Friday, December 08, 2006

Homeschooling Update

Since so many have been asking how homeschooling is going, I thought I'd blog an update:

Jordan has been home since late October and things are going SO well! She LOVES doing school and wants to do it 7 days a week! I have to MAKE her take a day off! I never thought I'd say that about HER!!
The biggest thing we gained from her being in school is the drive she now has to work hard and the love she now has for learning. That was always the missing piece in the past and what frustrated me the most! For those of you that have been reading my blogs since the "myspace" page, you know I blogged about those exact things! Looking back, I realize that is at least one of the reasons God wanted her in school. It has made homeschooling so much more enjoyable! She loved the preK program last year and did well, but she wasn't a "big kid" and still didn't have the drive to WORK...that's what she needed the brief Kindergarten time for! I'm so thankful for the loving God we serve, who, even when we can't see it or understand it, is working on our behalf!

We still have a long road ahead of us, but we are moving forward and making progress! Jordan is excited about learning to read and even though she still gets frustrated, she doesn't give up quite so easily! She's learned single digit addition & subtraction (despite the fact that she couldn't count to 5, according to the special ed teacher at school!). For those of you that understand the NACD approach, she's improving in processing - both auditory and visual! The gains we've made in such a short period of time are exciting! I'm really proud of her!

We're in the process of joining a local homeschool support group and are considering curriculum. There are so many options...its completely overwhelming! Fortunately, NACD writes homeschool programs that don't utilize a strict curriculum, so that's also an option! If you recall from my post about the Ruth Harbor banquet, I met a nice resource for homeschooling. I've gotten some great contacts from her and am hopeful to meet other families that homeschool children with Down Syndrome in the Des Moines area!

It's been an interesting transition, but a very rewarding one!

3 comments:

Sarah said...

Yay! That is AWESOME!!!

becky said...

We will have to talk about homeschooling sometime. Paul and I are planning to start homeschooling Jaden next year. We have found some very interesting curriculums.

Lori Eilers said...

I'm so happy that things are going well. I know it's a huge committment but God will honor and bless your teaching time because you were obedient to what He wanted for your family.