Numbers, numbers and....more numbers

I have been thinking a lot about keeping track of our "homeschooling" lives on here but was daunted with the task of writing it all down and putting into categories. The fun of not having curriculum is that we are pretty free and writing it down can be tiresome! So this may start off pretty random but so be it.

Bub has become very interested in numbers. Although some would say that he has always been a number kind of guy, I would say it has been all about words and reading these last two years. He taught himself to read sentences when he was four. He was spelling long before that. I mean he talked about words all day every day. Signs were especially exciting to him and everywhere we went he was reading even the most complex signs. Yet, if I was to say "read me this book" he would say he can't. But he is quick to read over my shoulder and correct me if I say the wrong word. This was one of the first positive signs that Bub probably wouldn't enjoy school. He doesn't like to be told to learn something as he is fully capable of doing it himself and on his own time and in his own way.

Anyway, back to numbers. I got him a leapster game called "Math Missions" which is designed for 6 and up (I got his sister the animal one where they give all kinds of animal facts and quizes cuz she loves animals so much). I have to admit there was some thought that it might spark an interest for him in numbers since we are homeschooling so much of his focus was on words and learning science & history. Well he loved it so much and since then has been coming up with his own word problems (multiple steps), counting by 2,5,10,100, & 1000s, discussing negative numbers, and teaching these concepts to his 4 year old sister (we'll call her Tink).

We started homeschooling about a year and a half ago. We began with the school version where we met with someone once a week and she provided us with workbooks & things for us to complete each day. This was officially kindergarten work but soon we realized that his skill level was more like first or second grade despite the fact that he refused to write saying that he "wasn't good at it." We ran into a lot of problems....mainly that we fought over the work he needed to do. Then some days he would find the stuff and do it almost entirely on his own. I had to get really creative and almost trick him into doing it which felt sad.

So here we are at the weekly meeting with the supervising teacher saying he is an overachiever and he and I feeling like crap about how we managed to complete the work. The last few weeks of school he would tell me that he HATED the work and HATED me. So I asked the teacher since he had basically completed his work if we could just follow his lead a bit and see where it went. I told him we didn't have to do "school" anymore and I don't think I have seen a bigger smile on his face!

Since then we have been seeing so much learning happening in our house. We are all learning constantly and interested in new ventures and topics to study (which for them at this point isn't studying in the traditional sense but exploring the world and asking lots of questions). I try to expose them to new ideas, places, and ways of learning. I encourage them but don't feel it necessary to sit them down with busy work unless they ask for it (and they do sometimes).

Here are some tidbits from our week:

-Bub has been sharing dad's duty of reading stories at bedtime. He reads them to Tink and goes over each word for her so she can learn.

-Making change games online (counting different coins to get to certain amount)

-"What time is it mister fox!" (Counting, following directions & OT)

- Ball darts

-Soccer & catch (Tink)

- tons of reading and sing-along online (Bub)

- Shape sorting, drawing, songs online (Tink)

- Bee facts

- Senses (reading)

- Underground animals (reading)

-Robins (reading)

- Playing with friends at the park

- Dominoes (matching & counting)

-Weather systems

- Valentines (wrote and constructed themselves)

- Lots of drawing, imaginary play, building train systems, and ponies!

-3-4 books a day reading outloud

-Thomas the Train magazine workbook which was mostly comprehension, writing, sorting, and counting.

-Poems from Tink's Lady Bug magazine which was all about shadows and why we have night & day

- Presidents (also discussion about monarchies & laws)

-Geography (location on map)

All of this was some combination of me "opening doors" for them, reading, movie watching, research online, asking questions and discussions.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Going off gf w/enzymes

I have been dreaming about this for a while. Taking the kids to any restaurant, baking cakes with just 1 type of flour versus 5, sharing snacks with friends....ahhh the stress it would relieve in this house!

My son has been gfcf since he was 2.5. We started with milk and we saw a dramatic change in his cognitive ability. His vocabulary expanded and he started interacting more with those around him. Because the change was so drastic we decided to go the whole way and go off gluten too. Going gluten free was HARD at first but we got the hang of it and I have become a goddess of gluten-free baking. We saw so much progress that his original diagnosis of autism @ 2 has downgraded dramatically. He did recieve early intervention but the diet has been the most consistant aspect to his treatment of the autistic symptoms.

We started Houston enzymes about 4 months ago and have seen a lot of positive change for all of us.....physical, mood, etc. I have been doing some research online and saw a lot of joyful posts from people who went off gfcf with enzymes successfully. I have also seen posts from those that saw a regression going off the diet. This is why it is so hard for me to decide to take the risk! When my son is in a bad place....we are ALL in a bad place and this household is never devoid of stress. Not to mention we are juggling more then usual at the moment.

Yet, after discussing with my husband (who was REALLY hesitant), we decided to go slow and add a little gluten in our lives. We aren't trying the dairy yet and may not for a long while since we know it had the most affect on him as a baby (and truly has the most effect on all of us). I have been using enzymes over the past 4 months and was successfully able to add gluten products in my diet (no eczema or stomach cramps!) so I am hoping that my son will have the same response!

The kids have been using Houston's chewable AFP Pep & Zyme Prime. I have been using Trienza which incorporates the above in one pill & adds a no phenol componant. I mix that into their food when possible but I would rather they know what they are eating & the chewables are great in that way. I had the discussion with him this morning that we are going to give it a try and if he feels sick or unwell in any way, to let me know.

Please keep your fingers crossed for us!

Pratt Trail hike in Ojai