The weather this week was very changeable. We had a lovely afternoon, and a morning looking at the free RNLI KS2 resources on beach safety.
We've also spent lots of time on social stories, to try and help M cope when he realises that older children are teasing him at social events and activities. It sends him into a panic and can upset him to the point of meltdown so really needs addressing before our next community farm visit in particular as some of the teens there honed in upon his vulnerability to torment him when we last visited. To do this we've used our "Lego Story Starter" trial pack and done lots of role play. Luckily our 15 year old neighbour is on the spectrum, and understand's M's fears - enough to role play the solutions after school M has decided upon with my help during the day.
Hopefully M will now be willing to try some new organised social activities in the weeks ahead, instead of just relying on play dates and dog walks with neighborhood children for his social life. It is a shame that he cannot use the local children's centre's after school club, but I do not have the requisite DBS check that they demand, in order for him to be able to successfully attempt an Introductory Session. It does make you wonder how many other children are excluded from activities at the children's centre simply because they need additional adult support in order to use their service. In addition unlike in many areas around the country Home Ed children cannot join in their local schools after hours activities. This closes off many social avenues for Home Ed kids to get to know the children in their locales.
M seems to have had a developmental leap recently regarding his drawing skills, so we have ditched the easygraph coloured pencils in favour of some erasable ordinary-shaped coloured pencils. I have let him spend lots of time this week drawing to his hearts content. Strike while the iron is hot, I say! He has a superb sense of colour and keen observational skills, so this will open up a whole new artistic avenue for him. Previously he was only ever confident working in 3 dimensions, his favourite medium being clay, for the sensory experience. I am also hoping that his new found confidence will extend eventually to his handwriting, and that we will reap the rewards of his hard work in this area too.
The Flat Stanley audio book series is perfect for quiet times after a mad race round the fields with the dogs. M is listening again to the book he insisted on hearing from beginning to end last week. He often does this with his Briteschool literacy lessons too, as he finds he often catches some of the language nuances he missed first go round due to his audio processing issues. After his second time of listening I know to expect lots of questions as he digs into the details of the language used. He'll then listen a third time, in order to solidify his new knowledge, It's a method that seems to have accelerated his receptive language skill acquisition in the year we've been home educating, so I let him run with it. It means he can appreciate far more sophisticated texts (and conversations from his Briteschool lessons) than would otherwise be the case too.
The homework load from Briteschool was fairly time consuming this week, so it was a bit of a squeeze getting all our jobs done around the house on Saturday morning so that we could attend a local Cancer research coffee morning and have time for his cousins to visit on Sunday afternoon too.
On Saturday we headed out with the neighbours for a McMillan coffee morning, and Sprog chose a book on DNA from the reduced section of the Usbourne stall. It's great to see his growing confidence in talking to people and handling money and change. It's also good seeing him become more comfortable with an increasing range of new social situations and people. I never complain when he spends his pocket money on books either!
M needed to hear his science KS3 lesson recording again before he fully understood what was required of him for homework. However it's good to see that he is taking the time to fully understand the key concepts instead of just letting things float over his head in order to fit in, as he did when he was at school. Deep learning in preference to surface curriculum skimming with no real understanding or retention of the knowledge gained is a concept I wholeheartedly approve of. I think I like the newest trendy educational meme from Canada, "Slow Learning", as it seems to incorporate the actual development rate of the whole child in a holistic sense, rather than mere curriculum tick box targets.
On Sunday I was over the flu and the sprog was feeling brave, so we ventured out to the nearest Sunday School within walking distance at the Treboath Gospel Hall. Another minor success as we have now been able to add another regular, local social activity to our week. (I've mentioned in previous weeks that appropriate Home Ed groups this year are all at some distance). I see this as yet another slot in the puzzle of M becoming part of the local community in which he resides. This is important to me, as in London we had local children in and out of our home daily, and were involved in several community activities. M has always enjoyed socialising despite the limitations of his sensory issues, and always had several close friends when he was at school.
Taking sole responsibility for my son's education is at times a little daunting, so this article about home education in another part of the country helped me hold my nerve, in this a week when I had flu. Article here
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