Alphabet Soup

Lately, my life has been filled with Alphabet Soup.  No, not the kind you eat, but the kind where letters of all kinds get put together and are associated with members of your family.

ADD

ADHD

SLD

IEP

VPD

RD

MD

WD

Not one, but two of our kids are dealing with this alphabet soup.  One has been officially diagnosed; the other hasn't.  One we have suspected issues for a long time;  the other one surprised us. 

We homeschool, which is a blessing when you start dealing with this alphabet soup.  Classrooms aren't designed to accommodate kids who struggle with these issues.  Despite most schools' best efforts, it is hard to adapt the environment, the curriculum, the teaching style, to those few students who do not succeed in a typical classroom. 

Unfortunately, since we are at the beginning of this road, we are still trying to figure a lot out.  What curriculum works best to help a child that struggles to read?  What curriculum works best to help a child that struggles with math?  What curriculum works best to help a child that struggles to put his/her thoughts on paper?  What organizational methods work best for a child that can be distracted by a fly buzzing? 

One of the other challenges we are facing with this alphabet soup is where does the alphabet begin and where does the attitude end?  Some of the problems we are seeing may easily be attributed to either.  The problem is you handle the root cause very differently. 

Needless to say, there has been a lot of stress in our family lately.  Some good, some bad.  Right now, we are taking one day at a time and trying to figure stuff out.  And trying not to be overwhelmed by it all. 

Simplify Saturday - E-mail

Ok, I spend TOTALLY too much time on the computer. One reason is that I get SO many e-mails.

Most of these are really good e-mails about things that are of interest to me. Some of them are news summaries with links to other stories. I can easily click on one link, read that article, click on another link and read that one and so on. Before I know it, I have spent 20 minutes reading articles that are good, but they aren't the BEST use of my time.

So, I have decided it is time to unsubscribe from so many e-mails. Believe me, I used to get them from about 15 different organizations/individuals, etc. I need to spend LESS time on the computer and MORE time with my kids and this is one small way I can simplify my life.

Now if I could just kick my blog habit... ;-)

Simplify Saturday - Clothes

We have been blessed to receive MANY clothes for our girls from friends. However, there are just TOO MANY.




The girls drawers are always overflowing and it is just hard for them to keep up with it all. Today, I decided to tackle their drawers. I had them remove ALL the clothes from their drawers and stack them in piles: shirts, skirts/shorts, pants, underwear, socks, pjs, swim stuff.

Then I had them choose 5 of each item (except PJs an swim stuff) to keep. This should be PLENTY to last a week - until laundry can be done. Also, since we don't wear dresses very often, I had them pick out their favorite 3 dresses.



Everything else I'm either going to box up for HJ to wear later or I will give away to a local charity.



For the boys, we have by default kept their clothes to a minimum. We don't have any friends with older boys so we don't get the hand-me-downs. In fact, JA runs short on clothes and we typically have to go buy some for him every now and then (like back in Dec when we went to NC and realized he didn't have any jeans or long pants!!)

Simplify Saturday - Death and Stuff

We are out of town, going through CP's mom and dad's home to clear out all of the STUFF that has accumulated over their 53 years of marriage. It has been an interesting process. There are TONS of photos that bring back memories, but reality is that none of these photos have been looked at in YEARS by either CP, his sister or his mom. Despite our sentimentalities associated with these photos, they are packed away in boxes and other places and are never seen.

While I know it may be hard to get rid of old, sentimental things such as photos, the reality is that if they aren't where they can be enjoyed regularly, why do we keep them?

As far as all of the other STUFF, we just had an auctioneer to the house to look at auctioning off all of the personal property. Partly due to the age of the STUFF and partly due to the lack of "big" items, the estimated value of all of the STUFF is only about $3000!!! It makes me really wonder what the value of the STUFF in my own how is worth? And what level of frustration does it cause to have it all there, in the way and having to dust, clean, move it etc.

There are also important papers, but we are going through medical papers from years ago. It makes me realize how much stuff I have kept for a good purpose, but that needs to be purged from time to time. The problem with us is finding the time to purge with four busy kids.

I really love the way my Dad sees things. He is 78 and lives with us. He has a room to himself. In his room, he has two bookshelves, a desk with computer/printer, a TV, a recliner, a bed, a nightstand, and a dresser. All of his wordly possessions that he really NEEDS are contained in that small 10 x 11 room. I hope that when I am his age (and even before) I can realize what I truly NEED and spend the rest of my money on other more important things - like caring for orphans.

Striving for Simplicity - Reading, Writing, Math

We began homeschooling our kids about 15 months ago. Before that, we had them enrolled in a virtual public school for a year and a brick and mortar school before that. I work full-time outside the home and CP is a full-time stay-at-home dad (aren't I lucky!!!). Having four kids to teach at different levels and one who is struggling wasn't going to be easy.

Fortunately, I work with a fellow who introduced me to Robinson Curriculum. It is a simple 3Rs curriculum that the kids can pretty much do themselves without much required intervention. The boys are using Saxon Math which is very well written and self-explanatory. They do one lesson a day and repeat it if they score less than 90. They then write a one page essay on any subject of their choice. Then they read for an hour (all classics with history, science, social issues, Christianity as topics).

The do practice their vocabulary with CP and CP grades their math, but that is the extent of his involvement. I read their writing on the weekends and if I see a problem with grammar, spelling, etc, I will provide a little extra work for them in this area.

SG is working on memorizing her math facts. She does this for 30 min a day. She then reads for 30min and copies one page from a book (right now, it is the McGuffey Second Reader).

HJ is working on learning how to read and getting down counting/numbers to 100. For this, she gets help from CP and from Grandpa. She then practices writing letters and words that I have modeled for her. After that she plays computer games, watches educational videos and does hands on play (play-doh, bendar**s, popsicle sticks, L*gos, etc). This is mainly to keep her busy while the others finish their work.

The three oldest also have music practice each day.

Keeping things simple in homeschooling keeps our life simple, but our kids are learning TONS!

Striving for Simplicity - Cups

Linny over at A Place Called Simplicity has started a new series called Striving for Simplicity. I am SO excited about this as sometimes my life seems overly complicated. She has asked for others to offer tips on how they have simplified their lives, so here goes.


We have four kids (for the moment!) that love to drink (no, NOT alcohol!!!). They drink milk, water, Cr*stal Li*ht and anything else they can find in the fridge. The problem was they would get a fresh cup EACH AND EVERY time they wanted a drink - then dump it in the sink. Needless to say, we would end each day with about 30 cups in the sink - most having only been used for a couple of sips.

SO, CP got the idea to get each of them ONE cup that they could use ALL DAY LONG!!! If they wanted to walk away from their cup, they were told to put it in the fridge. The cups then get washed after dinner and are ready to use again the next day. We bought them special cups with their name on them which they really love!! Voila! Simplify!

Now if I could just figure out how to keep up with the mail that comes into the house! LOL!