We’ve started a new/different page for our Special Hearts blog: http://home.maggiemccormick.com/special_hearts_blog/
If you have a Special Needs Child, get yourself a hug cup of Mocha (or tea or coffee or …) and follow the link for some great time of help, encouragement and the realization that you are NOT alone! You can do this – yes, it’s hard – in fact, it’s the hardest thing you have ever done … but you CAN do it! 
Don’t buy another Cook Book ever! Ok, so if you really want to spend money on a cook book, be my guest, but you really don’t need to. Why? Cause the internet is FULL of free Recipes! You can go to http://www.cooks.com/ my personal fav or to tons of other ones out there! Just get on to your favorite Search Engine and search “Recipes”. It’s that easy!
That said, I still have all those old but great Cook Books. You know the ones that were written back when people actually cooked from scratch! Those are great too! Then too, keep your eyes open for those great give aways and freebies. Save that hard earned cash for something that you can NOT get for free!
I did it! I actually joined FaceBook. Of course, I don’t know a thing about what I’m doing … but I’m there! Look me up and say hi! But don’t get upset if I don’t answer right away … I’m still trying to muddle my way through all this.
If you have any suggestions, please let me know!
We love games at our house. They are a great way to have fun and …. shhhh, don’t tell the kids …. they are learning! http://www.ellenjmchenry.com has TONS of great educational games you can download for free! On the right hand side of the web site, the fourth tab down is “Free products to download”. Now I haven’t checked out each and every link yet, so make sure you check this out before you let your kids go on this site (you never know what’s on the internet now a days …. but everything I’ve looked at so far on this site looks GREAT).
She’s got Life Sciences, Earth Sciences, Chemistry, Energy/Machines, History/Social Studies, Geography/Maps, Math, Latin and Drama.
The Game downloads are HUGE! They are well worth it to me, but if you are on dial-up or a satellite system, you might want to go to your library and download there.
This is a Planner on steroids! It includes something for everyone. It has Monthly Planner Pages, Homeschooling Planner Pages, Household Planner Pages … you name it, it has it! This 247 page Planner is in a PDF version. If you have a Mac, you need to make sure and download it as a PDF …. do not let your Mac change the formatting. This Planner starts out with a yearly calendar (a MUST for those of us global thinkers) then moves on to the individual month …. along with Timelines, Tips, Store Resources and a couple of unique recipes …. for each month! After all 12 months, you can choose from 41 Homeschool Forms or 34 Household Forms to print out and use.
For those of us moms who are organizationally challenged, this planner is amazingly complete. I started out by printing out the three (yes, I said 3) pages of Table of Contents. Then I highlighted the forms that I wanted to print out to create my Personal Planner. This gives me the ability to personalize it anyway I need to. Make sure and check out all those cool pages you don’t know what the title means …. you might find a great help! (or you can always go and read the Instructions) For me, it’s the Homeschool Forms that really interest me …. but all of it is amazing! Once you know what you want to print out, you can pull up your Planner PDF on the Table of Contents page and click on the name of the form that you want to print out. Your PDF will go directly to that particular form without you having to scroll through all 247 pages. Then just print it out and put it in a notebook! Oh, and before printing out any of the pages, make sure and type in all the information that you already know. For example: on the My Address Book, you can type in all your information before you print it all out! Or type in your Co-Op plans into your Month Planner pages and then print it out, all complete and ready to go.
In my humble opinion, this is one of the most complete Planners I have ever seen. You can create a small Planner or take all year and create the biggest Planner on the planet! Because we have a Special Needs Child, boxed curriculum just don’t work for us. However, I’ve been struggling with keeping our Homeschool organized and on track. Not this year! Especially if you live in a State where you must “prove†you are homeschooling and what exactly you are teaching, make sure and print out the Course of Study form.
I believe there is only one thing I would change in this Planner – the color scheme. I’m really not a “Rust” person, and when I print this out on my black and white printer, it prints in a grey scale …. so it’s not really sharp. I usually print on colored paper (colored paper is cheaper than colored ink), and a grey scale just doesn’t pop like black does.
The TOS Planner does a great job of incorporating forms and ideas for Unschoolers, Classical Schoolers, Unit Study Schoolers, – really anyone who Homeschools will benefit from the TOS Planner.
This computer program teaches the times tables in a fun and engaging way for young mathematicians …. and non-mathematicians! I’s like something they would play on Nintendo or Game Boy – but on this game, you need to answer the questions correctly (times tables) in order to get the golden key and advance to the level.
Being the sneaky mom that I am, I loaded it up and started playing it myself (turning up the volume very loudly!) Soon, both my kids were saying, …. no mom … go here! ….push this button!…. MOM …. you are gonna loose or walk over a cliff!!! and the finaly, Mom, you really need to let me play this game cause you are gonna loose.
Timez Attack is a great game for High Functioning Special Needs Kids. It is easy for them to figure out, even this old mom figured out how to make it walk and such …. of course, the directions are there if you want. But who needs directions when you can push buttons and make it work?
The only thing that might be tough for some kids is the timer. Some Aspergers kids or ADHD kids don’t do well with the intensity a timer creates. I realize that with “normal” kids, this would not be a factor, but with our Special Needs Kids, it tends to be. It would be awesome if the creator could produce a different version, one with out the “timer” for our kids!
I would defiantly recommend this Computer Program. Oh, and did I mention, it’s FREE! Yes, you can buy an upgrade version, but my kids are having fun and learning on the Free version. For more information, see: Big Brainz – Timez Attack
We are starting a Special Needs Support Group (on Yahoo) primarily for those homeschooling their High Functioning Special Needs Kids. This includes ADHD, ADD, ODD, OCD, Aspergers Syndrome, All High Functioning Autism Disorders and all other High Functioning Special Needs Kids. However, ALL Special Needs Families are welcome.
This is a Christian Group where we will encourage one another along our journey and also share Success Stories along with our Flops!
You will be requested to fill out a questionnaire before you are approved to join the group. This is to keep Spammers out. We welcome all Special Needs Families.
Once you have been approved, please take a moment to introduce yourself, the child you homeschool (boy or girl) and what Special Needs you are working with.
No Spamming, Flaming or Advertising Allowed.
This group is sponsored by http://www./home.maggiemccormick.com and McCormick Family Ministries.
To join, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Special_Hearts
I just bought this great Lapbook Unit, now what? Ever thought that? Well no worries! It’s easy to pull it apart and figure out what you want to do when. One of the reasons I fell in love with HOAC’s Units long ago was that I had the option of creating a Lapbook like I wanted to. It wasn’t a cookie cutter thing where my Lapbook will look exactly the same as Joe Smith next door. (Can you tell I was the type of student that ALWAYS colored outside the box?!) I love the ability to create my own thing and I hope I’m instilling confidence in my kids to be able to take something and make it their own too.
First things first: find the Activities page. Depending on the Unit, it will be a list of questions or a list labeled “Activities and Instructions”. Print that out! If it’s a list of questions, simply group like questions together. I usually try for one to three questions a day …. depending on how much writing is required. If your Unit has an “Activities and Instructions” guide in it, then it is already grouped together for you. However, I have been known to change that …. depending on the writing and how it fits into our schedule!
Another thing that we do is schedule Vocabulary Words and Timeline graphics for each day. Sort of “fill them in as you get to them in the study” type thing. Another words, study the Vocabulary Words that you read in the guide that day while doing your activities.
Now you need to figure out how many days you want this study to be. I always try to include what is happening around the house, outings and field trips as well as a trip to the store that could easily turn into an all day thing!!
You’re almost done! You just need to plug it all together! Take each group and match it up with a day. Putting groups that are heavy (a lot of writing and/or research) on days that are empty (no trips anywhere) and days that are light on days that have errands and such on them.
You can make out a really cool S & S (Scope and Sequence) for yourself if you wish. Mine has Day 1, Day 2 ect listed down the left hand side of the paper with the following titles across the top: Theme, Activities, Guide, Vocab Words. I like to make a Theme for each day that revolves around the Activities that we are doing that day. I try to bring in the Basic Five, as I call it (Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Science and History) into each Lapbook I teach. It’s really easy with HOAC products, cause they are mostly all done for you! The Activities you have already done, the guide is simple: just look over the Activities that you will be doing that day and find the answers in the Guide. Write down the title of the articles in the Guide on your S & S. Then go through the Guide Reading and write down any Vocab Words that are in bold print. Those are the Vocab words that you need to study for that day.
No, I don’t do “all this” for each and every lapbook. If it’s a study that I know a lot about, I totally wing it!!! However, the less I know about the subject matter I’m teaching, the more planning I do. It is my responsibility to teach my kids …. not the curriculums, not anyone else but me. That’s tough …. but it’s the truth.
Part of the joy of Lapbooking is letting your kids have creative license to make it their project. This includes letting the kids take a day at the end of the project and put it together how they want to! I have two kids and usually the same Unit looks completely different for each of their projects. Sometimes they choose to put everything in the same place as their brother/sister has it, but more often than not, each come up with their own way of putting it all together! (We put all the ‘little books’ that we create each day into a plastic zip baggie and keep them all till the last day. Then that last day we spend “creating” the actual Lapbook.) We usually start with two file folders folded and pasted together, then add extenders as needed. (it all depends on which activities and how many activities you covered as too how many file folders/extenders you will use. Of course, your child will help with that too. Mine LOVE to draw in-between the “little books” (activities), so it takes up even more room and we come out with “Lapbooks on steroids”!!)
Want a checklist? Here you go:
Maggie McCormick is mom to two kids, one of whom has special needs (ADHD/ODD/Aspergers). She has been homeschooling since 2002 and was first introduced to Lapbooking the summer of 2003. Maggie is married to her best friend Dave. They live in the mountains of Southern California where they homeschool their kids. Encouraging and lifting up fellow moms and dads of special needs kids is a passion of Maggie’s. You can visit Dave and Maggie online at www.MaggieMcCormick.com When asked about homeschooling, she is often heard saying, “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, but oh, so worth it!”
Here’s a list of fellow authors/colleagues. Each are wonderful in their own way! Have fun surfing their web sites and learning lots!
cynthiahancox.com Goodbye Chaos, Hello Peace dawnhall.com
donna-scott.com elainebarnett.com
kellyksmith.com www.KindaWonderful.typepad.com Pink Paper Peppermints
I am amazed at how many kids …. mainly boys are learning how to read later in life now a days. It’s not just the Special Needs Kids who are learning to read late. I’ve got good news for you: Don’t give up, they can still learn to read!
These “Late Learners” have a unique challenge: wanting to read something that is their level of reader, but not full of baby pictures! While trying to teach Ian to read, I came to the heartbreaking reality that there really aren’t any good Supplements out there for older learners. All the Supplements are geared toward younger kids and have lots of graphics and big chunky drawings all over them.
So, I got busy and researched and tested. My poor kids had so many different designs and “here, try this … do you like it? Will you use it?” but in the end, they loved using the Big Kid Supplements. And what’s better …. they were fun, easy and they worked!
Ian’s first favorite and therefore the first of the Supplements we produced are the Word Fans. The Word Fans consists of 30 Word Family endings that can make over 100 different words! All you need to do is print and cut out the fans and connect with a brad. Personally, I made one fan for every Word Family and put them all in a plastic bag. At first, I put them in five different bags (a, e, i, o, u). But as Ian got better and better at making real words, I put them all in one bag and he got to pick out several Word Fans for that days “Fun Time”.
These Fans are very versatile. As your child gets older, you can add other consonants that might or might not make a word in that word family. Or you can take one of each of the consonants and each of the Word Families and secure them all into one fan. Then your child can make any kind of word or create a “non-word”. That, of course opens up another avenue to teach about words and “non-words”. While your at it, try your hand at Creative Writing using some of those non-words! There are so many ways to use these wonderful fans.