fact sheets, even a couple of worksheets that make math fun. This module contains materials to appeal to youngsters and to older students, and the material includes addition and multiplication, currency/money, telling time. There are magic tricks, games like sudoku, tangrams and pattern blocks, riddles, vocab, shapes, a word search, coloring pages, quotes for copywork, practice sheets for learning to write numerals, and recipes. The links provided by the authors that take you to more games and resources are helpful.

Buying an e-module, sight unseen, is something that is difficult for me. I like to go to the bookstore and flip through the pages of a book or workbook before I purchase, and sometimes, I like to borrow a book from the library before I decide whether it's worth the money to purchase.

I've had the privilege of reviewing four e-modules from the Planner, and I have used something from each module, and my trust in the products associated with the Planner grows each time I experience a new module. I probably would not buy every module available, but would base purchases on the topic of any given month, depending on what areas I need support, or perhaps based upon a special interest at home. The products are packed with practical ideas, good information, shortcuts, and links to more resources, and many of the ideas don't require special purchases or unique materials, and are very "user friendly". I like that concept a lot.

TOS Homeschool Crew Review: Spears Art Studio

Spears Art Studio

SPEARS ART STUDIO K-8 CHRISTIAN ART CURRICULUM, A TEACHER'S MANUAL© CD-Rom in PDFfull color pages in PDF booklets$44.95 shipping included

Comprehensive and Customizable—they’re two words I used to describe another recent item, and yet, these words summarize the Spears Art Studio as well.

Perhaps I am more shortsighted than most homeschooling parents, (I *am* quite new to homeschooling, after all) but researching and purchasing an art curriculum was not high on my list of needs or wants at home. (What was I thinking?) I consider myself a bit on the “artistic-impaired” side, never quite feeling competent at art. I was curious about an art curriculum when I was offered the opportunity to use and review the Spears Art Studio K-8 Christian Art Curriculum that is developed by artist Diane Shields Spears, EdD.

And I am impressed! (Sample lessons are here, if you'd like to take a look.)

The CD is quite comprehensive, providing support to a parent and/or teacher so that a quality art curriculum can be delivered to students who fit a wide range of ages and developmental stages, and the curriculum can be used for several years to teach students as they develop. The CD is also customizable, so that the parent or teacher can use all of it, from the year-long project, to the art history, to the “how-to’s”, to the activities and assignments, or the parent/teacher may take a bit from here and a bit from there as it fits into an existing educational framework or into your art budget in any particular week or month.

Anything that would save me time and research, it seems, Spears has provided here, including supply lists; background and supplemental resource recommendations; scripture tie-ins; science; artwork as a writing prompt; vocabulary, art, academic and theme objectives. Spears recommends a wide variety of materials and media and she lists needed supplies each month so parents and teachers can be prepared for the projects ahead. Spears’ recommended images from your local library from the art history section each month remind me of the importance that Charlotte Mason placed on picture studies, and here, in one place, Spears gives us all that we need to experience and expand upon picture studies.

As hesitant as I’ve been to move to e-books, e-classes, and materials on CD-Rom, I have enjoyed the ease and speed of scrolling through the monthly table of contents to look for activities that fit our current homeschool objectives, and Spears has given me many ideas for broadening the scope of what we do at home. (I have put off starting a picture study, not quite feeling competent to begin, and now I know that I have the resources for a meaningful picture study!) I also like the fact that the small CD takes up less room than a bunch of books!

Working at home with a child on the autism spectrum, in addition to gaining inspiration for picture studies, ideas for copywork from scripture related to the art projects, I have found many useful projects and activities that can be used as background activities for relationship objectives. The way Spears creatively uses what RDIers refer to as “same but different” (variations on a theme) is very useful for us. I am always looking for activities and projects that are appealing to all my children as something we can do together, and this CD is packed with those kinds of ideas. There are projects that provide fine motor work, projects that require the coordination of two people together (co-regulating and coordinating) some to do alone (more of a parallel play type project).

When I think of all of the arts and crafts books I’ve purchased over the years, not one contains all of the components that Spears combines into this one product. Because the program is customizable, it is very versatile. And all of the work (short of buying the needed supplies) has been done for me. For $45, Spears gives us a great value!

First snowflakes of the season spotted...

Light snow is falling here--I tried to capture a picture of it for you, but the flakes are too tiny for the camera to pick up.

First cursive (still more to share today!) / active roles and passive roles

After several attempts to begin the Peterson Handwriting Program today, I found, with some trial and error, something that is a great scaffold for a child who may be affected by both attention issues and movement/motor issues: I sat in the floor and my daughter sat in my lap, and she wrapped her hand around mine as I "air wrote" our first letter today. She was able to feel the motion through mine, and without my asking her to, she began to take the lead and move my hand through the motions. And her approximations of the cursive lowercase letter "t" began to resemble cursive lowercase "t's" instead of capital print upside down V's. (yeah!) The transformation of her letters was quite exciting once I figured out one way to help her "air write" and feel that movement.

Next time, I may sit in a chair and have her stand beside me in a way that she can grasp my hand/arm in order to join me in "air writing".

In the past, a lot of intervention with my daughter was done using what is referred to as "HAND OVER HAND", where the adult's hand is on TOP of the child's and guides the child's hand. "Hand-over-hand" is sometimes (often) used as a substitute for attention sharing when the child's ability to share attention with the adult is limited or developmentally delayed. "Hand-over-hand" puts the child in a passive role, letting someone do something *to* him.

What my girl and I did this morning was use my hand UNDER hers, where she could feel my movement, and as I put less effort into my movement, I gave her the opportunity to take responsibility for the movement, and I put her into an ACTIVE role, where she could feel herself taking an action, feel herself making the movements. When I removed my arm and hand from under hers, she was able to "air write" our first cursive letter herself.

The difference between "active role" and "passive role" is a BIG one--please don't miss the distinction.

Cutter's cramp

Is there such a thing as "cutter's cramp", similar to "writer's cramp"?

I began cutting the extremely sturdy letter tiles from the (way cool) All About Spelling curriculum, and *then* I realized that the tiles are just the beginning...I get to cut out the phonogram cards, next. ;)

I need one of those big paper cutters that schools and crafters use--I'd be done in a snap!

In the meantime, I'm pretty sure I have "cutter's cramp"...

Our first cursive lesson

We finally began working with the Peterson Handwriting Program. I received the materials a week-and-a-half ago, late on a Thursday, as I was preparing to leave for a Friday/Saturday conference. With church and small group on Sunday, vision check-up and grocery shopping on Tuesday, and playing catch-up the rest of the week, I spent some time over the past weekend familiarizing myself with the materials and planning a strategy on how I would begin with my daughter.

I discovered a presentation on-line that explains the Peterson Handwriting Program. It is approximately 20 minutes long and explains why Peterson Handwriting uses an exaggerated gross motor movement component and "air writing" that is different from other programs. Check out the internet presentation and take a look for yourself. I'm glad I discovered the presentation and took the time to watch it.

I hope the emphasis on movement as the early steps (and de-emphasis on making the letters wtih pencil and paper in the beginning) will provide both the framework and the scaffolding for my daughter to develop the foundations for cursive.

The lessons are supposed to be 10 minutes long--and, as we begin, ours are going to be shorter, *much* shorter. Ours are going to be approximately two minutes long, and we may sit down five times to get a 10 minute lesson. Over time, we'll do more and more "work" at one sitting.

My daughter's anxiety is our biggest obstacle--she, I suspect, is afraid that what I'm showing her will be too difficult for her. Her anxiety is a sign of stress--and who can actually LEARN when he/she is under stress? So, we will break the early sessions down, to allow her to discover for herself that a) the Peterson handwriting program is broken down into tiny managable steps and b) that she is competent to manage those steps. I know she can handle them, but she does not, and that's a discovery she will have to make for herself, and I must use myself as a trustworthy guide, not only in the instruction of the handwriting program, but also, as a guide to setting the stage so that she can make her own discovery. My challenge, today, is that she's got a sore, red throat, and her anxiety and resistance surface more quickly when she's not feeling her best.

The Rapid Strep Test is NEGATIVE...

We are blessed to have found a local family medicine doctor who has been very recently trained in the DAN! protocol. DAN! stands for "Defeat Autism Now," and the protocol addresses the many medical issues we see alongside a diagnosis of autism.

He is not set up to take DAN! patients yet. But, as a family medicine doctor, he was available last night for a dreaded throat swab--and while my princess's behavior last week was a foreshadowing of the red throat, (something I never put together until we became homeschoolers) and while the throat is shockingly bright red, the rapid strep test is negative. We'll wait to hear from the one they sent to the lab.

My challenge when my girl is sick like this, when she needs more of her energy and attention on shutting out the pain and cruddy feeling of being sick, when she prefers to draw away to herself and shut everyone out, is to keep her engaged for short periods of time without pushing so far that she's frustrated with herself and with me.

Friday, we managed to abandon the Charlotte Mason philosophy entirely, and she did reading and copywork from a Toys R Us toy catalog. She's got quite the Christmas list going! ;)

I have two new curricula to begin with her this week, Peterson Handwriting and All About Spelling. We're going to start the handwriting program today. And since the spelling program arrived yesterday, I've got some reading and some set up (cutting out more than a few letters) to do in preparation for starting later in the week. I'll have to plan the most gentle of starts with both of them.

Now, we need to figure out why the throat thing keeps happening...and help her feel better!

Have a great Tuesday!

Visiting the science museum

Today was the last day we could use free passes to a nearby science museum, so we seized the opportunity. The last time we visited this museum was during the summer, and the place was crawling with kids from summer camps and day care facilities--which meant getting to spend time at any one exhibit or hands-on display was impossible.

Today, we took a leisurely stroll through all the exhibits and were able to pause where we wanted to and spend as much time in one place as we wanted to. The building was quiet, today, too.

A PS: My princess seemed a bit withdrawn today at the museum, and she was resistant to my taking her picture. (Her pictures lately have been GREAT, but today, she wasn't interested, which was odd.) When we got home, she pretended to lie down and sleep, and I decided to check her throat. She can't always tell that it's hurting. BRIGHT RED. OUCH. We are going to the doctor at 6 pm tonight.

The bat exhibit is fantastic!

Hi Stellaluna!

Posing with a giant shell.
One of the cool, hands-on displays:
A stuffed penguin in one of the displays

Dinosaur bones!

Ideas for Autumn

Very RDI friendly ideas here:

http://www.cindysdesktop.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/HSEW-10-24-08.pdf

Freebies

The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Freebie Directory is here.