Tuesday, September 25, 2012

All About Reading FREEBIE


Our family used (& loved) All About Reading Level Pre-1 last year to set a good foundation of the letters and sounds.  This school year we began the All About Reading Level 1 and are about halfway through it.  The kids love our circle time which is when we teach the new daily concept.  We also have the kids trace the words as well as type them.  They love the games that are included and I do too!  The lessons are easy to prepare for and the kids are having fun while learning.

I've had several people comment recently at the enthusiasm our children have for learning.  This wasn't the case just over a year ago when they were in public school in various special education programs.

Our big goal for the children this school year is for each of them to learn to read and All About Reading is helping us achieve this!

All About Learning Press is gearing up for the release of All About Reading Level 2 and they are offering these great games FREE!  I thought I would let you know in case you missed them.

Click here or on the image below to download the "Be a Lumberjack" game. Instructions are included with the activity sheets.  This activity is teaching how to read multisyllable words.

All About Reading Level 2 sample: Be a Lumberjack

Click here or on the image below to download the “Wake Up the Sheep” activity.


Click here or on the image below to download the Word Flippers for Three-Letter Blends.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Chicken Tortilla Soup


*This recipe yields enough to completely fill my 8 quart stockpot.  Great to make when having company over or to freeze some for later.

Ingredients:
Chicken (4 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts)
6 quarts chicken broth
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
2 potatoes, diced
6 oz. can of tomato paste
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tsp. chipotle chile en adobo, pureed
1 pickled jalapeno chile seeded, chopped
2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. cumin
salt & pepper, to taste
2-3 zucchini, cut bite-sized
2-3 yellow squash, cut bite-sized
1 red bell pepper
avocado, sliced
cilantro, chopped
Jack cheese, shredded
Tortilla chips

Preparation:
Boil chicken breasts in simmering chicken broth (only use 1/2 of the broth for this) until done.  Remove chicken and let cool.  Once chicken is cool, cut into bite-sized pieces (I use my mix 'n chop from Pampered Chef and it's super easy!).  Combine chicken, rest of broth, onion, carrots, potatoes, tomato paste, garlic, chipotle and jalapeno chiles, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper in 8 quart stockpot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add zucchini, squash and red bell pepper.  Bring to boil again, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.  Correct seasoning if necessary.

Ladle soup into bowl and garnish with avocado slice, jack cheese, cilantro, and tortilla chips.

This soup is very filling and so delicious!  Enjoy!

~Nicole~


Saturday, September 22, 2012

Fall, My Favorite Season



Happy Fall!  Although here in California it doesn't quite feel like Fall yet, I'm going to pretend.  The school year, for us, is well under way.  Football season has begun.  I've brought the yarn out to resume crocheting and knitting.  And I am ready to begin making some of my favorite recipes, ones that are best suited for Fall.  There's just something about the smell of cinnamon baking that brings me back to Fall every year. 

What is your favorite season?  Do you have special traditions or recipes that are reserved for that season?

~Nicole~ 




Monday, September 10, 2012

Photo Organization

Here is a preview of the photo book I made on Shutterfly of our family vacation to Disneyland this summer.  It's so easy to do!  I love that I can load my pictures and have the book printed.  Shutterfly makes it easy to share our vacation memories with our family and friends.  We have also done photo books of our Adoption Day, as well as for Mother's Day presents.  How would you use a photo book?


Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

~Nicole~


Shutterfly.com

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Therapy Thursday: SPD Smell & Taste







Each week I post about some type of therapy we use, who recommended it, and the reason we are using it.  Remember, I am not a licensed therapist and I am sharing our experiences. Please feel free to share your experiences in the comments. We would love to hear from you! 


For the last month, I have been highlighting the different senses that Sensory Processing Disorder affects, a checklist of symptoms and some activities we do to help.  We started with proprioception, which is the internal sense of knowing where your body parts are without looking a them.  Then we went on to the tactile system, which is how our brain receives information coming from the receptors on our skin about touch, pain and temperature.  Next was the vestibular systemwhich coordinates movement and balance through receptors in the inner ear and in relation to Earth's gravity.  Then we looked at the visual sense and how it is much more complex than just viewing an image.  Last we visited the auditory sense which is much more complex than just hearing sounds.  And finally, to wrap it up, we are sharing about the olfactory (smell) and gustatory (taste) senses.


Sensory Processing Disorder: Olfactory and Gustatory

Olfactory is our sense of smell and gustatory is our sense of taste.  I have combined these into one post because they definitely work in tandem.  The best analogy of this is how when you have a stuffy nose it is difficult to taste food.  Our olfactory system carries odors directly to the portion of our brain which is involved with memory, emotion, behavior, and pleasure.  Do certain smells bring back specific memories for you, good or bad?  To this day I still cannot make corned beef hash because when I was pregnant with our daughter (19 years ago) the smell of it made me nauseous.  

There are four basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.  However, food texture and temperature can also affect our children with sensory processing disorder.  One of our children used to go around licking everything, even at the age of 5.  He also stuffs his mouth when he eats and is our child who loves spicy foods (peppers, salsa, guacamole).  Then we have another child who doesn't eat very many different foods and in fact we supplement his diet with nutritional drinks.  He was also born with a cleft lip/palate, has mild cerebral palsy, and has difficulty with oral motor tasks (speech & drooling).      

Here is the olfactory and oral input portion of the complete sensory processing disorder checklist found on Sensory-Processing-Disorder.com.

Signs Of Olfactory Dysfunction (Smells):

1. Hypersensitivity To Smells (Over-Responsive):

__ reacts negatively to, or dislikes smells which do not usually bother, or get noticed, by other people
__ tells other people (or talks about) how bad or funny they smell
__ refuses to eat certain foods because of their smell
__ offended and/or nauseated by bathroom odors or personal hygiene smells
__ bothered/irritated by smell of perfume or cologne
__ bothered by household or cooking smells
__ may refuse to play at someone's house because of the way it smells
__ decides whether he/she likes someone or some place by the way it smells

2. Hyposensitivity To Smells (Under-Responsive):

__ has difficulty discriminating unpleasant odors
__ may drink or eat things that are poisonous because they do not notice the noxious smell
__ unable to identify smells from scratch 'n sniff stickers
__ does not notice odors that others usually complain about
__ fails to notice or ignores unpleasant odors
__ makes excessive use of smelling when introduced to objects, people, or places
__ uses smell to interact with objects



Signs Of Oral Input Dysfunction:

1. Hypersensitivity To Oral Input (Oral Defensiveness):

__ picky eater, often with extreme food preferences; i.e., limited repertoire of foods, picky about brands, resistive to trying new foods or restaurants, and may not eat at other people's houses)
__ may only eat "soft" or pureed foods past 24 months of age
__ may gag with textured foods
__ has difficulty with sucking, chewing, and swallowing; may choke or have a fear of choking
__ resists/refuses/extremely fearful of going to the dentist or having dental work done
__ may only eat hot or cold foods
__ refuses to lick envelopes, stamps, or stickers because of their taste
__ dislikes or complains about toothpaste and mouthwash
__ avoids seasoned, spicy, sweet, sour or salty foods; prefers bland foods

2. Hyposensitivity To Oral Input (Under-Registers)

__ may lick, taste, or chew on inedible objects
__ prefers foods with intense flavor; i.e., excessively spicy, sweet, sour, or salty
__ excessive drooling past the teething stage
__ frequently chews on hair, shirt, or fingers
__ constantly putting objects in mouth past the toddler years
__ acts as if all foods taste the same
__ can never get enough condiments or seasonings on his/her food
__ loves vibrating toothbrushes and even trips to the dentist



Some ideas that were recommended to us by our children's occupational therapists are adding additional flavors to food to awaken the taste buds, offering different/new foods with one meal of the day, promote activities that allow chewing (sugar free gum, licorice, chewy tube, or straw), sucking (milkshake, smoothie, eating yogurt/applesauce with a straw, using a straw to pick up small pieces of paper during table activities), or blowing (whistle, balloon, or musical instrument).  We have used a wet washcloth to rub around the cheeks, chin, jaw & eventually the tongue and inside of cheeks as tolerated.






Our therapist also recommended KT tape used around the outside of the mouth to bring awareness to the area.  It is amazing the difference it makes with drooling!



~Nicole~




Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Our Homeschool Day...No Two Days Are The Same

www.diverginglives.com

Our homeschool schedule is a work in progress.  No two days are ever the same!  I'm sure many of you can relate.  The schedule I posted below are typical days.  We are constantly having to make room in our day and change things around due to therapies and appointments.  Although we do have occurrences that happen every day, they just may not happen at the same time every day.  I try to remain as flexible as possible, but still keeping the flow of our day consistent.   

New to our schedule this year is our oldest two children (ages 18 and 20) are now in college.  They attend a local community college only miles from our house.  Even though only one of them drives, they still carpool as much as possible.    

You might notice that I don't break our schedule down by subjects.  We do accomplish reading and math everyday.  We do unit studies which cover one topic at a time (either history or science).  We incorporate lots of movement breaks and hands-on activities since our children have short attention spans, sensory processing disorder and learning difficulties.    



Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
7 am
Wake up/get dressed
Wake up/get dressed
Wake up/get dressed
Wake up/get dressed
Wake up/get dressed
8 am
Breakfast/chores
Breakfast/chores
Breakfast/chores
Breakfast/chores
Breakfast/chores
9 am
AAR – circle/table time
Earnest
AAR – circle/table time
Earnest
AAR – circle/table time
10 am
Crystal
 AAR – circle/table time
snack
 AAR – circle/table time
snack
11 am
Outside time
Outside time
Outside time
Outside time
Outside time
12 pm
lunch
lunch
lunch
Lunch/James OT
lunch
  1 pm
Quiet time
Quiet time
Quiet time
Quiet time
Quiet time
  2 pm
Math/learning game
Unit study
Math/learning game
Unit study
Math/learning game
  3 pm
iPad activities
Alex ACE
Alex ACE
Alex ACE
iPad activities
  4 pm
Outside time
Outside time
Outside time
Outside time
Outside time
  5 pm
dinner
dinner
dinner
dinner
dinner
  6 pm
Free/family time
Free/family time
Free/family time
Free/family time
Free/family time
  7 pm
Littles bedtime routine
Littles bedtime routine
Littles bedtime routine
Littles bedtime routine
Littles bedtime routine
  8 pm
Mom prep/computer
Mom prep/computer
Mom prep/computer
Mom prep/computer
Mom prep/computer
  9 pm
Dad TV
Dad TV
Dad TV
Dad TV
Dad TV
10 pm
Grown-up quality time
Grown-up quality time
Grown-up quality time
Grown-up quality time
Grown-up quality time












KEY:
Johnathan appointments
James appointments
Alex appointments




You may want to check out our homeschool classroom or how we make curriculum adaptations to allow for easier learning.


~Nicole~

Have a comment or question?  I would love to hear your feedback!

Homeschool Helps: Equivalent Fractions FREEBIE

 I know it has been a while since I have posted. Life is crazy, as usual. We are back to homeschooling two of our children this year. Becaus...