Week 2 Home School

This has been kind of a crazy week. Week 2's Lesson Plans actually didn't end until today due to a little cold Landon had. I already that this coming week is going to be equally crazy due to doctor's appointments. But we will work it all out. First I would like to share with you a video of Landon's first Home school created book for this year. I put it together in a video. I hope you enjoy. ( I hope to add a clip of him signing the Bible verse but I'm just learning how to use this site to make the video's so it may take a few days.)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Here are some of my favorite pictures for our home school this week

matching numbers to the correct picture

"Reading" Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with his pointer

the sun he made by painting a paper plate, gluing yellow triangles around the edge, and sprinkling glitter

Week 3 Lesson's will start with the alphabet and "math".  I will describe how I am working the math program and what book I am using in my first post about week 3. 

Week 1 days 2&3

School is going great...even though not as planned.  Landon has had a little cold and a VERY runny nose plus he went to school on Wen in addition to his normal days because it was picture day.  All of this has caused us to do Home school a little off schedule.  We actually did days 2 and 3 on Sat. and Sun.

Landon really seems to be enjoying our school time together.  He still loves using the pointer, I'll have to get a picture of that, and the "art" of learning.  He sits right down and does everything like we have been doing it for months.  He is such a good boy!

Some have asked why I haven't started with any alphabet activities.  Well,  I wanted to get into the grove of things first.  We will start alphabet activities on week 3.  Here are some pictures from the past couple of days.

Day 2 Creation Book

Day 3 Creation Book

writing practice on paint baggie

Woody needed some writing practice as well:)

I can't wait to show you the finished Creation Book.  I have taken up close pictures of each finished page and will post them all together at the end of the week.  Maybe the video of him saying/signing his Bible verse will accompany it.

We love you all and hope that you are enjoying the posts.  Our next visit to Knoxville is soon...The Buddy Walk is Oct 10.  I can't wait!!

Week 1 Lesson Plans

"Paul Daugherty 2009 Keynote Address"

A friend of my found this great Keynote Address made at the Remarkable Families Symposium.  Mr. Daugherty has a daughter with Down Syndrome.  His Keynote address was powerful and I wish everyone who teaches Landon could read this and really "get" what he is saying.  Please take the time to read:

Paul Daugherty 2009 Keynote Address

Home Preschool Week 1 Day 1

Today was so much fun.  It was our first day doing preschool at home.  Landon did great and really enjoyed the Nursery Rhyme, singing time, and most all of the activities especially when he got to use the pointer.

This week and next week we will be learning about how God created the earth.  Today was about day one which is the creation of the Day and Night.  During out ABC time we are going to start focusing on one letter per week in a couple of weeks but to get us started we are just doing some letter matching.  Because Landon already knows most of his letters we are going to use the letter of the week as a review and a spring board to do activities that will encourage reading, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, and speech.  The letter matching today was interesting to watch.  I helped him with the first two he drew from the mystery box by showing him where to place the letters.  When he did it by himself, you can see in the pictures,  he put the magnet letters on top of the printed letters.  That was fine but just interesting.  I can't wait to see what he does tomorrow.

Our Bible verse for the next couple of weeks will be Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".  I taught him the signs today and it was so touching to see him working on it.  I am hoping that by the end of the week or at least by the end of next week he will have it down pat and I can video it to share.   Here are some of the pictures that I took while he was working on some of the activities.

making "Creation Booklet" day 1

gluing paper for his "Day and Night" collage

pulling letters from the mystery box for his letter match

Enjoying his "Day and Night" Oreo snack

Letter match

In case you missed my lesson plans for this week:  Week 1

Getting ready

Tomorrow Landon and I will start our school time.  I'm working on what exactly to call our school time but for now it's just "Mom's School".  Today I thought I would show you what my plans are for the week and how I plan to do Calendar Time.  I use the word "plan" because everything may change the first few days if things are not working as I had thought they would or, as I already now for this week, our schedule may change.

Here are some pictures of what our Calendar looks like.

 For the calendar we will count the days up to the current date.  I am going to have 3 numbers on the green board and he will choose the number that will come next.  Now, I know that he is not ready to do this on his own and I know that he doesn't and won't know his numbers up to 20 to 31 for a while but there is no reason not to expose him to these numbers.  I will help him find the correct number by giving him hints such as, "which of these numbers has a 3 in it", or something like that.  I will read the number choices to him correctly just so that he see and hears the numbers and who knows, maybe he will learn these numbers quicker than anyone thinks.  After the date we will "read" the month and the day of the week.  During this time we will say or sing all of the days of the week and the months of the year.  When we are done we will go over "Today is (day of the week) ,  (Month) (date).  I don't have a spot written out for this yet but I'm thinking I need one for Landon to see as we say it.  I'll have to work on that.

The other parts of our calendar will be "Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday",  "The Weather Outside Is", "What Color?, and "How Many?".  For "Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday" we just go over it so that he hears those words.  For "The Weather Outside Is" we will open the door go outside on the porch and look.  We will talk about what we see and then come back in.  I will have 3 choices for him to choose from on the green board and he will pick one and place it on the chart.  The color and how many charts are my creation.  Learning his colors, or at least consistently telling me the correct color, has been difficult so I wanted to add something to our daily routine that would specifically go over it at least once every day.  I will either have a color word put on the chart and Landon will have to select the correct picture that matches from the green board or I will have a picture up on the chart and he will have to pick the correct word.  The "how many" chart will work similarly.  I will put up a number and he will select how many characters he needs off of the green board.  I made the characters Toy Story to help with the interest level.

Each week we will work on a new nursery rhyme and I will make a chart so that we can read it and do other activities with it.  I have a little pointer that looks like a hand pointing that we will use with the calendar and the nursery rhyme, along with many other things.

Here are the plans I have for Week 1.  I hope you enjoy them and I will post pictures of some of the activities soon.

I have mentioned the "green board" several times so I guess I should tell you what that is.  I bought a cork board and covered it in felt to make a flannel board.  My calendar time pieces all work with Velcro so the pieces will stick to the flannel board.  I will put Landon's choices up on the board for him to choose from.  It works great.

New School Year

Landon's first day of school 2010

Buzz Lightyear backpack was a must

Landon's first day of Preschool was Monday.  He is getting to be such a big boy!  This year he is going twice a week but staying until 2:30.  I must say that Monday was the longest, loneliest day I have  ever  had.  I had so much to do around the house but I caught myself looking at my watch every 30 min. or so wishing it was time for me to go pick him up.  I must confess that I did go early to get him.

There are several changes to Landon's school schedule this year.  First,  Landon's teacher from last year is no longer there and we will miss her very much.  Second, Landon is at school from 8:30-2:30 each  day which means that he is getting his nap there.  That was one of the things I was most worried about.  I wasn't sure how he would do laying on his little mat, STAYING there, and going to sleep.  They said he did great, I'm guessing he was so tired from his busy day he would have napped anywhere.  The third change, what he does during the day. This is the part that I am most excited about. I drop Landon off in the class he was in last year, he has a little play time, eats a small snack and then goes to the 4 year old class.  This class is not a special needs class but rather a class of children that will be going to Kindergarten next year who may be lacking  a few skills they need  to be successful. This class is focused primarily on academic skills and strengthening fine motor skill needed for tasks such as using scissors, coloring, and writing.  The class that he was in last year was mainly focused on developmental activities.  Landon, along with one other child, goes down to the 4 year old class and has circle time and "table time" which is where they do their class work.  The class has one lead teacher, on assistant, and another assistant that is there for Landon and the other student.  Landon's aid is there to help him with task that he needs a little extra support in.  He stays in this class until he is "over it" for the day and then he can go back to the 3 year old class.  This schedule is fine with me because he still has one more year until he starts Kindergarten.  Next year he will be in the 4 year old class full time.  This is just a great opportunity for Landon to continue to grow and develop leaps and bounds.

I need to go and get some housework done but I will try to write about his IEP meeting and the goals we set for him soon.  Also look next week because that is when I am going to start his work at home.  I can't wait to see how he does and how much fun we are going to have together.

Private Speech Therapy

Today was Landon's first official private speech therapy with Ms. Lori. I'm not sure if he was excited but I sure was. I am amazed at what she could get him to do with a little persistence. As you know, I was not overly thrilled with the speech he was/is getting at school. I don't think it is any fault of the therapist, just the way "things are" in the school system. I am very excited about the potential Landon showed today considering I don't feel that he progressed as much as he could have with a little more "push" during the school year. I have VERY high hopes for the months ahead. She has even agreed to allow me to video her sessions with Landon so that Travis and I can look back over it to help us better work with Landon at home.

The first thing we discussed was goals. Ms. Lori has written out a few goals for Landon to get him started. First let me show you the goals that were written in Landon's IEP for last year.

Area of Need: Expressive language
Annual Goal: By August 2010. Landon will increase expressive language skills to be able to communicate effectively , orally or by using signs, in 80% of opportunities in the school setting.

Area of Need: Articulation
Annual Goal: By August 2010, Landon will improve the intelligibility of speech production to be understood in 70% of opportunities presented daily.

These goals sound great and I agreed to them BUT looking back I have a few problems. First, no one really used signs with him. If his speech was not moving along they should have been working on signs in order to meet his expressive language goal. Second, there is no mention of how Landon was going to get from "point A" to "point B". I understand that they can't write all of the short term goals in his IEP but that is why I requested getting update every couple of weeks to let me know what they were working on. How many updates did I get last school year from speech? One, and that was after I wrote a letter requesting an update. Nothing there after. 

Now, compare the IEP goals with the ones that Ms. Lori wrote after meeting Landon only one time for his evaluation.

1. Landon will select activity when presented with a picture choice in a field of up to 6 pictures 100% of opportunities with given a verbal command.
2. Landon will imitate a variety of CV sounds on 9/10 trials with minimal cueing.
3. Landon will produce simple CVC words 9/10 trials in two consecutive sessions without cueing.
4. Landon will use a sign or picture card with verbal approximations 4/5 trials to request an object during two consecutive sessions without cueing.
5. Landon will spontaneously use 5 two word combinations in one session.

Ms. Lori told me that she thought Landon would master #1, #2, & #4 soon but that gave us something to start with. #3 & #5 were the two big goals that she wanted to work on and that she would add more as she met with Landon and sees more of what his need is. I can't wait to show you what she does with him during a session. After only one meeting, she has inspired me to create a "communication board" , which I'll write about a little later, to help give Landon choices and chances to talk and put words together that we know he can say.

Due to Ms. Lori going on vacation and Landon and I taking a trip to K'ville before school starts we will not have another session until the 18th. I can't wait!!

A lesson to learn

This is from Dave Hingsburger's blog.  I read this on a friend's blog and felt that it was a powerful lesson for me.  Something to really think about.

Down Syndrome, Off The Clock

They make, if not the best, a very serviceable eggplant parmigiana. We don't go there often, but when we do, we each always get lunch from the same vendors. As they are at the start of the food court, we grab a table right at the entrance. It's perfect for people watching, eavesdropping and is almost always the source for amusement. The parmigiana comes from the vendor right at the start of the court, Joe gets soup from the vendor next door but one. I grabbed a table just two in, with a chair removed, there is enough room for me to pull in and be out of the way.

We'd just sat down for lunch when we both heard that pronunciation of the word, 'Mother' that communicates so much. 'Muhhhhh-therrrrrr'. I glanced up and saw a frustrated and harried woman, carrying packages from the Bay and her son, a young man with Down Syndrome who was in his pre-teens.

Of course, I listened.

(Realize that I would have listened irregardless of the boy's Down Syndrome. I would have listened if it was a couple having a spat, if it was a businessman mumbling to himself, if it was someone having an animated conversation on a cell phone. That's what I do.)

So, aside, aside, I listened.

It seems that the mother wanted to go with him to get his food and then have him go with her to get her food, then they would eat together. Son, thought this was silly. Why doesn't she get hers, he get his, then they meet for lunch. She did an admirable job of keeping herself calm. I did an admirable job of just listening, not judging. Who knew what kind of experiences she'd had that led to this arrangement? They had been standing arguing and just before she moved again towards the court he said something that had a profound impact on me as a listener and she as a mother.

'Trouble is you think I have Down Syndrome all the time and I don't,' he said with real frustration.

She stopped again, 'What?'

'I only have Down Syndrome sometimes, when I'm learning something new or if the words are real hard. I don't have Down Syndrome the rest of the time when I'm doing what I know how to do.'

'And you don't have Down Syndrome now?' she asked.

'No, I know how to get my lunch, I buy my lunch at school all the time. I don't have someone with me all the time you know.' he was frustrated, he didn't even realize he'd said something of real importance, to me and to his mother.

'So,' she continued looking at him hard, 'you don't feel like you have Down Syndrome all the time.'

'No, most times I don't even think about it,' he said.

She said, her tiredness seemed to be gone, 'Go ahead, we'll find a table after we've got our food.'

They disappeared from view.

Joe and I looked at each other. I said to him, 'That kid should teach classes to parents of kids with Down Syndrome.'

On our way home, chatting about just stuff, I realized that at that moment I didn't feel disabled, it wasn't part of my consciousness. I knew that everyone saw me in my wheelchair but what they saw, what they thought, didn't impact what I felt. I'm only disabled sometimes, when things are out of my reach, when aisles are too narrow, when a curb blocks my way. The rest of the time I'm just - me.

Good nights sleep...What's that?

A good nights sleep...What's that?  At this point, I'm not really sure.  It seems like it has been forever since we have had a full nights sleep.

First, let me go ahead a say that Landon sleeps in  our bedroom.  Not in our bed, well OK, not most nights, but in our room.  His crib is set up next to our bed so that I can hear him if he has a seizure.  It's hard to describe but when he seizes he make some sort of strange sound, not loud just strange, that wakes me up.  Most people that hear this say, "why don't you just use a baby monitor in his room.?"  Well, my mind tells me the same thing but it just doesn't feel right.  I want him right there so that I can get to him.  I'm afraid that I will miss one and therefore I won't catch it as early, won't get the med. issue adjusted as early, and therefore will be the cause of any issues such as increased delay.  Most people will not understand and that's OK.  Travis and I both agree that this is where Landon needs to be so it works for us.

Now back to the full nights sleep.  He is still sleeping in the crib due to our concern for safety issues but that is about to change.  We bought a fire truck bed many months ago thinking he would just move into that when he was ready but now we have changed our minds.  Landon has been waking up EVERY night for the past several months and he have attributed that to an uncomfortable mattress.  When I went to Knoxville for a couple of weeks he slept in a "Big boy bed" and didn't wake up once.  When he does get into our bed in the middle of the night, he sleeps fine.  Now some will say that's just because he wants into our bed and normally I would say that's true but he doesn't really "wake up".  It more like he cries, or moans...really like he is just not sleeping well and uncomfortable.

Our solution?  New Big Boy Twin bed.  It is still going to be in our room so that we can keep an eye on him.  Travis is going tomorrow to order it and we are praying that this works.  I really don't know what else to do if it doesn't.

Preschool Prep Company

A blog that I read has found a really neat company that helps kids learn their numbers, colors, shapes, and high frequency words.  I had never really heard of this company before but it sounds really neat. the website is preschool prep company.   The lady who writes the blog has several children, two of which have Down syndrome.  The videos on this post, only1mom.com are really neat to watch.  I think I may have seen some of these video's at the used bookstore in Knoxville ( I think I may recognize the cover) ....which means I may have to check it out.  You know I am always on the look out for things to help us learn.  We have really gotten a lot of use out the books and video's from Love and Learning.  These were the first video's that Landon would watch and it is amazing what he learned from them.  He still loves watching them and I am surprised at how he still learns things.  I'll have to post about that later.

This post is really for all of those mom's out there looking for something a little different to use at home.  Hope this helps!

Cades Cove Picnic

Yesterday morning, bright and early, we took at trip to the Great Smokey Mountains.  A popular place to go is Cades Cove.  It's a great place to have a picnic, enjoy the great outdoors, and play in some VERY cold water.  When Travis and I were growing up our families often frequented this picnic area.  Even though we didn't know each other then,  both of our families enjoyed this same outing. I hate that Travis wasn't here with us to enjoy Landon in the creek but I took lots of pictures.

I knew that Landon would enjoy throwing rocks in the water and "stirring" the water with a stick but I had no idea exactly how much he would love the water.  The water is VERY cold because it is coming down from the mountains. but that didn't phase Landon.  Right in he went.  He played, and played, and played.  it was so much fun to watch him enjoy himself.

After lunch we jumped in the car and drove around the Loop.  The loop is just that, a loop that allows you to drive through "nature".  It is a one way road with little pull offs so you can stop.  You often see deer, bears, and wild turkeys.  It is a very popular activity for visitors alike.  Landon wasn't so much into this part of the trip but I really enjoyed the views.  It was a wonderful morning and I can't wait to do it again.

Ducks, Creek, and Pool

Landon has had so much fun during his first week at Granny and Papaw's.  In addition to going to VBS each morning, Landon has been doing lots of fun things in the afternoons.  Granny and Papaw have ducks down in their pond.  I'm not sure if he was trying to pet them or just enjoyed watching them waddle away but he chased them all over the place.

And who could pass up a chance to play in some water.  He found a stick and had to "stir" the water.  I hadn't gotten him any water shoes at this time so he couldn't get in so Granny had to hold him to make sure that's as far as he went. 

 The days have either been very hot and muggy or rainy.  Last year Granny bought a little pool for Landon so Papaw blew it up and it was perfect.  We sat under the trees and just let him play and play.  Of course Buzz and Woody made it to the "party".

VBS #1

This week I helped out at my mom's VBS at Roseberry Baptist Church in Mascot, TN. It was a great week but VERY busy. Landon had a great time in his class. He came home every afternoon ready for a nap but ready each morning to go back.  He enjoyed getting to listen to a Bible story, sing, make crafts, play in the gym,  eating. and playing in Granny's token store (the pic of Landon in the orange arm, head, and finger bands).  I'm glad he enjoyed him self because in another month he will be doing it again at our church.

Fell into the trap

I can't believe that it has been so long since I have written. So much has been going on and I have been trying to think of a way that I can use this wonderful tool to be more than just fun for my family and friends. Over that past several months I have come across many blogs that have been so helpful to me while I continue to figure out ways to help me be the best mommy for Landon that I can be. I have always felt that it is my duty to encourage and push Landon to do all that he can, to expose him to everything that every other 3 year old would see and do, and love him no matter what.

School was great for him this year and he loved going but I feel that I really let him down by not continuing to work with him as much as I use to. I think I fell into the trap of thinking that he was going to school therefore he was learning everything he needed. That is not to say that we didn't work with him, but I wasn't as consistent as I had been. When the school year was over and I looked back at where he was and where he is now, I saw things that made me happy and things that made me sad.

The things that made me happy: (1) Landon loved his teachers and I think they loved him too. (2) He worked hard on his physical, and occupational therapy goals. He really made some great progress in these area. (2) He made some friends. Each time I said something about school he would say, "Aidan", which was a little boy in his class. (3) He became more of a participant instead of a observer.
The things that made me sad: (1) Landon's speech did not go as I thought it should have. That is nothing against anyone, just that I think he needs more one-on-one. So....to fix this we are working on getting private speech for him. (2) His sight word's have not been worked on therefore he is starting to lose them and is not gaining any new ones. (3) He didn't really improve on math skills such as counting or identifying numbers (4) He still doesn't know his colors very well.

Now why am I saying all of this? It's not because I think the school didn't their job.....It's that I don't think I did mine. I shouldn't depend on the school to teach Landon what I know I can teach him, not at this point at least. When he gets into Kindergarten I will expect more but right now the schools main job, in my opinion, is to work on how to play with others, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. The therapy time he gets at school is not enough so I do need the therapist to work with me on what to do at home so that he can continue to improve and for the most part most of them did well with keeping me up on what they were working on.

I have said all of that to say this....My lack of "teaching" is going to change. During the past couple of months I have been working on a list of goals that I want Landon and I to work on. I am in the process of creating my own "curriculum" , for a lack of a better word. I hope to use this blog to help other parents see what their child CAN do. I have found that if you make the right labels, when parents are looking for ideas blogs will come up on their search. We will see how this goes.

He are the goals I have written so far for Landon. These goals will and should change as we work. This list is just a start. As I do more research I will add to this list. He is already close to reaching some of the goals already such as putting his pants on. That goes to show you that with just a little work Landon can reach the stars!!

Landon's Goals 2010-2011

Math

• count 1-10
• identify numerals 1-10
• count groups of items 1-5
• identify shapes: circle, square, triangle, heart, star, rectangle, diamond
• identify colors: red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, pink, white, black, brown
• order shapes by size: large to small; small to large

Reading

• read number words 1-10
• read color words
• read shape words
• read basic word families (-at, -ar, -ig, etc.)
• read short simple sentences (3-4 words)
• capital/lowercase match

Language-Verbal

• yes
• no
• please
• out
• help
• on
• drink
• one-ten
• A-Z

• two word phrases
• repeat words
• attempt to say words when reading

Language-Receptive

• big/little
• on/under
• in front/behind
• on/off
• right/left
• first/middle/last
• sequencing

Fine Motor-clothing

• take pants off
• put pants on
• put shirt on
• take shirt off

• put socks on
• take off shoes
• put jacket on (flip method)
• button large buttons

Fine Motor

· snip paper

· lacing cards

· work large floor puzzles (with assistance)

· open jar lid

· turn key in lock

Fine Motor-Prewriting

• draw horizontal lines
• draw vertical lines
• draw "circle"
• trace lines

Home Life

• put bag in trash can and put can under sink (with supervision)
• put plates, cups, and silverware on table for dinner
• pick up toys
• pour liquid from pitcher to cup
• follow "schedule" chart

Snow, snow, and more snow

This was our first snow while home this year. The storm that hit just before Christmas we missed by leaving for Knoxville several days early to ensure that we could spend the holidays with our families.

This time we ended up with about a foot of snow and Travis worked very hard all day Saturday to clean off the front porch, sidewalk, and driveway. That afternoon was a great time to take Landon outside to try out the snow. He didn't care much for it last year so I was interested to see what he would think this year. As you can see in this picture he has a big smile on his face and it didn't go away, that's saying a lot considering what happened. More on that later.



When time came to get ready to go out we had to hunt down Landon's gloves and pile on the tons of clothes that mom thought he needed for his 15 mins out in the snow. Of course we had to take pictures of Travis and Landon and Beverly and Landon.

I must say that I was surprised at how much Landon liked the snow. He didn't want to get "in" the snow but he wanted to scoop it up and throw it and "splat" it on the sidewalk. Once he got a little too brave and as he was bending over to scoop up the snow his foot slipped and over he went. I was taking a picture just as he went into the snow. When I realized what had happened, I walked over and pulled him out of the snow, because he didn't move, and wiped the snow off his face. I thought for sure that was going to be the end of our snow fun but he never really quit smiling. He walked over to Travis and started playing again. That's my boy!