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If I ever had any illusions that education could possibly be a one-size-fits-all endeavor, they were exploded the minute that special needs became our daily reality. All of a sudden, everything I had learned in my first decade of homeschooling was just a starting point; this, I understood, was home education magnified.
Special needs means that our days must follow a predictable rhythm… but might veer erratically at any moment. Special needs means that we repeat … repeat … repeat. And special needs means that we tap into creative extensions whenever (and wherever) they present.
While I was familiar with Timberdoodle before I personally became versed in teaching a child with learning challenges, it was afterwards that I truly understood the value in a company whose stock in trade is offering out-of-the-box options. Timberdoodle finds have, over the years, provided therapy disguised as play, learning disguised as games, and more educational diversions than I can count.
After years of offering individual products, Timberdoodle branched into the business of curating full, leveled curriculum kits a few years back, and I was smitten. While we are a deeply literature-soaked family when it comes to learning, the fact is, Phineas needs to get his hands moving to bring concepts to life. Simply regurgitating the alphabet or numbers is no indicator that he has come any closer to cementing understanding. Timberdoodle excels at the kind of learning that pulls Phineas out of his shell and into the act of giving facts skin.
Case in point: the Farmland Math kit.
A Timberdoodle exclusive, this kit takes math story mats to the next level by providing a fun play and learn surface, chunky, colorful, themed manipulatives, and a curriculum guide that holds your hand while still being flexible enough to personalize the lessons.
Here’s a recent lesson where Phineas and I tackled “more and less,” with Farmland Math, something he had shown verbal understanding of, but had not demonstrated in practice.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WYhhj22Jlg
Using the scripted lesson as a starting point, I was able to review colors and counting, and work in a little speech therapy (“I need a full sentence, please.”) as well as hit on the topic of more and less. The animals are a more meaningful manipulative to my son than simple blocks, and allow much more creative “teach it back to me” time that turns our normal repeat, repeat, repeat into a game without too much effort on my behalf.
Farmland Math has also (obviously) been a favorite with Simon. As part of the intended preschool audience, he gets into the more play-along parts of the script: currently, naming each animal, telling me what they’re going to eat for lunch, and informing me of why they’d really rather be in the barn than the field. Thirty-six weeks’ worth of lessons are provided, but truly, once you pull it out, the options are endless.
We’re loving Farmland Math, and find it to be a fun tool in the living math toolbox. Phineas, especially, recommends “amm-imal math.” As you can tell from the smile on his face, it’s a hit!