Kailyn recently had an evaluation for dyslexia. I had surmised that she had this three years ago when she began the 1st grade. I was confused by some of what she did, such as reading words that were not on the page, but were related to the words actually there. At the time, I didn't realize that was also a part of it. I think most people think of dyslexia as simply seeing letters or words or numbers backwards, or in reversed sequence. That is a part of what can happen, but there is so much more than just that. A friend of mine lent me a CD series made at a seminar related to The Charlotte Mason method of home schooling. In this seminar, the speaker made reference to a book entitled, "The Gift of Dyslexia." It took me months to get the book. I was about the 5th person to request it from the library. I did eventually get it, and I'm so glad that I did! It was like putting together a puzzle for me. I had all of these pieces, but I couldn't see how they would ever fit together. Based on my reading, I was convinced that Kailyn was dyslexic. I mentioned this to the eye doctor. She said that Kailyn needed a diagnosis. So I scheduled her evaluation. Sure enough, she is! The eye doctor was so very sweet and encouraging. She did not have anything but encouragement to offer. Kailyn's testing revealed she is very behind in coordination and academics. She had strengths too, as her visual sequential memory scored at the equivalent of a 15 1/2 year old, and a couple where she was right on the mark, but many other facets of the testing revealed deficits with a perceptual age of 4-7 years. Having the test results gives me a great sense of relief. While she is "behind" according to the average, we home school, and she is not doomed to stay "behind." I did learn some things today about how to implement some things to improve where she's at that I hadn't really considered. There are some things she doesn't do well, simply because she doesn't try. She tends to avoid what she isn't "good" at and leave those things for the people who are. It's good for her to still apply herself in these ways. One example is "hidden pictures." She scored pretty low there, but she lets everyone else find things in those exercises. She has the option of therapy, and we will implement that in addition to the curriculum I have found for her. The curriculum is based on the book I read, and the center that created it has a 97% success rate for improving reading skills drastically. She sounded excited about it. We worked well into the summer on our schooling last year, and I won't start school for a couple more weeks.
Kailyn in her new bifocals.
We are finally installing baseboards, and are nearing the stage to re-floor the spare room downstairs. We will transform this "junk room" into a studio! I am picturing a place where we can do school, art, sewing, and other projects. The first step is to clear the junk!!! I don't know how papers find their way into my house so fast. I know they multiply on their own!! After I can clear the space, the carpet will come out, and the flooring will go in! We have finished all rooms downstairs except for the studio and the bathroom. Can I say how much I love NOT having concrete floors?? We chose a product called "Luxury Vinyl," which is a PVC product that is very durable. I have loved having these floors. They do not tear like normal vinyl. There is no paper in this flooring, and it has been a pleasure to walk on! It looks just like hardwood floors. The pieces went down like planks, and we did all of our cutting with a razor blade. (It took a few tries to realize the cutting process involves scoring, folding, and finally cutting.)
Early this year we took a trip to Dallas to visit family and to pick up a St. Bernard puppy. I remember not wanting anymore dogs, but late last year, this area suffered many break-ins and home invasions, many times in broad daylight, and once by a person who looked like a police officer. Jeff was right to say I wouldn't feel safe without a dog. So we got an 8 week old puppy and named him Caleb. He's also been known as "Kitty," or "Buddy," and I don't know what the name is this week. At the moment, he is nearly 8 months, and weighs in at over 90 pounds. He has an average weight gain of 3 pounds per week. He stays inside, due to our lovely hot and humid weather. St. Bernards are most comfortable in temperatures ranging from 30-70 degrees. We've stayed in the range of 92-110 this summer.
caleb at 8 weeks (with rachel)
caleb at 7.5 months (yep, that's rachel!)
This summer Jeff picture texted me one day with a photo of 2 tiny kittens. He had me come pick them up. They had been abandoned in a taped up box with their mother on a 100 degree day. One of the kittens didn't make it. She died of heatstroke. We had to take her to the ER vet. The symptoms of Rabies and heatstroke are very similar. We had to do testing, however, as she was really displaying some frightening behaviors. The test was negative, but we did lose her. The kitty here with us is "Fluffy."
