School is in session

We did a lot this summer. I should probably blog it. But the time has come for school to begin again. Cael started last Monday in a kindergarten-readiness program at the school he attended last year. Although he's just four, his teacher asked at the end of last year if he would want to move up to the K class. He was thrilled to have that privilege and has been talking all summer about "when I start Kindergarten." 

He was concerned his first day because his teacher, unbeknownst to him, had switched the tables around, and he thought his assigned chair was still at the preschool table. He perked up when he learned that he and his two friends, Logan and Coleman, were all big kindergartners. He likes his class and his teachers and learning. 

We ended school with Kieran sometime in May. But, I figured it would be better for him if we kept reviewing what he'd learned over the summer, so he continued with reading and math off and on. My parents spent several weeks with us this summer, and my mom, a teacher by profession, enjoyed working with him on his reading and word families. 

I decided that since we were schooling anyway, I'd go ahead and "officially" start his next school year at the end of July. Our state has some of the best homeschooling laws in the nation and the main requirement is that you get in an equivalent number of days as the public schools, or about 180 days between a calendar year (which, I think, goes from July 1 to June 30). I'm not really tied to the 180 days idea because I think he needs to keep going year-round in order to retain what he's learned, but for record-keeping purposes, we "started" at the end of July. 

I work better when I have a framework ("guidelines," really) to think through and organize my day around, so this is my current schedule on school days. Cael is in preschool on M, W, F mornings, so I use that time with just Kieran to go over reading and math. 

A few weekends ago, since my parents were visiting and could watch the boys, Seth and I went to an all-day homeschool conference for "struggling learners" (I think that's the homeschool equivalent of "special needs"). I mainly attended sessions by Carol Brown (equippingminds.com), whose focus is on helping to improve brain function overall in non-academic ways (working memory, processing, visual memory). She went through several "games" that she plays with the kids she works with to help in those areas. I bought her curriculum and have been using several of the ideas with Kieran. 

For the rest of the academic side, I'm using Five in a Row (suggested by my friend Tina). The idea is that you read one children's book five days in a row and pull out different aspects to talk about each day--a simple unit study of sorts. I'm also using an Ask Me book about plants to cover our "science" base. 

And in a few weeks, we're starting a Spanish class at a co-op. Kieran loves learning different languages, so I thought he might enjoy that class. 

He still receives occupational therapy (45 minutes/week) and speech therapy (2 20-minute sessions per week) through our local elementary school. His OT gave us this set of cards sometime ago. I pulled them out the other day, and we've enjoyed going through them a few at a time. 

I've been reviewing the +1 addition facts for quite awhile before we move on to the next concept in the Math-U-See book. Sometimes, to add a bit of variety, we use Seth's tool catalogs to review number recognition using the prices of the tools. 

Here's to another year of school, by God's grace!

Cael graduates (from preschool)

Cael's first year of school (preschool) has come to an end. We celebrated with a picnic in the park with his classmates on Wednesday. 

Mrs. Karla let everyone try on their graduation caps. 

Somehow Kieran finagled one, too. 

He's good at the finagling thing, I've found. 

Tonight was the "program." Cael was very excited to attend his graduation program, and if you've been around him lately, you've probably heard about it.

They sang their songs and then were very nicely "graduated" by Mrs. Karla and Mrs. Mary.



Cael moves up into the kindergarten class in the fall, and he's also very excited about that. So, we'll have one more year with this little preschool (Kieran's first graduation -- the one with all the hugging -- is here) and the wonderful teachers who have been helpful in educating and encouraging our boys.

An eventful day

We packed a lot into last Friday. 

The day began with "living thing" show-and-tell at Cael's school. Cael decided he wanted to take some of the chickens to show, and since chickens are birds of community, I didn't want to take just one since she would have been lonely. So, I spent a few minutes before we left trying to catch two of the little ones (Cael named all four of the new ones "Junior"). Kieran thinks it's hilarious to watch people (us, mainly) try to catch chickens, and he got a good belly laugh out of my efforts. 

I found a tub and a top to carry them and off we went to show and tell about the chickens. 

Cael's teacher invited Kieran to stay for the morning, so I left both boys at school, and Elizabeth and I went home to work on things for Cael's birthday party later that evening. 

After we returned from picking up the boys from school, I noticed the trap Seth had set the night before had caught a coon. Seth had seen a large one around the trashcan Thursday evening and decided it needed to be caught. I texted him this picture to let him know he was successful. It wasn't the same one he had seen but he still "dispatched" it when he got home so that it won't be coming around anymore.

We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and decorating for Cael's party. He had started planning his party around Christmas time and, over the course of the months, had decided he wanted a Spiderman cake. I have no idea where he heard about Spiderman or what made him want that on his cake, but he kept talking about it, so I figured I should oblige. 

I ordered a few Spidey figurines to put on the top, and Elizabeth decorated the cake with a web. 

Around dinnertime, his (and our) friends arrived for hot dogs and hamburgers. 

After they played for awhile, he opened his presents. 

He got a pirate costume from Elizabeth, a tractor (which he's taken with him everywhere since) from Jeremiah (et. al), and a new Super Cael shirt from his Aunt Ruth. This one glows in the dark!

Then he blew out his candle and we cut the cake. 

Our town's homecoming festival was that weekend, so later that evening, we went uptown to partake in the funtivities.

Elizabeth and cousin Heather rode a few of the rides with the boys.

The bumper cars were a favorite.

The clowns creeped the girls out, so the boys rode that one by themselves. Kieran checked out the face of each clown before he chose one to sit down on. I'm not sure what his criteria were, but he passed several before settling down on one of them.

This was a favorite ride from last year. 

We ended the evening a stop by our friends' booth -- they sell mini-doughnuts. Cael wanted some, so we filled up on our way out, and he carefully carried his bag of goodies back to the car and started eating them on the way home. 

It was late by the time we got home -- several hours past their usual bedtime. So they went right to sleep, and the good news (for me) is that they slept in a few hours past their usual rising time Saturday morning! It made me think that maybe eventful days should play a bigger part in our daily lives in the future . . . . 

Winsome Arrows Blog Posts

If you have the time and inclination, head over to the Winsome Arrows Educational Services blog (Joan is a friend I met on Facebook and who serves as a consultant to those who are homeschooling children with special needs) to check out a few posts I wrote for it.

Part 1: Our decision to homeschool

Part 2: Curriculum we've chosen

Part 3: Accommodations and modifications we've made in our school

Our excitement for the day

Today started out like most other Thursdays -- I took Kieran to his speech and occupational therapies at his school and then returned home. Since Seth had had a torn meniscus in his knee repaired on Tuesday afternoon, he was still home recovering from the surgery. So, I set Kieran and Seth up with some schoolwork to practice while I started washing dishes and putting things away. 

One of the areas that individuals with Williams syndrome tend to struggle with is spatial relations -- being able to describe an object in relation to another object. My mom found some manipulatives that help with teaching and practicing those concepts and I usually pull those out on Thursday mornings to go over with Kieran. Seth helped him this morning (the photo below shows Kieran working with one of the sets earlier this month). 

As I was washing, I occasionally heard some popping sounds outside and eventually heard enough that I decided to investigate. When I went outside and peered around the corner of our barn, I was met with the sight of our neighbor's pole barn engulfed in flames. Heart-stopping.

I ran back inside and tried to call 911 but realized our phone wasn't working for some reason and although I briefly talked to the 911 operator, the signal dropped. (I assumed the fire had somehow cut off our phone line but later realized that a GFCI had been tripped [when I was washing dishes?] and the section of outlets our phone was plugged into wasn't working.)

And since the phone line wasn't working, we didn't have WiFi, which meant my cell phone wasn't working, either (we don't get good cell reception in the Holler). So, I got in the car and drove up the hill where I could get the cell phone to work and called 911 and let them know what was going on. I don't know if it was my first phone call that got things started or if someone else called the fire in, but the dispatch said someone was already on their way. As I headed back down the hill, I got passed by a police car with its sirens on. 

He missed the turn onto our lane, so I waited at the end and flagged him down after he turned around and came back our way. And then I waited some more for the fire engine I heard in the distance to arrive and pointed the way out to them. 

Then, I drove down the lane, found that the son of the neighbor had been home and was in need of calling his parents, hopped back in the car, and drove him up the hill so he could make the phone call. While we were doing that, other fire trucks had arrived and were doing what needed to be done to put out the fire. 

Seth was outside directing traffic and answering whatever questions needed to be answered. When the first truck pulled up with just two volunteer firefighters, they were happy to see another of their own -- Seth -- on the scene. And then just as unhappy to see that he had a bum leg and wouldn't be of much help to them. 

Of course, the incredible irony is that Seth doesn't make it to many fire calls because we live so far out of town -- the trucks are usually gone by the time he gets the call and gets to the station. And this one time when a fire is right in his own backyard (or neighbor's yard), and he was on the scene, he was unable to help because of his knee. 

One of the things I love about Seth, however, is his diplomatic response to such things. "Well, if it weren't for the knee, I would have been at work otherwise and wouldn't have been able to help anyway," was his response when I mentioned the irony to him. 

Our little town sent several tanker trucks and two neighboring districts also sent their tanker trucks. One guy from a town south of us said that he had been harvesting soybeans when he saw the black plume of smoke and began heading in. He was already on his way when he got the call.

Our front yard looked like this for several hours.

They needed so many tanker trucks because we are so rural; we don't have city water on our property, which means there are no fire hydrants in the near vicinity to draw water from. That leaves drawing water from the creek (which is dry), our cistern (which is almost dry), or the fire hydrant that's about a mile away. The tankers took turns filling up at the fire hydrant and bringing the water down the lane. A modern-day bucket brigade.

They dumped the water in this dump tank and the firefighters pumped it out from there.

In the end, the barn wasn't able to be saved and our neighbor lost two pick-up trucks, a couple quads, a lawnmower, other lawn equipment, his tools, a winch (which Seth had just wired up for him on Saturday), and some irreplaceable heirlooms . . . among other things.

The boys stayed inside during all the excitement, although they looked out the windows at what was going on. Cael was so frightened by our initial frantic reactions -- and somehow got the thought the our house was going to burn down -- that he didn't want to go outside at all.

Note Seth's wrapped leg that he

walked on all day.

Kieran, on the other hand, would have been outside fellowshipping with the firefighters and checking things out the whole time if we had let him. When the fire was out and everyone was packing up, I took him outside to walk around. He met the firefighters and decided he wanted to wear his own fire gear, so he went inside and put it on.

When the guy in charge of the scene saw Kieran in his get-up, he said, "Hey, are you a fire chief? Every fire chief needs a radio!" and handed his radio to Kieran to wear for a bit.

He loved it.

They think the fire started when a wood stove in the barn that the son had lit earlier in the morning got too hot and caught surrounding items on fire. We are glad no one was hurt in the fire but sad for our neighbor's property loss.

And I was thankful for the reminder that we needed to have the contents of our barn (and house) documented, which I did this afternoon with my camera.

First day of School (for Kieran)

Kieran started kindergarten way back at the beginning of August, but I'm just now getting around to posting about it. 

When Kieran was first diagnosed with Williams syndrome and we realized that intellectual and learning disabilities would become part of our lives, our thoughts turned toward the future: Would he be bullied in school? Would he struggle to learn? But choosing an educational partnership for him seemed so far in the distant future. 

As the past few years have flown by, however, we've been thinking about what setting would be best for him to learn in and have been weighing the pros and cons of our choices and praying for wisdom. We've watched as he received services (OT and ST) through our local special education program and as he participated in a small community preschool. 

When the time came this past year to transition him to kindergarten, I listened to what everyone who has worked with him over the past few years had to say about him. They all loved him and enjoyed working with him, but, and here was the common phrase I heard from everyone: he has a lot of difficulty paying attention to the task at hand and is very easily distracted. And when I mentioned the possibility of homeschooling him, everyone on his IEP team agreed that would be a good fit for him. And when I found out there would be 27 children in one kindergarten class and I knew that he would be too busy socializing and paying attention to everyone else in the classroom and wouldn't have a one-on-one to sit with him and continually redirect him, that sealed the deal for me: we would partner with homeschooling textbooks for his kindergarten education. 

Sure, I could fight with our school system to get him a one-on-one or some type of aid, but our school district is very rural and small and the funds simply aren't there. Sure, I could press them with FAPE, IDEA, and hire an advocate to help get him what he needed to succeed in a public school classroom, but since I have the luxury of staying at home with my children, I could also put the money and effort that would be spent on those types of things into educating him at home, in an environment where I didn't need to fight to get him what he needs. And so that is what we have decided to do--at least for kindergarten. 

I've had somewhat of a love/hate relationship with homeschooling over the years. I am attracted to the idea of giving our kids an education in our home and I've even written several curricula that are used by homeschoolers. But I dislike some of the attitudes and actions I've seen from some in the homeschooling community. It can be ugly (and, sadly, we've been on the receiving end of some of that ugliness). Much of that turns me off toward homeschooling. While I could go on about specifics, I won't (at least not in this post). I'll just leave it with this: we have decided to give homeschooling a try for this year. 

Once we chose this particular educational partnership, I started looking into the curriculum that would best help him learn. And I finally settled on All About Reading -- a phonics-based program that incorporates Orton-Gillingham methods in teaching reading. I'd read that the OG method was recommended for those with Williams syndrome and Dr. Mervis, the WS specialist we see in Louisville every year, has been adamant that those with WS learn to read by phonics. For math, I chose Math-U-See -- it was developed by a man whose son has Down syndrome and offers manipulatives and a slow pace. 

So, I ordered those programs along with some other things and once everything finally arrived, we started our school 

Cael was excited about 

all the boxes that were arriving 

and a bit sad when he realized

they weren't all for him. 

We've settled into a routine and, since Cael attends his own preschool now, I have several hours three days a week where I can work with just Kieran. The other days, we just work around having a chatterbox in the room with us. 

I'm able to do a lot of fine motor activities with him throughout the day (like play with kinetic sand, which he isn't really thrilled about but which Cael loves). 

And when Cael is home and feeling in the mood to cooperate, I can involve him in some of the things Kieran and I are working on (like spatial relations and following patterns).

Visual-spatial areas tend to be a deficit for those with WS, so I've tried to incorporate puzzles and tangrams and the like into his day so that we can work on that area. 

And I'm also able to involve things like this spinning board for his sensory diet, followed by some weight-bearing and other exercises that, ideally, will help develop his attention span.

I am not in any way shape or form the perfect parent or homeschooling teacher but, by God's grace, we'll follow this path until we decide that there's a better option for him.

First day of school

Cael has wanted to go to school (preschool) with Kieran ever since he could say the words, "Can I go in, too?" (which was, I think, when he was 11 months old). Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during the school year, he'd watch from the car as I took Kieran inside Mrs. Karla's school. He could have gone last year to her afternoon class but that would have meant quite a bit of back-and-forth travel for us, so I opted to have him start this year, after Kieran had "graduated." 

Mrs. Karla sent him a postcard before school started, letting him know how glad she was that Super Cael would be part of her class and that they would have lots of fun eating Popsicles for snacks. The Popsicles sealed the deal for him and he asked us repeatedly over the next few days to read the note to him. He also let us know how excited he was for the Popsicles. 

August 11 was his first day of school. 

He was thrilled to be the one going.

He was up early, ate his breakfast ("sticky oatmeal") quickly, got dressed, and was waiting for the rest of us (Kieran is not a morning person). 

He wanted to take Mrs. Karla and Mrs. Mary some flowers so he found a few Resurrection lilies and picked them himself.

He has been having a great time learning his letters, learning to be a Germ Buster, making new friends, and, of course, having Popsicles for snack (not every day, of course).

He's even learning the Pledge of Allegiance and got to lead it the other day. When I asked him to say it for me, he said, "Special agents . . . of the one true God . . . ." (He learned about being a special agent for the one true God through the International Spy Academy VBS we did at our church this past summer.) Apparently, that's what "I pledge allegiance" sounds like to him.

He wishes school could be every day of the week, rather than just M/W/F.

I'm thankful we have such a nice little preschool led by a lady who loves Jesus and our kids in our area. Mrs. Karla was such an encouragement and help with Kieran, and I'm looking forward to partnering with her for Cael's learning, as well.

Preschool graduation

When Kieran was first diagnosed with Williams syndrome -- at 9 months -- our thoughts immediately turned toward his schooling, with the new knowledge that it probably wouldn't be an easy path for him. At that time, educational decisions seemed a distant future. But suddenly, he was three, and we were enrolling him in Ms. Karla's preschool. And then, somehow, suddenly, he was finished with preschool and ready to move on to kindergarten. Kieran's graduation from Ms. Karla's preschool (for the last time -- he also participated in the graduation in 2012 and 2013) was the other evening.

I'm so thankful that the Lord, in His providence, led us to Bright Beginnings. Ms. Karla has done an amazing job in teaching Kieran and encouraging him in so many ways. She has a wonderful "let's try this" approach in working with him and has a wealth of experience in teaching kids with special needs to draw from. She's helped me discover areas that Kieran needs to work on (things I wouldn't have known or thought about) and has given me ideas in how to help him focus and pay attention better (ideas I've been able to translate into other areas). She has been patient with him and has understandingly dealt with his little "quirks" (vacuum fears, weedwacker perseverations, snack-time disinterests). She's wanted the best from him from the beginning, has believed in him, and has asked him to keep up with the other children his age--which he did.

Her helper, Ms. Mary, has a son with special needs and she's also been instrumental in Kieran's education and in encouraging me.

Kieran has loved his time with Ms. Karla and we're sad to be leaving the caring environment of Bright Beginnings. This scene from his graduation the other night was especially touching for me (although it didn't seem to phase Kieran a bit).



Thank you to Ms. Karla for all you've done for Kieran these past few years!

Do you talk about him?

Although we haven't settled on one particular educational partnership for our boys, one of the main reasons I'm drawn to the idea of teaching them--or at least Kieran--at home is that the thought of him being bullied at school hurts my heart.

I hear stories from parents of children with Williams syndrome about how their child has been teased, and the mainstream news outlets have recently been filled with the tragic outcomes of bullying, and it all makes me sad. I feel for the ones being bullied and the parents who watch it happen. And I think to myself, "If I can keep him home and (relatively) safe from that type of treatment, why wouldn't I?"

Now, I know there are lots of factors that go into choosing an educational partnership but discussing them isn't the intent of this particular post. Instead, I have a question for you:

Hypothetically, if we were to send to Kieran to school (or to your house or your church) and your child were a peer of Kieran's, would s/he act unkindly toward Kieran because he is "different"?

Before you answer, "Oh, no way, we don't tolerate bullies in my house," let me ask you another question.


Have you talked about him with your children?

Not in a "Hush, he's fine, don't talk about him" kind of way or even in a, "Just be nice, mmmk?" kind of way, but intentionally and purposefully, explaining why he might seem different to them?

Although we like to think of children as inherently kind-hearted and willing to love others no matter what, the truth is that each one of us is born with a sad tendency to look out for Number One (it's called our sin nature--Romans 3:23). So we need to continually be developing in them the right way to view people and praying that the Holy Spirit will apply the truths from His Word to their young hearts and give them a love for others.

If I could sit down with your kids and talk about Kieran with them, this is what I would say (see here for a fuller explanation):

Hey--you know how sometimes you might think Kieran is a bit different from you? Let me tell you something special about him. God made him just the way He wants him to be with a condition that we call Williams syndrome. God loves being creative, and He loves that each of His creations is different and special.

But no matter how different we might think someone is from us, we can know that God makes every single person--you and me and Kieran-- in His very own image. That makes us all very special and valuable. And it's OK that he's a bit different from you because that's the way God made him. 

Remember how way back in the beginning, God created a beautiful world that He said was "very good" (Genesis 1)? What happened after that? . . . Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command and, as a result of their sin, God placed a curse on His beloved Creation (Genesis 3).

Because we're all children of Adam and Eve, this curse has affected all of us in different ways. And part of the way it has affected Kieran shows in some of the differences you've seen. He needs a little bit more help in some areas. It's so great of God to give us opportunities to learn to help others, isn't it? He wants us to take special care of those who might be a bit different from us and to help them as much as we can (e.g., Proverbs 31:8, Luke 14:13-14). 

In fact, God wants us to be a champion for those who need special help--a champion stands up for them and fights for them and helps them with whatever they need. Do you think you could be a champion for Kieran? Like a knight on a white horse for him?

Take a look at these two videos--how are the kids in these videos acting like champions for those who needed a bit more help?  

Wasn't it encouraging to see how those other kids helped the ones who needed help? 

Another way that we can help Kieran is in the way you talk to him and about him. Sometimes you might want to tease him for things he can't do or the way he does things differently. But remember--each of us is created in the image of God and God wants us to be kind to every person (Ephesians 4:32). And, because each of us is an image-bearer of the Creator, when we tease someone, it's the same as if we're teasing the Creator and calling Him names (James 3:9). 

But even more than the differences you might see with him, there are lots of ways that he's similar to you. We've already talked about how he's an image-bearer of the Creator, just like you are. But he also likes to look at books and ride his bike and he loves eating Cheetos. One really neat thing about many people with Williams syndrome is that they love music--Kieran loves music. He loves listening to music and, I bet if you asked him, he would tell you his current favorite song and maybe you could sing it together with him. He also loves to play hide-and-seek and really enjoys laughing. 

I love being with my Kieran, and I know that if you take some time with him and find out what he likes and doesn't like, I bet you'll enjoy being with him, too."

My friend Georgia has taken the time to talk on multiple occasions with her daughter about Kieran, and it shows in the way Elizabeth interacts with him. She knows that he wanders and needs to be watched and will keep an eye on him at church. When she came to spend the day with us a few months ago, she brought pony beads and pipe cleaners so that she could make bracelets with Kieran and, in the process, help him with his fine motor practice.

And the way she understands and cares for Kieran has carried over into the way she cares for other children with special needs at her school. She sits with the girl with disabilities at lunch and helps her in class and at recess.

That makes my heart so happy. That's what it's about--teaching our kids (and ourselves) to see everyone (not just Kieran) as image-bearers.

If you haven't talked with your kids about Kieran (or whomever you know who has a disability of any type--mental, emotional, physical, speech, cognitive . . . the list goes on) in this way, will you? Please?

I for Insect Instrument

Last week, a package for Kieran arrived from Aunt Katy and Uncle Dan. Kieran loves getting packages in the mail. "Oh, is it for me?!" he says. 

This time the package contained a Bonz Band Musical Instrument Construction Set. Once the boys got it all opened and dumped on the floor, they loved putting together and playing the different instruments. 

When Friday rolled around, we were trying to figure out what Kieran could take for I show-n-tell. Since he had taken his harmonica as an "instrument" the past two years (2011, 2012), I decided he needed something new. So we used the Bonz Band to make an insect instrument (I gave myself double show-n-tell points for that one).   

Thanks to Aunt Katy and Uncle Dan for the fun birthday present!

F, G, H

I've been slack in posting Kieran's show-and-tell pictures from the past few weeks (actually, I've been slack in posting a lot of things lately--too many irons in the fire, as it were).

 For letter F, he took a football . . . a very special football held by a very special little boy wearing very special clothing (courtesy of his very special grandparents). It makes his daddy's heart happy. (Last year's F.)

 G was for gorilla.

And, today was hat day along with show-n-tell day for which he took a hippopotamus.