my project4peace

Homeschooling in the Desert with Intention and Hope and Special Needs


by Leave a comment

School choice program expands – USATODAY.com

Today Dylan and I and his Dad met with a few fellow ESA members to discuss homeschooling options, and find out how others were building curriculum, and using the ESA funds.  It was wonderful to meet others that were beginning this process.  We left today feeling a little less alone, and in fact in good company.  I am looking forward to connecting again and hope to meet others as well.  When we got home Dylan thanked me for including him, and I realize that from now on he is included in everything.  This is his journey, I’m just a part.  Though, I see this adventure of homeschooling as my journey right now, I realize that really it is his.  It will be a blip in his memory one day, I hope a good one.

We talked about purchasing curriculum and there is still some question about the details.  It appears that we may be able to purchase materials that are required by the curriculum, however I’m not totally clear if this is so.  I will post more as it is clarified.

We also talked about some concerns regarding the expansion to the ESA program, that will go into effect this next year.  I found an article that addresses some of the concerns and have posted it below.

Dawn from the Civitan center shared the services that Civitan has to offer (especially a very nice music studio with drum set and instruments) and her willingness to create programs that would be of service to us.  She spoke a little bit about the away camp in Williams, in the pines which one parent who had been to visit talked about how beautiful it was.  Their programs would all take ESA funds. http://www.campcivitan.org

Mostly I left our gathering with  a deep appreciation for the resolve and commitment that was evident in the room and an awareness that I had much to learn.

At home Dylan is back to work aimed at finishing his daily work.  Right now he earns TV time when work is completed and chores are done.  He chose to toss the ball a bit before hand to get going.  This really helps him organize himself to read.  I hope we will be able to start therapy at the Midwestern University Eye Clinic again, as well as Speech and OT.  Almost made it to our 1st speech lesson, but instead ended in the ER with DH.  Remember if you ever get a piece of meat stuck in your esophagus, try the grocery store for the remedy first.  I fear the cost of the 3 cans of Coke and 2 Saltines that provided the long awaited relief at the nearby hospital.  I wish I had hit the vending machines before he recieved the pretty bracelet with his name on it.  Grateful, it wasn’t anything else but did wonder for a moment if I could give him a better reason to stay for treatment.

School choice program expands – USATODAY.com.


by Leave a comment

Montessori is Special Education

 

I wonder what encouragement I will find in the pages of this book?  http://ia600805.us.archive.org/24/items/montessorispecia00rcor/montessorispecia00rcor.pdf

This his book was written so many years ago, yet in Montessori Schools today Children with Special Needs seem to be limited to very high functioning children, with few behavior challenges.  It seems to me that as a teacher the question of the other children getting what they needed is always present, am I serving everyone?  Is it out of balance.  But yet at the same time I grapple with my belief that communities include everyone.  How do we learn to be whole citizens in this community if we do not learn how to engage with, have time for and include all members of the community.  How can this not be part of our schools?  Is it what we value? Is it how we have chosen to define successful individuals that gets in our way.

A decision to see a person as whole, and deserving of our kindness and respect, to see their greatness requires us to have a new understanding of what it is to be human.  What it is to be of service. To let go of old ways.  Haven’t we done this before?  Isn’t this basic misunderstanding at the root so much disparity in the world are we really a better nation because “more” people have an opportunity.  Can’t we really shift our perception enough that all people have opportunity to be accepted in a community.  Can’t we make it just as shameful, and unacceptable that our space whatever it is was not designed to include all individuals.  Can’t we stretch our greatness to recognize what’s missing when individuals with various disabilities are missing from the room.  Seeking diverse communities has always made us a greater nation, a greater community, a greater school, a greater group.  What needs to happen?  Often it seems when great change must take place it is the mistaken goal or model that needs to be restructured.  Greatness comes from our ability to see beyond our current circumstances to a possibility that exceeds those constraints, (something our most vulnerable do on a daily basis). A nation of greatness must see the greatness in each other, by the wholeness of it’s individuals.  We make others vulnerable when we create a world in which the value is determined by others.  One’s vulnerability is proportionate to the constructs of the society in which it lives.  What kind of society, what kind of being do we wish to construct.

When all else is gone, what will bring us the most joy?  How can we remember, as we seek to “pay for our lives”, that joy exists in the ability to be ourselves, be loved, and be able to serve and love others, and seek that, that builds us in our own vision. Isn’t this what Montessori saw?  It costs nothing to be kind, to be patient, to be giving, to be compassionate, to have empathy. We have become a nation that everything has a price tag. It is costing us our humanness and our potential greatness.  It is an invisible force that has altered the nature of all things.  What we lack in money is always made up for in the richness of our joy in each other.  If we shifted our success meter to exist in the richness of our community, the level of service, compassion, joy  it would have to include everyone, and it could build a community of individuals that care for each other, are empowered and enriched and nourished by each other.  Special would just be an important element in the mix.   It is an important part of the mix.  The fact that it is missing, and it’s members absent from the community on the whole, our community is disable, lacks the very elements that would exist if these members were wholly a part. It is something we hide from, don’t want to know about, fantasize that all is well with, so we can live in this illusion of success.

I believe that a transformation of this kind is happening all around us.  Like waiting for a bud to bloom, or an egg to hatch, or a child to have that “aha” moment, we will unfold this possibility.  The seeds have already been planted the ground has been made fertile, and now we just nourish, encourage tirelessly, invite, and trust in its inevitability.  This I say as I deal with my own impatience, perceptions, and abilities with still the hope of practicing in good faith that that I believe in.  If I don’t stay compassionate with myself, I might just give up, however. It’s a new day, patience arrived as always at my bedside and so here I am again, and in the company of so many I trust. Good company it is.

 


by Leave a comment

Montessori Nuggets: Montessori and the Special Child

Montessori Nuggets: Montessori and the Special Child.


by Leave a comment

Neurologic Music Therapy Services of Arizona NMTSA

This is a music program for children recommended by a homeschool parent in Phoenix.

Neurologic Music Therapy Services of Arizona NMTSA.


by Leave a comment

Horses Help

 

Horses Help.

It appears that the trainers here at Horses Help all have special certification and training for Therapeutic Riding lessons.


by Leave a comment

Montessori Builds Innovators – Andrew McAfee – Harvard Business Review

Montessori Builds Innovators – Andrew McAfee – Harvard Business Review.


by Leave a comment

How Large is the Universe? – YouTube

How Large is the Universe? – YouTube.

Since Dylan has been in traditional school he has missed the opportunity to wonder about our Universe and our place in it.  Videos like this one have help spark curiosity and interest in the vastness of space.


by Leave a comment

A hunter and gatherer at heart!

Although it is a delicious latte in my hand as opposed to a rifle, and I may have  food for thought on my mind instead of a rabbit on the spit, a hunting I have been, looking for that wascally wabbit of  inspired action. Over the years I have enjoyed many hours of “hunting” and collecting information regarding all things I am passionate about. So, I hope to put it to good use and pass it on. All this hunting keeps me swimming in inspiration when sometimes the circumstances of life threaten to drown me.  So grab on to a life raft and be inspired by your own greatness and the greatness of those around you! Check out my LINKS page and see what inspires you.   Happy hunting!


by Leave a comment

Let’s be honest…it takes some practice to float. Let’s just say I’m hanging onto the edge. His joy is my guide.

It has been a shift from thinking about the classroom at Villa in my sleep to building a “home classroom” for Dylan.  I have learned so much from my experience at Villa Montessori, and am grateful to be applying as much as I can, little by little to our home. Dylan seems pretty excited about the process and glad to have my full attention.  Today we cleaned off shelves, brought shelves in from other rooms (including one shelf that is to be left by my oldest, who, well hasn’t quite moved out yet, I hope he won’t mind the shelf’s early departure from his room) We set up work and supplies, as beautifully as possible in baskets and containers made from natural materials,  and basically began to think about what would be needed for him to build independence, and to re-establish his own intrinsic motivation to work.  Remembering to keep it beautiful, he has a nice spot for supplies, a journal that he decorated for language and math thus far. We set up an “art” shelf with items of current interest, and put out books on easels, and a big chalk board to practice writing and words etc. We will have to carve time for systematic, and repeated contact with math and reading and writing, that are particularly hard for him.  These materials will be touched on everyday, but the rest will follow his interest.

Today, after a bit of reading in a world Geography book, we found a video made by two students about the earth’s interior.    These two young girls did a quirky little skit imagining themselves traveling from layer to layer into the earth down to the core.  Simple and perfect.  Just enough to spark Dylan’s interest.  There was also a short piece done by another young boy demonstrating how to make a model of the Earth’s layers.  Terrific, a little  peer teaching right across the internet on You Tube.  So off we went today to gather plaster of paris and a sphere for the core to build the Earth.  It seems like a reasonable place to begin.  I imagine this is  the beginning of many curious pursuits that he will follow, and  in that alone I rejoice!


by Leave a comment

Sink or Swim….I choose float.

Choosing to float takes courage.

I am finding another community of devoted educators choosing to educate their children at home, or with a unique blend of teachers that fit their child’s learning style, both here in the states and abroad.  I have always dreamed of connecting with other educators in other parts of the world and collaborating with them, I never dreamed that the opportunity would present itself now that I am educating at home. So hear I float in the company of a new mix of inspired teachers.  Lucky are we to be in a world that can bring us together in this way!

So now we gather information to begin putting together a schedule for our day, explore our choices for subject curriculum, incorporating regular time for free exploration to develop a listening for his own direction, and find time for quiet, exercise, art and music.  There is such a feeling of anticipation joy in the house, it helps to quell the fear gremlins from taking over and squelching all the fun.

Check out the links to sites that have been recommended by others perhaps there will be something there that inspires.