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It's confession time. I REALLY struggled while homeschooling Sunshine this year. Transitioning her into our learning time environment, schedule and practices was so hard, and at times downright awful. I tried to make things work. I rearranged the environment. Schedules were changed. My expectations were lowered. Still, our first year's experience was not at all what I had hoped it would be.
The sad thing is Sunshine LOVES learning time. It's her favorite part of the day. All she wants to do is copy what her older siblings are doing. She LOVES the activities I create for her. If she could spend the day in the learning time room she could.
The problems lie in the fact that she's 2 1/2 years younger than the sibling closest to her. Her cognitive and adaptive skills are well below average making the gap even larger. She requires a one-to-one at all times. Sunshine's attention span and focus can be compared to a ping pong ball bouncing out of control. Every 30 seconds she's up switching out activities, if no one's watching her. She has a very low frustration tolerance and often tantrums over the simplest things. Then there's the sensory issues, RAD behaviors, etc.
It wouldn't have been as horrible, if she didn't have three older siblings that require attention too. But the truth of the matter is, Bulldozer requires a one-to-one at all times already. Princess' RAD behaviors are real and seem to always be in high gear during learning time. Dinomite, depending on the day, may have 1 to 5 meltdowns. Though there are many more positive days than negative ones, learning time can be very difficult sometimes, even without Sunshine added to the mix.
Words can't express how thankful I am that my husband is back home full time again to help with learning time, behaviors, those that need one-to-one assistance with everything, etc. This change alone solves half of our problems. I feel like I can finally breathe and enjoy the journey again.
There's only been one other challenge. I have no clue where to go with Sunshine. We have worked so hard (going on 2 years now), to teach her shapes, colors, numbers and letters, yet have seen minimal results. Sunshine can match and sort objects perfectly, but there seems to be no understanding of the content behind the activities. She's extremely verbal, but doesn't make any sense half of the time.
This month Sunshine is undergoing adaptive and cognitive testing. We're half way through and have already been told the numbers don't look good. I'm definitely not surprised, but it's all so very depressing. One would think after having gone through this with three other special needs children, I would do better this time around, but no. I think the process only gets worse. Sunshine is more delayed than any of my other children. All three other kiddos knew all of their shapes, colors, letters, and numbers by the time they turned three. Bulldozer knew all of them by the time he was two! Every kiddo is so very different.
We've discussed Sunshine's education plans with her developmental pediatrician. Sunshine turns four in November, so this year she should be starting preschool curriculum. The problem is, she's not at all ready for preschool material. My husband and I have talked at great lengths about how we should approach this next year with her. Though an understanding of shapes, colors, numbers, and letters, may come any day, we feel that it shouldn't be the main focus of her studies. Sunshine is teaching me so much about Montessori's concept of following the child. She wants to learn what her older siblings are learning. She loves their unit study themes. Though she can't count or identify all of her colors, she can tell you all about the human body. Her animal identification and impersonations are amazing. I don't know of any other 3 year old girl who knows as many dinosaur names as she does. It only makes sense to focus on things she enjoys and is actually learning. There will be a few color, shape, number, and letter concepts in each unit, but they won't be as obvious as one might think. You will see a lot of practical life and sensorial components to her units.
Here are our plans for Sunshine!
July
Unit Theme: Space
Week 1: The Moon
Week 2: Stars
Week 3: Astronauts
Week 4: Tinkerbell (Peter Pan themed Birthday week)
August
Unit Theme: The Earth
Week 1: Rocks
Week 2: Weather
Week 3: Blue Themed Activities
Week 4: Toy Story (Preparation for Hollywood Studios, Disney World)
September
Unit Theme: The Animal Kingdom
Week 1: Horses
Week 2: Birds
Week 3: Fish
Week 4: Turtles
Week 5: Frogs
October
Unit Theme: Vacation & Holiday
Part 1: Yellow Themed Activities
Part 2: Mulan (Preparation for Epcot, Disney World)
Part 3: Black Themed Activities
November
Unit Theme: My Community
Part 1: Emergency Vehicles
Part 2: Road Safety & Signs
Part 3: Garbage & Recycling
Part 4: Thanksgiving
December
Unit Theme: Christmas
Part 1: Bears
Part 2: The Gingerbread Man
Part 3: Christmas
January
Unit Theme: Learning is Fun!
Part 1: White Themed Activities
Part 2: Letters
Part 3: Numbers
Part 4: Shapes
February
Unit Theme: Valentine's Day
Part 1: Purple Themed Activities
Part 2: Sweet Treats
Part 3: Emotions
Part 4: Valentine's Day
March
Unit Theme: Vehicles
Part 1: Construction Vehicles
Part 2: Trains
Part 3: Cars
Part 4: Airplanes
Part 5: Easter
April
Unit Theme: Animals Around the World
Part 1: Kangaroos
Part 2: Elephants
Part 3: Monkeys
Part 4: Brown Themed Activities
May
Unit Theme: Introduction to Botany
Part 1: Plants
Part 2: Flowers
Part 3: Bees
Part 4: Orange Themed Activities
June
Unit Theme: At the Farm
Part 1: Farm Animals
Part 2: Crops
Part 3: Farm Vehicles
Part 4: Nutrition
I have hope that the upcoming year will go much better than last year!
January
Unit Theme: Learning is Fun!
Part 1: White Themed Activities
Part 2: Letters
Part 3: Numbers
Part 4: Shapes
February
Unit Theme: Valentine's Day
Part 1: Purple Themed Activities
Part 2: Sweet Treats
Part 3: Emotions
Part 4: Valentine's Day
March
Unit Theme: Vehicles
Part 1: Construction Vehicles
Part 2: Trains
Part 3: Cars
Part 4: Airplanes
Part 5: Easter
April
Unit Theme: Animals Around the World
Part 1: Kangaroos
Part 2: Elephants
Part 3: Monkeys
Part 4: Brown Themed Activities
May
Unit Theme: Introduction to Botany
Part 1: Plants
Part 2: Flowers
Part 3: Bees
Part 4: Orange Themed Activities
June
Unit Theme: At the Farm
Part 1: Farm Animals
Part 2: Crops
Part 3: Farm Vehicles
Part 4: Nutrition
I have hope that the upcoming year will go much better than last year!
Welcome to this week's Learn & Play Link Up!
Be sure to check out our amazing features this week!
Montessori Homeschooling-Overcoming Challenges from Montessori Nature
Best Tips to Avoid Burnout While Homeschooling Year Round from The Natural Homeschool
Preparing for Homeschooling Your Child with Special Needs from Golden Reflections Blog
Master List of Homeschool Unit Studies from Gypsy Road
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Thanks for sharing the post. I am a regular reader of your post and I must say the schedule described here must be implemented in all preschools and education centers.
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