Yeah, it's been a while

We've been pretty busy around here with schooling, illness (strep and flu!), and planning for our cruise. There have been many days where things have happened and I thought "Oh, I want to blog about that!". But, then things get crazy and I don't find the time. And, of course, when I do find the time I forget what I planned to blog about in the first place. Anyone that knows me well knows that I have an extremely limited short term memory. And long term, for that matter. Anyway, I have a little extra time this morning (well, technically I should be getting ready for the school day by making photocopies, etc., but, well....ummmmmm, that doesn't sound as fun), so I decided to do an update.

So, let's see, school is going really well. We had to take about a week off early February due to illness, but we have since caught up (by doubling much of our work). So, we are right where we should be for the year. Now our social life, on the other hand, has been pathetic at best. With everyone taking turns getting sick it seems like we've been stuck in the house for months. Even when we were healthy we haven't been able to get out much due to the crazy weather we've been having. Two field trips I had planned to take the kids on were canceled due to snow. Not only have we had more snow than usual, it has just been too freakin cold to go anywhere outside. I am more anxious for Spring than usual! We've also been avoiding indoor germ infested playlands, bouncy places, etc. because it seems my kids catch something every time they leave the house this year! So weird....that's not usually an issue.

Anyway, the best homeschooling related news I have to share is that Miss M has not only learned to add efficiently, but can now do double digit addition with carrying over!!! Yes, she is 14, but with her LD's academics are a serious hardship for her. So, how did we finally master these skills? Did we find a wonderful new curriculum? NOPE. There is just not a curriculum out there that works for her. So, instead of wasting even more money to try to find that perfect fit, I have created my own methods to use with her. I have taught her the basics of TouchMath (where you put the dots on the numbers to act as a sort of manipulative). This is the way I was taught to add in school and, though I disagree with it's use in the general education population, I think it is FABULOUS for those with LD's. Now, there is an actual TouchMath curriculum you can by, but it's a few hundred dollars and, well, I already know how it works so why spend the money? Once I introduced the dot method to her she began to progress rapidly. I thought we would never get past single digit addition. Once she was able to do single digit addition relatively quickly, I introduced double digit with carrying over. Again, I didn't use a curriculum to teach this. We worked for days with the Math U See blocks. What we did was to add the numbers in the ones place, take the corresponding one blocks, line them up, and then see if our ten block would fit over the row. Obviously it did as we were practicing carrying. So, then I explained that the left over ones had to be left in that ones column, while that ten wanted to move out with his friends over in the tens column. Once she grasped this, I took away the manipulatives and we worked out dozens of problems on paper. And, guess what, she is doing it on her own now!!! I say all of this just to point out to other parents of children with LD's that there may not be that perfect curriculum out there for your kid. You may need to come up with a method on your own and then just use the Internet to print off free worksheets. I wish I had stopped searching for the perfect curriculum years ago. A lot of time and money was wasted when I could have just jumped in and tried a bunch of different methods for free. Live and learn.

Now, a little update on my 52 Books in 52 weeks challenge. I have surprisingly kept up (and then some). Here's what I have read so far this year, in no particular order (you can link to all of these books on my shelf):
1. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs--AMAZING book
2. The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
3. Torn by Amanda Hocking
4. Switched by Amanda Hocking
5. Ascend by Amanda Hocking
6. The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford--loved it!
7. Sarah's Key by Tatiana somethingorother:)--first half great, second half sucked
8. The Book Thief --a must read, absolutely loved it! Favorite this year!
9. Without Pity by Ann Rule--just alright
10. The Lost Boy by David Pelzer
11. Jane Eyre by Bronte--great story but the girl can go on and ON....I prefer Austin
12. Escape by Carolyn Jessup--fascinating look into FLDS
13. The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan--read this aloud to the kids and we all loved it
14. Hollowland by Amanda Hocking--page turner with a bad ending
15. One Second After by William Forschten--loved it
16. The Help by Kathryn Stockett--so, so good! I miss the characters:)

So, i'm about 8 weeks into the challenge and averaging two books a week. This challenge has really reignited my passion for reading. I always considered myself a mystery lover, but I am know finding that I really enjoy historical fiction and a lot of non-fiction memoirs. This next week I plan to read the Kite Runner. It will probably take me two weeks to get through as we will be on vacation for a week.

And, that's about it for us! Here's a few funny kid quoted to make you smile:

B (7): " Did you see that sign at Ross? It said they execute people for shoplifting!"

Navy Bean (3): "I'm not little, I live in a tall world"

M (14): in a text to her Grandma "I have to watch Vampire Diaries alone. I can't stay with you. C'mon grandma, i'm no fool" (yeah, makes little sense, but that's why it's funny:)