People (often) ask me why I don't just fork over the bucks and buy a third-grade curruculum. I'll tell ya why. My kids are wackydoodles. Seriously, The Girl is autistic and way behind. The Boy is gifted but has trouble organizing his thoughts into words, meaning that his reading comprehension tests out at null. He can't tell time, but he understands "dimensionality". And neither of them can tie their shoes or ride a bike.
Starting to see why I pulled them out of the public schools? He was terrified of everything and hit people a lot. She had no aide in class and was learning nothing. Yeah. I'm a big believer in "No child of mine left behind," so I'm doing it myself. I'm SO happy with those education taxes I'm paying. NOT! Each of my kids could be getting a $10,500 scholarship to go to a private school, but there aren't any autism schools here.
One size does not fit all, particularly in this house. So, I quit my job to stay home and cut out little green squares and draw inchworms on them. "One inchworm, two inchworms, three inchworms -- three inches long. Write it down." I make increasingly long timelines, starting with units they understand (24 hours in a day -- breakfast, lunch, dinner) and ending with millennia (prehistoric, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, etc.) Everything has to be physical, concrete, and manipulative. "The 3-bee flies in the 4-door, and Jeff takes her to the 7th street park. 3+4=7"
I try not to dwell on it -- all those nice normal kids out there, all those nice fun elementary classes, all those reading clubs, all those soccer teams -- it makes me a little crazy to think about it. Instead, I have fun with what I've got -- two really great kids! Sure, The Girl still tries to drink from puddles, and sure, The Boy still refuses to walk in front of the TV, but hey. Never a dull moment at our house... ;)
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