We're Back! Let the term commence...

Believe it or not this is the third time I have started to write this blog entry! I have so much to write I get so carried away and then something interrupts my train of thought and each time I have deleted the whole lot! So, this time I am going to publish the post whatever happens! So, term has begun! I was so apprehensive about term starting! This was the first long holiday S and I had had together from home schooling and I had no idea how it was going to go when we returned. Many home educating families don't stop for the holidays and I can understand why that is but S and I so much needed to have a holiday and it really did both of us so much good! As the beginning of term approached I started to feel really quite nervous and became a bit fragile emotionally. Having had the children off all summer, whilst it really was a fantastic summer, I hadn't had 2 minutes to sit and get my head together about the term ahead. We moved house right at the beginning of the summer and the moving has been so much more work than when we moved into the rental house. The first week back was really just me bluffing to fill time! Of course we did totally valid activities - like writing a report on school holidays and some revision maths and spelling activities but really I was trying to buy time. Mum and dad came to the rescue and offered to take S for 2 nights to give me time to plan. It was fantastic and so much appreciated. I worked so so hard but got my head back into teaching mode and had a good think and got so much sorted for S. It has paid off!! We have had a fantastic first week and a half back to home school! For really the first time since we started not only are we learning a lot but I can honestly say we are both enjoying our time together. I have made some pretty big changes to our routine as if this is going to have a long term future certain things need to be established and I am realising how important it is to begin to teach S already the skills he needs to work independently. So what are our changes: 1. Independent Learning: Each day now begins with independent learning. During the first hour of home schooling S has to complete a mental maths activity, another maths activity and a spelling activity. Nothing will be complicated at this slot and mostly it will be revision. The tasks are written on a small whiteboard I got us and he has to find the right pages and complete the work by 10 o'clock. Whatever time he has once he's finished is his up until 10 o'clock when we start "together time". This morning he chose to start at ten to 9 and was finished by 9! On other days it has taken him longer but the point is that he is doing this all by himself. 2. Together time: This is the main teaching time of the day when I will sit with him and work through the English and Maths for the day which includes reading, handwriting, grammar etc. At times here I will set him tasks and then disappear to let him finish them. This time goes on until lunch time and once English and Maths are finished we move onto topic work. This term we are looking at the Solar System which he is loving already. Today we started making properly a model of the solar system which glows in the dark! 3. S's Bank: This is probably the biggest change for S. For many many reasons I couldn't face going into another term of lack of co-operation. The day before S went to mum and dad's was an incredibly uncooperative day and I didn't cope well at all! I am facing an op in a couple of months which will floor me for a few weeks and am so aware that S needs to start to co-operate and to work with me and not against me for home schooling to work at all this year! So, major changes had to take place! Now we have 3 home school rules above the desk: 1. No moaning at all 2. Try your BEST not your worst or a little bit! 3. No playing until ALL the task cards are finished. Here's the new bit! (which I got from a website!!!) Every day S starts the day with 20p. Every time a rule is broken (so every time he moans or he doesn't bother trying and does scrappy work) he loses 1p. If he does fantastic work then he can earn pennies. At the end of each day whatever money he has earned he banks. At the end of term we will have a treat up to the value of the money he has banked. I reckoned that each term is about £8. I could easily go out for a coffee and spend £8 and so thought it was worth a try. It is AMAZING!! One day he did moan about the money but when I pointed out no-one else I knew earned money by going to school he seemed to accept that and immediately get on with things. The moaning has gone from extreme to almost non-existant virtually overnight! Part of S's diagnosis on the spectrum means that he can be very very controlling. I'm hoping that S's Bank shows him that he can channel this controlling element of his character into a positive and not a negative. So far the lowest he has gone is 15p whereas today he earned 23p by working so hard! I so much hope this works for a long time! He has really enjoyed his learning. Where he does need help is learning to express when he is stuck! His language difficulties are definitely impacting his learning in a much more evident way. His maths is going from strength to strength. Last week we learnt the 7x table. In the car one day afterwards he reeled off quite happily the 8x, 9x, 11x and 12x table that he had worked out himself! His mental arithmetic is much much better than it was this time last year. His reading is really quite good but his understanding is very poor. His grasp of vocabulary is still so sketchy and this is causing him to misunderstand questions in all his subjects. Reading comprehension is a nightmare for him naturally. His lowest "bank" day last week was a reading comprehension day! It is fascinating for me to look at the week and see how clearly the difficult subjects impact on him as a whole. I need to learn too... So, all in all a very very positive start and an exciting start. This term and next hold a lot of challenges for us mainly with me being out of action but the signs are very good and I'm hoping that with the right amount of prep and planning things will go fairly smoothly! So, a long post again, but actually I think that's the main things I needed to say so will publish now before I'm distracted!! More soon...