It's the third week into school and everyone is getting the hang of it. We have good days and bad days, but we just start each day anew! 

So far we have studied the sun, reptiles, Pilgrim's Progress, embroidery, Creation, hummingbirds and trains, sprinkled with math and language arts. 

We even fit a camping trip in there (which is where we spotted the hummingbirds!) I would have to say school is off to a fantastic start. As we get used to our schedules and routines, I am sure our good days will out weigh the bad ones. 
 

Oh please come in! Welcome to our "special" place full of noise, talking with our hands, picture charts, lots of curriculum, therapy, and general chaos! We really aren't that much different, just have to approach things from a different direction.

Our deaf and oldest child requires her own schedule. There is little she can do with the others. This is for several reasons.

• Reading and signing at the same time is very difficult for mom.
• Her reading skills are so far behind her brother and sister they are rarely covering the same material.
• Short Stuff also lacks myelin in her brain, causing other processing issues. This limits her is some ways, so her education heavily focuses on life skills. 

We teach her the same subjects as the others so they are all learning similar things, we just have to tailor it to her. And as seen in the picture above, she is gifted in many other ways! She is holding up her first quit! 

Little Man always adds his own excitement to the house! Diagnosed with ADHD and slow processing speeds, I dove into a world of altering his diet in an effort to avoid drugging my child. After testing, we discovered he couldn't handle gluten or casein. So for a year and a half now, Little Man eats an entirely different diet than the rest of us. It is amazing the difference!! Email me if you want more info.

He is my strongest reader and that is such a blessing! He reads everything - including the manual to his digital camera. His other love is chickens. Here is a picture of him proudly displaying his egg candling box. 

Since we just recently changed his diet, school had always been a struggle. So he has been playing catch up this past year. If things continue to go as they have been, he should be all caught up by the end of this coming school year! He is finally to a point where he can work independently. Having many children and them all needing lots of individual attention is exhausting. I am enjoying this next phase of homeschooling! 

Tinker . . . well she is always in her own world. I had to include a picture of her with the goats, because she truly would live int he barn if we let her. She was also diagnosed with slow processing speeds, but has her own take on the world. She is one of those kids always floating around . . .  and running into things . . . and falling out of chair . . . and tripping over her feet . . .

She has eye tracking issues and her reading is laborous, but she doesn't give up and comprehends what she reads. So she does love to read. She does most of her schooling with Little Man. Right now, they are only one grade apart so much of what they do can easily been done together. Tinker's care does require occupational therapy, but she enjoys it. 

And then in comes the littles! Sprout is 4, but doing kindergarten this year. This is where I have employed the big kids. Each older child has an activity each day to do with Sprout. They love teaching her and she loves the attention. 

Peanut does a great job of ripping the house to shreds while the rest of us work. :) But that is what the 4:00 cleanup is for!

I found a wonderful way of teaching the gospel with easy drawings today! And it's free until the end of August! Click on the picture to take you to the free download. 

Check out my review under Bible/Character Reviews!.

I have avoided "blogging" because I don't always have time to post regularly. But as I have been adding new information to my website I thought this would be an easy way to notify my readers when new content was added. So as this won't be a regular posting environment, it will be a way for me to communicate with you! 

I want this website to be a great resource of information and experience. I don't know it all (not even close) but I love sharing what I have learned. I started this page a long time ago when I discovered there wasn't much information out there available for homeschooling a deaf child. But as the years have gone by (and there is still limited information available) I realized that a lot of what I share has to do with all kinds of special kids. I also have two others with learning difficulties and I use a lot of this with them too. So . . . I changed my focus a little. So while I say special kids instead of just deaf kids all my reviews will mention the deaf learner. 

Looking forward to sharing with you!