unschooling, graph paper and place value

As most regular readers of this blog know, I am an unschooler. I think children learn best when allowed to follow their interests. I still feel that way – completely – yet I am asking the girls to do enough math drill daily so that they stay approximately at grade level. It ends up being about ten or fifteen minutes a day. They don’t mind it, and have asked for their “school math” before too.

It’s not that I think they wouldn’t learn it on their own given time. I do think that. But I worry that some Family Court judge wouldn’t feel that way, and the more weird things you have going for you the worse it gets. And I’m pretty weird, I reckon. I know I’m paranoid, but we’ve had an unfounded run-in with CPS before and I know what they ask. Is it legal for them to ask my kids “What’s thirty four minus twelve?” No, it is not. Will that fact keep my kids from foster care if some social worker determines on the fly that they are educationally neglected? No, it will not. Hence the math drill. I also want them to be able to enter school at grade level if they ever had to because of some family crisis.

Everywhere else they stay on grade level. We have subscriptions to Ranger Rick and National Geographic Kids; both magazines are devoured the moment they hit the mailbox. They read whatever they want in the kid fiction department, and read Newberry books or quality nonfiction with Sean at night. We have a subscription to Brain Pop as well, which has hundreds of short videos on every topic you can imagine. They write and draw stories and type on the computer constantly. So they stay in the ballpark (schoolyard?) for everything but mathematics. I know they’d get it on their own if I gave them time. I freely admit that this is all me.

I have officially outed myself as an incomplete unschooler! But not really, do you see? If there was no external timeline I wouldn’t be doing this. It’s all fear based, and I’m okay with that. I hope my unschooler friends don’t hate me now. I know the ones who are really my friends will understand.

So after all that, my point. Ahem.

Abby is having a tough time with place value right now. I just printed out some graph paper to see if that will help, to see that ten ones make ten, and ten tens make one hundred, etc. I looked into buying some Cuisenaire rods but they just look like expensive choking hazards, frankly. Lakeshore Learning has some cute little manipulatives that are the same way.

So what have you done to help your kids “get” place value? That didn’t involve teeny killer plastic or wooden bits, I mean.

a little bird told me

Welcome Rome O’Melay!

Leapster love – ISO Leapster cartridge games

So we took the plunge and purchased handheld game systems for the boys. We are now the proud owners of two Leapster Portable Learning Systems. Gilbert and Bede love them. Love love love.

If anyone reading this would like to sell us your old Leapster games (L-Max too!) please let me know.

Hyperlexia: A Literary Journal Celebrating the Autistic Spectrum

I’m thrilled to announce this to you all: I’m the co-editor of the above journal. You can see more at the journal’s web site, here.

Hyperlexia: A Literary Journal Celebrating the Autistic Spectrum is looking for your fiction, poetry, and personal essays. Our inaugural issue is planned for October 2008. Send submissions to submissions@hyperlexiajournal.com and please include the full text of your writing in the email if you send a PDF or a Word file. Deadline for submissions is August 31, 2008.

Hyperlexia is interested in honest, thoughtful, well-written poetry and prose about being autistic, and loving someone with autism. Our journal is a celebration of real life with autism, both the good and the bad. We want genuine and truthful writing about autism. You can be serious, sad, or funny. We believe in respecting the diversity of the human mind and discriminatory writing or hatred of any kind will not be published. Submissions should be 1500 words or less.

I’m one of 3 editors. The other two are Brittney Corrigan and Kerry Cohen Hoffmann. They’re much better writers than I and I’m honestly just pleased as punch that I’m included.

So, get writing! This thing will only fly if you write for it, after all! Deadline for submissions is August 31.

No static, but lots of cling

Truly a thing of wonder

I think the sprinkle chest hair makes it.

The Elephant Song

The Elephant Song is a big hit around here.

Twenty days later

This is what we’ve been doing this summer. Autistic kids sometimes need lots of repetition to get comfy with new things, much more so than nonautistic children. Bede, who loves water, had that reaction to our new aboveground pool, as follows:

Day One: Pool is set up. Bede jumps in the water, freaks out. Will not come near the pool again that day.

Day Two: Bede refuses to come outside when everyone else swims, cries when shown his swimsuit.

Day Three: Bede wants nothing to do with his swimsuit at first but wears it after much cajoling, and enjoys the kiddy pool.

Day Four: Bede puts his fingers in the big pool and dances away many times. He’s smiling.

Days Five-15: As Day Four. A few times I hold Bede in my arms and stand in the pool, but he becomes very agitated so I don’t press it.

Day 16: Bede puts his face in the pool several times.

Days 17 and 18: Bede doesn’t completely flip out when I stand holding him in the pool, and splashes a little with his hands.

Day 19: Bede gets in the pool! Gets out. In, out, in, out. For about an hour.

Day 20: Bede goes swimming!

boom chicka wow wow

I have shag carpet in my livingroom. Yeah, baby. Shag carpet. I think you know what I’m talking about.

Thanks for the new rug Mom.

my secret to easygoing parenting

I know you’ve often wondered “How the hell does she stay so calm with six freaking kids?”

I have a secret.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Disposable_foam_earplugs.jpg

It’s like a little piece of heaven for my ears. Just enough to make me be able to tend to Trixie screaming her fool head off because someone won’t give her a clothespin or a spoon or some trivial object. Without smacking her, I mean. Cause I guess that would be one way to deal with it but I’m agin it, you know.

Highly recommend them if you have the means.

Happy Independence Day!!

Faith and Abby in their fireworks glasses Sean got them. Because fireworks are boring unless you view them through rainbow glasses, you know.

Also the first post for me with Flickr’s Blog This tool.

Kewpie Gloria

Her hair just does that – it’s the last of her newborn hair. The rest fell out and has been replaced.

I sure make cute babies.

dangit Hala

You keep opening my mind. If you keep this up I’ll get obsessed with disability advocacy and dammit I don’t want another obsession!

Fascinating post on taking back the term ‘retard’ in the same manner as queer and crip.