Taking It Easy

Today started with us getting ready and checking out a church here.  Since we are moving here, we thought it would be a good idea to get a jump start on finding a church.  I'm not sure that church is for us, but it was a good experience overall. (#283) Among other things, someone prayed for my ankle to be healed and Angleica's allergy break out to be cleared up.  Both of those prayers were answered before the end of the day. (#284 & 285)  

Then we headed in search of a Target to pick up a few things we needed.  Finding it was easy enough.  After yesterday's attempt to find a restaurant that was a huge blessing. (#286) When we arrived at the shopping center, we looked for a place to eat.  Angelica walked ahead and asked if they served anything she could eat.  They didn't but were willing to make something fresh using only ingredients she could consume. (#287) That is not something a fast food restaurant typically can do, but this little Asian store did.  Plus the food was good.  Less "Americanized" than most.  :)  

After that it was time to drive Miracle to the campus for her overnight stay.  Angelica opted not to stay the night because the risk of encountering corn is just too high.  She and I will head out to the college in the morning to meet up with Miracle and start the tour of the campus.  

What An Adventure!

The plan for today was to spend the day at Mall of America.  It was overstimulating and they didn't have a place that Angelica could eat so we left after only a couple of hours.  It is HUGE and it is so much more than a mall.  Miracle and I both want to go back - just not this trip.  Angelica is so stressed from being the only driver that she can't imagine enjoying it - well, that and the reality that places that are that busy are not her cup of tea.  Still, going was fun. (#275)

We left with directions to Chick-fil-A and ended up driving for over 2 HOURS trying to find anywhere that Angelica could eat!  At least part of that time we were lost. I am thankful for public libraries with free wifi (#276) because that is how we finally found a restaurant!

We ended up eating at Ruby Tuesday. (#277)

Then we all opted to go back to the hotel to relax rather than try to do anything else today. (#278) I look up after a bit and realize both of my girls are doing school work! (#279) I LOVE homeschooling! (#280)

Now we are about to snuggle up and watch Frozen! (#281) Did you know that there is a site that has a plethora of kids movies online - FOR FREE? (#282) 

Road Trip!

I am thankful that we were able to take a trip to MN to check out a college both girls are interested in. (#265) I am thankful that Angelica was able to drive the entire way.  (#266) I am thankful that we made it here safely. (#267) I am thankful for nice weather. (#268) I am thankful for a nice hotel to stay in. (#269) I am thankful for compassionate people we have met along the way. (#270) I am thankful that I have a camera and the ability to take pictures. (#271) I am thankful for friends who help me when I get in a jam.  (#272) I am thankful that we had the opportunity to stop in Des Moines at the Ice Ridge where Angelica had the opportunity to meet Burton Powley. (#273) While we were there, he re-positioned her blades and sharpened them.  (#274)

Learning

Hello.  Bonjour.  Hola.  

A lot of time around our house has been spent learning recently.  Both girls are of course doing their high school work.  In addition to that, they are both taking a language course at the local college.  Miracle is learning French in class.  Angelica is learning ASL.  

At home in the evenings we are also learning Spanish.  Monday through Friday, the girls watch Busy Bee (age 2) and Doc McStuffins (age 7) from 2 until 12.  When the girls first began coming to our house Busy Bee knew no English.  She spent the first hour and a half each day pointing to things saying, "Y esta?" and I would answer in English.  Things were a bit easier once Doc got in from school but there was still some struggle for her on English words as well.  Busy Bee has learned quite a bit of English, we have learned quite a bit of Spanish, and all in all we are communicating well now.  Most things come out of our mouths in Spanish, then English, then often with a spattering of sign language thrown in when we are talking to the little ones.  Angelica is doing the best at picking up Spanish.  

In addition to Busy Bee and Doc, the girls watch Baby Girl (age 1) a few days a week. While she is here both she and Busy Bee are learning to share and use words to express their needs.  Baby Girl's mother is autistic so we worked primarily on learning to recognize and express emotion.  Words cannot convey how excited the girls and I were the first time Baby Girl squealed in delight.(#7) 

We have also realized that in addition to learning language, we need to understand culture.  When Busy Bee and Doc first started coming, Doc would phrase everything as a statement rather than a question.  For example she might say, "I can't have that"  rather than "Can I have that?"  Written out it appears to be a statement, but her inflection almost always sounded like a question.  We had to teach her that in English you actually have to ask the question.  Several months later, we realized that stating questions was a cultural norm for her.  

Doc is doing much better in school since coming to our house.(#8)  At the beginning of the year, she went to her ELL class several times a week.  I haven't seen ELL homework in over a month!  That means she has a much better grasp on the English language.  She has also improved in math, spelling, and reading.  

So it seems we have all been learning.  My girls and I are learning Spanish.  Miracle and Angelica are learning another language as well.  Busy Bee is learning English and how to share.  Doc is learning so many things.  Baby Girl is learning to use language and express emotion.  

What have you learned lately?

Snapshot Saturday

Some of Butterfly's creations from this past school year.

Snapshot Saturday

May 2, 2010

Last Sunday, the girls had their end of year program with the homeschool co-op.

Each family set up a table where they displayed things the kids had worked on throughout the year. My girls chose to display some of their artwork and their science project. FigNewTon also displayed the work she did while reading Family Under the Bridge.

The middle school group performed a readers theater of The Legend of Slappy Hooper. The middle school girls also performed a song and dance routine they had come up with while learning about the branches of government and they performed Love in Any Language in sign language.

Thankfully, Natalie took a family shot of us and emailed me all the pictures she took while my kids were on stage because, as usual, my camera failed to download the pictures to my computer.

If you would like to join me and do a Snapshot Saturday of your own, just paste the link below somewhere in your post and let me know in the comments so I can stop by your blog to see it, please. :)

<a href="http://abitmorethanajournal.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" style="WIDTH: 225px; HEIGHT: 195px" alt="Snaphot Saturday" width="317" src="http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww238/stephifr/color.jpg" height="213" /></a>

Snapshot Saturday

September 2009

Butterfly read Flat Stanley for school and carried him around for several weeks before sending him on to a friend. I hear he has been buried under a pile of papers for months. Maybe I will rescue him in a few weeks...

If you would like to join me and do a Snapshot Saturday of your own, just paste the link below somewhere in your post and let me know in the comments so I can stop by your blog to see it, please. :)

<a href="http://abitmorethanajournal.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" style="WIDTH: 225px; HEIGHT: 195px" alt="Snaphot Saturday" width="317" src="http://i723.photobucket.com/albums/ww238/stephifr/color.jpg" height="213" /></a>

A Little Bit Of Everything

There is so much going on inside of my head that it feels as if I cannot stay above water. Instead of posting those things here, I am putting them on my other blog, the one that is more of a journal and less of a scrapbook of our lives, the one that I turn to when the thoughts inside my head don't make sense and getting them out where others can read may not glorify God, the one that is private. I am tired, but I don't want to complain, so I say nothing here. Often lately I am noticing that I don't leave comments, either. I am still reading. I am still praying for you. I am just not writing much.

I don't know if Butterfly is making progress or holding steady. All I know is she is not going backwards. In some things, it seems as if she is going backwards but we are just realizing that we made some wrong assumptions about her progress last fall. Some things that I thought she could do, like 3rd grade math, she was struggling so much and not really comprehending. She was doing the work, but not understanding it, not learning, not retaining any knowledge. So, I went back to 1st grade math. She is finally beginning to learn what I am teaching, if I remember to teach math at her best time of day. There are a maximum of 2 hours a day that she is capable of learning. The rest of the school day is really just busy work. She is awake all day now. That is progress. Well, she gets up around 10:00 and begins school by 11:00. From then until lunch break, she learns. After that, it is just marking time. Her impulse control is better. She is learning that even though she might not have the normal checks and balances to keep a person from reacting on impulse, that she is still capable of making choices. She is learning that the choices she makes early on in a situation snowball quickly, whether they are right or wrong. She is learning that God gives us self-control as a fruit of the Spirit and it is our responsibility to exercise it. In the end, if that is all she learns this school year, it is enough. The book learning can come later.

FigNewTon is growing physically and spiritually. She reads her Bible more faithfully than I do. She exercises discipline in the way she uses her time so that she has the opportunity to do what she loves most: figure skate. Sometimes I feel like she gets the short end of the stick. I try extra hard to spend time with her and praise her often. She really absorbs the words I speak to her. I try to get her to as many youth events as possible. I also remind myself that this time with her sister is a season, quite opposite of when she was sick and got the lion's share of my time and attention, that in the end it all balances.

We have been spending a lot of our computer time recording their Girl Scout accomplishments here. Posts are backdated to when the event occurred. All posts have been made since March 6. By the time I am done helping the girls with that, I am also done looking at a computer screen for the day. We should be finished early next week. Maybe then I will post more here. No promises.

School Days

One of my favorite things about homeschooling the girls is that it is so flexible. If we are in a different state, that is OK; we just bring the schoolwork with us. An added bonus is that if the weather is nice, we can take the schoolwork outside and enjoy the sunshine.

Homeschooling Butterfly

Yesterday, Butterfly and I had an emotion filled conversation. About her uncertainty that she will GET better. And the truth that medicine isn't sure, but we CAN be sure. Simply because we know that God has called her to go to Northern Africa. About her wanting to BE better. RIGHT NOW. And about whether or not she will be better in time to go to 8th grade at her small private school. I don't know. I am leaning toward no. But I will not know until fall. After we see the doctor for more tests.

So, since she has a hard time letting go of dreams and needs much time to adjust to new plans, I told her yesterday that I might homeschool her next year. She cried. She yelled. And then she understood. That if my choices are to give her what she wants next year, almost guaranteeing she will never get completely better; or to do what I think is best even though she doesn't like it on the hope that it will be the catalyst for her getting better; well, I choose to make her unhappy in the short term to give her a chance at happiness in the long term. And then she got it. Because somehow she understands that when she is grown, 8th grade won't matter. Or maybe she just accepts that because if I said it about missing going to nationals with basketball, it is true about 8th grade too. Because right now in her mind, I am (almost) always right. Every time she notices that I made a mistake, it baffles her brain.

And right now, she cannot comprehend a lie. At all. She can't tell a lie, and she cannot understand when other people do. Every word that she hears, she believes to be true. Sarcasm and jokes are completely incomprehensible.

And now I am scared out of my mind. And I wish once again that I was not traveling this road alone. Because what if I make the wrong decision? What if I mess this up? And how on earth do I teach her? Do I present 8th grade materials because that is what grade she is in? Do I teach her where she is at? Do I count every moment that she experiences something for the "first" time," something she hasn't experienced since January, as a learning moment? Somehow, I must do all of the above. Alone.