2009 is here!

We had Christmas. It was really nice. We were able to open our home and enjoy the company of some loved ones in the congregation here. It was a quiet day, but very enjoyable. The biggest "news" of Christmas was that when Mike & Ann were here, Mike re-strung our guitar with the nylon strings (squishy, WAY more comfortable to play with) Dad bought for it when he and Mom were here in Oct. IT IS WONDERFUL TO PLAY WITH NYLON STRINGS!!!!!

For Christmas Natasha (using her birthday money!) gave Jeremy and Justus identical Nerf guns. WOW, have they been enjoying it!! The nerf projectiles have plastic suction cups on the front end, so some of the favorite things to shoot them at are windows, mirrors, and wall hangings with glass fronts. (Of course, every time one sticks it leaves a perfect little round mark.... :) I'm refusing to get into a tizzy about it; it's all in good fun!!) Well, occasionally they go around the house shooting each other. This is HUGE, BIG FUN, evidently. The laughing is hysterical, and it is extremely high-energy. At one point Justus poked his head around the corner, and saw Jeremy aimed right at him. He opened his mouth to squeal, and started laughing, and when Jeremy let loose the "bullet", it hit on the side of the inside of Justus's mouth - and stuck!!!!!! Justus then continued laughing so hard, and for so long, that his lips turned blue!!!!!!!!!

For New Year's we celebrated 'til after midnight, with about 50 others, at the out-of-town cabin of some beloved church members. Good times!! Good food (and TONS of it), good fun, and good singing!! We learned that every year they sing in the new year, starting at 11:30. GREAT TRADITION, EH?? It was cold, but the roads were clear and everyone was safe!

Here is the latest episode in the saga of Natasha's dyslexia. [Wait, isn't part of the blessing of homeschooling the possibility of escaping "The Label"??! Okay. Yes. But ... can't there be a difference between an unnecessary, detrimental 'label' and effectively using available information to help a child (or adult!!) best-manage personal strengths and weaknesses?? That is my perspective on Natasha's dyslexia.] Thankfully so far she doesn't have negative feelings about it, that I can perceive. And she doesn't have it "severely". But it does seem to me to be more than just the typical 'backwardsies'. First, she is a *girl*, age *10* still struggling with it on a daily basis, though seemingly in her own handwriting only. When she was learning to read (Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons), during lessons ... oh ... say ... 15 through 70 I was noticing Natasha guessing(!), it seemed to me like, on some words ... but there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to the words she was guessing on. Long words, short words, all letter combinations. It took me 'til probably lesson 40 or so to figure out that she was flipping letters and then letting her brain figure out, based on context and whatever *other* letter-flipping her mind could do, what the word might be. I was so fascinated by it that I started keeping a list of what the word was and what she "read"; I've long-since lost that list, much to my consternation. An easy example that comes to mind would be a word that *ends* in an ob she would read as a word starting in po, pa, da, or do. By lesson 70 or 75 the largest amount of the struggle in READING had all-but vaporized ... a testament, I believe, to the effectiveness of the DISTAR method (100 Easy Lessons).

At this point Natasha is still struggling (in her handwriting only -- she is reading at 8th or 9th grade level) with that "b/d/p/q/9/6 thing", and it drives. her. nuts, but in a sweet, endearing way. Oh, and that *is* "thing", singular. (I remember, very early in my writing and reading experience, having a mite of trouble keeping the b and the d straight, but never the p and the q or the 9 and the 6; from the perspective of a 'normal' brain, this seems like three separate difficulties.) In her math she'll get the answer 9 but write it as a P ... or a 6, but more often these days as a P. Here is what I learned that has helped me understand that for Natasha to flip b's, d's, p's, q's, 9's and 6's is all the same issue: dyslexics don't flip words *just* left and right, which is what I always thought; instead, their minds, in that same f-r-a-c-t-i-o-n of a second(!) the shape is viewed from the left and the right, ALSO view it as though looking at it straight-on from the top, the bottom, the front, and the back.

The author of The Gift of Dyslexia explained it rather like seeing all six sides of a cube, and all eight corners, basically at once, or as though your body were spinning around the object while viewing it ... which is why (I NEVER KNEW THIS!) many dyslexics actually feel a split-second of dizziness in that initial nanosecond of "nonrecognition"!!!!! [That feeling of dizziness is just about the only thing that helps them know every time they need to view this object from their reference point ... which the author stated is most effective when the dyslexic chooses to view the object from a spot four inches above eye level, directly between the eyes, but forward from the forehead about 8"-12". In his decades of being a dyslexic and 'treating' dyslexics, this method has been failproof!] Without a frame of reference the mind just guesses which one is right, based on context. This event happens subconsciously whenever the brain doesn't immediately recognize, for certain, what the shape 'means'. This is why dyslexics are often outstanding athletes, artists, and mechanics: their brains are capable of doing perceptive mental calesthenics -- things the rest of our brains muddle through.

At any rate, it is looking like -if I'm diligent to catch them all- Natasha might end up re-creating for me that long-lost list of examples of efforts her 5yo mind made at understanding words. In her handwriting assignment today she did what was required (a Bible verse where Jesus promises the Comforter to the twelve); then she chose to fill the rest of the page from memory with the verses from Acts wherein the prophecy is fulfilled! (It wasn't word-for-word, but I'm still amazed ... and of course extremely pleased!) Since she was going from her memory and not a copy sheet, she wrote "the Holy Sqirit". Ohmy.... LOL!

For the record, I have not yet taught N about the "point of reference"; I keep thinking that if she is actually going to outgrow it, I'll just not bother her with it.... But I'm coming up on the point where I'll go ahead and explain it to her and then let her at least try using it ... just to see if it helps. She knows her trip-up with the b/d/9/6/q/q, so at this point when she needs to write one of those shapes, she has to stop, look for one to copy, and then copy it. That makes for some slow going.... (sigh)

We got sleds for our children. See, last fall our back yard neighbors volunteered their permission for our children to sled down our back yard straight through their back yard; at the bottom is a fence and some bushes. Ssssssso, we bought sleds, and there has been NO SNOW since then. Yet, the world is still white. Whassup?? It's 3" - 10" of solid ice. The children went out with Jeremy one afternoon, and went down a couple times, but crawling (yes, on all fours!!) back up took 15-20 minutes, and ... wrecking is simply NOT safe on SOLID HARDNESS. So we're now awaiting more snow....

Kitchen Basics broth is a major recommendation!!! Jeremy's sister Jennifer recommends tons of good stuff to us. :) Kitchen Basics broth is the newest one. Chicken & veggie broth with low sodium, no MSG, HERBS!!! I like to use broth that I boiled from a chicken. When I don't have any I used to use boullion granules; I have shied away from that recently, trying to avoid MSG.... I have had good success with boullion options from the health food store, but it's pricey and I don't always have access to it b/c I only shop that store once a month. MMMMmmmm, though, check for a box (to pour out of) in "school bus yellow". Kitchen Basics. It is delicious BY ITSELF. GREAT.

I have another LOUD, RESOUNDING suggestion/request. Read Francine Rivers's book "Redeeming Love". I have enjoyed EVERYTHING I have read by this outstanding Christian author, but "Redeeming Love" is a longer book than anything else of hers I've read; the story 'sticks to your ribs', so to speak. It's not just that her stories are interesting and entertaining, but they are written based on factual Bible events, so the spiritual lessons are vast and deep. "Redeeming Love" is the story of Hosea and his prostitute wife Gomer, told in the setting of California's 1849 gold rush.

Sorry, still no pictures; we're workin' on it. ;)