Come Visit Our New Place!

It's finally happened! I took the plunge and moved! But don't worry, all the content you love is at the new address, too, so there's no need to pitch a fit ;) Come on over to LaraMolettiere.com for all the Preschool, Montessori, Apraxia awareness and adventures and information you know (and we hope love) us for and join in all our new fun, too! Don't miss a single update and subscribe by email here. (There's a free printable in it for you!)

Thank you so much for being an extended part of our homeschool family! We can't wait for you to visit our new home!

Blessings,
Lara

Top 5 Posts for 2013

Homeschooling a toddler and a preschooler with Apraxia is a wonderful adventure I am so blessed to share with you. Thank you for being a part of our homeschool journey. Here are the top 5 posts from 2013! Enjoy revisiting old friends and we hope you will be joining us for lots more fun and learning in 2014!

#1 - Our 2013-2014 Homeschool Preschool Curriculum
We are still having a lot of fun with it all but have been making tweaks and changes as we go! The beauty of homeschool is flexibility!

#2 - Cinnamon Dough Fun!
This is a sweet and classic craft and we love making these. I also can't believe how little Mr. T is in this post. Boy time flies!

#3 - The Homeschool Room
Moving the boys into a room together has been awesome (except for Mr. F cutting molars and waking Mr. T during the night for several nights in a row!) Freeing up the second room to become a designated school room and play room has really helped us be able to focus our time and helps me keep the house in better, less toy-box exploded shape.

#4 -  Our Stone Soup Unit
This was our first lapbook. We had so much fun we have incorporated lapbooks into all our unit studies since and we are excited to try lap-n-notes this spring since we are working on Mr. T's writing skills. We used a lot of Montessori hands on learning in this unit and Mr. F is really beginning to love his Montessori learning, too!

#5 - The Power of Yet
My favorite post from 2013. As a special needs homeschool parent, it is sometimes easy to listen to the doubt and the fear that creeps in during the long days. When I share my hope with you, it reminds me of my hope and the One who give it.

2014 is going to be a phenomenal year! I hope to be seeing some of you at Teach Them Diligently in Nashville for fellowship and encouragement, and again at Great Homeschool Convention in Greenville! And of course, we want to see you here! Sign up for email updates so you don't miss any of our homeschooling fun!

Blessings and love to you and your families for this coming new year!

Surviving the Holidays with Apraxia

There is a point when you realize that the holidays are coming (or it dawns on you that they are here) and you cringe. This does not make you Scrooge. It probably means you are already trying to figure out how to navigate all the parties, gatherings, and well meaning family and friends without losing your cool or becoming completely depressed with the loneliness that can come from special needs parenting.

Apraxia has it's own set of challenges in that, like a lot of genetic and neurological disorders, it is not visible. It can also come with fun things like SPD, auditory defensiveness, dyspraxia, dyslexia, motor skill issues, etc. The people who love you but say unhelpful or insensitive things just don't know. They don't understand. They probably never will. They are probably lacking in education and understanding about your child's challenges. So try to remember that (usually) even when it is less than helpful and a little infuriating, they love you and your child.

Here are some things that can help you navigate the holidays to hopefully prevent any major humbugs.

• CASANA has a fantastic page of downloads you can print to give to family and teachers. I recommend ahead of time, especially if this is your first holiday season with the diagnosis. Remember that they will not all "get it". Some just can't understand, some just won't. Knowing you have made every effort to provide answers and allow them to ask questions will help you feel more prepared. 
• If you know your child has sensory issues plan ahead. If you need to take comfort items, weighted blankets, etc. make yourself a note. In the hustle and bustle, important things can sometimes get left behind. 
• It is OK to hover near your child until they are comfortable wherever you are. Our children need us to be their voices and while they are too young to speak up for themselves in other ways, sometimes they need our intervention and protection. Don't be afraid to step in, especially for younger children, when you think play may be going awry or a relative is giving them a hard time.
• If your child is on a special diet, make sure the grown ups know. Especially if it is a younger child. Go ahead and bring a small lunch bag full of safe foods and drinks. Eating any way other than SAD (standard American diet) can be met with resistance and negative comments. Remember that it is your child and your decisions and that you are doing what you think is best and that is what matters!
• Therapy can get expensive. So can getting additional learning and speech practice toys and apps,  Kauffman cards to use at home, and gas to get back and forth to therapy. Small homemade gifts from the heart or foregoing gifts for extended family and friends is totally OK. Do not let yourself or anyone else make you feel bad. You are spending money where it needs to be spent to best help your child.
• Don't over schedule yourself or your child. It's good to say no sometimes. 
• Do NOT allow yourself to fall into the comparison trap when you watch other children play. Comparison is the thief of joy.  Your child was made with a great purpose and will accomplish all they were meant to in their own time.
• Get a small notebook or make yourself a list on your phone of all the cool things, new experiences and precious moments that happen during this holiday season. It will bring lots of smiles and help calm you when everything seem too loud, too busy, and too much.
• I pray a short prayer before we go out. And sometimes while we are out if the need for a quiet tongue arises. You know the situations I'm talking about. Mine goes like this, "God, I need Your grace for this person and their lack of understanding. And Your hand over my mouth. Please. Amen". Take a deep breath and walk out the door or away from the conversation. It has helped me immensely to have this short prayer memorized. Find one that works for you.

These are things that have helped us. We are still in the younger child stages. If you have an older child with Apraxia, please share things that have helped you during holidays and gatherings! Have a very blessed and wonderful Christmas and enjoy this time with your little ones!

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Using Nature to Teach Preschoolers About God

 

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see the disclosure page for more information.

Come join me at Teach Them Diligently Blog today for some fun ideas for using nature to teach your toddlers and preschooler more about the awesome Creator and His amazing creation! There's even a fun printable coloring sheet.

Don't forget to register for Teach Them Diligently soon! I will be seeing you in Nashville, don't be afraid to introduce yourself but be warned, I'm a hugger!

Toddler Manners: Loud and Soft Voices

Some days it seems like my toddlers only have one volume. LOUD. Not just loud as in your favorite song just came on the radio so you turn it up, but LOUD. Like someone decided it might be fun to switch your alarm clock out for a jet engine mid-take-off. They can rattle your brain, make your ears ring, and sometimes even send you looking for the ibuprofen. Teaching them appropriate volumes for different places can be tricky. Especially if they get excited going down the aisle where Clifford resides at the library. Maybe that's just my kids :)

We have a "volume button". (I wish it were real!) But with Mr. T when he gets too loud, I can use my pretend volume button and "turn down" the volume while telling him to "turn it down". If he's whispering and I can't understand I can tell him to turn it up while turning my pretend volume button up. It didn't take him long to understand and usually to acquiesce. This method is really useful when he's across the room because he can still see me "turning" the button and he generally knows which direction his volume needs to go to become more pleasant.

Another way to teach your toddler is to make a list, with pictures if you want to get crafty, of different places you go and talk about the proper volume for talking while you are there. The Post Office would be normal volume. Church would be super low volume during prayers and the message, and joyfully loud (not screaming) when singing. The Library would be a low volume. Outside on the playground can be a loud volume! Once you go over it a few times, you can make it into a game and just be silly and have fun. When you are out visiting the places, gentle reminders when your toddlers volume level isn't appropriate can bring them quickly back to the volume they should be using.

Try to learn your toddlers cues because sometimes the loud or soft voices are telling you they need a break from wherever you are. Especially in loud environments, toddlers can become overwhelmed and their need to drown out the noise makes them get louder. These episodes usually require removal of the toddler and a few minutes to calm down and process the environment. Keep your patience and show your little ones grace. They will eventually learn how to speak at appropriate levels wherever they may be.

What do you use for teaching inside/outside voices in your homeschool?

View all our 10 Days of Toddler Manners Series here.

Part of the iHomeschool Network's Autumn Hopscotch.

Hands Are For Helping Character Training and Incentive System

Our 10 Days of Teaching Toddler Manners is covering my Hands are for Helping system today. I wanted to come up with a character training system that I could use as an incentive system as well. And stickers just don't work very well for Mr. T. He loves to play with them but are not much of a motivator. I wanted a way to teach my toddler about good manners, caring, helping, listening, and more and I wanted to incorporate memory verses so those seeds would be planted as he is growing. Here is the system.

Our Hands holder is a little wall card box Mr. T made at a Home Depot workshop. It was the perfect size so I hung it on the wall of our school room where he can reach it to put hands in, but Mr. F cannot reach it to pull hands out. Not yet, anyway, that boy is growing like a weed!

Here is a close up of our "Helping" hand. I got these great foam hands in a dollar bin, but you could just as easily trace and cut out or print out hands and laminate(affiliate) them. I wrote the attributes I wanted to encourage on the front and a corresponding Bible verse on the back. I used our Child Training Bible to find appropriate verses.

The Hands and verses we have are:
Helping 1 Peter 4:11
Sharing Luke 6:30-31
Gentle Proverbs 12:20
Praying 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Kind Galatians 5:22-23
Cleaning Colossians 3:23
Learning Job 28:18
Listening Proverbs 12:15
I will continue adding hands and verses as needed. The next one will be for Bible memory work, I think. *On a related note, my sweet little boy with Apraxia said his first memory verse at our homeschool co-op today! Job 33:4, and I couldn't be more proud! I nearly cried. God is soooo good!*

So the system works like this. Hands get added when your child does something they are supposed to. Helping mom empty the dishwasher, cleaning up their toys when they are asked, sharing with their younger sibling, etc. When they get all the hands in the holder, they get a treat. Extra playtime, a filed trip, 20 extra minutes up, whatever it is that makes your little one extra motivated to help/clean/share again. I think it's easier for really little guys to do this on a weekly basis, but by the time they are 4 to 5 you might be able to do it on a daily or every few days basis. The general idea is to reward positive behavior, learn Scripture and have fun training your little one to be a caring and mannerly Child of God.

This post is part of our 10 Days of Teaching Toddlers Manners series with the iHomeschool Network's Autumn Hopscotch. Thank you so much for joining us, and be sure to check out the other great blogs that are participating!

Linked up with Mom's Mustard Seeds Resources for Mom.

Teaching Toddlers Manners: The Napkin Game

Today's topic is how to use a napkin. You can click the picture below for a printable copy of our Napkin Game.

The instructions for the Napkin Game:

Help your toddler by playing silly with the napkin. Put it on his head, the table, the floor and have fun asking “is that where the napkin goes? If you need to say “no” because your toddler doesn’t quite grasp it yet, that’s fine.

When your toddler has a good grasp on the game, play it with them at the table during snack time. They will love it!

How to use a napkin:

After you sit down, wait for everyone else to sit down then pick up your napkin and place it on your lap. You can find your napkin either to the left of the forks, under the forks, or on the plate. In a restaurant, the napkin may be folded in a fancy way and placed on the plate or in a glass.

You don’t have to open really big napkins all the way, they are the right size when they are folded in half. Smaller napkins like you might use at lunch or tea time can be opened all the way. Don’t tuck your napkin into your shirt like a bib, this isn’t considered polite. And when you open your napkin, do it gently so it isn’t waving around like a flag. To use your napkin, gently dab it around your mouth.

If you need to be excused from the table, put your napkin in your chair, not on the table and you do not have to fold it. Don’t blow your nose in your napkin, either!

 This is part of the iHomeschool Networks Autumn Hopscotch. Visit our other Toddler Manners Posts here.

Must Have Items for Homeschooling a Preschooler with Apraxia

This post contains affiliate links. You are never charged additional amounts and we are very grateful for the support our homeschool gets when you shop through our affiliate links. Please see our disclosure page for more information. 

You can see how we use more toys for speech at home here.

Apraxia Kids website 

*Please note that our "must haves" are not a replacement for good speech therapy with a qualified SLP, just additional helps we have found to work well for us. I am not an SLP, just a mom who loves her little guy and wants to share what has helped us in case it can help you and your little one.*

Here are the links to the apps we love and use often:

Signing Time:

The always useful laminator:

We are linked up here:

Butterflies! Unit Study Part 1

*We are roadschooling this week. Please enjoy revisiting some of our favorite posts from the archives*

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Please visit Part 2 of our Unit Study!

If you haven't discovered Homeschool Share, check them out. Most of this lapbook came from this link. We also love Lapbook Lessons Butterfly page and resources! There really are several wonderful free resources for lapbooking and we just work our way through one or two activities at a time!

Here's our Painted Lady larvae from Insect Lore. It goes with our Butterfly Garden Kit. We love this kit and this is our second time using it. Mr. T and Mr. F have both enjoyed watching the butterflies now that they have hatched!

Some of our other goodies are shown here: Insect Lore Butterfly Life Cycle Stages, Peterson First Guide to Butterflies and Moths, and Caterpillar to Butterfly, a really great pre-K and lower elementary explanation of butterfly life cycles.

And here is our stack from the library. Oh how I love the library! My favorite so far is Waiting for Wings! The illustrations are wonderful, and I may have to add that title to our library!

Our lapbook and crafts are still in progress, but we should be finished up by next Friday, so I hope to share more pictures and resources with you then!

What unit are you currently studying with your little one?

Taking It Slow: Homeschooling From The Start

*We are vacation-schooling this week. Please enjoy revisiting some favorite posts from our archives*

This post contains affiliate links. You are never charged additional fees and we are very grateful for your support of our homeschool by purchasing through our affiliate links. You can learn more at our disclosure page here.

I always love the looks of surprise I get when asked the ages of my children after breaching the subject of homeschooling. With Mr. T being almost 3 1/2 and Mr. F approaching 1 year, how can we possibly be "homeschooling". Well, as their mother I am given the honor of "training them up in the way they should go" (Proverbs 22:6) alongside my husband and that teaching begins the moment a child is conceived. As the primary caregiver I am responsible for teaching everything from using a Kleenex to wipe his nose to holding open the door to remembering that we are instructed to think on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report, of virtue and praiseworthy (Phil 4:8). That's no small task. And it is part of homeschooling.

The academics at this age look a bit different, but I was blessed to be a mothers helper to Hope at Homeschooling 3 and got to see early homeschool in action and what a blessing it is. Mr. J and I believe that God is taking us down this path of learning and we are excited to see how it evolves over then next few years. But I get asked about homeschooling a lot. And I love advocating for homeschool. I believe every Christian family should prayerfully consider homeschooling. (No, I don't have the patience, etc. for it either but God equips you for what He calls you to. My friend Mary posted about all the usual objections here) But the best piece of advice I can give to any mom who wants to homeschool from the start is: Take. It. Slow.

Your 2 year old does not need structured schooling. If they can't sing their ABC's, don't worry. Don't spend a ton of money on preschool curriculum. We've done a few purchased packs and activities but that was more out of convenience to me, especially while I was pregnant with Mr. F. We love reading and Montessori activities. We love playing with friends. We love cooking together. We go to the zoo, the park and even the back yard (something people tend to forget) and learn about God's creation and have lots of fun experiencing nature.

Don't stress yourself out by reading about every single homeschooling "method" in depth. *Experience speaking here* You will get overwhelmed. You will freak out. You will want to order DVD's, books, and curriculum sets for your 20 month old. Step away from the Amazon cart. Seriously. Casually browse homeschooling blogs, Pinterest boards, and look for local homeschool co-ops. Make new friends (very important for the whole "socialization" thing) and learn a little about each method and make a list of the ones that catch your attention and then look further into those.

You have time. You have God and His awesome instruction book. You have prayer. And you have Google. Once you've compiled your list, take a method or topic every few weeks and dive in. So far I've read The Well-Trained Mind . I've learned and read a lot about Montessori and that's been our main focus. I've been checking out more Charlotte Mason lately and gearing up for a "real" pre-K 3 year this fall for Mr. T.

That does include curriculum, but it's a hodge podge and it's enough for probably 15 months of daily mini school. Let's be real, your 3 year old doesn't need 4 to 6 hours of "structured" schooling, either :)

The best thing you can do for your little homeschoolers is to be present. Play with them. Let them help, even when it isn't super helpful. If it takes 30 minutes to empty the dishwasher, relax. Teach them the difference between a salad and a dinner fork. It's training for setting the table. Just be. Just breathe. And know that every thing you do with your child is a building block. Every scribbled masterpiece, every caught bug, every spilled glass and every muddy footprint is a learning experience. Learn with your little ones and you will begin to learn them and their hearts and how to best reach them and train their hearts for God's glory.

What questions do you have about homeschooling from the start? Or what advice do you have for moms just starting out?

Be Careful Little Eyes What You Read

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"Oh, be careful little eyes what you see . . . " Most of you are probably very familiar with the children's song about being careful what you see, where you go and with what you say. The same goes for see no, speak no, hear no evil. And then there is Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

I'll be the first to admit to reading things I wish I hadn't. I still read things occasionally that go beyond fluff to ridiculous.Those celebrity headlines that pop up on Facebook can be oh so tempting. But I am much more careful about what I read now than I used to be. I used to read just about whatever I could get my hands on. Good, bad, Christian, secular, fiction, history, science, you name it. And even as a child, certain things stuck in my mind that I still remember today. I remember being so saddened by the story of Hester Prynne , getting angry about life with Gilly Hopkins , I remember getting caught up in the excitement of the battles and peril with Frodo for the first time.

Even (sometimes especially) fiction, yes FICTION, has a lasting impact on our minds. While it can engender creativity and stimulate amazing and in-depth conversations, it can also damage. Those bits of story that stick in your mind and pop up at the most inopportune times. One recent scene I still vividly remember is in the opening pages of Water for Elephants. The scene disturbed me so much I didn't finish reading that page or the rest of the book. When I was younger (somewhere in the neighborhood of 20) I read the book The Diary of Ellen Rimbauer: My Life at Rose Red. I had nightmares for a year. You cannot tell me that because a book is fiction it doesn't make an impact.

So before you pick up the newest "hot" book or just one you think looks interesting off the shelf at your favorite bookstore, ask yourself if, based off the descriptions and what you have heard or read about the book, is it worth allowing into your mind? Is this something that is true and noble? Could it damage your view of something you hold sacred like your marriage, your faith or your self image? Could it plant seeds of discontent or faulty logic. Could it effect the way you treat others or cause you to be judgmental? Could it numb your mind and heart to the things that break the heart of Christ, which should also break our own hearts?

Try going a week using these principles to determine what you will and won't read (and if you're into TV, what you will and won't watch) and see if you find yourself with a more clear perspective and a more open line of communication with God. If you find there is static in your direct line, chances are you need to clear out the clutter, dust and grime

What is some good advice you have or have had shared with you in regard to what you read and watch? If you have a post, please leave a link in the comments!

Blessings,
Lara

Weekly Wrap Up: Homeschool when Mom's Down

Our homeschool this week: Mom's back is out so I've been playing with photo filters and I love seeing how black and white can really change the feel of an image. I did manage to take Mr. T to see The Velveteen Rabbit at the CPVA in Newnan. It was a great show and he sat through (minus one potty break) all 50 minutes! He even waved bye bye to the bunnies.

This is major progress and for you moms with 2-3 year olds, bite the bullet and start them early WITHOUT technology. If you want your kiddos to learn how to sit still and use their big kid manners, teach them from the beginning. If you provide an iPhone at 2 and 3, at 13 you will wonder why they can't get through a church service without "entertainment". Do the hard (and sometimes embarrassing) work when they are little. If you have to get up and leave after 20 minutes, celebrate the 20 minutes and shoot for 30 next time. It will pay off!

*This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting our homeschool by shopping through them. For more information see our Disclosure page.*

LEGO's! They are wonderful For speech practice, for encouraging reading, and for keeping little minds occupied while riding in the car. The creativity that these blocks bring out in children is wonderful. The DUPLO Read and Build sets are so cute and lots of fun as the story shows your little one how to build the characters!

Brothers: We have had a huge amount of sibling bonding. I would love some tips to encourage this to continue.

Family: We had family portraits made by the lovely Katie Snyder, Atlanta Photographer. Mr. F fell asleep on the way there. It was the first real family portraits we've had made since I was 7 weeks pregnant with Mr. F. They were a tad overdue. While we can't afford professional portraits all the time, I do want to be more intentional about making sure the 4 of us are photographed together more. Is there something you are trying to be more intentional about?

Phonics apps are wonderful and we got this one when it was on sale, but it is totally worth the $19.99! Phonics and Reading with McGuffey is one of Mr. T's favorite things to do on the iPad. Another great homeschool investment. There are so many great apps, I really believe it pays for itself in the workbooks and toner and paper it saves.

Mr. F is enjoying lots of fun sensory play and Montessori activities. He loves our Melissa and Doug puzzles. And playing peek a boo. Our read aloud time currently include Raggedy Andy Stories . They are so sweet and I just love reading them. The boys play quietly and I think they like the time together.

Gluten Free: We found Glutino Toaster Pasteries. GF pop tarts. Oh my! I was so exited and Mr. T loves them! Yay for a new treat!

What fun things did you do in your homeschool this week?

First Official Week Wrap Up

Our first official week homeschooling has come to a close. And boy am I glad there's a learning curve! The actual structured part of our days is taking some getting used to for Mr. T and me, and Mr. F wants to get in on all the fun so it's a bit challenging but we are working with it and I'm sure it will get easier when we are into a "rhythm". I'm very thankful God's mercies are new every morning. And I'm very thankful for coffee. :) We are easing into it so it's OK that we didn't get to everything I had planned. Learning is a constant and living thing with preschoolers so there is no need to stress.

Our first science experiment is growing an avocado seed. We just happened to have 2 since I made Mr. F's favorite avocado and banana baby food last week, so we used them both. Mr. T had a little trouble getting the toothpicks in, so I know we need to incorporate some extra fine motor and proprioceptive play into our OT at home.

We have this awesome app for Lifecycles.  It's .99. And it's got 11 different cycles including frog, butterfly and plants. Easy peasy on the science. We are using that in conjunction with our experiment. We also used it with our Butterfly Unit Study this past spring.

Mr. F still only has 2 teeth but he happily gummed his way through cut up bits of gluten free macaroni. Bless his heart, he wants real food so badly. Mr. T completed a lesson from our Artistic Pursuits curriculum. This is one of my favorite "real" curriculum pieces this year (there will be a review coming up soon). I think he did great! And he had so much fun with it. Finger painting is big fun for him, especially with his sensory seeking nature. His eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when I poured a big bunch of paint on the paper and said have fun. He's my little Picasso in training.

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We did some fum workbook pages in our Kumon Uppercase Letters book and our Get Ready for the Code book. Mr. T and Mr. F watched the Talking Letter Factory together a couple times this week, too.They both seem to enjoy it. Mr. T has always loved it and we have more than one mom friend who says their little ones learned phonics watching this DVD.

Montessori practical life in action. Mr. T has a little dance of sorts when he sets the table. He also helped me put dinner on the table and when Mr. J walked through the door he brought him to the table and proudly proclaimed "I did it!". That sense of accomplishment coupled with him actually saying a phrase clearly made my mama heart near burst! We do not always give children enough freedom to accomplish big tasks and I think we do them a disservice in that. I try to remember Maria Montessori's mantra for the children, "teach me to do it myself". 

I'm making first birthday invitations. Where did this year go?!? Mr. F will be 1 on July 29th. I can't believe it! We're doing a small Raggedy Andy themed party. I thought it was perfect since he's my little red head :) I had my first big gluten free baking success this week! From scratch cinnamon rolls. They were awesome! I'm going to make another batch with one little tweak and take pictures as I go so I can share the recipe. I'm definitely Mr. T's hero this week ;)

Saturday was a big day for us! We did our usual Home Depot first Saturday build and Mr. T made a cute little wooden car from Despicable Me 2. He always has such fun building things. I love to watch him concentrate. He has such a determination.

Then we went bowling! It was Mr. T's first time and my first time since high school, however many years ago that was! Mr. J showed Mr. T his way to do it and I showed him how to roll it granny style. Thankfully there are no pictures of me doing that, but Mr. T preferred that method and did great with it and the bumpers. Mr. F wanted to play to, but as soon as I sat him on the floor out of the stroller he tried to follow the ball down the lane so back to his pen on wheels he went. Mr. T lost interest toward the end so we only played one game but I think we will be able to add that in to our homeschool PE repertoire.Yay for family activities!

What fun activities do you enjoy as a family?

Have a blessed weekend!
Lara

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