2020 Holidays Week 4

Surprisingly, this week went well and felt relaxing and calm.  It's no secret that my children struggle with holidays to different extents and that the triggered trauma puts a strain on all of us as we live through presumably special times each year.  It's difficult to find the balance between keeping things small and low key to increase emotional regulation and doing some of what the kids enjoy in December.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were morning only school and therapy days and we took advantage of the mild weather for afternoon outdoor time. On Wednesday we even ventured to the Nature Center for a hike through the woods which was so much fun.

We had free admission to a large, local drive-through light display and very much enjoyed it.

On Thursday we stayed in - it was cold and dreary - and prepared for Christmas.  We started our traditional cinnamon rolls for Christmas brunch, refreshed the greenery around the house, watched a lot of TV, cleaned a little bit, and snuggled up.  Of course, we had our annual Christmas Eve picnic on the family room carpet with Polar Express and the NORAD Santa Tracker on in the background.  Later in the evening, dear friends surprised us with caroling and gifts.  How much fun to see Santa, Mrs. Claus, and an elf in our driveway.  

Christmas Day brought just a few presents for each of us, brunch, movies, and of course an Asian carry-out dinner.  The weekend was low key and I made everyone pitch in on a cleaning morning.

The elf got a little frazzled this week, but still managed to show up before bowing out... forever.

Week 4 - out the door!

2020 Holidays Week 3

This week the anticipation for Christmas really kicked up a notch.  Emilia discovered the song Feliz Navidad and now we have to sing it a lot. The kids also decorated a gingerbread house.  Teachers and therapists added special holiday activities to their sessions to make the wait more fun and we wrapped and gave them their holiday gifts because one little sprite couldn't wait.  On Sunday night, we met friends at a park for a Light in the Woods walk.  Rex liked it so much that he asked to go through the entire loop again and we did.  And, of course, the elf...

Week 3 - c'est la vie.

2020 Holidays Week 2

 A slower week for our family, but the elf was busy nonetheless.

On Friday afternoon in lovely 60 degree weather, we took a holiday walk with our cousins.  Normally, we have a brunch together between Christmas and New Year's but this year we opted for some outdoor togetherness.

Throughout the week, sweet treats arrived on our porch fairly regularly and we pretty much never ran out of cookies even though we didn't bake ourselves.

Week 2 - through.

Modifying The General Education Curriculum

Under FAPE and IDEA qualifying students who have IEPs must be taught through their grade level general education curriculum which can be modified for the specific child as necessary.  My younger children fall into this group of learners and throughout this school year we have been successfully modifying the fourth grade curriculum for them.  Here's an example from today - this is one day of work under the science umbrella, not showcasing other objectives that were addressed today as well.

The fourth grade science curriculum includes a unit on states of matter and how these states can be changed.  We are working on this subject for the entire month of December, but this morning we conducted an observation with a candle that illustrated how a chemical reaction can affect states of matter.  Then, each child had a set of additional related activities to solidify and expand the gen ed concepts while addressing his/her IEP objectives as well. We have seen better comprehension and retention when we have pulled science or social studies concepts into the exercises in other subject areas as well.

Student 1: hot vs. cold worksheet (gen ed science), tracing lines (broad OT goal), two number sequencing tasks (math objective), creating a candle from geometric shapes (math, art, and OT), fire safety video and vocabulary (health and safety)

Student 2: hot vs cold worksheet (gen ed science), summary of the experiment (gen ed science), addition worksheet (math objective), poem (language arts - reading fluency, reading comprehension), creating a candle picture (art and OT), fire safety video and vocabulary (health and safety)

As you can see, we modify differently for each learner which results in two motivated, engaged students who feel successful and who show academic progress.

2020 Holidays Week 1

I am a self-acknowledged Grinch, a Scrooge.  I'm okay with it.  I could skip all the holidays and be just fine.  But for some reason I was chosen to raise a child that delights in all things December.  So, mostly for her, I buy into the spirit of the season and make it special.

We've never done Elf on the Shelf before and probably won't again, but this year there was a chance to support another adoptive family by purchasing an elf kit, so we did.  The elf has already been quite busy in her first 6 days with us.

Arrival overnight with mask on

Emilia wouldn't try the reindeer poop
because "it's from the butt."

Reading Emilia's current fave book

I baked and we delivered Christmas cookies to family and friends.

We decorated the tree.

And, of course, St. Nick delivered the kids' holiday pajamas and our lazy elf just co-tailed on that event.

Week one - done!

Tipping The Scales

Yesterday, the scales finally tipped.  Now our Armenian daughter has been in our family longer than she lived at the orphanage in Gyumri. We celebrated with two traditional Armenian dishes for dinner: ghapama and lahmacun/ lamajoun.  Big girl even gave a little speech to commemorate the occasion.