Megan's got 47

When Megan gets home today we will pre-read the chapter together.

I will post "Vocabulary Words to Know" on our white board and she will practice spelling them.
As a family we all try to use the vocabulary words and point out when we do.

Words to work on this week:

opponents
obvious
brutal
supposedly
typically
preliminary
gorgeous
sweeping
embarrassed
officially

I found with a simple google search this website to help with the vocabulary that also offers tests and flashcards.

http://quizlet.com/2927894/elisas-diary-5-flash-cards/

You can also find the story through Think Central.  They also use Think Central at school. It will read her the story.

https://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/content/hsp/reading/journeys/tx/gr5/ese_9780547355979_/launch.html#

I am finding the most important aspect of my daughter's education is having something modified for her appropriately. I am also finding that doing pre-work at home also helps.

So with that being said I wanted to start sharing what I am doing at home to help Megan be included with her peers in English and hope that this somehow helps others.

The class uses 5th Grade Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Journey's.
 I am starting with the Lesson 4: Double Dutch

First we watched the show Sister Sister: Season 4 Episode 19 Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3


Megan does well visually, so if I can find a SpongeBob episode or Austin and Ally episode so she can relate that is the key.

She also needed to understand Sequential Order.

I wrote a short story that she could relate to on our white board at home to help her understand the concept.

Megan was born. (2003)
Megan learned to walk. (2006)
Megan went to school. (2007)
Megan met her best friends Emily and Maria. (2009)
Megan and her best friends aren't at the same school anymore. (2014)

We talked about the dates and how the story went in order of what happened.

We read the story together and then on our Chromecast we watched the following Youtube Videos:

Meg amazes me all the time. Here she is in August before the end of summer jumping off the high dive (we missed it on tape the 1st time she jumped). Her dad was not going to allow her to try even though she really wanted to do it. I threw caution to the wind and let her do it after warning the lifeguard it was her 1st attempt and she might need to be saved from fear. 2 summers ago Megan's little sister jumped and panicked so I figured history was doomed to repeat itself...but nope, Meg is awesome! No need to save her.

Having fun at a pool party (with obstacle course), she makes me so proud!

Meg decided she wanted to take Acro over the summer at dance. I have always been hesitant because I secretly worry about her neck although she has been cleared as not having any gap between her spine and skull (AAI). She loves to do forward rolls but the elusive bridge (back bend) she could not do. She struggled with the arm strength. Well tonight she came home and knocked me off my chair. Looks like she is an expert now! Thanks Mr. BJ!

Blogging is therapy for me sometimes.  After blogging about my youngest yesterday it set me on a quest to find out how I can best help her.  After reading articles and looking up LD diagnosis. I believe I have her pinpointed to APD.  APD is auditory processing disorder.  I watched this youtube video and believe she has the Listening issue.  She doesn't always process what she hears correctly.
Sounds so bogus, right?  Nope...totally sounds like her.  And spending every waking moment with my kids I am 90% convinced this is what it is.  The video below is 50 minutes but very helpful.



This morning Olivia said to me, "Why can't we get a 3D TV"  (She asks me this all the time and loves going to 3D movies and loved looking at the TVs at Best Buy and putting on the glasses).  I said we just don't have the money for that right now and she responded.  "You don't need money, its Free...that's why they call it Free-D"
So all this times we have talked about 3-D and all along she thought it was Free-D.  Makes me feel bad!
It makes my heart ache for her....why can't life be easy for my kids?

So I called and made an appointment to have her tested...worst case scenario is, I was wrong....which wouldn't be the first time.

Couldn't the education system be simple for at least 1 of my kids?


Has anyone just thought that 1 of their children would benefit from being homeschooled but were too scared to change the status quo?  I am in that situation right now.  I feel my youngest (who does not have Down Syndrome) would benefit from the 1 on 1 attention in her education.  Don't get me wrong, I love our school and we have some of the most amazing teachers.  My daughter has even had those amazing teachers...but it is her.  I think she really struggles in a big classroom.  I can remember having the same troubles she is facing right now.  More interested in what her classmates are up to, struggling to focus on the words coming out of her teachers mouth. She can't help but think who she is going to sit next to at lunch or what happened on the school bus.
Public school has hardened her too.  She used to be my little angel, so sweet and innocent.  Now just finishing 1st grade she is knee deep in 6-7 year old drama it disgusts me.  My sweet faced girl is gone.


When Olivia was 2, she knew the entire alphabet, she could write her first and last name, by age 3 she had her addition facts from 1 - 10 down, by age 4 she had over 250 sight words memorized.  I sent her off to Kindergarten primed for success.  Yet I didn't see her flourish, she teetered and bobed above the water, slowly moved to float and now I see her sinking.
My true fear is, me, I might be in charge of her education??? and I didn't do that well myself??  I just don't want her to struggle like I did....I want to help fix the problem that started with me.
I read this article and it really did make me see I am not alone in my worries. Article on Homeschooling

Maybe I could do it?  Should I?

I just want her to be able to focus on material, hear it, understand it, question it, write about it and I am not seeing that in her current setting.  7 and struggling...

It is SO HARD to see Megan sad.  I reprimanded her for drawing in a library book and her pouty lip came out and she got tears in her eyes.  Olivia even came over to hug her and I had to tell her not to hug her....then Olivia told me I was mean and ran off.  I promise I was not being mean. I just wanted her to know that she cannot EVER deface a library book.  Then I ended up holding back tears as Megan said, "I sorry I bad mommy, I don't do it again."  Dang it!  Love her to pieces.

So sad to be missing the conference.  Not for all the information they provide  but because it was a place to go every summer with or without my family where I could meet up with friends from all over the country from the DS world.  So sad it is not working out for me this year.  I enjoyed Atlanta, Boston and Kansas City.  KC brought the outside fountains that the kids would run through in their suits (our group got matching outfits for the kids and did pictures). In Boston we rode around with the GPS to find the Cheers restaurant for 2 hours my 1st convention with just the girls! What a fun car ride!  Atlanta was full of site seeing with the family and dinners out. It was the first time I met my DS friends and many life long relationships formed there.  These conventions are unforgettable.    If you are going, enjoy every moment of it!