It Worked!!!!

Now I can just send an email any time I like and it will go directly to my blog. How cool is that!!!! Learn something new everyday. ;D I won’t be posting much today I don’t think because we’ve been busy the last couple of days. Pooh had art yesterday which meant traveling to and from and we went out today as well. I will say that I printed off the Green Hour Challenge Number 1 and am determined to start doing these. At least the first one seems reasonable. I didn’t investigate the others yet. One bite at a time. I’m just hoping that it will get us started and will focus us more. I received my Handbook of Nature Study in the mail this week which prompted me to go back to Barb's Blog to get started on the challenges.

Hope everyone is having a great week!! (despite the weather)

Just Checking

I want to see if I can post directly to my blog without having to head to the website.

 

Here goes.

 

 

Happenings

Well, here is what has been keeping us busy the last couple of weeks.

Car Repairs--This is the time of year for inspections and getting new tags. Also, I took the van in to have it checked for a few things before our trip. While I was without the van I drove the King's truck whose starter died while I was running errands. Yikes! I was stranded and so was the King (at work). We got that problem solved by my pleading for help from the shop guys. lol Then one place said I needed new tires. I go all the way to Sears for that, because that's our usual place, and they said I didn't need new tires. Thus a trip to the mall because I had already promised that we would go while waiting for the van.

Shopping--I've been doing a lot of shopping lately. Sandals for everybody, bathing suits, beach towels, SEA WORLD TICKETS (gotta love that one. Neither the boys nor the King have ever been to Sea world) AAA triptik, books for Ambleside Online's Year 1 found thru various sources online including www.half.com, www.abebooks.com, www.alibris.com and www.amazon.com. I'm having fun scoring hardcover books for the same price or less than the new paparbacks from Amazon. I got two Holling C Holling books in hardcover and 4 of the D'Aulaire books in hardcover. Also, Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare and the James Heriot Treasury. That's all that i can think of right now. I also shopped for Tigger who got a little gift for successfully potty training. I shopped both online and in stores for musical instruments for the boys. We decided to get Tigger a guitar (from Target) and a keyboard for Pooh (from Amazon). I also got a lap harp. I want to incorporate music lessons into our RDI as well as teach them to play. Tigger is a very big instrument lover already, just like the King.

Field Trip--I organized our local homeschool group going on a field trip to a local science center and planetarium. That was fun! Everyone was happy to get together.

Bowling--I have been wanting to do a little party for Tigger for potty training (before our summer pirate party--too far away) so I organized our homeschool group to go bowling. $2 per hour including shoe rental!!!! Can't beat that! Everyone paid their own way, but I brought a cake and the paper supplies. The kids are all itching to do it again one day.

Gardening--I start all my plants from seeds pretty much. So I have been transplanting broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage into the garden. Then going to Lowes to hunt down the mole repellent you sprinkle around the plants because they were getting eaten. Fertilizing said plants along with the asparagus, onion and garlic I'm growing. I also have started tomatoes, peppers and eggplants that i moved into their own cups last week. There are a lot of flower seeds in my house and getting ready to be moved to my little greenhouse. I want the space back in my living room. Unfortunately, my greenhouse isn't one i can afford to heat enough to start early stuff in.

All this means we've had a two week spring break. There has been a little reading and some listening to audio books. Oh and the RDI stuff! Can't forget that. However, this week I have to get back on track with our regular routine. Our FL trip is coming up fast and I won't be dragging our math along on that. (although I'm considering bringing some of the books we're reading in addition to the audio ones--not sure yet on that though).

More New Things

I just thought i would mention some other new things we've tried for our current RDI goal.

1. Nutcracker: I finally hunted down a nutcracker in the stores. Those things are amazingly hard to find! I didn't find those basic versions we all remember from when we were kids. The only one I found is probably ergonomically correct (at least it looks like it could be) and also cracks seafood and was $10!!! I already had some pecans that needed to be eaten so I guess it was well worth it. It was sooo cute because after Pooh cracked them, he started feeding me the bits of nuts. He hates nuts so I guess he figured he'd better feed them to me so he wouldn't have to eat them. LOL

2. Making a protein shake with the blender. If we've ever done this, it was so long ago that Pooh didn't seem to remember. He referenced me all over the place for this activity. Also, I scaffolded the activity in the sense that when it was time to turn on the blender, I covered his ears for him so he could continue to be part of it.

3. Using the Wrap n Learn Math version from Discovery Toys. Pooh didn't reference as much with this one I think because he was so intense on figuring it out with matching the pictures.

4. Showing him a new kitchen tool---Pampered Chef's Finger Guard. Pooh declared that 'it's a great invention!" and i have to agree. Now i don't worry so much about him chopping off a fingertip or two and he feels easier about holding on to the vegetables as he's chopping. Before he would just chop 'at' the veggies if you know what i mean. He was keeping his free hand far away from the blade. We also chopped a new vegetable---drum roll please...........

CABBAGE. I can hear everybody now saying "oooooooo aaahhhhhhh". he he

5. Pruning shears. This was something laying on the kitchen island that Pooh picked up on his own and asked about. So I got my vase of fresh flowers and had him nip a bit of the ends off a few. Pretty cool when they do it on their own!!

That's all that I can remember right now. The crayon making was a bust because the mold wasn't included in the box. I guess I'll try to hunt one down from crayola one day. I also bought a little origami set but I tried it by myself one night and I have a feeling it may just be too hard. We'll see. Target had a couple of little sets on sale that i picked up--sewing elephants was one and I can't remember the other, but they're on my very long "To Do" list.

This has been a crazy last two weeks and I'll blog separately about some other goings on soon.

Daffadowndilly

Daffadowndilly is a poem by A.A. Milne (yes, the same man that wrote the Winnie the Pooh stories). We read it a couple of weeks ago. The boys thought the name was silly and fun (I agreed). I liked that it called attention to a flower and wanted to transfer that to the real world for the boys. Now is the perfect time to do that as spring has brought out the daffodils here.

We've made up a game where anytime we see daffodils, the person who sees them will yell out "Daffadowndilly!". Then someone else will say "Ding-Dong!" meaning you got one. It started out as 'ding-ding' but somehow ended up as 'ding-dong'. lol

Mainly it's been Tigger and I playing, but I do notice that Pooh is paying attention to what's going on. He'll look when we yell at the daffodils and today when I said 'ding-ding' instead of 'ding-dong' he pointed out my error. he he

Anyhoo, I thought I would share the game in case anyone else wants to play!!

Salad Tongs

You guys are going to think I'm nuts. I finally just got around to buying a set of salad tongs. Pampered Chef's bamboo ones no less. Why haven't I had salad tongs before you may ask? Well, I have had two pairs in the years I've been married. The King breaks them every time. He's a bit of a klutz with that kind of stuff, but I put up with it because he does dishes. LOL We went through two complete sets of 20 glasses the first few years we were married. In addition to that, I've lost all but two of my wine glasses, my perfume bottle I bought in France and several plates and bowls.

So, salad tongs. This time they're bamboo, so maybe they'll last.

So for dinner tonight after the table was set, I placed the tongs on Pooh's plate. "What's this?" he asked. (meanwhile the King is trying to busily set up the video camera so we missed the very first part of the 1 minute activity LOL) I took the tongs and flipped them around so the spring action would work. He watched me, looked at the salad bowl on the table and started right in. I held someone's bowl while he put in the salad. I think it was toooo easy really. Yes, it was something new but he barely even needed help. He did reference for help though which I guess is the whole point of this exercise.

Tomorrow I have to remember to buy the nutcracker while we're running errands.

Flower Pressing

My King bought me a beautiful bouquet of roses last week and it is still hanging on by it's last little threads of life. They are the palest peachy-pink with a pale yellow color on the inside. I've been enjoying them all week.

Today as I was changing their water and trimming the ends, some of the petals of the roses were falling off. So I thought I should save these. I put them in a bowl and after I was done decided "Hey, why don't I use that flower press that I bought at Goodwill and have never tried?" So I'm moseying along cleaning up my flower mess, when suddenly I realized "Duh, Pooh has never used the flower press either! It's a new thing! We'll RDI it and video tape it for our consultant!!!"

This just goes to show that no matter how much you think about planning, nothing beats those natural moments when you realize there's a neat RDI thing to do. And sometimes, you don't even realize you're doing it until you're halfway through doing something! Then there's those times when you finish something and think "Ahhhh, I could have done an RDI activity with that!" I'm going to have to start note taking on my frig so that I can record all these passing ideas and thoughts that run 180 miles through my brain. The more busy life gets, the less I remember. Let's hope when I get up tomorrow I remember to start the frig list. ;D

Just so you know, the Flower Pressing went great. I was even able to include Tigger. I had to prep him by telling him he couldn't boss Pooh around and then decided that it should just be no-talking for Tigger. At one point through the activity,Tigger, who wanted to continue with us, said "Can I stop talking now Mommy?" "Sure, sweetie." I responded. LOL

Pooh definitely referenced for help in figuring this new thing out, was eager to participate and did great turn-taking with Tigger unprompted or aided by me. We did three sections in the Flower Press which took us about 20 minutes for the activity beginning to end. That included learning to take off the butterfly nuts (I only know the name because I just yelled for help from the King ;D) and screws, laying the cardboard, cutting the wax paper, laying the petals, cutting another wax paper, then laying more cardboard, etc, etc. The butterfly nuts were taking a little bit of time to get off, so I started singing Around the Mulberry Bush and when they came off, we said "Pop goes the weasel". When we put them back on they became helicopters coming in for a landing "bubububbububububu". They liked the idea of 'smooshing' the flowers.

I was very pleased with it all. Two more ideas I really want to do this week are 1. using the crayon maker I picked up at a yard sale this week (must read the directions myself first) and 2. buy a nutcracker as I have some pecans that we could crack. Both are 'something new' for Pooh.

RDI Update

We've moved into the new Stage 2. yeah!!!

This is per my consultant. If it was left up to me, I'd probably still be trying to figure out the objectives from Stage 1. I'm just not good at translating them into language I understand. I try to figure it out, but still feel a little lost when reading them. I apologized to my consultant for being a bit of a dunce with it, but I think she forgives me. ;D

Anyway, our new goal has to do with presenting new things to Pooh and seeing if he will reference for help. Does he just plod on through thinking he can figure it out himself? Or does he look to his guide (me) for help? Some things suggested due to his age were: using a cheese slicer or bottle opener, sewing, finger crocheting, origami, removing lint from dryer, checking oil and air pressure, putting on a doorknob, a new craft or recipe. Sounds daunting doesn't it? And I've got to get it on video. I think I'll be scaling back the school work while we do this because it means looking and doing new things which will required prep time and clean up time. That's what gets me in the end, the prep and cleaning. My plan is to come up with some good stuff to start working in on Monday and throughout the week to video. So I better hop to it.

Also, if there's anyone out there reading this who'd like to offer some suggestions for activities, feel free.

Quick Bird Update

I thought since I let you guys in on all the birds I have in my yard during the Backyard Bird Count, I would give a little bird update now and then. The King made me a tall bird feeder hanger , tall enough so that i can see my feeders from the living room windows. I used to hang the feeders in front of the window but the little buggers ruined the screens by landing on them and the Titmouse will actually peck at them. I love my new hanger stand!!!

Here are some birds I've identified or have returned since my last bird post:

Starling
Pine Warbler (so cute and loud!)
Red Winged Blackbird (first time ever)
House Finch
White Breasted Nuthatch
Red Breasted Nuthatch
Downy Woodpecker


Did I ever tell you about my experience with the Carolina Wrens? Well, first you must know that they will nest anywhere. Our shed has doors that allow a space for birds to get in at the top or bottom (its the way they are hung and they are old). The Wrens decided to nest in there about 2 years ago. Then at some point they started driving me nuts with their calls. It sounded like they were upset. For two days they kept making this call, from daybreak to sundown. Dummy me, finally realized that their babies were ready to fly but wouldn't try because they didn't know what to do with the doors closed to the shed. The parents could get in and out but now the babies. So I had to leave the doors open for two days so the parents could get all their babies fledged.

Ah, at last a peaceful morning song! The squawking is finished!!!! ;D

3 Weeks Already!?!

I can't believe how long it's been since i blogged. I knew at least a week, but three?!? Goodness!

To tell the truth I'm having trouble remembering what we've been doing. I know I've been planning two events this month for our homeschool group, doing drama practice which required hunting down a box big enough to be the third little pig's brick house, art classes, park days and have started seeds for gardening this year. Hmmmm. Maybe that's why 3 weeks went by so fast. Oh and I forgot to add that i spent this past weekend figuring out how to save all my documents and Outlook info on a cd-rw so I could transfer it to a computer we were given. I was pretty proud of myself for figuring the Outlook thing. I don't think I could live without Google. ;D I'm also investigating going to the Charlotte Mason conference that is held in the Carolinas in June. I would love to go but have a few questions I'll be asking. Plus I can only make it for two of the days. Oh yeah, we'll be going to Florida next month because the King decided he couldn't live much longer without seeing his family. I'm freaking out a little over that! I haven't been traveling that long of a distance since before the kids were born. I know, I know I need to get out more. he he I guess i ended up remembering a lot of things I've been doing.

I also, just today, talked with our RDI consultant and will be giving a separate update on that.

I think I'm a little stressed. I need silence and a hot cup of tea but I'm going to have to wait on that since it's dinner time.

:O

Wind in the Willows: Pooh Narration 5

Then they bumped the weasels heads. Then they got out of the doors and they broke the windows. Then everything was cleared. Then Badger ate with his friends in Toad Hall. They ate chicken and lobster salad and they remembered when the Chief Weasel ran on the table. Then Mole and the Rat and Toad and Badger had a walk on the trail and they were good friends.

The End

Wind in the Willows: Pooh Narration 4

When Toad got away from the barge woman and the barge, the horse stopped. Then Toad saved himself from falling. Then he saw somebody, a gypsy. The gypsy speaks a different language. Then Toad didn't want to give the horse to him. But he listened. He gave the horse to the gypsy, then the gypsy gave Toad something to eat. Then Toad walked while the gypsy keep the horse. Then Toad sing.

Wind in the Willows: Pooh Narration 3

When Water Rat went to get a Doctor, Mr Toad was sneaky. He put down a rope and he climbed down of his house. Then Mole and Badger went back to Toad's house and saw Rat sitting down. Then Water Rat, Badger and Mole went upstairs. Then they saw Mr. Toad was gone. Mr Toad walked in the road. Then he went to a little street called The Red Lion. Then he went into some body's house and had to eat. Then he got our and saw a beeping noise. He wondered what it was. It must be a motorcar! And then Mr. Toad saw that a driver went into a party. Then Mr. toad wondered if he could drive it. Then he sit on the driver's seat and then the car moved. Then he kept driving on the road.

Wind in the Willows: Pooh Narration 2

Water Rat kept looking for Mole. And he found him in a cave. And then he told him, "You should not do that ever again. And we have to go back. It will be nighttime." Mole said, "Let me have a little rest for a little bit, ok?" "Alright, Moly" Water Rat said. They keep walking and then Mole fall down with his face on the snow.

Wind in the Willows: Pooh Narration 1

Mole cleaned. Then, he popped out. And he wished he could live beside the riverbank. And he saw an animal with whiskers. It was a Water Rat.

How Narration Evolves

I would like to share a few of Pooh's narrations of the book The Wind in the Willows. We started this 180 page book in September and worked our way slowly through it. This is Pooh's first book that I've asked narration from. I think you'll see how, little by little, Pooh is picking up more details and learning the habit of attention along the way. When we started, I really wondered how or if things would improve. He missed a lot of things that were happening in the story, just from reading one page. As each day progressed, he got more and more into the story. He was interested in it so he followed along better. That's why good literature is key in a Charlotte Mason education. It keeps the child interested and engaged. Slowly working your way through a story allows them to develop a relationship with the characters in the book. They become friends.

This is the way we narrated this book. I took a 70 page notebook (10 cents each at Walmart during back to school time. I stock up because he draws so much.) . On the front cover I put The Wind in the Willows by Pooh (real name inserted). Each day, after the reading (which only lasted 5-10 minutes) I asked him to draw what he remembered from the story. There are many pictures in the book I have (more on that later) and sometimes he would sort of copy the idea he saw. Other times, it would be more what he was thinking. I encouraged him to use the colored pencils in the hope that he would use those to represent the story a bit more. After he draws the picture, I then write down on the same page or next to it, his verbal narration. He patiently waits while I write before he continues with another part. Such a nice boy! lol

I definitely noticed how sometimes a verbal narration would leave out a detail he had captured in his drawing and vice versa. For instance, he never told me that the gypsy caravan was yellow, but it was yellow in his drawing. He never felt any pressure from the narration. I know this because I never heard that whiny, slight yelling of "I don't know!" or "I can't do it!"

Now about the book. This is the version of Wind in the Willows that we've been using. I just finished it today and found out that it is abridged! Horrors! How did I miss that you ask? I'll tell you how. I found this book at a scholastic warehouse sale about 2 years ago before I knew anything about Charlotte Mason. The artwork was soooo beautiful, just what an English book should have. I guess I just never thought to look inside to make sure it was unabridged because it looked and sounded like it should. (Obviously, I had never read this book before.) Also, the only place it says abridged is on one of the inside pages. Sneaky, to my way of thinking. :D So, while I'm not unhappy with how things have turned out, I do plan on finding this book on audio at the library so we can get whatever was taken out. From the amazon review there may be small sections edited out, but perhaps the basic Graeme language was kept intact. I must at least be thankful for that.

I will post about 4 different narrations. The first will be from the first day back in September. Then I'll post 2-3 from the mid sections. Finally, there will be his last narration that is the end of the story. The last one is a little shorter because that reading was shorter, but I still see how he's picked up some of the details. Also, note that I typed them as he told them to me. Grammar mistakes and all.

Hope these narrations are enjoyable and encouraging to those who are on a similar road!

A New Trend in Scripting

Pooh's scripting has taken a turn. I noticed a big change about a month ago when I noticed he was scripting out bits and pieces of two/three different movies to make a new story. I could recognize most of the parts and could see how he was blending them. Although, when i was trying to ask him about it, he got upset. So I didn't get to pursue or explore what was behind the changes.

Also, he'll substitute the names of the characters in the movies for the names of his friends. So for a Winnie the Pooh movie suddenly Piglet is being called Dylan, Tigger is Jonathon etc. He's done this with the PBS show Fetch with Ruff Ruffman by making up his own game show with questions he wants to ask and giving us points.

So, while part of me still dislikes the whole scripting thing in general, the other part of me is pretty impressed. This is a creative turn, to make his own stories from parts of others. (Plagiarizing big time I know. LOL) It shows how his mind is at least flexible enough that the story doesn't have to be the same every time.

For those who may think I'm being overly positive about this, I do believe that it's still a way for him to control his world. That instead of joining our world, he's bringing us into his. I don't plan on particularly doing anything about it. I may make my own suggestions for plot changes here and there and see how well they're taken. My main belief though, is that thru continued efforts in RDI his need for scripting will lessen. The more comfortable he feels in having a relationship with the people around him and becoming interested in the things they are interesting in, the less need he'll feel to stick with the tried and true avenue of movie and book scripting.

Pooh's Pot of Honey

I just had to write about the smallest yet significant thing Pooh did tonight. I'm a little limpy from my hip sliding out of place. It does that on occasion and will eventually slip right back in. It's done this since high school. Anyway, I'm limping into the kitchen when Pooh notices and asks what's wrong. I explain. Then the cool thing happens. He bring me a piece of pvc piping that the boys use in their pretend play. It's about 2 1/2 feet long. He says "here this will help you". I told him that it was ok, i was alright but thank you. I wasn't exactly sure what i was supposed to do with it. lol Then he says "oh, it's too short".

It was supposed to be a cane!!!! How sweet is that?!? Not only did he 1. notice my problem. He 2. looked for a solution and 3. realized that the solution wasn't quite right. He didn't get upset about it and we moved along in our activity.

My Pooh bear is full of honey sweetness!!

Checkers Goal

So we've been working on this 'Checkers' goal for the past few days. I've been really trying this time to just do things in the moment instead of preplanning so much and getting bogged down with "activities". I've noticed that i don't even need to do any prep work for Pooh to be involved. Just pausing and looking at him clues him in that he needs to be alert for my move. Sometimes it's an eye movement-from him to an object, like the groceries in the cart at checkout. Sometimes, i catch his gaze and move towards the clothes dryer. He just follows me and starts joining in with what I'm doing. No talking is involved.

I've also played keep a way with the dishes he's supposed to be cleaning off the table, played a blocking game where i don't let him by as he's trying to leave the room and made Teechino (herbal coffee) RDI style.

So I think this goal is going well! I'm not stressing over it and am trying to incorporate 'lifestyle' ideas and I believe that this is working. I'm happy to see that our sabbatical didn't cause a major loss of referencing skills either.

This means i need to get working on my parent goals and giving feedback on the RDIos to my consultant. Hop to it, girl!

'Checkers'

I talked with our RDI consultant today to start getting us back on track after a very long 'sabbatical', if you will. She and I were talking about Pooh's next goal. It has to do with Reciprocal and Contingent actions. As she is telling me what in heavens name she is talking about (RDI lingo is a steep learning curve for me ;D), I started thinking 'Checkers'.

This goal is basically like the game of checkers. It's turn taking (the Reciprocal part). And each person is always basing their move on what the other person does (the Contingency part). This is all going through my head as she's explaining that we are concentraing on the physical actions not the verbal (due to Pooh's frequent scripting--i just ignore it). Then she starts explaining that I need to come up with a catch phrase for this goal, something like Physical Contingency. Huh?!? I said, "How about Checkers?"

I'm the first parent that has ever used that as a catch phrase for this goal. Fancy That! LOL

No, really, RDI lingo may be easy for some, but if I have to be thinking of doing something all day to work on the goal, I'd much rather be muttering 'Checkers' than 'Physical Contingency'. So any of you RDI'ers who may read this blog, don't worry if your mutterings sound stupid, just make it easy on yourself.

Something I tried today that worked well was as Pooh was leaving the kitchen, I did blocking manuevers. You know, they move to the left to get by so you move to block them. (Remember to do this non-verbally with a happy Sesame Street face, not a Hitler one. ;D) Then they learn they can try to get through by going under your legs or running around the kitchen table. We had fun with this and Pooh did it with no problems. Then the King start a face-making game. We did a three way game of making silly faces. Pooh played right along.

I'm going to try going with the flow and work it into everything we're doing. I tend to overthink it and try creating things to do. I make myself nuts doing this. So for this goal, I've personally decided to try it in the most natural way possible. We'll see how that goes.

Play checkers, play checkers , play checkers. I have to play checkers. ;P

RDI-Your Background Matters

The other day I wrote a post where i expressed my displeasure that after 8 years with Pooh having the diagnosis of autism, the King still couldn't give a simple, basic explanation. Tammy, from AUT-2B-HOME wrote how her dh also has difficulties due to being raised in an imperative household. My King is Latino and as such, was raised in a very imperative way. Imperative meaning "Do It Now" no questions asked. You are robotic in your obedience. "Hurry Up" is frequently said. I'm not saying all Latinos are raised this way, but it is common. I'm NOT Latina and I was raised with no guidance from one side of the family and had Cruela de Vil on the other. (if you don't do it right, you get to start all over again from the beginning until you do get it right. Ugh)

I'm mentioning this because, when you're coming into RDI, it's important to realize what type of parenting style you have and that's based a lot on how you were raised. Your Background Matters. You have to acknowledge it so you can then make the necessary adjustments. I think this is one of the hardest parts of RDI. You HAVE to change the parenting style for you to get the changes you want in your child.

That means no more "hurry up", instead you have to slow everything down. I mean way down. Don't try doing RDI when you have something you have to finish. Or something you feel important having done correctly. It won't work. If you're picky about how you fold laundry, don't do RDI with it, or do RDI with the towels that maybe don't matter so much.

This also means changing your communication style (verbal and nonverbal) to a declarative style instead of imperative. Pick activities that this will work with for you and the child. Once again, don't try doing it with things you are picky about, you'll become imperative in a flash. I know you will, don't even think about defending yourself on this one. Invite instead of order. Comment instead of command. Relax and have fun instead of drill and question. If you're planting flowers, some will get mangled, be planted upside down or drowned. Let it be part of the experience. It's not the problem, it's the experience and the way we adjust and allow the child to think about what's happening that is the important part.

So if you're going this RDI road without a consultant, think about your background, how that affects your parenting style and then, how you can adjust it. (This is obviously what I'm doing and encouraging the King to do as well.) Video taping is a big part of RDI because the parent sees, not what the child is doing wrong, but what we're doing wrong and how we change our behavior to allow the child to grow cognitively.

RDI parenting will only help. It's about 'Relationship' and 'Connecting' with your child. That's the true parenting anyway.

Bird Update 4:45

At this sighting we saw:

2 Morning Doves
1 Carolina Chickadee
2 Northern Cardinals
3 Dark Eyed Juncos
2 American Robins

Despite today's results, I normally have a ton of birds in the yard. Last time I counted, in January, we had 17 species of birds, including a Red Shouldered Hawk who likes to visit on cloudy days. Tigger named him Glub the first time we saw him in December.

I'm hoping for a truer representation before the official counting time is over.

Count the Birds Today!!

Today starts the Great Backyard Bird Count!!! Here is where you can get the info and submit your reports. We've done one session so far today but the birds must have been on siesta! We didn't see one. Noone at the feeders, in the trees, flying, on lines, NADA!

Oh well, we will be trying again hopefully later. This continues through February 18th.

RDIos Lite 1

Ok, so yes, I think I'm missing out on the videos part. Or maybe I just haven't found them yet. What I've been looking at in the last week, is the elearning section. It's like little slide shows but you hear Dr. G talking/explaining things. I absolutely LOVE being able to listen to him. I choose the topic (we've been doing Guided Participation) and there are about 25 little slide shows adding up to one hour of listening time. I can stop and start it whenever I want. The King has been listening with me and trying to get better at understanding Autism and Rdi. I discovered this weekend that, after 8 years of him watching and reading different info i've given him, he still has no idea how to explain what autism is to other people. I'm not saying he hasn't tried to pay attention. It's just not been a priority for him. And yes, he's watched the whole Getting to the Heart of Autism DVD. We had a serious discussion about it because it bothers me. He needs to understand this to be able to give at least a simple explanation of what our son is like and what we're trying to do to help him. Anyway, I feel that the elearning section of the website will be a great help in that. And it's wonderful for me too. I need the review from time to time, because I read so much I just can't always keep everything all straight.

That's the latest. I'll keep looking for more tidbits to share.

Just Joined RDIos

Ok, i'm in. Doing the Lite version which basically means I have access to most stuff but not the videos? Not sure. I'll be exploring what i can and getting up with my consultant soon. It's sort of exciting, if it's all what it's cracked up to be. I'm hoping to get more info on each objective and ideas of things to do as I go along.

I'll keep you posted!

One More Thing...

On our way to the park, we saw a whole mess of turkey vultures hanging out on a water tower. I mean there had to be about 30 of them there. More than I have ever seen in one place. Anyone know why they would be hanging out on a water tower? Does it produce heat of some kind? It's right next to a pretty busy road. Maybe they're waiting for some idiot to run a red light? LOL

We also must have started a vulture eating by the side of the back road we traveled on. The thing flew right over the van and in front of my van window for about 15 seconds. Too Cool!!

The Horse Trail

Yesterday I had to get out of the house. I had been sick for a few days, the weather was beautiful and I knew rain was coming. So we decided to go to a place that we visit mainly in the summer. It has creeks that are running off a major river and as I discovered the last time we were there, some trails. In the summer time the boys have a blast getting completely wet, throwing rocks and all the typical things boys like to do around water. Yesterday, I emphasized was NOT a get wet day! LOL

The trail we went on was designated for horses and because of the recent rain there were nice muddy tracks to follow. (and lots of horsey poo to avoid which means Tigger would yell "Poop" about every 50 feet) Pooh knew what they were from right away. So we went on a hunt to find the horse. We never found it of course, but they did have fun finding all sorts of long sticks to hit against the trees. They pretended they were the hunters from Peter and the Wolf and were hunting wolves. We walked along some fallen pine trees as you would in the circus. I how the woods got a bit more dense and thus darker at some point and said "this reminds me of the hundred acre wood". They both looked. Pooh smiled and Tigger pretended to be scared. More stick banging and shooting ensued. (Oh we also discussed the look of the fresh poop compared to the old ones.---Some nature teacher i am. LOL)

After the trail, we drank some of the hot tea i brought along in the thermos. I also showed Tigger how we bury some potty products. :O Pooh loves putting leaves in the water and watching them flow down the creek. Tigger loves to throw the biggest rock he can lift and watch the big splashes.

Afterward, we came home and they drew into their nature journals the pine tree twigs i brought home. One had recently fallen and still had some green needles on it. The other was one that had a couple of little cones attached. I was impressed that Pooh actually did them with the appropriate colors, as many times he just likes to use pencil or the black color pencils with no variation in colors. He had the needles green and the branch brown.

I'm determined to do this more often.

The Rescuers

We all know the Disney version. Two little mice go to rescue a little girl kidnapped by Medusa (or whatever her name is LOL) who's currently residing in a swamp somewhere. Other country-bumpkin animals help along the way as well as the albatross who takes them to and from their locations.

Well, the only way it resembles the real story is the fact that there are two little mice named Bernard and Bianca. The REAL story is very interesting what with a black castle, a Norwegian sea mouse, a fat cat and the rescue of a writer.

I am now in horror at what they might do to one of my favorites, The Tale of Despereaux, when it becomes a movie.

Please read the real version of the Rescuers by Margery Sharp. It's worth it.

The Power of Dairy

A little history first. December 2006 I had just had it with my allergies so I decided to try an elimination diet similar to the one explained here. It took me about two months to complete it but in the end I discovered the foods causing my main allergy problems. Dairy is of course, my biggest culprit. I'm also a little sensitive to corn (something my naturopath says is common in people with candida issues) and bananas. Through avoiding dairy I have eliminated the majority of my allergy issues.

Soooo, I was noticing some things with Tigger. Not only the sensory and potty training issues, but how he was getting little almost invisible bumps on his skin, redness around the mouth and cheeks and diaper rash. I decided to take him off dairy. He didn't have any more diaper rash, his face cleared up, he stopped chewing everything and he potty trained. Coincidence? Maybe, but my guess is that the dairy allergy was throwing his whole system off, including the sensory part. You don't have to react in an anaphalactic (spelling ?) way to have an allergy.

I have a SoyaPower machine which makes our soy and rice or almond milk. We have discovered cheeses from the health food store. Soy and rice ice cream doesn't taste as bad when it's the only thing you can eat.

Tigger is handling it all really well. He even told a friend he was visiting that he wanted a snack, but no cow's milk. ;D The only thing we haven't been able to find is a substitute for goldfish crackers. Some type of cracker that tastes cheesy would be really appreciated around here. If any of you reading this have a name brand for me, I could order it thru our local Whole Foods. I would greatly appreciate it. (and Tigger would LOVE it!)

So, any of you with potty issues and/or sensory issues going on with your kids, give non-dairy eating a try. It just might surprise you.

Potty Success

Due to the nature of the subject, expect some 'potty' words. :D

I'm constantly amazed at how things work out. Pooh potty trained in one week (numbers 1 & 2) the month he turned six. I did expect that, due to his autism. I was familiar with the late training aspect.

However (and that's a big however) I never expected it to take almost 5 years for Tigger my 'nt' child. He finally potty trained this month in a matter of 3 days. He'll be 5 in February. So i'm left to conclude that it isn't autism for my boys but sensory issues. I know that it wasn't connected this past spring when i tried training Tigger. I would ask him to try to pee and he would squeeze himself to try to get something out. This is a smart kid, but the potty sensations just eluded him. Sometime he would tell me he had a poopy diaper when it was just pee and vice versa. So what's a mom to do? I just had to let it go. After all, if the promise of a pirate party didn't inspire any motivation, what would? LOL

For any of you moms who may be despairing over potty training, here's an interesting article on the sensory issues involved in the whole process. (the only one i found i might add) I may or may not have previously mentioned that I did start noticing some signs of sensory disintegration in Tigger. He started with the chewing--clothes, toys, etc. I already knew he was bouncy. So i had to go with the fact that he needed more nutrition wise and more activity wise before his system would calm down enough for him to key in with his body's needs. Fortunately, it's worked, he's successful and very proud of himself and we will soon be having a great pirate party (as soon as it's warm enough).

Argh!!

More on being a Paleontologist

(Yes, I'm just jumping back in with no explanations. Hopefully, I'll be updated more frequently but I'm not making any promises. :D)

We were outside burning the brush (since the burn ban was temporarily lifted) and I saw Tigger just digging away in the dirt. He has a real kid's shovel so he can definitely do some damage. As I walk by he says he's looking for dinosaur bones. Too Cute! I told him to let me know when he found some. At that, he looks completely exasperated at me being so dense and says, "I'm just pretending the worms are dinosaur bones but they're really not."

Oh, ok, well thanks for letting me know. LOL

Monsters and Dinosaurs

Wow have we had a busy couple of days. Went to a children's museum a little ways from here. The museum itself is a totally fun place of course. But, for Pooh the cool thing was seeing the IMAX film on Sea Monsters (of the prehistoric variety). I even yelped a couple times when the huge things looked like they were going to gobble us up by coming out of the movie screen. I thought Tigger would be the one to get nervous, but it turned out that Pooh was a little scared. Interesting. I've also noticed that Pooh has started putting his hands over his ears for loud noises again lately. Public bathrooms, loud movies, etc. I'll have to mention that to his Naturopath next time I talk to her. He hadn't been doing it that much for a year or two. Hmmmm. Next we went to a Nature Museum and had a nice time in the butterfly pavilion and learning about above ground and underground animals.

Then, today, we had the privilege of seeing the AWESOME show "Walking With Dinosaurs". Man, they really did a good job. They were so life-like. The T-Rex came out at the end and was of course the loudest. LOL We were with a homeschool group and everyone enjoyed the show, from the teenagers to the little kids. I definately recommend it. We were able to get in on a special rate because they had one show made for school kids with a super reduced rate. (Disclaimer--the show is set up heavy on evolution, so those of you don't go that route in teaching will have to use your own discretion. We just discussed afterwards that scientists make lots of "guesses" and only God knows the truth about what they looked like and what happened to them.)

Tigger says he's going to be a "pagoloshist" he he. Both boys will definately be on a dinosaur kick for a little while. That I know. Guess I need to go get out their box of toy animals so they can reenact some fighting scenes. Carnivour vs. Herbavour next on Boys Gone Wild.

I'm Back!!

Well, I'm back, I hope. That was a longer break than I was expecting. There was a lot going on around here. We had great days at the pool. Pooh decided one day that he was ready to swim without his water wings. He just took off!! It made me a little nervous at first because he was even swimming in the deep end and jumping off the diving board---the first day!!!! But he did great and we were sooo proud of him. He was very proud of himself too. We used that opportunity to express how practicing helps to learn something new and sometimes it takes a lot of practice.

We also had the kids party. It was an Outerspace theme. The King and I made space packs out of soda bottles, cereal boxes and aluminum foil. They were a hit. We planted "moon rocks" around the yard (pieces of candy covered with foil) and the kids went on a moon rock hunt. We also found a rocket sprinkler at Walmart on sale. That thing was a big hit. It shoots 16 feet into the air. The kids had fun spraying each other. I'll be getting that water bill soon. :O I also made an earth cake and little alien ship cupcakes with icing aliens. It was my first time making my own icing and coloring it for decorating. It turned out pretty good. Even though it all took about 4 hours to do. Thankfully, my mom kept the boys for the two nights before the party so I could finish all the preparation. Boy, was I tired by the end of it all.

We have been on an RDI hold for the past couple of months due to finances. The King will find out this week whether or not he still has a job. Ugh. We went thru this last year and it's no fun. I haven't been doing much videoing lately and I need to get back to that. It makes me concentrate on the RDI and plan what I'm going to do next. It seems like I've been concentrating so much on implementing some of Charlotte Mason's homeschooling method, that the RDI is getting pushed aside. I need to find more of a balance with that.

That's a quick update for where we're at. My goal will be to update here a couple times a week and to fill in some of the holes as regards our homeschooling adventure over the last couple months.

Summer Days

I have a feeling that this month may be more hit and miss with blogging. We have been having some really nice days with friends to keep us busy in this summer weather. The boys have been invited to a few summer pool parties, several pool days, a nature hike and will be having their own annual summer party at the end of August. This year their party theme is Outer space. So I've got to get my booty in gear for the 24 boys this will involve. (I know. Call me insane. ) Tomorrow we are going to the zoo. Pooh has been asking to go for months, but it has been put off for one reason or another. With the relatively cooler weather we are having this week I thought it would be a good day to go.

RDI wise, I have gone ahead and sent a tape to our consultant to see how we're coming along with framing for roles. I think Pooh was responding well. I just found myself having to walk that fine line between not being the director and also not over compensating for him. I'll wait for the consultant's feedback before blogging anymore on that area.

In getting that new washer and dryer I've talked about, I neglected to mention that this involved tearing everything out of our laundry closet. It is now all sitting in the middle of what was my newly reorganized basement. I'm not happy about this AT ALL! The reason for the chaos is that we decided to have our machines stacked instead of side by side. This meant taking out the generic shelves we had put up when we moved in 4 years ago. We are going to get some type of wire shelving system from Lowe's, but need to measure and go there together (together is the key with men and hardware stores) to decide which system will work. The laundry closet walls are a mixture of the cement block used in basements and drywall. It's never easy. I'm probably looking at another whole week before I get things back together. Meanwhile, I have to keep the boys from destroying any of the boxes sitting on the floor.

I love my new machines though!!!! They are the coolest. LOL I do notice how much cleaner the clothes look coming out of the front loader. They take longer in the washer but are spun so well, even a full load of towels only takes about 40 minutes to dry. Maybe my utility bills will go down. Wouldn't that be nice! I have been making my own laundry soap for a few months now. But I decided to change what I was doing. I had been making a liquid laundry soap and now I'm switching to a powder one. I like it better. I think I'm going to try selling it locally. It is great for anyone wanting to Go Green and/or chemically sensitive. Making an extra little bit of money here or there would really help. We'll see how it goes. Oh and this soap works perfectly with the new HE machines. Very low sudsing.

Well, I better start heading for bed. The zoo is a lot of walking, so I need to hit the hay!

Laundry and TV

Media and the Mind I read this post from a blogger I just happened to visit-not one I was normally reading (but I will now). I really appreciate how she put into a brief synopsis so much of what I've been reading lately. I've been hearing of this book "Endangered Minds" but haven't read it yet. I HAVE read Waldorf's recommendations on getting rid of "media" ie TV, video games, computer games. RDI recommends cutting way back on screen time (their way of referring to the same things). It's really funny (not ha ha funny) how people can be so horrified at living life without TV. I know to a certain extent I used to be the same way. Live without shows?? You've got to be kidding me. I have actually lived without a TV on two separate occasions in my life. Once, when I moved out and out-of-state from my parents I lived for about 8 months with no TV. I was suffering from depression then, so really once I got the TV it didn't make much difference. I was still sucked into my void. The other time was when I moved into an apartment, right before the King and I got married. We lived without a TV for over a year I think. I got a lot more of my important reading done and the King got a lot more sleep. Now I've just got too much to do to be that interested in TV. Plus, programming has gone to pot. There are a lot of shows that I wouldn't want to be watching if I were watching TV. I seem to have a weakness each year for American Idol. (I just hate when they show commercials for junky shows during this time period. Please, my kids watch it with me!) And in the winter, the King and I do enjoy some of the Masterpiece Theater programs. (of course LOL) But that's been the extent of my TV habits the last few years. Sometimes, hubby will want me to watch a movie with him and I have to make myself sit down and watch something. I'd much rather be reading "Endangered Minds"!


Now with the kids, I'm trying to cut back on "screen time". I've told them that if they watch too much TV their little brains "wont' grow" ;D. We went a week with no TV last year. Pooh did a lot better than I thought he would. I had the days marked on the calendar and he did fine, except he just quoted the movies all day. We recently had to give the kids a No TV day because they had snuck an extra movie while we were doing yard work. I knew they had done it, but decided that instead of going in and confronting them about it, I would just call a No TV day instead. It worked. They promised to "never ever do it again". ;D At least, they got the point for now. No sneaking. We do have the rule that they have to ask first and I have to approve what they are going to watch.

Another thing I've been doing so far is having them pick the PBS shows they are going to watch in advance. We sort of have a little pow wow in the morning and they each tell me which show they want to watch for that day. That way I don't get asked 5 million times if they can watch this or that. They know what time the shows come on and Pooh definitely keeps track of the clock for that. If he misses the show he's picked while we are at home doing something, he will get upset. But, if we're out and about, he's much more mellow that "he'll see it another day." So, there's some flexibility there.

I think I mentioned before about how I've gone through their videos and donated a bunch to the library. That is one way of cutting down on clutter and the importance of hoarding all these movies. I like borrowing the movies from the library because I have a much larger variety there to have them choose from. They have to be turned in within a week too, so that means that there's an end to when they are available. We do still have some movies at home for family movie night, sick time, really bad weather, etc.

This is getting kind of long and I haven't even gotten to the laundry part yet. I'm going to have to do another Media post about what my future plans are too. So, the laundry portion of this is that yesterday we went shopping for our new washer and dryer. Yep, had to get a new set. There weren't any on Freecycle. (Sears had a nice sale, 12 months no interest, plus we had another 10% coupon. So I got a set of front loaders. Whoaaaa! They are cool! The dryer works faster than the washer. The complete opposite of what I had before. Go figure!)

Anyway, I know you're waiting to see what Laundry has to do with TV. Well, when we were talking to the appliance guy at Sears, I mentioned that all the new TV's were cool. You know, big flat screens and the colours are just amazing on them. Not that we were looking to buy, but just saying. He talks about how there was one on a really good sale. Then I made the comment that we only had one TV and we were trying to keep it that way. You should have seen his face. You would have thought I said we used an outhouse instead of a bathroom! It's funny and yet sad. When we did become a society that needed to have one TV per person in the house? It separates Mom and Dad watcing from the kids watching. I think the TV watching should be something planned. That way it helps control the amount of time one watches it and teaches compromise. Mom wants to watch Oprah-Kids want to watch Arthur? Compromise. Or better yet, go for a walk together.

There's so much out there besides TV. It's time to get out there and experience it.

Laundromat RDI

My washing machine has really bit the dust this time. It needs a part, that IF it were available, would cost over $150. But, of course, our machine is too old and the part is "unavailable". sob sob That means that until we get another machine, I'm using a laundromat. ugh I forgot how expensive it is to wash clothes in those places. The three of us could've had a nice lunch at Panera for how much it cost to wash clothes on Monday. sigh

Anyway, I thought that since I had to drag the 3 of us and the clothes (and the baskets and the washing liquid, etc etc) over there and spend 3 hours doing it, I was going to make it worth the time. We did RDI stuff all over the place. Pooh helped carry the baskets-each of us taking one end and Regulating our way to the van, from van to the machine, from place back to the van, and from van back to the house. We also threw clothes in washers together, took them out together, put in dryer together. This involved him having to make sure the cart was where I needed it for the clothes. Helping open and shut doors. This I did with the current objective in mind. Thinking of all the steps and making sure it was a 50/50 project. We probably could have done more of that kind of stuff, but the kids were distracted by the VIDEO GAMES (big sigh) in there.

I also brought books so that we did some reading together too. I didn't want boredom to set in so I made sure we had the books and plenty of snacks and drinks. It wasn't so bad, but by the time I got home I needed a little "mommy-time" so I got my drink and sat at the computer to read other blogs. :D

Which brings to mind that HarvestMom is ending her blog on Jacob's Journey. Boo Hoo I got seriously teary eyed when I read this. For me, it was wonderful and yet I feel a little let down too. They have been doing RDI for three years now and just look at how far they've gotten!! She feels that they are on a normal developmental path. So in that way I'm cheering for them and for RDI. On the other hand, our journey is just beginning and I so hope that in a few years I can get to that same point. Starting RDI at age 9 with Pooh is so different from Jacob's starting at age 3. I try to remember that I can only look to what I need to do now. Not what I wish I knew and had done several years ago. I'm certainly conflicted inside about the whole thing. Not to say that I'm not absolutely thrilled for them at the same time. I'll still be reading at their regular family/home school blog Along the Crooked Path though so I'll be able to keep up with how things are going. I will miss all HarvestMom's good RDI insight. That's for sure. So, Good Wishes to them and all the other RDI families out there trying for remediation with their children. May we all have a great measure of success.

Shopping With Pooh

Sunday afternoon, Pooh and I went on our shopping expedition. I had to go to the Dollar Tree and Walmart. Not my favorite of stores, but we're on a tight budget. I tried to be aware of doing RDI-ish things while we were together. I would pass him things to put in the cart. We tossed a squishy ball back and forth in the Dollar Tree. He helped me put groceries on the conveyor belt. Sometimes, I would hand him the item, sometimes he would hand me the item, sometimes we took turns. I had to pause and wait for him to clue in many times, so it took a little longer than normal, but not much.

In Walmart, I gave him the grocery list and he checked off the items after I put them in the cart. He's not really reading yet, so I helped point to the words if he didn't get it. He practiced his math skills by counting up how many items were on the list and then gave me the countdown as we were going along. LOL

He, of course, helps haul in groceries once we get home. That's the heavy carrying proprioceptive work he needs.

Other RDI things you can do while shopping are: Referencing during produce picking=pick up apples and reference which ones are worthy of going in your bag. Co-Regulation=it's watermelon time so you might need "help carrying this huge watermelon". You can also regulate with pushing the cart at the store. Sometimes, we push it together. It's great to do this in the parking lot with a full load. It's heavier so you'll definitely notice if he's not doing his part. The cart will veer off course very quickly. Just make sure you do this away from other vehicles. ;D

We had a nice mother-son shopping excursion with much RDI friendly work. Definitely a productive afternoon.

Pool Day

Well, I as the mother didn't get in any official RDI pool time on Friday. BUT, I think Pooh did great RDI work with his cousins. They are older 17 and 12. There was also an 11 year old there. So, he was pretty much hanging out with that age group instead of Tigger, age 4 and his friend, age 5. This is the first year that Pooh has been willing to jump off the diving board into the deep end. Before that, it just made him too nervous. He still wears his wings, but other than that he's good to go. Even his wings are only about half inflated.

The cool thing I caught him doing was jumping off the diving board as a threesome. He and his cousins would all stand at the end of the board together, bouncing and counting to 3 and they would all jump holding on to one another. Talk about Regulation!!!! He was also playing some sort of game where they would toss each other into the pool. I saw him tossed on two separate occasions (gently, because his cousins know him well enough lol) and he handled it beautifully. There were no upsets at all.

Mom sat by the pool in the "too cool to swim" weather chatting it up with the other two moms there. We all had a great day!

Today's Co-Reg Activities

Today I hauled my poor tripod inside and outside. We cut flowers from the garden. We made a flower arrangement in a vase. We made a drawing that turned out to be a pirate. We bundled groups of lavender together to hang for drying. We dug up the garlic from the garden. That one was the best one of all of them. The reason being that sometimes in pulling up the garlic, the top came off without pulling up the bulb. So we had to get the shovel and get it out. I could tell Pooh felt very competent helping with that. The only thing that didn't work out so well was that he was hot. Therefore, he complained and fought doing the activities more than he would have normally.

Tomorrow we are heading to a friend's pool, so hopefully I can do some good co-reg activities there. I'm just not able to think of anything right now that involves many roles. But we'll see, maybe something will come to me tomorrow. I'll also have to gauge whether it's worth it with other kids there. He may be distracted by all the other with jumping, etc.

So now, I'm sitting in a house that smells of garlic and lavender. All for RDI. ;D

Pink Doughnuts

Pooh has been talking about doughnuts lately. He really wants to go back to a Krispy Kreme store near here that actually makes the doughnuts where you can see the whole process. In talking about it, he says he wants to get "pink doughnuts, because you like pink mommy." What?!? Blow me over, did he just express an interest in something I might want? I still have a hard time believing it. The thought processes it took to get him there is what amazes me. I had made a comment earlier about liking doughnuts, it's true. But then, on his own, he remembers that 1. I like pink (because I'm a girl. lol) 2. That doughnuts come in pink. (the icing at least) and 3. That he would decide to pick something I like instead of just saying what he wants???? I'm just amazed and proud that he's starting to think this way. Could it be all those joint regulation activities we've been doing? Goodness, if it is an effect of any of the RDI principles we've been implementing, all I can say is, Bring It On! I'm ready for more.


Before he said this we had a very cute interchange. Pooh brought up the last doughnuts I had bought at Wally World and was wondering who ate the last one. I wasn't saying anything, so he started questioning the family. Tigger didn't eat it, Daddy didn't eat it, it wasn't in the trash. "Mommy, did you eat the last doughnut?" I immediately shoved a forkful of dinner in my mouth and started mumbling. "What, mommy?" More mumbling. "What?" More mumbling. Each time with different inflections. "Mommy, I think you should finish your food and answer me. Did you eat the last doughnut?" Sigh, yes it was me.

Sometimes I really like doughnuts, with or without pink icing.

The Great Clean-Out

So this past weekend I went to work on filling up that 10x12 shed storage building the King and I put up the first weekend of July. It's now about 1/3 full. My basement (otherwise known as family room, laundry area, school room, etc) is now about 1/2 less full than before. It's also completely rearranged. I kept telling hubby that it was good to do all this decluttering just in the amount of dust we were able to clean up. It was a late spring cleaning for sure! I also got rid of 6 walmart bags full of paper from my office and completely cleaned and rearranged our living room. The basement looks great but still needs some organizing. I need some different clear containers to label for pens, markers, different activities for the kids, etc. I made a crash area near the kids bookshelves. This consists of large pillows then can lay on, wrestle on and sleep on. The tv got moved and I've gone thru most of their videos. There were two boxes full that I've gotten rid of. Some were returned to my sister, who gave many to me in the first place. Others will be donated to the public library. That way, if they really want to see them again, they know they can find the movies to watch. We like to get our movies from the library anyway. They're free (as long as you turn them in on time--super big plus for us) and there is usually something there for everyone. I also don't have to store the movies myself any longer.

Their homemade train table is going to be their main art area. So it's near the shelves of art supplies. I want them to be able to get out and create whenever they feel like it. There are special materials I'm keeping for "you ask first" only, but most things they should be OK with now that Tigger is a little older. I have plenty of copy paper that my hubby got for free. It's amazing what people are willing to throw out. Two huge boxes, one of which is going into the shed, of good size copy paper perfect for pre-k art.

The basement is so clean (compared to before--there are a couple of areas I still need to tackle) that I actually got out my beads last night and made a few pieces of jewelry. That's something I started about a year and a half ago. I've sold a few things, nothing big time. I've just rarely had the time to take my stuff out and get going on it. There's usually so much picking up I need to do. Hopefully, the reorganizing, decluttering and retraining of my children will help with all of that.

I'm so very happy and thankful that the King and I have been able to accomplish so much these last two weeks. It makes up for the months I've been waiting for this to happen.

WE'RE DONE WITH THE BLITZ!!!

We've made it to the end of our RDA and the end of our RCR blitzing. Yeah!! As it turns out, we are almost into new Stage 2. The last objective we have to work on with Stage 1 has to do with co-regulation. Pooh will have to identify his roles in an activity. What this involves is this. We, the parents, will be thinking of an activity, say baking cookies. Then, before we try to do the activity, we brainstorm all the different roles that go into that. This brainstorming is otherwise known as Framing. It's just basically pre-planning so that you don't start an activity and have it fall apart. You've thought of all that goes into the activity, what your objective is, how to target said objective, where it may breakdown, how you will repair the breakdown, etc. Even with all this Framing you may see breakdowns, but it should help prevent a lot of it.

So in Framing the activity baking cookies, I've thought of: Pan getter, ingredients getter, mixer, measurer, pourer, oven turner on-er, door opener, Pam sprayer, etc etc. Basically, all the roles that would be needed to complete the task. The goal is to then do the activity with Pooh, non-verbally as possible, and allow him to share 50/50 in taking the roles necessary in the activity. As the parent, I need to ensure I'm not having him do all the work with only me directing and also, that I'm not overcompensating by taking most of the roles for myself. It's supposed to be an Even-Steven kind of thing. So how does that work in a mostly non-verbal way?

In comes Scaffolding. I'll be using eye gaze to try to convey what he needs to do next. Say he needs to get the sugar from the pantry. If the eye gazing doesn't work, I can point in the general direction of the pantry. Say something along the lines of , "I like when cookies are sweet". I could go over and point to the pantry door where the sugar is. I could open the door. I want to do the least possible in my scaffolding to allow Pooh to understand what he's supposed to do next. This allows him to think for himself. We're leading him through the thought processes that he hasn't gotten to yet, but that are just the next step. He may need just mild hinting with some things and major hinting with others. (Hinting is my term, not an RDI term. :D)

So do you think that this sounds like an awful lot of work? It is and it isn't to me. It is because, yes, you have to sit and think about what you're going to do, when you're going to do it, for how long and make sure you're relaxed and declarative during the whole process. The "whole process" of baking cookies is going to take a lot longer because of the way we must target the roles in our co-regulation. But then, RDI is all about slowing down your whole life in order to allow for the development necessary for autism remediation. I also need to figure out what I can do about Tigger right now. His brain works faster, of course, than Pooh's does and I'm going to have to do different activities with the two of them. On the other hand, when you see things clicking in their brains and you know it's leading to development of the core deficits of autism, the work is sooooo worth it. And I also can see that what we're doing is really setting up for future learning. All these basic steps that others with typical kids take for granted, are necessary for us to go through. I can't wait to get really going with all of this.

Oh and the other thing that ought to be interesting, is figuring out how to video tape all of this. Hopefully, the good stuff will be in the camera's range. I've already had a couple of things be out of camera range that were soooo good, I wanted our consultant to see them. But, asi es la vida. or C'est la vie. Whichever floats your boat. ;D Besides, she's called me tripod woman. Which I am, I drag that tripod everywhere I can. The only way we've been able to video anything is with that tripod. Necessary RDI ingredient!

Nature Hike

Today we went to a local state park for a hike around the top. It is a .8 mile hike. It was a beautiful day. A little warm but was saved by a good breeze. The boys seemed to have a good time. We packed a picnic lunch that they helped prepare and plenty of water. We also packed their sketchbooks and color pencils. They were already familiar with these sketchbooks because earlier in the year we had called them "memory books". They would pick one thing each day to draw as a memory of that day. Sometimes it would be something from one of their books, like Blueberry Hill from Blueberries for Sal. Other days, it would be something they had seen at a museum we had gone to, like the python.

Today they drew something from their hike. We saw lots of ants, so that was one thing Pooh drew besides the mountain. Tigger actually drew Pooh climbing the mountain. The thing that Pooh drew which amazed me was the tree we had seen that had grown like a bench. It curved enough for about 3 people to sit on it before it aimed itself up again. Evidently, he thought that was cool. And I agree with him.

We talked about how i would like to visit different hiking trails. We could maybe find some with streams and waterfalls. The boys love water so that went over well.

RDI wise, I tried to keep the day as declarative as possible. Just sort of stating things i saw or giving a big exclamation "OH" and then looking at Pooh. Sometimes he would respond and other times he would just say "yeah, come on, let's go." He stopped and observed with me some type of lizard and a blue-tailed salamander. (I'm going to have to get some books so we can learn the names of these creatures) He was extremely fascinated with the ants. There were black ones, red ones, big ones and little ones. He spotted one that was carrying a big dead bug of some kind.

All in all, it was a positive experience. Several times, Pooh told me unprompted, "This was a good hike, mommy." I'm thinking about having this be a weekly activity. Travel to different trails, state parks, regular parks, etc. We'll definitely have to visit this same place in the fall. That's when the different raptors come and soar all around the top near the lookout areas. I love watching them ride the wind currents. The park had a poster up about the different raptors that visit. Pooh seemed interested so this will be an autumn activity for us.

The other nice thing about hiking is that it actually wears Tigger out. His bounciness was incredibly diminished and he's currently sleeping like a log. Now I'm off to do the same.

He's Flirting With Me!

Pooh and I were doing turn taking by loading mulch into the wheelbarrow with a pitchfork. The first wheelbarrowful went without much incident. The next time he started by saying that he was only going to do it one time. He then left after he only scooped once. He stays within sight though and I had him break down the pile with me hand over hand creating an avalanche. He did another pitch forkful. So I kept doing more myself. Then realized that he was on the other side of the pile saying something along the lines of "mommy, can't see me and I'm not doing it anymore" I looked over at him, gestured with the pitchfork and smiled. He came right over and did another scoop!! He started flirting in the sense of he knew I was going to have him help me and just waited until I smiled and played with him before he came over.

And yes, this is great improvement. Before it would have been. "Nope, I'm not helping." "I'm getting out of here." "That's it!" All yelling and attitude.

Today, he flirted with me. happy sigh

My Nature Boys

You know, I've been very perplexed in reading about Charlotte Mason education, how I was going to get my boys interested in nature study. With Pooh, it has been very difficult to interest him in much of anything nature-wise. Oh, once in a while he has gotten hold of a subject and verbally beat it to death. For instance, bees. He watched a magic school bus video on bees and honey-making and has repeated it the facts he learned from it over and over and over and over and over and, well, you get the idea. I must preface this story with the fact that he does like spiders and has known about Black Widows for a while, but I think he really enjoyed a "nature study" event today.

Often, in our yard work, the King and I discover black widows. And yes, although I allow most things to live, I do kill these. (Not to get too far off the subject here, but a science center nearby informed us that they are not native and they have invaded our state too well to even think of eradication. So i feel slightly justified in killing them. They're not supposed to be here anyway. And if it's them or my kids, I choose the kids. At least most days. LOL) Anyway, we discovered several today and most were guarding their egg sacs. The kids loved seeing them and watching daddy "take care of things" (I'll try not to use the word "kill" anymore, for those of you inclined to save all living creatures). We discussed why we had to "take care of" the egg sacs as well as the spider. The next thing I knew, Pooh was coming out with a colored pencil drawing of a black widow, complete with hourglass spot. Then a few minutes later, here comes Tigger, not to be outdone with his own 4-legged black widow and accompanying egg sac. They were so cute. I thought, maybe we can do this nature study stuff after all.

Tigger was also completely fascinated with worms today. Even touched and held them. Something he wouldn't do before. He, unfortunately killed (oops, i mean "took care of") a couple of them by trying to push them into tunnels he had dug for them. We discussed how they had to do their own wiggling and tunneling for themselves. I took a couple of pictures of him with his worms. He even touched a big fat slug! He's braver than I am, that's for sure.

Both boys decided today that they were going to be scientists. Pooh will be a black widow scientist and Tigger is planning on a general insect science.

Of course, Tigger has changed his future jobs a lot lately. He went from wanted to be a builder and working at Lowe's Home Improvement to being a fire fighter just this week. Now he's going to be a scientist. Wouldn't it be cool if we got to do all the jobs we dream up as kids??

A Must Read (or Listen-You Choose)

The Tale of Despereaux is just fabulous. I think I enjoyed it more than the kids. We listened to an unabridged version on cd in the van. The only thing that kept me from making excuses to take off for a long trip to hear the story, was the gas prices. Otherwise, we would have been heading for the beach for a nice long story. LOL I am not, by nature, patient when it comes to a good book. Even a bad book for that matter. I usually end up reading the end first, then come back and read the whole thing over. Most times I'll read a book two times in a row just to make sure I caught all the good parts and to savor them once more. So when i actually get my hands on a real paper and binding copy of this book, I'll probably read it at least three times within the first week. Did I mention that I read fast too?

Pooh was really trying to pay attention to the story. We would discuss little pieces of it here and there. Sort of a narration. I wanted to see how much he understood. He got a little confused over who was human vs who was an animal. He thought Miggerly Sow was a mouse for instance. Tigger was fascinated by Roscuro. In fact, he saw a book about Ratatouille the other day and said "Mommy, he looks like, ummm, hmmm," I said "Roscuro?" "Yeah, mommy, he looks like Roscuro, that bad rat."

So, if you can, read or listen to this book. I found it at our local library. Your children will thank you for a great story with adventure, near death experiences, kindness, hate, deceit, good morals and most of all beautiful language. It's well written. No twaddle for any of you Charlotte Mason fans. And if you do get the audio version, a wonderful voice to listen to. His name was Graeme something or other.

I just melted in a puddle of literary bliss.

What Day Is It??

Tigger: Mommy, what day is it?
Me: Tuesday
Tigger: Then what?
Me: Wednesday
Tigger: Then what?
Me: Thursday
Tigger: Then what?
Me: Friday
Tigger: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! That's when we sleep together!

That's right. Friday is a special night and we get reminded of it at least 5 times a week. Friday is the night that the King sleeps with the boys. Sometimes they all camp out in the basement (otherwise known as the family room) and watch a movie. Other times, it's the living room or their bedroom or even in the tent outside. But that's their special night with dad. It's my special night all alone in a king size bed, with the AC blasting and all the covers. Aaahhhh, sweet dreams!

Folding Towels

Pooh and I had done folding towels as a Simultaneous RCR activity last week. Basically, we get the big towels and we each have one end and he has to follow my lead with the folding pattern. We did it and it went OK. But today, we did it again just because I wanted to include both kids on some of the household chores. We had fun with it! I wish I had gotten that on video!! I played around with him by jumping my side around when we were supposed to meet in the middle. He was laughing. Then he did it right back at me! He jumped the towel to the side, then up, down and we finally met in the middle. Too Cool. That's the kind of emotion sharing activity I hope to see more of.

Simultaneous RCR

The last several days I was concentrating on this latest RCR pattern. Simultaneous = at the same time. Having Pooh try to follow my pattern at the same time I was doing it. We did the soap bubble blowing incident, never to be repeated. We also did a stamping activity, putting little stickers onto paper, jumping on the mini-trampoline, drumming, scooter riding, throwing balls that Dad had to catch and a couple different activities with toy cars. Another thing we did that I personally liked, was to paint one of those hanging wooden butterflies from the Wal-mart craft section. I had one wing and he had the other one and he had to paint his side the same as mind. He seemed to follow my lead really well. The one thing I noticed about myself as I was transferring to a VHS tape for our consultant, is that I was talking too much. I also wasn't waiting long enough for Pooh to reference before I started clearing my throat or acting impatient, etc. So I think this pattern was the hardest for ME. I need to work on my patience and enjoy the moment more than worrying about finishing the activity.

Sometimes, I think the way I as a parent handle our RDI program depends upon how much I've got on my mind. How much I'm thinking of all the things I have to do. I think I had a bad week in that regard. My goal for next time will be to reset my brain to only focus on the kids and enjoy what we're doing together.

I've sent the current tape off to the consultant and will be eagerly awaiting what she has to say. Hopefully, we'll be able to move on to some of the objectives for Stage 1.

On another note, The King and I actually finished raising our storage shed this weekend. We worked for two days. There sure are a lot of screws that come with those things. I had no idea. I now have much more respect for anyone who says they will be erecting one. The thing must also be perfectly level and perfectly squared. Sometimes, a little brute force doesn't hurt either.
The whole purpose of this thing is to get most of their toys and clothes I'm storing out of the house. I HAVE to declutter. There's just no way I can continue like this. It's too distracting for me and I'm sure too distracting for the kids. I'm going to rotate their toys and movies. I'll also pack away any academicky stuff I've acquired that they're just not ready for yet.

This momma is ready for change.