Disney Countdown: 109 Days


After one week of notebooking, I knew that was the way for us to go.  It was amazing to see the spark back in Julia's eyes.  Plus - it was evident at the amount of information she was really learning because she now speaks about  so many things from her readings and research. 


Science is a favorite subject for Julia but I had her bored her to tears with a workbook!  She loves chemistry and we had this book for over a year without even opening it up.  Now she is learning about the periodic table and enjoying it!!!

Disney Countdown:  109 Days

As you can see, I did most of the writing.  That is not a priority for us.  But she did write the following words:

Silly me - I had no idea there were so many versions. 

I have a pocket in the back to hold these cut-outs and we use them to act out the story.  (They are NOT included in the kit.)  Hope LOVES them.  They are from Hope's therapist, so I can't give a link to them. 

So that's our first attempt at a lapbook.  I am thinking we can add to it come the next holiday season.   

Disney Countdown: 116 Days

So it started last week when Julia, now 12, announced to me that school was not “fun” anymore.  I was devastated!  But the final blow was her next admission which was that she felt like she wasn’t learning anything lately.  WHAT?!?  How could this be?  Of course you are learning!  Of course school is fun! That’s why we homeschool! 

I remained calm and let her get everything off her chest.  When she went off to read and Hope was playing Starfall, I looked through Julia’s workboxes with new eyes.  It was 10 drawers of workbooks: reading, writing, spelling, math and even science, history & religion.  ALL workbooks.  I don’t how it happened.  I never intended it to…  One reason why I would never put her in school is because of all the mindless, busy work – but here we are.  And I felt like a hypocrite.

The truth is that as Hope gets older I find she needs me more for her work and therapies.  So little by little, I added “just one more” workbook for Julia to work on independently.   Alas... 10 drawers of mindless, boring busywork.    I can’t blame her for feeling the way she does.  I knew I had to change something and immediately.

So I took to the Internet and “hit” the blogs.  Soon a solution caught my eye.  Notebooking.  It seemed like a very simple yet brilliant idea.  Would it work?  I explained it Julia and I saw her eyes light up with excitement.  “YES!”  She exclaimed, “Let’s do it!”   

I didn’t have any extra binders laying around.  (I’ll explain why in a later post.)  And I have a strict rule that I force myself to adhere to:  When I want to try something new that I find on a homeschool blog, I am NOT allowed to purchase any new “system” unless I know it will work for us – or at least give it a try. 

So while I didn’t have binders, I did have a ton of 3 prong folders.  That would work. I set up a few into a notebooking / lapbook combo folders.  I forced myself not to get fancy and refused to have to have it be “perfect”.   When I was done, I was happy.  So was Julia!

Today is day four of notebooking and school has changed – along with Julia’s attitude & work schedule.  She is now actually excited to open her drawers and complete her work.  At first, I don’t think she really knew what to do.  I noticed that a lot of her writing was just copywork from the book.   On day 2 , I explained that I was interested in her words – not what the book said, but what she “learned”.  On day 3, her work exploded; not only in her notebooks, but in our conversations.  She was telling me so much about the things she was learning.  WOW- what an eye opener!  I think Notebooking is here to stay for a while!!!

Disney Countdown:  119 Days

Happy Spring Everyone!  Well, almost.  Here in the Northeast it is still quite chilly at night.  Usually I see the neighbor’s pool in full swing before Memorial Day – We happen to live across from the neighborhood party house – did I mention I want to move?  Alas it is still covered. 

My apologizes for being MIA for so long.  It has been quite a busy time and I’m trying so very hard to balance the craziness of life and unfortunately, blogging has suffered.  But I am back after a long winter’s hibernation and going to attempt to stay updated. 

As you see, I have a new Disney Countdown going.  We are blessed to be able to be return to Walt Disney World in September – our favorite time to go.  We are staying at French Quarters and have the FREE Dinning Plan. 

I have found that Disney is the most AMAZING therapy for Hope.  Something truly magical always happens when we are there.  And yes – I give credit to Disney Magic. 

I did not make the final cut for the Disney Moms Panel – but I have it on my “Try Again” list for this year!

I will try to catch everyone up with some of our winter adventures over the next few days.  It has been a LONG, FROZEN winter here in New York.  I am happy to see the sun shining and the flowers beginning to bloom again.  I find a new spirit in the spring –  I love the miracle of watching everything be born again. 

Hopefully, I have a few readers left!  Thanks for following our journey as we homeschool the spectrum.