I've been quiet for awhile so I wanted to write a little informal update (letter-style) on the children:
Girl Friday:
Yesterday my older daughter (6 1/2 with a language processing disorder) read aloud a how-to social story to her brothers about going to the doctor and she didn't hesitate over big words like "stethoscope" and phonetically confusing words like "might". (I asked her if she knew what a stethoscope was -- she does.) As I type this, she is reading "Stellaluna" to her little brother with no hesitation. She reads it like a narrator; good expression, good fluency, and she hardly mispronounces a word.
I am scratching my head about where to place her. I've got an assessment using "How Well Does Your Child Read, Write and Do Math?" on my to-do list. But I'm guessing she reads around the high 2nd grade level, possibly low 3rd. Looking at the MP materials for 2nd grade (Prairie School, Second Grade Phonics Guide To Reading and Spelling) she's right on MP 2nd grade (she will be 7 on Valentine's Day, so that's about right). But we are just now only about 2/3-3/4 of the way through FSRD! She is slated to start a hybrid of SC2/MP1 at our next transition. But her precocious ability in this area keeps outpacing my plans! I'm just keeping her well-stocked in age-appropriate books (I moved an unused bookshelf into her room last week) and am continuing with our phonics lessons.
Here's the wrinkle: she's expressively delayed. If you were to have a conversation with her, it would be like talking to a preK/K-er. But she understands (and can answer questions) about what she reads. (And her formerly advanced artistic ability has faded a bit. As if it's been replaced by her reading focus. Almost like she put it away in a box so she can play with a new toy.) How do giftedness and special needs go together? Her father and I have experienced the former ourselves, so we can approach that with a bit of confidence, but the latter? (Uhhhhhh....?)
Boy Wonder:
He recently had a pretty significant gain in receptive/expressive language processing. Our SLP always tells me many of her clients report that their children get grumpy and unmanageable right before a language burst -- like growing pains. I've seen it happen with W many many times. But they've been fewer and farther between in the past year. He was difficult almost all week last week. Then suddenly, two days ago, he started answering comprehension questions from our reading quickly and correctly and his sentence structure when speaking improved dramatically. "Mom, did you put the pencil somewhere?" "__________ where's my toy? I need it to play with Odin." (WOW) Sometimes when he speaks, he's almost indistinguishable from a typical child. Maybe not an eight-year-old, but certainly not a child with delays.
All this melts, however, when he's upset. He clips words and boils sentences down to imperative parts. Opinions and assumptions are passionately expressed, with lots of gesturing and self-handling (he pulls his shirt, he smacks himself in the head, bangs his fist into his chest). But this is far less often than when he was younger. And I can explain things to him and reason much more logically with him now. We still have work to do. But the work is getting easier (most days).
He is genuinely a sweet and helpful boy with a very well-developed conscience. He's self-focused in the way most children are, of course. But he loves to help with the baby and he takes out the trash, helps with dishes, gets me things, takes care of the pets and is in charge of lots of other "Big Kid Stuff" that the younger children cannot handle. But he also has that built-in ASD fixation on things being "just" or "correct". He will mumble and opine about not being the first one in line or the first one to get in or out of the van. And he's jealous if someone else succeeds, even if they succeed at a lower level than he does. He doesn't fully grasp that he is more advanced and more successful than a younger sibling (excepting the baby -- he practically adores her). Again -- more work to do.
He just competed in a TaeKwonDo Tournament last weekend and received 2nd place in forms (poom-sae) and 3rd place in board breaking.
Silly Cowboy:
I almost think he's starting to process out of his language impairment. He starts MP JrK at our next transition. And he is truly ready to do that. He sits with us for school and participates as it suits him. He is far more advanced linguistically than his older siblings were at his age. But we still have reasoning, receptive and expressive work to do. All of it seems manageable, however, by comparison with his brother. As if God gave me the toughest child first so my work would get easier as they all grew. I anticipate that he will be on the regular MP track as we advance. At least, that is my hope. We shall see.
Baby Bunting:
She is almost seven months old! She's hitting all her milestones right on time or even a little early. And she's babbling... It's so beautifully strange to witness. None of her siblings babbled much, if at all. She also blows raspberries, sticks out her tongue and is starting to form basic consonant sounds ("maaa!") Boy Wonder couldn't do that until he was 5 years old. Girl Friday was about 3. Baby is an absolute ray of sunshine. Always happy, always sweet, cuddly and affectionate. And loads of fun.
Thanks for the space to update everyone. I hope you all are well, too. We've been making some pretty thorough lifestyle changes around here lately and I've been digging in to that -- I basically just decluttered and purged my entire house (my entire life?) over the last month or two and am applying the principles of minimalism (or "intentionalism") to my mom-management-style now. It has been a huge undertaking and a huge help to our family -- but that's another post
Love to all,
Anita
Girl Friday:
Yesterday my older daughter (6 1/2 with a language processing disorder) read aloud a how-to social story to her brothers about going to the doctor and she didn't hesitate over big words like "stethoscope" and phonetically confusing words like "might". (I asked her if she knew what a stethoscope was -- she does.) As I type this, she is reading "Stellaluna" to her little brother with no hesitation. She reads it like a narrator; good expression, good fluency, and she hardly mispronounces a word.
I am scratching my head about where to place her. I've got an assessment using "How Well Does Your Child Read, Write and Do Math?" on my to-do list. But I'm guessing she reads around the high 2nd grade level, possibly low 3rd. Looking at the MP materials for 2nd grade (Prairie School, Second Grade Phonics Guide To Reading and Spelling) she's right on MP 2nd grade (she will be 7 on Valentine's Day, so that's about right). But we are just now only about 2/3-3/4 of the way through FSRD! She is slated to start a hybrid of SC2/MP1 at our next transition. But her precocious ability in this area keeps outpacing my plans! I'm just keeping her well-stocked in age-appropriate books (I moved an unused bookshelf into her room last week) and am continuing with our phonics lessons.
Here's the wrinkle: she's expressively delayed. If you were to have a conversation with her, it would be like talking to a preK/K-er. But she understands (and can answer questions) about what she reads. (And her formerly advanced artistic ability has faded a bit. As if it's been replaced by her reading focus. Almost like she put it away in a box so she can play with a new toy.) How do giftedness and special needs go together? Her father and I have experienced the former ourselves, so we can approach that with a bit of confidence, but the latter? (Uhhhhhh....?)
Boy Wonder:
He recently had a pretty significant gain in receptive/expressive language processing. Our SLP always tells me many of her clients report that their children get grumpy and unmanageable right before a language burst -- like growing pains. I've seen it happen with W many many times. But they've been fewer and farther between in the past year. He was difficult almost all week last week. Then suddenly, two days ago, he started answering comprehension questions from our reading quickly and correctly and his sentence structure when speaking improved dramatically. "Mom, did you put the pencil somewhere?" "__________ where's my toy? I need it to play with Odin." (WOW) Sometimes when he speaks, he's almost indistinguishable from a typical child. Maybe not an eight-year-old, but certainly not a child with delays.
All this melts, however, when he's upset. He clips words and boils sentences down to imperative parts. Opinions and assumptions are passionately expressed, with lots of gesturing and self-handling (he pulls his shirt, he smacks himself in the head, bangs his fist into his chest). But this is far less often than when he was younger. And I can explain things to him and reason much more logically with him now. We still have work to do. But the work is getting easier (most days).
He is genuinely a sweet and helpful boy with a very well-developed conscience. He's self-focused in the way most children are, of course. But he loves to help with the baby and he takes out the trash, helps with dishes, gets me things, takes care of the pets and is in charge of lots of other "Big Kid Stuff" that the younger children cannot handle. But he also has that built-in ASD fixation on things being "just" or "correct". He will mumble and opine about not being the first one in line or the first one to get in or out of the van. And he's jealous if someone else succeeds, even if they succeed at a lower level than he does. He doesn't fully grasp that he is more advanced and more successful than a younger sibling (excepting the baby -- he practically adores her). Again -- more work to do.
He just competed in a TaeKwonDo Tournament last weekend and received 2nd place in forms (poom-sae) and 3rd place in board breaking.
Silly Cowboy:
I almost think he's starting to process out of his language impairment. He starts MP JrK at our next transition. And he is truly ready to do that. He sits with us for school and participates as it suits him. He is far more advanced linguistically than his older siblings were at his age. But we still have reasoning, receptive and expressive work to do. All of it seems manageable, however, by comparison with his brother. As if God gave me the toughest child first so my work would get easier as they all grew. I anticipate that he will be on the regular MP track as we advance. At least, that is my hope. We shall see.
Baby Bunting:
She is almost seven months old! She's hitting all her milestones right on time or even a little early. And she's babbling... It's so beautifully strange to witness. None of her siblings babbled much, if at all. She also blows raspberries, sticks out her tongue and is starting to form basic consonant sounds ("maaa!") Boy Wonder couldn't do that until he was 5 years old. Girl Friday was about 3. Baby is an absolute ray of sunshine. Always happy, always sweet, cuddly and affectionate. And loads of fun.
Thanks for the space to update everyone. I hope you all are well, too. We've been making some pretty thorough lifestyle changes around here lately and I've been digging in to that -- I basically just decluttered and purged my entire house (my entire life?) over the last month or two and am applying the principles of minimalism (or "intentionalism") to my mom-management-style now. It has been a huge undertaking and a huge help to our family -- but that's another post
Love to all,
Anita
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