A slower week for our family, but the elf was busy nonetheless.
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.
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.
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| Arrival overnight with mask on |
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| Emilia wouldn't try the reindeer poop because "it's from the butt." |
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| 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!
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.
Ella has the most varied weekly schedule and school settings and is progressing through the 6th grade curriculum as we expected. She loves her yoga class, her film narrative class, her music class ("... even though it's hard"), and her reading teacher. She's also excited to be furthering her sign language skills and is thinking of high school foreign language credits through ASL. She aced two essays right before Thanksgiving break and is proud to see her efforts pay off.
Rex has a fantastic team of in-home teachers and therapists and he's working very hard. He enjoys being at home and having the opportunity to learn through instruction that leaves room for spontaneity, creativity, movement, and outdoor time. We have discovered that he likes crafts and I Spy and stories. He's never once asked about school and actually has been getting upset when we pass the school building on our way through town sometimes. Don't worry, son, you'll never have to go into that building again.
We adjusted Emilia's instruction a couple of times at the start of the school year, trying to find the right fit. We finally landed on an in-home intervention specialist who has really tuned in to her and whom Emilia is delighted to see twice a week. All of her other academic hours are delivered by me and we do make a good team. I understand how Emilia's cognitive process works and can roll with her as she makes connections, recalls, problem solves, asks questions, etc. It's hard to describe and few have witnessed it, but it is an unusual and wondrous sight to behold. Most importantly, there is progress. The public school district left us with a completely broken and defeated learner in March and it has taken months to rebuild confidence, cooperation, and curiosity. We're not totally out of the woods yet, but we can definitely see the light now. Emilia does miss extended family, friends, and community events very much, but right now her health and safety take priority.
Because we are home schooling, we have had time to enjoy autumn together as a family more intentionally than ever before. We have been hiking and scavenger hunting, crafting and trying new recipes, home improving and sometimes just doing nothing. Even though the house is never really picked up or organized, everyone seems more relaxed and more connected to each other. The freedom and flexibility of home schooling allows us to meet needs that went under the radar in the last few years and to focus on skills, lessons, and accomplishments that are not addressed or acknowledged in the public school.
About once a week, I try to set aside three to four hours to cook some of the meals we will be eating in the days to come. This morning I got started before 8:00 am and finished around 11:00. I made a TexMex Veggie soup that will be our dinner tonight and then part of lunch another day alongside a sandwich. The quiche is for tomorrow's dinner and if there are leftovers, it gives us a lunch when paired with a side salad. I made a buttermilk pie with a walnut pistachio top crust to be part of tomorrow's brunch and then a few breakfasts served with a cup of fruit during the week. The cookies are for a neighbor as a thank you.
And finally, some cranberry pistachio fudge just for fun.
