It felt SO GOOD to get back into school this week! Even though Tim gave me a really hard time for giving him a break, it was obvious today he needed it. He did SO WELL today. I found a book at the 99 cent store that introduces word problems for math, and he did a page in that. I am horrible with these and always was, so I want to introduce it early to him. He got it, it was just simple pictures where they showed four cats, showed two walking away, and he had to write how many was left.

For science, I am so excited this week! We are learning about birds, and we’re going to be doing a lot of observations. We started today by just looking at the different types of birds we see, and trying to identify them online. I had him try to tell me how many different birds he heard, and whether he thought they sounded angry or happy. I had read a book to him about why birds sing, too. Tomorrow, he’s going to gather things in the yard and try to make his own bird nest, the lesson being on how awesome it is that birds can do this without any hands.  We are also learning about California, and in the process, he’s learning a little about researching online, and copying and pasting to make worksheets.

On T4L, he learned today how to count by two’s and five’s. I don’t believe I could have explained this to him in a way he would have understood it, but he really got it by using T4L. I was really impressed! The two’s were easier for him than the five’s, until I showed him the relationship between the numbers when going by fives, that the last number alternates between 5 and 0. Then, that was easier for him if he’s looking at a number line.

We took our spring break this week instead of next, so we could focus on Easter crafts and learning about Easter. Taking breaks with an autistic child is usually harder than if we just don’t take them, because change is something that usually isn’t tolerated well. I proved myself right again, by Tuesday Tim was making life REALLY hard. He just wasn’t coping with the change in routine, and was getting into so much trouble. So I had to revise my ‘break’ by having him use Time4Learning and we watched some educational videos online, just so he felt like he was on some kind of a schedule. This is why I love T4L, because he’s learning but doesn’t realize it! It’s just fun to him.

Before we joined T4L he wasn’t getting as much of the visual learning that he needed, it was mostly my reading from sites or books that we found on our topics. I do use brainpop and that is visual, but there’s not a big selection on movies for his grade, so it was still lacking. Using a site that is so visual and interactive REALLY helps him connect with what he’s learning, and that is crucial with a visual learner. I never would have expected him to be so far ahead in grade levels as he is since we started using T4L. I’m seeing that it’s helping make connections in other areas, too, as if the visual stimulation is getting him thinking about other things, too. The other day he asked me if Z-O-O spelled zoo, and I said it did, but asked him how he knew that. He had seen it on something two days before, it was on a sign above a zoo on some show, and he put the pieces together that it spelled zoo. But the amazing thing is, he retained it. That’s been his toughest area, is retaining what he’s learned, and he’s making so much progress now in that area.

Until very recently, I had no idea that gifted and autism could go together, but I’m learning real quickly that they can! Tim is very scattered in his abilities, but mostly ahead of his peers. I know a lot of this is due to the therapy I’ve given him myself over the last two years, he’s passed so many milestones that I didn’t think were possible when he was three and moderately autistic. But, he just has amazed me since starting kindergarten in August.

This week he has been working on 1st grade math on T4L, and he’s working on place values. I wasn’t even going to touch this yet, I thought it would be too confusing for him and the last thing I wanted to do was confuse him! But, I’m a little bit OCD when it comes to him having to move from one lesson into the other and not skip around, so I had him do it just to experience it. Once again, he just blew me away! He understood what it was about, without any help from me. And, this is the funny part. The whole ‘place value’ thing never really made sense to me, and just seemed to be more confusing than just flat out counting. But, I understand it now myself, and why it makes sense to look at numbers that way! Ha! That’s what I love about homeschooling, is if we don’t understand something we get to learn it right along with them, and it just really helps our bond as he sees that you never stop learning, and there’s nothing wrong with admitting that you don’t know something. It builds his confidence, which is a big issue with him.

I babysit an 8 yr old that I help homeschool after his mom goes to work, and he uses T4L as well. He has Asperger’s, and is behind academically. T4L has really helped him connect to what we’re trying to teach him in ways that are just wonderful to see. He’s JUST understanding multiplication, and the online school he’s using is expecting him to start in division, which is crazy to me. I’ve been working with him this week on memorizing his times tables, we’re working on his threes. She had an especially hard time with him yesterday, he just wasn’t understanding what he was supposed to do, and was frustrated. I reminded her to check on T4L to see if there was a lesson on it, which of course, there was. He did the lessons, and that helped a lot, but still didn’t quite sink in. He came over here and I showed him the relationship between the numbers when you multiply and when you divide, and he got it! I truly did not feel he was ready for this, but T4L really helped pave the way for him to be receptive to what I showed him. He’s still going to work on memorizing his times tables, but while using a multiplication chart in the meantime, he can now do the work his school is wanting him to do and not fall further behind.

I am Angie, and I homeschool my two boys. Tim is 5 1/2 and is ‘in’ kindergarten now. He is mildly autistic, he’s come a long way compared to where he was two years ago, but he does still have some problems. Josh is 3, and the way it looks right now, he’s gifted.

Tim is currently doing 1st grade language arts and math, 2nd grade science,and 3rd grade social studies on Time4Learning. He started in 1st grade science and 1st grade social studies, but passed those levels and we just move on. Josh is doing kindergarten language arts and math since there isn’t a preschool section for him, but he’s doing just fine!

I make my own curriculum, it just seems to be the best way to do it for us. I teach the core subjects, plus whatever else Tim wants to learn about. If Time4Learning has something directly to do with what we’re learning about, we do it. Regardless, we use Time4Learning every day, doing two subjects one day, two the next, and we keep alternating. Tim’s reading skills are below his cognition level in science and social studies, so I have to read what those say, but he doesn’t seem to mind. It’s great to find an online curriculum that helps my kids so much!

OK I’ve been meaning to write this little story but we’ve been so busy lately and still battleling colds and allergies and sleepless nights. C’est La Vie!

Recently Natalie completed the first series of lessons in her science module which cover earth science topics such as weather maps, thunderstorms and water cycle. I sat down with her to do the one about the water cycle. It is refreshing to see that even I can learn a thing or two. I mean most of this stuff we know but when you hear it put into words for a child her age it just seems so simple and easy to understand. At the end of the lessons I showed her how we (adults) know the daily temperature and what the weather will be on a given day by going on the weather channel and online at weather.com. and things really clicked for her when I explained the different colors they use to represent rain or snow, etc. Later that day when her dad came home she wanted to show him what she learned so she told him to put on the Weather Channel so she could tell him what the weather would be tonight and tomorrow. He was pretty impressed at how much she retained. We don’t get excited about watching the weather channel but it was exciting to see her trying to read the weather on the map on TV.

We had some rain since that lesson took place and Natalie sat by the window and explained to me that the water will “evaporate into the air and then it will rain again when the clouds get all filled up.” Yes, we all sing praises to T4L and it is well deserved. As parents we try to take advantage of every opportunity to teach our kids lessons that are best learned hands on, but honestly, it can be difficult sometimes. However, when they have an incentive to ask and we (parents) have a little feedback to help us answer questions at their level it is a lot easier to reinforce what they learn and we learn right along with them.

Everyone once in a while Natalie will say “see mom, even you learn on time4learning.” She’s right.