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This week, I’m sharing my curriculum and book choices for the upcoming year. Each day will focus on selections for one of my five homeschoolers. Today’s selections are for Phineas, my 13 year-old whose “grade level” defies categorization in our understanding of modern educational scope and sequence charts. Phineas has repeated kindergarten since, well… kindergarten. He began his schooling in a government school Developmental Preschool due to his pre-adoption status, but has been homeschooled ever since. The feedback I receive from professionals from every branch of medicine, psychology, and education encourages me to keep working; although he cannot yet read or calculate simple sums, he has far exceeded the expectations for someone of his “limited cognitive potential.” (Their words, not mine.) This will be Phin’s first year of Foundations; prior to this year, there just didn’t seem to be the possibility of his being comfortable or even safe in such a quick-paced environment marked by frequent changes of focus. I’m outrageously thrilled he’ll be joining us this year, and can’t wait to see him bask in the love and acceptance of the extended family that is our community!
Foundations—Phineas will begin his journey as an Apprentice. As someone with extremely short stature, he’ll fit right into this age grouping size-wise, and it most closely fits his skills. The original plan had been for me to tutor his class, helping pave the way for him. However, after much prayer and consulting with our fabulous Director as well as one of my fellow tutors, Phin will be in his own class! She is an experienced parent and homeschooler, and has worked personally and extensively with a variety of special needs; she “speaks the language”… and knows Phin well enough to be his “safe person.” I’m thrilled he’s getting the chance to feel some independence in a sheltered environment, and also comforted to know that someone in the know will be at the helm. Phinhas always done our memory work with us at home, so he knows what to expect in a class setting. He is most looking forward to art, but presentation time is high on the list as well. During our days at home, we will continue to add my Morning Basket Plans to our New Grammar studies. Those daily bites of enrichment in the form of classical music, poetry, and hymns have been noted as some of the most powerful tools in our homeschooling toolbox by the professionals, by the way!
Math— Numeracy and counting are still developing skills for Phineas. We utilize several resources for him, and will continue to do so. CTC Math at the kindergarten level is one of those resources. He needs someone sitting next to him to navigate, but it has provided some practice in simple geometry and patterns. I use Family Math for Young Children several times a week, as well as Ronit Bird’s outstanding The Dyscalculia Toolkit. We count, number, label everything and currently, Phineas is back to counting to 20 with only a slight margin of error.
Science— The Learning With Friends 20/21 Science School Year Pack has a lot to offer Phineas. He doesn’t truly understand much of the “why” behind the workings of the world, his body, or life in general. Giving him the tools to anticipate outcomes is one of our goals for him in general, and the experimentation of science develops that beautifully. I’m hopeful that he will be able to man his own experiments, and am planning for that success by setting up the expectation that he will be my helper and model the process with me prior to joining his siblings for a solo run. Because drawing is such a passion for him, I’ll have him draw out the steps he took so that he can relay them back to Daddy later that afternoon or even the next day. We’ll also keep using Nature Anatomy (by Julia Rothman) as our nature journaling reference.
History— History is a giant story to Phin, and while his lack of comprehension of chronolgical time comes into play, he still has a remarkable memory for what he sees as “characters” and the events which, in his mind, may or may not have been real, or may or may not be happening right now in some other location. Therefore, we use history as an opportunity to teach character, faith, stewardship, right actions, and moral values. He will love this year’s readings from Genevieve Foster’s The World of Columbus and Sons, George Washington’s World, Abraham Lincoln’s World and The Landmark History of the American People (by Daniel J. Boorstin). He will also listen to:
Your Story Hour (Multiple Volumes)
This Country of Ours, vol. 6 (Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall)
Amerian History Stories (by Mara Pratt)
The Enterprise of the Mayflower (Amice MacDowell)
Child Life in Colonial Days (Alice Morse Earle)
Indian Child Life (Charles Alexander Eastman)
Rough and Ready (Horatio Alger, Jr.)
The Young Trailers: A Story of Early Kentucky (Joseph Altsheler)
A Yankee Girl at Fort Sumpter (Alice Turner Curtis)
Geography— Learning with Geography Through Literature is a perfect fit for a special needs student, because it provides context for the idea of “place”! Phineas loves maps, he loves stories, and he loves adventure. While the time element (as mentioned above) will be challneging for him with Tree in the Trail, the other books have an easier chronology. Since the smaller student maps break down regions addressed in each story, I’ll make a point of referring Phineas back to the whole of the nation, and showing how the pieces fit together regularly. This is also a chance to keep talking about weather and appropriate clothing. When you have a special needs student, this can be a very big deal!
Bible—Phineas will join us in our daily reading. He is working through some old AWANA books we have on hand as a memory tool, which he loves. (I attached a prize book to sweeten the deal and yes, it worked.)
English—Friends, we have done just about every curriculum on the market (many multiple times). Phineas has been “learning to read” since 2011. This year, I’m leaning heavily on my cousin, an Orton-Gillingham tutor, who has blessed us with her expertise. She has made some specific OG suggestions that we’ll be implementing in an effort to make reading stick for Phin! He has progressed in the past, getting to the point of reading CVC words, but always loses skills thanks to FASD. My cousin has talked me through finding and crafting the best, personalized resources for my son, and putting them into practice in a way that takes into account his needs. Prayerfully, I am asking the Lord to give Phin the gift of reading, knowing how much it would enrich his life and open the doors to broader independence! If you would like contact information for my cousin, who tutors students from around the country online in the Orton-Gillingham method, please send me a message!
Tomorrow, I’ll share my curriculum plan for Jude… I mean TIMOTHY Jude, my new kindergartener who has decided he will go to CC with a new version of his name.