Spawn's First Field Trip: The Crayola Factory, Easton, PA
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
Monday, February 18, 2008
Pic of the Week
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Spawn's First Field Trip: The Crayola Factory, Easton, PA
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
Spawn's First Field Trip: The Crayola Factory, Easton, PA
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
Sunday, February 17, 2008
The Solution
I want to start by reporting that Spawn's second marking period report card was every bit as impressive as the first! All A's again with a marked improvement in Language Arts! He improved from a 95% to an astounding 100%!!! Language Arts has been his most difficult subject all year and requires 4 times as much instruction time as all of his other lessons combined. The Language Arts lessons are extensive to begin with, but Spawn's inattention and inability to sit for (age-appropriate) reasonable periods of time forced us to take long and frequent breaks to get through each day's lesson without falling behind. It has been exhausting.
I'm happy to report that I was both right and wrong in my most recent post - musing over whether or not Spawn might have a learning or behavioral disorder. I was close. He has a disorder known as ADHD. It saddens me deeply that it's gone untreated and undiagnosed for so long due to my own ignorance. I thought he was just a difficult and stubborn little boy with way more energy than his peers and no suitable outlet for it. I thought there was something in me that was lacking as a parent - that I wasn't strict enough or that I was being too strict with unreasonably high expectations. Not so.
I'm happy to discover that I was wrong. It's a relief to know that his condition is treatable. I'm sad because I now know he has a much more difficult road ahead of him to adulthood than his peers. Children with ADHD never "outgrow" this condition. As they reach adolescence, most children develop coping skills that makes it appear that they outgrow their condition. My goal is to help him learn to cope with his condition and to hopefully overcome the difficulties of his ADHD.
At first, I was very resistant to the idea of treating his condition with medication. He has what is known as Combined ADHD. He has difficulty with both attention AND hyperactivity/impulsivity. Friends and family came down on me for capitulating to his pediatrician's wish to treat him both medically and with behavior modification. We've been coping with Spawn's difficulty through behavior modification all along through trial and error. We did our best to cope with his problems without knowing what we were up against. While it helps, it simply isn't and hasn't been enough. Spawn has medical needs that can't be met through behavior modification alone.
When it comes right down to it, if he were diabetic, I wouldn't withhold the necessary insulin in favor of changing his diet and hoping for the best. ADHD is a real medical problem that requires real medical treatment in addition to patience, understanding, and a lifestyle change. My husband was horrified at the idea of treating Spawn medically and especially at the thought of him being "labeled" at such an early age with ADHD - a condition that he believed is over-diagnosed. Presented with evidence of Spawn's classic and easily recognizable ADHD symptoms and backed-up by Spawn's pediatrician, I was able to convince him that protecting Spawn from the stigma of an ADHD diagnosis was not our primary job as his parents. A friend reminded me that our job is to raise him to be the best person and citizen he can be despite these obstacles. Sometimes, you just gotta pull up your big girl panties and get over your own prejudices and long-held beliefs.
Cyberschooling may be the reason that Spawn is doing so well with his studies. He gets one-on-one attention from his home facilitator (me) that he wouldn't get in a traditional classroom environment. Had we enrolled him in school at our local district's brick-and-mortar elementary school, he would either be in constant trouble and sitting in the principal's office (not so great for a developing child's self-esteem) or he would have been recommended for special ed due to his teacher's inability to cope with his needs in a classroom environment. We dodged a bullet. We are forever indebted to Spawn's cyberschool for meeting needs we weren't even aware existed at the start of this school year.
PALCS has supported us and Spawn in every respect. Whenever a need or concern presented itself, they have been there to help us do what is in Spawn's best interests. Equally invaluable to us have been the instructors and staff at our local YMCA (located in Stroudsburg, PA). They have been remarkably patient and hands-on with Spawn - trying desperately to keep his attention and keep him involved in his classes. (We did have a problem with one instructor/class. That instructor was a college student who was not following the YMCA's practices in coaching young, beginner swimmers. The issue was handled quickly and to our satisfaction and that of the other parents whose children took that class.)
As soon as Spawn's instructors were made aware of his diagnosis and condition, they began adapting class instruction to fit his needs. We have not had to pull him from any of his activites or enroll him in classes for children with special needs. We did switch him to a swimming class that consisted of only children his own age. He works much better with a group of peers than with children in a wider age group. I am so grateful that Spawn is being treated like a unique and beloved little boy - that he can just be a normal kid in a class with his peers where each child is treated as unique, but equal. My deepest gratitude to Sensei Sue, Miss Donna, Miss Joanne, and the Aquatics and Fitness Directors: Amy and Billy. You guys rock!
Spawn also has awesome cyberschool teachers who gladly take time out of their busy schedules to discuss his needs with me and support me in my efforts to adapt the regular curriculum to his needs. Thank you, thank you, thank you Miss Samuels, Miss DiPaolo, Mr. Mitchell, Miss Bonk, and Miss D'Angelo for your patience and understanding and for helping me learn to cope with Spawn's needs.
It's starting to sound like I'm accepting an Academy Award with all my thank yous :D, but I'm just a mom trying to do my best by my son and all these incredible people make my responsibilities as Spawn's home facilitator so much easier! All I'm saying is - recognize. ;)
More to come in another post shortly about what we're covering in Spawn's lessons. Check back soon for updates on: Language Arts: Spawn's favorite StoryTown books, Math: Counting Using a 100 Chart, Social Studies: What Do We Need?, Science: Technology Lessons and Unit C Test, All About Me: Love, Art and Music: Pinatas, Phys Ed: Journals, Activities, and Disease Prevention/Health Helpers and Classroom Cyber Pets for cyberschoolers.
Thanks for reading. It's been cathartic - getting it all out and said and being able to move on.
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
I'm happy to report that I was both right and wrong in my most recent post - musing over whether or not Spawn might have a learning or behavioral disorder. I was close. He has a disorder known as ADHD. It saddens me deeply that it's gone untreated and undiagnosed for so long due to my own ignorance. I thought he was just a difficult and stubborn little boy with way more energy than his peers and no suitable outlet for it. I thought there was something in me that was lacking as a parent - that I wasn't strict enough or that I was being too strict with unreasonably high expectations. Not so.
I'm happy to discover that I was wrong. It's a relief to know that his condition is treatable. I'm sad because I now know he has a much more difficult road ahead of him to adulthood than his peers. Children with ADHD never "outgrow" this condition. As they reach adolescence, most children develop coping skills that makes it appear that they outgrow their condition. My goal is to help him learn to cope with his condition and to hopefully overcome the difficulties of his ADHD.
At first, I was very resistant to the idea of treating his condition with medication. He has what is known as Combined ADHD. He has difficulty with both attention AND hyperactivity/impulsivity. Friends and family came down on me for capitulating to his pediatrician's wish to treat him both medically and with behavior modification. We've been coping with Spawn's difficulty through behavior modification all along through trial and error. We did our best to cope with his problems without knowing what we were up against. While it helps, it simply isn't and hasn't been enough. Spawn has medical needs that can't be met through behavior modification alone.
When it comes right down to it, if he were diabetic, I wouldn't withhold the necessary insulin in favor of changing his diet and hoping for the best. ADHD is a real medical problem that requires real medical treatment in addition to patience, understanding, and a lifestyle change. My husband was horrified at the idea of treating Spawn medically and especially at the thought of him being "labeled" at such an early age with ADHD - a condition that he believed is over-diagnosed. Presented with evidence of Spawn's classic and easily recognizable ADHD symptoms and backed-up by Spawn's pediatrician, I was able to convince him that protecting Spawn from the stigma of an ADHD diagnosis was not our primary job as his parents. A friend reminded me that our job is to raise him to be the best person and citizen he can be despite these obstacles. Sometimes, you just gotta pull up your big girl panties and get over your own prejudices and long-held beliefs.
Cyberschooling may be the reason that Spawn is doing so well with his studies. He gets one-on-one attention from his home facilitator (me) that he wouldn't get in a traditional classroom environment. Had we enrolled him in school at our local district's brick-and-mortar elementary school, he would either be in constant trouble and sitting in the principal's office (not so great for a developing child's self-esteem) or he would have been recommended for special ed due to his teacher's inability to cope with his needs in a classroom environment. We dodged a bullet. We are forever indebted to Spawn's cyberschool for meeting needs we weren't even aware existed at the start of this school year.
PALCS has supported us and Spawn in every respect. Whenever a need or concern presented itself, they have been there to help us do what is in Spawn's best interests. Equally invaluable to us have been the instructors and staff at our local YMCA (located in Stroudsburg, PA). They have been remarkably patient and hands-on with Spawn - trying desperately to keep his attention and keep him involved in his classes. (We did have a problem with one instructor/class. That instructor was a college student who was not following the YMCA's practices in coaching young, beginner swimmers. The issue was handled quickly and to our satisfaction and that of the other parents whose children took that class.)
As soon as Spawn's instructors were made aware of his diagnosis and condition, they began adapting class instruction to fit his needs. We have not had to pull him from any of his activites or enroll him in classes for children with special needs. We did switch him to a swimming class that consisted of only children his own age. He works much better with a group of peers than with children in a wider age group. I am so grateful that Spawn is being treated like a unique and beloved little boy - that he can just be a normal kid in a class with his peers where each child is treated as unique, but equal. My deepest gratitude to Sensei Sue, Miss Donna, Miss Joanne, and the Aquatics and Fitness Directors: Amy and Billy. You guys rock!
Spawn also has awesome cyberschool teachers who gladly take time out of their busy schedules to discuss his needs with me and support me in my efforts to adapt the regular curriculum to his needs. Thank you, thank you, thank you Miss Samuels, Miss DiPaolo, Mr. Mitchell, Miss Bonk, and Miss D'Angelo for your patience and understanding and for helping me learn to cope with Spawn's needs.
It's starting to sound like I'm accepting an Academy Award with all my thank yous :D, but I'm just a mom trying to do my best by my son and all these incredible people make my responsibilities as Spawn's home facilitator so much easier! All I'm saying is - recognize. ;)
More to come in another post shortly about what we're covering in Spawn's lessons. Check back soon for updates on: Language Arts: Spawn's favorite StoryTown books, Math: Counting Using a 100 Chart, Social Studies: What Do We Need?, Science: Technology Lessons and Unit C Test, All About Me: Love, Art and Music: Pinatas, Phys Ed: Journals, Activities, and Disease Prevention/Health Helpers and Classroom Cyber Pets for cyberschoolers.
Thanks for reading. It's been cathartic - getting it all out and said and being able to move on.
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
Friday, February 1, 2008
Big Trouble in Karate Class
Spawn is having so much trouble concentrating in karate class. I know some of it is just the fact that being in a room with other kids for half an hour winds him up - especially when they're wound up, too. But he's also very stubborn. My concern is that he seems to be either ignoring his teacher or he's not hearing or not understanding the instructions.
I've tried rewards for good behavior, punishment for poor behavior (chores ;)), and even daily lectures about giving his teachers his attention and respect. The thing is - it's not a problem at home and I can't sit in on every class he takes at the Y - disrupting the class every few minutes to call Spawn back to attention. The one variable seems to be the other kids. He's just so easily distracted.
We've considered behavioral and learning disorders as a possible culprit, but it'll take time to get him evaluated. (I'm not keen on medicating my child for ADD simply because his attention span is short. He's 5. :p) Based on some of his responses to his lessons, I think it's possible that he may be dyslexic. I don't know how that would affect him, but it could be the reason I and his instructors have to repeat instructions for him so much. Guess I need to do some more research on dyslexia. I'm open to suggestions from experienced parents!
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
I've tried rewards for good behavior, punishment for poor behavior (chores ;)), and even daily lectures about giving his teachers his attention and respect. The thing is - it's not a problem at home and I can't sit in on every class he takes at the Y - disrupting the class every few minutes to call Spawn back to attention. The one variable seems to be the other kids. He's just so easily distracted.
We've considered behavioral and learning disorders as a possible culprit, but it'll take time to get him evaluated. (I'm not keen on medicating my child for ADD simply because his attention span is short. He's 5. :p) Based on some of his responses to his lessons, I think it's possible that he may be dyslexic. I don't know how that would affect him, but it could be the reason I and his instructors have to repeat instructions for him so much. Guess I need to do some more research on dyslexia. I'm open to suggestions from experienced parents!
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Pic of the Week: Spawn Meets Betty Boop at the Doo-Wop Diner, Wildwood, NJ 2007
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
Friday, January 25, 2008
Busy, Busy, Busy!
The winter months have kept us busier than ever! Spawn is doing great academically and CS Dad and I have never been so glad we opted to cyberschool! We are so blessed to have this opportunity! It's made us closer as a family and allowed us to be so involved in Spawn's education. He has a teacher, but more than that - he has support. We know what he's learning and what he needs extra help with. On the other side of the coin - we know what he excels at and can request more challenging work if he's bored with the existing curriculumn. It's such a personal experience. It's like getting a private school education at the price of a public education. I just don't understand all the cyberschool detractors (Representative Beyer).
We're coming up on the end of the 2nd marking period. Report cards should be out in another week and a half. If Spawn makes the Distiguished Honors List again, he's earned a huge reward - an early trip out to Knoebels for opening weekend! We're keeping our fingers crossed that Flying Turns is finally operational for opening weekend. Spawn would love to ride it!
Spawn has been meeting (exceeding!) his Phys Ed requirements by taking classes at the Stroudsburg YMCA. Karate and Swimming. His swimming has improved greatly and Sensei Sue does an awesome job of keeping his attention during karate class. He stopped taking karate classes in Belvidere over a year ago when the free bridge closed and the drive more than doubled. We'd considered pulling him from the class for a while because he had so much trouble paying attention and getting through the class without reprisals.
Now, he's a little older, a little more patient, and a lot more interested. The class is small and the other kids are so friendly. Spawn's never been a wallflower, but he's making friends on his own and that makes me the happiest of all! :D To date, his friends were limited to cousins and neighborhood kids and we live in a pretty rural area. There's really no one HIS age to speak of here. The YMCA really came to our rescue!
He's also practicing karate at home and even choosing to spend time in quiet meditiation! :o To keep boredom at bay on non-class days, he burns off excess energy on his new trampoline. Best $50 I ever spent on a Christmas gift!
Spawn's attention span is still short and sitting for extended periods for lessons is difficult for him. Mr. Mitchell, his Phys Ed teacher, mentioned at the beginning of the school year that exercise has a side benefit - increased concentration. Kids who take frequent, ACTIVE, breaks do better in school and can focus on the work at hand for longer periods of time. We've put it to the test this winter! Whenever Spawn starts to fidget - in the middle of a lesson or not - we take a 5 minute break so he can get up and move and bounce off all that excess energy. He used to pace like a caged animal and it drove me crazy! I don't like being cooped up inside during the winter either, but that pacing was driving me right out of my tree!!! Thank goodness I had the forethought to pick up that trampoline!!!
Spawn continues to ace his Science: Technology Lessons. The refrigerator is plastered with reward certificates with perfect scores!
His Language Arts results are improving steadily, too. He blows through the high frequency word flash cards now! His teacher assigns e-books as they pertain to the high frequency word lessons and Spawn often eschews playing online computer games in favor of reading those e-Books. They're published by Harcourt and they're just great! The books are published by Harcourt http://www.harcourt.com/ and the collection is called StoryTown http://www.harcourt.com/featured_products/010108/school_storytown.html
Highly recommend these for educators!
Even his handwriting is improving! The curriculumn does gloss over handwriting a bit, I think, so I do a little extra handwriting work with him daily.
I print out practice sheets from http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/index.htm and http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/none/tracer-form.asp . They offer a customizable tracer page program. (We prefer the Zaner-Bloser Font.) Just type in the letters or words that your student needs to practice line by line and click "Make Tracer Page". This is especially great for teaching kids how to spell and write their names, address, and phone numbers. It's really helped Spawn memorize important info like that - so I worry less about being separated from him accidentally in a theme park or something. He can easily identify himself to a security guard by writing his name if the guard can't understand what he's saying or he's too upset to make much sense. His school ID can only provide so much information if he gets lost.
Keep an eye out for more frequent blogs as we pick up steam heading into the 3rd marking period!
Before signing off, Spawn, CS Dad, and I would like to wish our friend, Brielle, a Happy 29th Birthday! You're the best aunt ever!
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
We're coming up on the end of the 2nd marking period. Report cards should be out in another week and a half. If Spawn makes the Distiguished Honors List again, he's earned a huge reward - an early trip out to Knoebels for opening weekend! We're keeping our fingers crossed that Flying Turns is finally operational for opening weekend. Spawn would love to ride it!
Spawn has been meeting (exceeding!) his Phys Ed requirements by taking classes at the Stroudsburg YMCA. Karate and Swimming. His swimming has improved greatly and Sensei Sue does an awesome job of keeping his attention during karate class. He stopped taking karate classes in Belvidere over a year ago when the free bridge closed and the drive more than doubled. We'd considered pulling him from the class for a while because he had so much trouble paying attention and getting through the class without reprisals.
Now, he's a little older, a little more patient, and a lot more interested. The class is small and the other kids are so friendly. Spawn's never been a wallflower, but he's making friends on his own and that makes me the happiest of all! :D To date, his friends were limited to cousins and neighborhood kids and we live in a pretty rural area. There's really no one HIS age to speak of here. The YMCA really came to our rescue!
He's also practicing karate at home and even choosing to spend time in quiet meditiation! :o To keep boredom at bay on non-class days, he burns off excess energy on his new trampoline. Best $50 I ever spent on a Christmas gift!
Spawn's attention span is still short and sitting for extended periods for lessons is difficult for him. Mr. Mitchell, his Phys Ed teacher, mentioned at the beginning of the school year that exercise has a side benefit - increased concentration. Kids who take frequent, ACTIVE, breaks do better in school and can focus on the work at hand for longer periods of time. We've put it to the test this winter! Whenever Spawn starts to fidget - in the middle of a lesson or not - we take a 5 minute break so he can get up and move and bounce off all that excess energy. He used to pace like a caged animal and it drove me crazy! I don't like being cooped up inside during the winter either, but that pacing was driving me right out of my tree!!! Thank goodness I had the forethought to pick up that trampoline!!!
Spawn continues to ace his Science: Technology Lessons. The refrigerator is plastered with reward certificates with perfect scores!
His Language Arts results are improving steadily, too. He blows through the high frequency word flash cards now! His teacher assigns e-books as they pertain to the high frequency word lessons and Spawn often eschews playing online computer games in favor of reading those e-Books. They're published by Harcourt and they're just great! The books are published by Harcourt http://www.harcourt.com/ and the collection is called StoryTown http://www.harcourt.com/featured_products/010108/school_storytown.html
Highly recommend these for educators!
Even his handwriting is improving! The curriculumn does gloss over handwriting a bit, I think, so I do a little extra handwriting work with him daily.
I print out practice sheets from http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/index.htm and http://www.kidzone.ws/tracers/none/tracer-form.asp . They offer a customizable tracer page program. (We prefer the Zaner-Bloser Font.) Just type in the letters or words that your student needs to practice line by line and click "Make Tracer Page". This is especially great for teaching kids how to spell and write their names, address, and phone numbers. It's really helped Spawn memorize important info like that - so I worry less about being separated from him accidentally in a theme park or something. He can easily identify himself to a security guard by writing his name if the guard can't understand what he's saying or he's too upset to make much sense. His school ID can only provide so much information if he gets lost.
Keep an eye out for more frequent blogs as we pick up steam heading into the 3rd marking period!
Before signing off, Spawn, CS Dad, and I would like to wish our friend, Brielle, a Happy 29th Birthday! You're the best aunt ever!
Chrissi, Cyber School Mom
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