Grammys Corgi Country

The teacher that I told you about yesterday, worked with me for 7 years before she transferred to a school that was much closer to her home. She had asked for, and gotten a class of preschool aged children, and she worked with them for a few more years before retiring.

During the first 5 years that we worked together, we worked with children that had mild learning disabilities. Children with this type of problem are now given RSP (Resouce Specialist Program) classes while being included for part or most of the day in regular education classes. The last two years, we had children with more severe handicaps, such as autism, and other severe learning disabilities. We found that there was usually something that each child really liked to do, or eat, or play with, that we could use to stimulate their interest to complete the short learning tasks we would set up for them to help them achieve their IEP (Individual Educational Program) goals.

They, often, needed a lot of repetition to help them remember the basic facts that were the building blocks to the rest of the things they needed to learn. We found that many of our children’s parents had been given such little hope for the future abilities of their children, that they didn’t push them to try things. It was so much easier to just “do it for them…” than to take the time to teach them to do it themselves.

Also, many times, they seemed to believe that “since their child is unable to learn,” there is no way to teach them any kind of discipline or self-discipline. This makes them terrors to themselves, their families, and others. If the time is taken to teach them manners, then they will be able to be included in so many more activities, and to have friends, etc. It is so MUCH better for the child in the long run.

Our school district provided seminars for those of us that worked with Special Education Students, and they made it clear that one of the first things that we needed to do was to teach the children to follow rules and to learn to listen to directions… This was usually one of the first main goals in their IEP’s. This is the basis of any child being able to learn. We were taught that where a “normal” child (whatever that is…) might take 50 to 300 repetitions to learn something, it often took 1,000 to 3,000 or more repetitions for some of the special students to “get it.”

I think that working with computers and learning the basics of programming helped me to understand some of the ways of thinking I needed to have to teach and work with many of our students. With the OLD computers I learned on, when you were programming, you had to think through a project and then program, tiny step by tiny step, each part of what you wanted the computer to do. (Print “A”, now put in a space, etc.) Each step would lead to a new step, but if you forgot a step or got it wrong, then either the program stopped or it did something totally off the wall.

Most of us have brains that take fairly large leaps in putting together the information that we have taken in, to learn or figure out the problems that are set before us. Many handicaps have a tendency, in one way or another, to short circuit the leap, and/or slap it out of the air. Where you might think, “Ok, I want to get from here to there, and to do that I need to use these stepping stones,” some handicaps require that the person think, “I want to get over there. There is water here, and I can’t get wet. That rock looks like it might hold me, but can I reach it? I need to move this muscle this way to pick up my foot, but maybe I should try to find something like a stick to help me balance. Where is a stick? etc.”

With children with severe handicaps, you often have to model the action several times, then help them to do it with “hand over hand” help 5 to 100 + times, etc. In some cases it’s like programming their muscles to be able to do a specific job. ALL children learn, the question is just “how fast can they learn?” Patience, love, and lots of praise for each small step will go far in helping that child/person learn what you are working to teach them… and wouldn’t that actually be a good thing to remember in all of our interactions with others?

Show love, praise, and patience to those you come into contact with today and throughout this new year, and see how they react… (and maybe some more patience?…)

P.S. Today, I got my wedding ring back, and it is as good as new. It is so beautiful… Still, to me, the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen! Thank you, God, for giving Hubby the money and thank you, Honey Bear, for doing such a special, wonderful thing for me!!!

When thinking about my special day, yesterday, with “Bear,” I thank God, that He has given me such a blessing in my grandchildren and my children. I wish the others didn’t live so far away because I don’t get to spend even the little amount of time with them that I do with my “Little Bear.” Children grow so fast! I loved being with my children, and if home schooling had been allowed when I was raising mine, I probably would have done that.

After they got old enough that the youngest had to attend school, I started to volunteer at the school he went to (schools can ALWAYS use volunteers.) I worked with the children and created a “computer lab” for them. This was over twenty years ago before that was a normal thing for a school. After three years of volunteer work and doing some subbing as an aide in the special ed. class, several of the teachers urged me to try out for a permanent Instructional Aide position in the Special Education classes. I totally loved the work and was completely blessed to be an Aide to one of the best teachers in the County.

She had been teaching, at that time for over 30 years, and loved the children and the job. She taught me so much, and allowed me to use the talents in art and my knowledge in science and with animals to help the children to learn with any hands-on activities that I could offer. I brought in some of my tack and taught them a little about saddles, bridles and other tack that is used on horses, and then we brought one of our horses and our pony to show the children, as well as allowing them to ride them. Now, they probably wouldn’t allow that anymore because of insurance problems.

I drew some of their favorite cartoon and/or movie characters reading, for reading charts, or cutting up pizzas for math fractions. We used computers in our room to stimulate the interest of several of the autistic children and get them involved. We used “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” videos to do dance/exercises that got the children’s attention and let them have fun with music and movement, while getting their exercise. This was one of the most amazing teachers I have ever seen or had the privilege of working with, and I will forever be thankful for her mentorship in my life. This wonderful lady and I still keep in touch and are good friends now.

If you have had a special mentor or teacher in your life, let them know if at all possible. They will appreciate the acknowledgement of their work in your life.

I LOVE persimmons… I have a friend whose husband has grown several persimmon trees and every year, she calls me and invites me to come and pick as many as I want… I get plenty for my family and for all of our relatives and friends, and my friend is really happy that she doesn’t have to clean hundreds more squishy, mushy ripe and rotting persimmons up than she already has to. We are both happy with the arrangements.

This year, I want to try to dry some and see if that will work so that I will have them for a longer time, because persimmons ripen fairly quickly and then they are gone. I’ve googled to find ways to dry them and since I like dried fruits of other kinds, and persimmons are so VERY sweet already, I’m sure they will be almost like candy when they are done. They also had a bunch of recipes that use persimmons, so I’ll probably make some cookies, breads or muffins for Christmas and Thanksgiving.

My friend has two different kinds of persimmon trees… The native type that you have to wait to eat until they are mushy or they will pucker your mouth, and the Japanese type that taste like a persimmon, but can be eaten while they are still hard and crisp… almost the texture of an apple. I LOVE both types. The native type is really great for cooking. My friend’s husband told me the secret to ripening them overnight… Just put them in the freezer overnight and when you thaw them in the morning, they are soft enough to cook with. Their trees were still loaded when we left with several boxes full and this is the second trip we have made.

This lady is such a dear friend, and not just because she shares her persimmons. We have been friends for over 18 years. She was the first teacher that I worked with when I started being an Instructional Aide for the Special Ed. kids. She worked with them over 37 years before she retired and she taught me so very much. I am truly indebted to her for her wisdom and the way she modeled being a wonderful teacher for the kids… They didn’t get away with much in the classroom and her patience with their handicaps was amazing. She told me that where a regular student may take 100 -300 repetitions to remember and apply something, a special ed. student may take 3000 or more to “get it…” some even more, and some won’t get THAT thing you’ve worked on, BUT they may get something else.

It started to rain tonight while we were picking the persimmons, so we got a bit damp. It really rained hard during the drive home. (I’d gone to a Dr. appointment in the big town about an hour away, and stopped by her place on the way home – about 45 mins. from our place.) We are SO HAPPY that it FINALLY rained !!! This has been one of the driest years we’ve had in this area and the air was really getting nasty, too.

It is a blessing to get this much rain… in a way… probably won’t be good for the alfalfa farmers, though, and THAT isn’t good. Alfalfa has gone up in price over the past several years from $8 to over $13 a bale. Still… we really needed it… I think they had enough notice to be able to get most of it baled the past couple of weeks and under cover… I didn’t see any cut hay down in the fields on the way into the big town.

Well, I better close for now… I’m supposed to get to see my grandson tomorrow and it has been several weeks since I last saw him, so I’m REALLY looking forward to it. I miss him a lot since he moved a couple of months ago… Before, I’d seen him at least once, and often twice a week since the time he was born and he just turned 5.

I will also be making the Thanksgiving Pies for our big family dinner on Thursday. I have a lot to be thankful for this year… I’ve got bunches of persimmons… I can WALK… I’ve got wonderful family and friends… I have a God that loves me… Yes… a LOT to be thankful for… I pray your holiday is as wonderful as mine is going to be. Have a wonderful day.

Well, Bummer! We had another little earthquake in this area last week and, as often happens, even if we don’t feel it, we had our waterline break… this time in two places! Our waterline runs over a mile and a half from the water meter across 6 or 7 people’s pastures to reach us, so we often don’t realize that it has cracked until we suddenly get a really big bill. When this happens, it usually takes several days to several weeks to get the line fixed because we have to have someone dig it up and the people who ran the line before we bought it, buried it about 4 -5 feet deep in most places… some places even deeper.

This time we were blessed that we had the money for parts and my “eagle” son came and was able to dig it up today. He is a wonderful worker and has been such a blessing to us since he came to live with us when he was 14 years old. I call him my “eagle” because when he was a teenager, he was very athletic, doing flips and jumps and all kinds of gymnastics as well as swimming and diving on our local high school swim team. Sometimes it seemed as though he was flying. He has a problem with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and still can’t really sit still in one place for very long. He will either be tapping his foot or fidgeting with something almost all of the time.

This problem made it hard while he was in school. He came to us through a foster care agency. His parents had problems, and he had gotten into some trouble, so went into foster care. He did very well with us and became a Christian. He has such a gentle heart for hurting people, and worked with handicapped students for several years as a counselor at Camp K.E.E.P during High School, and all the kids there loved him. They would fight over who got him to push their wheelchairs, etc. He graduated from High School and was the first one of his family to do that.

He’s had his problems at times (don’t we all..) since he went out of our care at the age of 18, but he has always been counted as our son and we are proud that he counts us as his parents. He has done very well during the last 6 years and takes good care of his three children. He always comes when we need any kind of physical labor help, and works very quickly to get the job done and done well. We should be able to get the waterline fixed within a day or so now that it is dug up — back fills from such a long waterline take a while to drain out enough to be able to do the gluing.

Several of my sons have had a problem with ADHD, and they have all done very well. They have worked hard to overcome it’s disadvantages and used it’s strength and energy to do very well in their jobs. With plenty of support, love, guidance, and discipline (teaching them to discipline themselves, etc.) they have all done wonderfully well and we are very proud of them.

We also gave them plenty of opportunities for types of exercise that they enjoyed and that helped them to get rid of their excess energy. One chose running and won several trophies in 10 k. runs. Another chose swimming, diving and gymnastics, while another chose horseback riding, gymkhanas, and working with animals. Of course, they all usually did a combination of these things as well, and we kept a punching bag hanging up that they could take any aggressions out on instead of on each other (try having 4 or more teenage boys in one house while they try to learn to control their raging hormones…)

If you have a child that has a problem with ADHD, don’t despair. Read and learn of the things that you can do to help (diet, exercise, etc.)… always show love though your support and guidance. Try to be patient with their foibles (we all have our different quirks) and find ways to discipline that will help them to learn to discipline themselves.

Have a restful Sunday…