ProLoQuo to go…

We have been learning to use ProLoQuo to go app for my son with Down Syndrome, Apraxia and Autism. Sometimes they have a sale on this app as it is a little pricey. But it’s worth the purchase. I have it on an iPad for school for my son and I also have it installed on my iPhone so we always have an option of communicating.

I recommend watching some you tube videos to better understand how to use it and teach it.

How we started was I programmed a “Help me please folder” and an “About me” folder. We added food, tv shows, common things he asked for help with in that folder. I programmed the food folder to match what he eats. We started by trying to tell what food he wanted. The point was to get him to make requests. So at first I modeled it, I want to eat pizza. Then I would say Riley do you want to eat pizza. And hen I would hand over hand type it for him. Then I would say, let’s say it and tap the top to read the full request.

In speech they would read books, and then go back to the pages to find something on each page. This takes a bit of pre-prep to make photos in a folder to match, but then hey started using the preprogrammed categories. Sometimes we have to add things to complete the thought. Any area I want him to be able to describe I link to the existing older of describing words and we can add color, numbers or description to any topic we commonly use.

It’s exciting, in about a year (including chelation) Riley is seeing the need to use the “owl to talk” as we say it. He will even often sign or try to speak sounds as he does it, but he beams that he can get his point across with ease. Just like with sign language he is much less frustrated.

http://www.assistiveware.com/product/proloquo2go

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My prayer is that you ran across this blog for a divine reason. I have no plans to impress you, just to share what God has led us to and how it is changing our lives.

-God Bless! Rhonda

Unlocking Autism can be followed -Join Here!

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Full Disclaimers

Audible Review: Listen to a Good Book

Don’t have time to read great parenting books, check out the Audible App and Just Listen! I’ve been using it to listen to some great reads put off for lack of having time to hold the book and read myself.

At first, I signed up for a membership @$14/month. But after the first month, I cancelled and just started making one-time purchases of books to listen to. You can choose to download the book to your app or remove from your app, but once you purchase the book it remains on your account to listen anytime.

Parenting your Powerful Child, by Kevin Leman covers procrastination among other controlling topics in parenting.

more of my favorite Audible Reads:

  

Uncomfortable Subjects with kids

I’m never one to hold back to take to my kids about the edgy topics. At 8 years old, I wanted to make sure my oldest learned about Sex from me first. I had first told him by God’s design a husband and wife fit together like a puzzle to make a baby and that had satisfied his curiosity.

I’m never at my best when I am reactive. I prefer a proactive approach, so I found “The Talk”…. and I am a recommending fan. It gives just enough information with Biblical principals. I’m very pleased with the first book in the set of 3. Click the image to find out more.

Typing is necessary for kids

Typing comes early in these days of the computer generation. I feel typing is necessary for everyone. I tried last year in 3rd grade to teach him myself with just the asdf, jkl; method. This went well for a while, he was excited to get on the computer. But as the excitement dwindled, and the reluctant student kicked in typing was dropped.

So we are trying this free program https://www.typing.com/. It’s got a free version!!! You create your teacher account, then your student account. Your student logs in to do the guided lessons and everything is recorded and report able.

So far, this is great. He gets a little bit frustrated, but that is his nature trying anything new. It was just what I was looking for. This would be great for any home school classroom or just an extra curricular for any public school student.

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Review: My son is enjoying the typing class and is doing well. It times him to words per minute and accuracy. I really recommend this. We are using the free version, not the add free version.

NC Zoo Camping Experience – Life Long Learning Memories

We wanted to go to the zoo and hoped to leisurely visit it taking our time, so we decided to make it a weekend experience.

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NC ZOO – Asheboro, NC

The zoo is nice, I think I Read it was the largest Natural Habitat Zoo in North America. We were there on a rainy day and it was idea for seeming having the zoo to ourselves. Parking was front rower basically. We arrived at 9 and saw the whole zoo by 1:30. Well after reviewing our trip, we realized we forgot to go back after eating to back to the bird area, so we almost saw everything. The zoo map recommended allowing 3-4 hours for the North America and the same for the Africa area. The rainy forecast even left the food Junction pretty bare, no lines and free tables. Our first zoo experience as very simple except navigating with umbrellas.

It was recommended by staff that we could picnic due to my food allergy. No coolers are allowed in the zoo, but you could leaves to your vehicle and renter with your receipt. The food was kinda pricey, but tasted good according to the family. It was $30 some dollars for 3 burgers, 2 bags of chips and an order of fries. Easy enough for me, I took 3 boiled eggs in my backpack, because they were sketchy about the MSG allergens.

It’s a lot of inclined walking, scooters are necessary for anyone with walking complications. Scooters are first come- first serve (get them early) and rented from in the gift shop.

For the best experience, the ranger at the front told us to start by getting on the free teams to Africa end. The North America path continues slightly uphill, so this would allow a more flat area in Africa and work your way back downhill to North America.

Our overall favorite was the polar bear. He was a real entertainer! You could view him in an underground tunnel that allowed you to see above and below the waterline. He put on a show that for about 30 mins he would crawl up on th he Rick, dive into the water, swim a loop right by the viewing area and it was amazing! He was so huge on that level and we could see his paws, This same tunnel allowed you to view the seals and sea lions, and the puffins. Each of these could be viewed from above as well.

They had grizzly bears, black bears, alligators, crocodiles, arctic foxes (these weren’t out when we viewed that area), wolves, 2 types Lemurs, ostriches, Elephants, zebras, giraffes (don’t come out in the rain), and Rhinos and many other wild African animals.

The Park gift shop sold ponchos and small umbrellas, we had most of all that to accommodate our group. They even sold small sized flip flops I noticed. If you go on a rainy day, I suggest water shoes, those in our group with tennis shoes were very soppy footed in the 2 hours of rain. Umbrellas were used with ease on the scooter and had a basket on front to carry stuff.

Overall, we felt despite the rain it was an ideal first experience. The rain watered down the crowd perfectly and we got to really intimately enjoy our Zoo experience as a family.

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Make it a Camping Experience:

We camped nearby the zoo at Trails End Family campground. We chose this campground for ONE reason, it advertised being close enough to hear the animals of the zoo from the campground. YOU COULD!

Had we had the windows open in the morning instead of the AC, I’m sure we would have heard more. But while outside at sunset, we heard the thunderous low grunting of the lions. That was really neat.

The bath houses I was told were not so “clean” in way of bugs and were simple and out dated. The park hosts were friendly and got us to our site quickly. The campground wasn’t very level and wouldn’t welcome much bike riding, which we usually do. The sites we were on were most level (with least gravel) were 39-40. Site 38 was a pull through site with some grass, but soppy for the levels of rain we encountered.

I recommend the campground, if you plan like us not to spend much time there. They do have a covered pavilion at the entrance, just across from our sites. It allowed some arcade games and pool tables. It offered a dry clean area for the kids to get around and stay out of the mud. It had a pool, but with all the rain it was still early in a pool season for using it, no one in our party did.

We seemed out in the middle of nowhere, but we were just a few minutes away from town. We were minutes away from the zoo parking lots as well.

Miracle II Products are made from natural minerals, sea-salts, and cold pressed virgin oils. They are all natural, non-toxic and biodegradable with no fragrances, colors, agents or perfumes.

You can’t camp there with reservations before March, so we had to wait till season opened to make our reservations for MAY. The number you dial seems to forward to a mobile phone outside of season.

I would camp there again for the same circumstances and in dry weather the experience there might be a bit better with small kids. But they did accommodate us with the flatter of sites at my request, they just needed more gravel.

336-629-5353, 2846 Old Cox Rd., Asheboro, NC 27205

Full service hookups $30.00/4 people, each camper additional $5

http://www.trailsendfamilycampground.com

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Turn it into a Learning Experience

We took our home school classroom to the zoo and here are some ideas we are using to take the zoo back to our classroom for a full love of learning zoo experience.

This came from a Facebook Share, this is perfect for an Post Zoo Visit Activity. https://www.pinterest.com/nczoo/

My Pinterest Board for NC ZOO

K-2 CreatureFeaturesZooLookingActivities

AdventureinEcotourism

HospitableHabitats

MythsMatter

PrimateBehaviorResearch

WaterRiddles

Zoo Animal Spotting Map

KeeperJournalK_2

Additional NC Zoo Educational Resources

Wife School your guide to a lasting marriage…

One of the better investments I ever put into my marriage relationship was Wife School: Where Women Learn the Secrets of Making Husbands Happy, by Julie N. Gordon. I recommend this to anyone married, separated or ever wanting to be married. I wish I had had this before I was married, dating could have looked so different.

Don’t make excuses either, if you don’t have time to read, investing the money to buy this on Kindle is far cheaper than counseling. They don’t offer it in audible or I would link that!

I was introduced to this during a homeschooling seminar by a local speaker. She shared this in her presentation and it changed my marriage, open your mind and heart and it can change yours too! It’s a great resource of Biblical model for Godly relationships and marriage. I went through this in like 2014 and I promise I tried many of these suggestions with skepticism, all the same I was surprised and still today see results.

Doesn’t everyone love a romantic comedy? Julia Roberts was one of the greats in romantic comedy with My best Friends Wedding and Pretty Woman… the girl always gets the romantic doting sappy guy we all love. But that’s just a misguiding flick-ticious fairy-tale, that makes it hard to believe that charming guy isn’t waiting out there… just waiting somewhere for us, Mrs. Right. Ladies, it just isn’t true and believing and feeling that is why relationships fail so easily. The euphoria of relationships misguide us in FEELINGS alone and our expectations are setup for failure. That represented me all to well in years of dating, the girl looking for Mr. Right and being exasperated with disappointment after disappointment. This truly helped me deal with and guided me away from the misconceptions in relationships and marriage. And know it only works if you apply it and some of it takes time. It helps you repair what may be broken or strained in the relationship.

Wife School is a comical approach to the differences of men and women by God’s design and our role biblically to be a helpmate to our husbands.

Julie Gordon holds Wife School Online free as a regularly scheduled online courses, offering biblical followup, prayers and extra study as a work through each weekly lesson. But you don’t have to wait. She gave permission to use the information. Her school is a 22 week course that you receive emails of additional lessons that correspond with the reading the book. Upcoming 22 week courses announced here OR you can do the school in your own pace, outside of a course using Volume 1 and Volume 2 (these replaced the Wife School Online). When I did the class we got a weekly email from the author. Here is the 22 week lesson emails compiled in google docs – because you may want to go through them at a faster pace.

This book, like the Bible doesn’t fit in today’s culture of the feminist mindset you may have grown up with, don’t worry it was a sour taste for me at first. But I prayed about it and God helped me see it through His eyes. I grew up in a feminist world, but with a biblical minded momma. What I used to see in my mom as weakness, I now see was her greatest strengths and assets that set her apart. I know that is what made her marriage a success. She modeled this teaching well. God was her guiding factor in how she handled her decisions. The feminist influences in my life saw these traits portrayed as weakness, but her obedience to God created a marriage that was lifelong and irreplaceable till her eternal crossing.

At the point you ever wanted to marry your man… there was something there! Often caught up in the euphoria of, he can do no wrong. Reconnect with that passion by retraining your mind and guarding what comes out of your mouth in regards to your husband or future husband. Learn how to appreciate him for the man he was designed to be not he man you may not even realize you intend to recreate (after you learned his failures). We can turn resentments into gratefulness in your marriage, most of all allow God to be what fills your life and allow Wifeschool, by Julie Gordon to be your guide to a fulfilling marriage.

Let me also recommend

      

EASY Peasy Homeshool Planning

Planning your Homeschool Lesson Plans doesn’t have to be difficult or pricey. If you are new to homeschooling or just need to tweak your lesson planning routine… this may help you too!

I started with rigid lesson planning books, calculated schedules and I felt like I spent most of my time filling out my planning books and reworking them when things didn’t go as planned. So I tried an app called Homeschool Helper App. It was great and you could easily bump stuff to a new day, but I still took up to much time to enter each individual lesson for each subject.

Thank God, there is grace in homeschooling, being flexible is teaching flexibility. Life is full of things not going as planned! I wanted to keep things organized. This gives me accountability of time/subject matter, grades and routines should I ever need to present what we do to someone.

Watch below to see what worked for me, get my free Daily Checklist. This allows you to record grades, no of days you have completed school, subjects, lessons, and anything you want to do as routine. It easily allows you to account for therapy, co-op, music lessons or field trips. And if you don’t get something done today, go back and start there the next school day till you can check it off and then move forward. I now have accountability of what is completed and a visual evaluation of time invested, cause more often than not we exceed our required 4 hours per day.

This serves two purposes, it helps me keep up with where we are, but it’s simple enough that my then 2nd grader could use this to up with the stuff he could work on independently. He likes to be able to check it off and it gives him a visual of his progress. Watch below for a sample of how we use it.

Get your free Daily Checklist to Edit and Print

My Pipeshelves – Home School Organization

For a while, I had been eyeing a Pinterest pin for some bathroom pipe shelves. This is my twist on the project for storage in our home education area. I wanted to clear off stuff from our desk space, allowing it to still be within reach.

This is what we used:

• Stud finder (Lowe’s $17-38.00)
• Drill (already had)
• 1-1/2 Phillips Sheet Metal Screws (will look up measurements)
• 12″ 3/4″ steel pipe nipple
• 3/4″ steel pipe base
• 3/4″ end cap
• 3 6′ Live edge 1″ raw shelving boards – $10 from local source

My hubs measure out the studs in the wall. We determined our shelf length by the size I hoped for and the length factoring in the studs. I went with 6′ for 3 shelves. We only used the screw holes that lined up in the studs, you may want to double up on the screws for cosmetic reasons, but I chose to only do 2 screws per post.

Measuring from the floor and from the closest wall to get our square. My hubs measured from the floor to the bottom screw hole, lining them up in the wall studs. Then he would measure up to the next screw hole by just over 12″. The reason we went with that is I wanted to have enough clearance for my larger curriculum books to stand upright if needed.

I am so pleased with our finished product, now I am on a search for items that can help with decor and maximize the organization. To get the metal look, I used a galvanized spray paint on some dollar tree trays and bin to give a fresh look to some of the things we use for storage. I may even use the galvanized spray to paint the 2 cardboard bins that have extreme designs to give it a new look, but those may not stay there at all. I hope to find some vintage kitchen scales and some other items to help the decorative space. I already had the crock. I used the kitchen sorters to keep frequent files handy, they could probably use a touch of spray paint for a fresh hint of color.

Latin for Kids Review:

Back in 2013, before we were homeschooling, I was searching curriculum magazines trying to decide where to start. I wanted to lean toward Classical, however I was very intimidated. We are still learning in some Classical Style, primarily using Abeka but I have branched out and started trying new things. This year, we started Latin For Children Primer A for 3rd Grade. It was a little premature, but I am skimming and introducing it this year with intent to really go over it next year again, before beginning Primer B.

Review: I have really enjoyed this myself. Teaching this first really helped my son reinforce to grasp things like nouns, plural, conjugating verbs, pronouns. We chose to do the online videos for convenience to watch from anywhere with internet access. I really like this better than sitting down to a DVD player. I feel I have more control to repeat things and do selective reviews. The trouble that I have seen, is there is often a delay in the video, at times the video will stop and not resume. I haven’t been able to determine if it is a computer related software issue, browser issue or site based issue. Perhaps it’s bandwidth trouble. It has been frustrating and interfering with our ability to work on Latin. Overall, I have been very pleased. I enjoy chanting (makes it very easy to remember) and doing the learning with my 3rd grader. I bought my stuff from classicalachedimicpress.com

Want a Sample:

http://www.classicalsubjects.com/samples/LFCA_sample.pdf

 

Magic School Bus is back on Netflix!

We use some shows to compliment what we are learning in our home education.

My kids enjoy Magic School Bus from the 1990’s. Magic School Bus Episode List

In First Grade, we even did a science curriculum based on MSB, watching specific episodes a few days a week on Netflix to cover certain topics like Sound. The one we did had activities that went with the selected episode. I’m happy to see Netflix is revamping some of the older programs we really come to appreciate as a home-ed family.

• Magic School Bus Rides Again – Episode Guide
• Veggie Tales in the City
• Anne with an E(caution with younger kids, one episode does have kids discussing sexual misunderstandings like in the original).

We have also used Wild Krats, ZooBoomafu