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.

At the beginning of the school year, I knew I wanted Hope to do a type of "Workbox" system.  But right now, the biggest challenge is to get her to come to the table and work on a task. 

Today she was able to accomplish 2 activities at the table.  I was very happy.

After Hope completed  each activity, she hung them on the refrigerator.   

She added some glue. 

I thought she did a great job. 

Ross wore his annual costume.  (He didn't shave for a year.) 

WOW - it's been a while!  Our crazy schedules and homeschool drama has made our lives so hectic lately - but I have promised myself that I will update this blog in the next couple of days!  lol 
  
I have to share...  The week before we left for our Disney trip, I entered the Disney Parks Moms Panel search and found out last week that I advanced to round 2. 

Don't know if I will make it any further, but I have to say, it was so exciting to have made it that far!  I actually cried
when I read the e-mail.  (Now you guys know I'm a crazy person!)  

Keeping my fingers crossed for round 3!  

Disney Countdown:  0 Days

With one day to go, I was very proud that I had everything in order.  Usually, I have a ton of last minute things to do.  And then....
 
My daughter Julia woke up and said..."I have a sore throat."   Ah, the best laid plans...
 
So our day began at Urgent Care and praying that Hope would not follow her big sister ad get sick.  Since Hope does not communicate with us, her being sick is always a guessing game. 
 
Going to Urgent Care brought back a nightmare from last year's trip - but I will save that for a flashback moment.
 
Thankfully, Julia is feeling better and we have a prescription - just in case.  So right now we are all settling in at my sister's house. She is driving us to Newark in the AM.  I can't believe our trip is here. 
 
And away we go...

Disney Countdown:  8 Days

Our homeschool group had a field trip today to go apple picking.  I actually got the dates wrong - I don't know what I was thinking with only 8 days to our trip.  But I figured this may be our only shot at picking apples this season, so away we went.  The morning started off cloudy and cool so we threw our sweatshirts over our tee-shirts. 

Since it was close to our house, I left a message for Hope's therapist to meet us there.  Would this be a stroller free trip?

At first I took the stroller out of the car and walked over to meet everyone.  But when Hope's therapist arrived, she gave me the extra courage to have a go at it without it in tow. 

Hope started out great - she even wanted to have her picture taken:

I think this is the first time I let go of her hand to take a picture of her without someone ready to "go get her" when she ran off.  But she didn't!

She even stood for a group shot.  Another first!

We had a very cool demo of a machine that peeled apples:

Then it was off to the orchard to pick our apples.

After, we returned to the store for some doughnuts and cider.  There Hope had yet another first!  She has been working with her OT all summer on drinking from a cup. Up until now, she can only drink with a straw or she chokes.  Well, today she did it all by herself!

It was a great day! 

If you asked me a year and a half ago if I thought Hope would potty train - I would have probably teared up and said - "I don't know."  Not even the neurologist could say for sure.    This year, she has done so well in most areas  - but it seemed that the "switch" that made her realize "I have to go." wasn't working.  If I didn't bring her to the bathroom, she would just have an accident.  And she didn't care. 

A week or so ago - she amazed me when she actually walked into the bathroom, got herself on the potty seat and went.  Unfortunately , she forgot to pull her pants down.   But that did not stop me from doing a huge HAPPY DANCE!

Well, today you can only imagine my joy when I heard her go into the bathroom all by herself and she remembered everything!  I cried - I think you really have to be a mom of a special needs kid to understand what kind of accomplishment it is. 

It was one of those "WOW - all that hard work paid off!"  kind of moments.  It makes me want to scream out - There's no stopping her!

Disney Countdown:  9 Days

Disney may be 9 days away, but this week is a full school week.  I will admit that the everyone's focus level is not the best, but work needs to get done.  Overall, it was a pretty good day. 

While the girls were working on independent stuff, I was able to sneak upstairs and get some packing done.  We are flying Jet Blue which allows each one of us to have one checked item fly free.  So we will have 4 suitcases total.

Suitcase number one holds all of out toiletries.  I put all the items in Ziplock bags just in case anything leaks. 

At the top are my Purex laundry sheets.  They are great to do laundry with.  

Suitcase number 2 holds all of our swim gear and bedding items.  Hope will not sleep in hotel beds - she hates them.  So we have to set her up on the floor.  She prefers the floor even at home sometimes.  So I have her pillows, blanket and comforter. 

Suitcase number 3 has our snacks, diapers & wipes and also Julia's and Hope's clothes.  Yes - this one is massive! 
When my husband weighed it, it registered 49 pounds.  Since you are only allowed up to 50 pounds before being charged, I needed to move a couple things around.  Just to be
on the safe side!

Finally, the last suitcase will hold my husband's and my clothes and any last minute "I forgot...". 

Carry-on's and outfits for travel day are the only packing I have left! 

Cinderella was the movie of the day - it played on the Disney Channel.