Home Schooling: Summer, Part Two

Since SensiGirl was losing skills at her ESY class, we decided to pull her to arrest any more regression of her skills. Her occupational therapists agree she has a distinctive lack of focus and needs lots more of large sensory input in the form of crashing and running around in circles. She hasn't been talking as much, this is such a change that her speech teacher was visibly upset last week. Both of her occupational therapists agreed that she was not able to focus as readily and was losing ground.

 Arresting Regression
 image via:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/20/belarus-election-violence-lukashenko-eu 

I talked with the ESY director and he didn't have any acceptable solutions. Such as it is, pulling her is hopefully the right way to go. Friday was her last day of ESY and I contacted the school and told the bus driver and aides that  Friday was her last day. If I had any reservations about pulling her from school, her performance that morning was enough to convince me that things couldn't go on as they were. She wouldn't get out of bed, wouldn't get dressed, didn't use the toilet and refused her breakfast. I got her out the door with literally two minutes to spare.

image via:  https://www.stpaul.gov/index.aspx?NID=2883

I contacted a couple of the moms of her friends from her Kindergarten class and asked for some play time in the park with them. I also contacted the music therapist that both her speech therapist and her OTs suggested. I am hoping that we can fill some of the time with those things. I am going to check out swimming lessons for both SensiGirl and Random Guy soon.

I put together a summer school schedule for Random Guy two weeks ago, and we have been making progress on his math and reading. Geography, grammar and keyboarding are coming along as well.  My dilemma is how to school BOTH kids for the rest of the summer.  I worked yesterday on a complementary schedule for SensiGirl so that we won't interfere with the progress Random Guy has made and will bring Sensi's skills back up to acceptable levels.

image via:  http://www.betterworldbooks.com/comprehensive-curriculum-of-basic-skills-grade-1-id-160996330X.aspx 

We have three weeks until her intensive listening therapy starts, and it runs for two weeks. This may or may not cause some old behaviors to re-emerge from what I am told. Since that has already happened from two weeks of ESY, I am not terribly concerned.  I will continue to do school sessions during that time to keep things as normal as possible. I am going to take a little vacation towards the end of August. This wasn't originally planned that way, but it is turning out to be very motivating for me to know I will be getting a break from the kids for a few days during the summer.

image via:  http://article.wn.com/view/2011/08/06/Growing_Flood_Potential_Brainerd_Lakes
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I never thought I would be schooling my children at home or that I wouldn't have them in summer school. Circumstances being what they are, we are being more typical than I thought we could be.