by the SPED Homeschool Team

 

Looking for some ways to add spark to the biggest summer holiday? Look no further than this list of over 40 different activities for fun AND learning. Love history? Try a unit study about the American flag. Looking forward to spending time with family? There are scavenger hunts, games, bingo and more! Need a fun and easy craft? That’s on the list, too. 

 

It may be summer break but we hope you have a safe, happy and wonderful holiday!

 

Fireworks

Fireworks in a Jar  by PBS Kids for Parents

Fizzy Firework Painting by Views from a Step Stool

Fireworks Spin Art by A Parenting Production

Firework Display Mad Lib by Woo! Jr. Kids Activities

 

Stars and Stripes

American Flag Fingerprint Counting Activity by Fun Handprint Art

Stars and Stripes Sensory Bin by Little Bins for Little Hands

 Lego American Flag by Little Bins for Little Hands

Betsy Ross and the American Flag Unit Study  by Faith and Good Works

American Flag Lapbook by Cynce’s Place

Videos Teaching the History of the Star-Spangled Banner  by Learning Online Blog

 

Family Time

4th of July Bingo by Preschool Play and Learn

Patriotic Bingo by Pinterventures

Happy Birthday America Videos by Stemhax

Gameschooling 4th of July Games  by My Little Poppies

 10 Patriotic Songs for Children by Wildflower Ramblings

100+ 4th of July Trivia Questions by Meebly

4th of July Trivia by Hey, Let’s Make Stuff

Short Videos for Kids About the Statue of Liberty by Learning Online Blog

4th of July Scavenger Hunt by The Military Wife and Mom

 4th of July Minute-to-Win-It Games by Children Ministry Deals

4th of July Conversation Starters and Jokes  by Happy Home Fairy

Patriotic Yoga Cards by Pink Oatmeal

 

Learning Fun

4th of July Books Plus Unit Study  by Mommy Evolution

4th of July I Spy and Counting Activity  by Moritz Fine Design

4th of July Word Search  by Happiness is Homemade

4th of July Word Search by The Artisan Life

4th of July Sudoku by Happiness is Homemade

Patriotic Count and Clip Cards  by The Kindergarten Connection

5 Reasons I Am Thankful for My Freedom Writing Activity by Jinxy Kids

4th of July Math Games  by Gift of Curiosity

4th of July Unit Study on Freedom by Fearless Faithful Mom

 4th of July Lapbook by Trina Deboree Teaching and Learning

Patriotic Color by Number Single Digit Addition by My Joy Filled Life

160 4th of July Math Printables (K to 5th) by iGame Mom

Patriotism and American Symbols Study by Engaging Teaching with Traci Clausen

 Declaration of Independence 4th of July Mini-Unit by Homeschool Journey

Food and Crafts

Patriotic Banner (fine motor activity – cut and lace) by I Should Be Mopping the Floor

 DIY Patriotic Marshmallow Shooter by Big Family Blessings

Red, White, and Blue Snack Recipes for Kids  by Forkly

Fine Motor Lacing Flag Craft by Tot School Resources

Red, White, and Blue DIY Playdough Soap by The Makeup Dummy

 

The SPED Homeschool blog is now ranked the #1 Special Needs Homeschooling Blog by Feedspot. 

 

Thank you for reading and for being part of our community.

 

 


Did you enjoy this article?

Support the ongoing work of

SPED Homeschool

Donate Today

 

 

By Jan Bedell, Ph.D., Master NeuroDevelopmentalist, SPED Homeschool Partner & Board Member

 

Behavior and character are topics parents are always interested in pursuing. The privilege and responsibility we have in raising our children in the way they should go can often be a challenging and frustrating journey. It would be easier if we knew what influenced certain behaviors and how to determine if a negative interaction with a child is a heart issue or if there is something else at the root of it all. 

 

When thinking about the root cause of behavior issues, we must look at several different factors. Some might be more obscure than others. 

 

What is the root cause of challenging behavior? The source of negative behavior could be metabolic, having to do with body chemistry. It could also be the sin nature we were all born with. Or, from my perspective, it could be caused by neurodevelopmental deficits. We will look mainly at neurodevelopmental causes, but the others are well worth mentioning. 

 

  1. Metabolic Causes

Diet and nutrition can play a significant role in negative behavior. If the child reacts to food or the environment, it can cause a wide range of difficult behaviors like irritability, anger, and even aggression or destructiveness. This is beyond the child’s control and care should be taken to consider this as a cause since you cannot discipline this out of a child. One approach to this is to create a food diary each time you see negative behavior, especially if the behavior is uncharacteristic of the child in general. If you see a pattern in food consumed and negative behavior, try eliminating that food type and see if the behavior changes. 

 

  1. Neurodevelopmental Causes

Underdeveloped brain pathways can cause challenges in receiving sensory information correctly, processing information in your short-term memory, as well as storing information for good retrieval. These, like the metabolic causes, are beyond the child’s ability to control. 

Let me give you a few neurodevelopmental examples. This is by no means an exhaustive list.

  • Sensory Overload: If the child is hypersensitive to touch or sound and noises or irritating touches invade the child’s sensory system, the immediate overreaction is fight or flight because the brain is interpreting these stimuli as pain. When you are in pain, you want to get away or retaliate. The result can be negative behavior which is misunderstood by people whose sensory system gives the correct messages.  
  • Underdeveloped Central Vision: It might be considered a negative character quality not to look a person in the eyes when you talk to them. We tend to require this of our children, especially when we try to get our point across about a behavior or character issue. When the central detail vision (how you see right in the center of your vision field) is underdeveloped, the child can move his eyes toward you but soon look like he is looking over your shoulder. You have trained him to move his eyes toward you, but since he can’t really see well in the center, the eye moves so he can look with his peripheral vision. This is often interpreted as defiance or disobedience when, in fact, it is beyond the child’s control.
  • Following Directions or Staying on Task: Parents often comment that their child REFUSES to follow directions and exhibits the poor character of not staying with their work. Look no further than the inability to hold pieces of auditory information in short-term memory when you have these behavioral challenges. When children’s auditory processing is low, they literally can’t hold the pieces of the instruction together long enough to complete the request. Often, this gets them in trouble for not “obeying” or not being “diligent” when it was simply beyond their control at this point. Read more about auditory processing and attention here.  

 

  1. Sin Nature

Unlike metabolic or neurodevelopmental causes of negative behavior, the sin nature CAN be controlled by the child. The discerning eye of a caring parent can determine whether they are dealing with a metabolic, neurodevelopmental, or heart issue in a particular situation. 

 

To identify which of the three root causes of behavior or character issues you are dealing with, I suggest watching a couple of videos I recorded called Create a Positive Learning Environment Part 1 & 2 on the  Brain Coach Tips YouTube Channel. These videos will help you better understand the different possible causes of negative behavior that I discussed here and how to change this for better compliance in the future. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Did you enjoy this article?

Support the on-going work of

SPED Homeschool

Donate Today

 

 

by Vicki Tillman, SPED Homeschool Partner 7 Sisters Homeschool 

 

Confident teens are often teens that have had character development as part of their homeschool high school experience. One of the most confidence-enhancing, character-development subjects is training teens to be ladies and gentlemen.

 

Teens who can walk into numerous social, business, church, or family settings and conduct themselves well are empowered to do good and feel good. Here are five kinds of character development for training teens to be ladies and gentlemen:

 

Social graces. High school is a great time to review basic manners for teens to look and feel good about themselves. 

  • Saying *Please* *Thank you*
  • Holding doors open for others, or walking through a held door and saying *thank you*
  • Not pushing ahead of others in lines or going down halls/aisles
  • Allowing elderly or little ones to go first
  • Using technology politely when in a group
  • Meeting new people

 

Self-composure. Teens feel better about themselves when they can keep their cool, especially in public. (It is the fruit of the spirit, too.) Teens need to be skilled at the 3W’s of composure:

  • What am I feeling?
  • Why am I feeling that way?
  • What am I going to do about it?

 

Assertiveness. Colossians 4:6 instructs our teens to let their speech be with grace, seasoned with salt, that they may know how to answer every person. Teens feel more confident when they know when to be quiet and when to assert or stand up for themselves. Just like the best role model, Jesus- sometimes he held his peace, sometimes he called Pharisees *white-washed sepulchers*. Check out  The Homeschool Highschool Podcast on Christ-like Character for ideas on assertiveness.

 

Look out for those who are weaker. One of the loveliest things I’ve seen in our local homeschooling community is the kind and inclusive treatment of young people with differences or disabilities. I remember a letter one young woman on the autism spectrum wrote to our homeschool group classes thanking the umbrella school for the feelings of acceptance she received. Our local kids are naturally kind, but they were also coached on accepting and supporting, never mocking, other students.

 

Prayer. Prayerful teens (and adults) are usually more in touch with Christ and Christ-like behavior. For teens who are tired of the prayers of their childhood, it might be good to let them discover some interactive ways to pray using  7Sisters prayer journals

 

These are good years to invest in your teens’ confidence by investing in character development by training them to be ladies and gentlemen.

 

 

 

 

 


Did you enjoy this article?

Support the on-going work of

SPED Homeschool

Donate Today

 

 

by Wendy Dawson, SPED Homeschool Partner Social Motion Skills/Incuentro

 

“Confabulation.” A big word with big ramifications. When I first read about confabulation, I found it interesting because it relates strongly to my experience working with individuals with autism and special needs. The very concept is incredibly intriguing yet worrisome until you understand it. 

 

So what is confabulation? According to Verywellmind.com, confabulation is a type of memory error in which gaps in a person’s memory are filled unconsciously with fabricated, misinterpreted, or distorted information. When someone confabulates a memory or a piece of information, we aren’t receiving the whole truth. This is troubling if we ask our child to recount an event that happened at school or work because it might not be the complete story but rather only a partial interpretation of what really happened. They may even tend to recall only the last thing they heard about an incident rather than what transpired. The problem is a piece of the truth is not the whole truth.

 

As parents and educators, we need to understand confabulation is a real phenomenon and the importance of not jumping to conclusions in situations. Our children will likely tell us the truth, but it may unintentionally only be a partial truth. According to an infographic in Verywellmind.com, symptoms of confabulation are:

  • A lack of awareness that a memory is false or distorted
  • No motivation for deceit or to lie
  • Misremembered information based on actual memories
  • Stories can range from plausible to completely unrealistic

 

Now that you know what confabulation is, it’s important to remain aware in situations where knowing the whole truth is paramount. When your child comes home from school and tells you a story about a fight in the cafeteria, you might consider getting different perspectives from others who were present. Your young adult child tells you about a harassment incident at work. It might be prudent to contact the supervisor on duty, not because you don’t believe your child, but rather to get the full scope of the situation. 

 

Some simple steps that you can take to help your child more accurately recount an experience are as follows:

  1. Give them time to process. Let them think about a situation before you ask questions.
  2. If they are able, have them write down the details as soon as possible rather than recount them verbally.
  3. Ask specific leading questions about a situation. Re-orient them to the situation and help them think through exactly what happened.

 

Your child should always feel confident in sharing information with you and knowing that you take their word seriously. Getting to the truth – the whole truth- is always important, but your child may be unable to recount their story with certainty, or there may be more to the story than they can aptly explain. Remember, confabulation is not intentional lying.

 

Source: 

Spitzer, David, et al. “Confabulation in Children with Autism.” UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, 5 Oct. 2016, core.ac.uk/download/pdf/79541374.pdf.

 

 

 

 

 


Did you enjoy this article?

Support the on-going work of

SPED Homeschool

Donate Today

 

 

by Monica Irvine, from The Etiquette Factory, SPED Homeschool Curriculum Partner

 

“How dare you think that you can teach character!” was a comment left by a parent on our Facebook page. “Ouch,” I thought. 

But, I know that we can – I can, you can, we all can. If any parent is under the illusion that only they can teach their child character, well, I think that’s sad.  

 

As a child, I was taught character by many people – my parents and other adults. There were two common factors in those who were successful in slowly, gradually, but steadily, improving my character: patience and love.

I know this truth: you cannot help others improve their character unless they know that you love them beyond a shadow of a doubt. Unless we know that someone loves us and has our best interest at heart, it is difficult for us to soften our hearts toward them enough to allow them to influence our character and moral compass. It always starts and ends with love.

 

When I was in the 4th grade, I cheated on a social studies test. My teacher, Mr. Luckett, picked up my test and saw the notes I had hidden under my test. He asked what they were, but I lied and said I didn’t know they were on my desk. He just nodded and kept moving. You see, Mr. Luckett was my favorite teacher. I was lost in his class and struggled to learn, but he was always kind. Honestly, I struggled in many of my classes. After class that day, he never said a word, and I moved to my English class. 

I felt consumed with guilt by the time I got to my English class. During English class, I couldn’t take it anymore. I went up to my teacher, tears streaming down my face, and told her that I needed to talk to Mr. Luckett. She walked me down to his class and asked him to come out into the hallway, where I gathered the courage through many tears and heaving breaths to confess my betrayal of his confidence.  

Later in the day, when I was calmer, he came and walked me to an empty gym (a female teacher accompanied us). He invited me to sit down on the bleachers and asked me why I felt the need to cheat. I don’t remember what I said but, I do remember how I felt. I knew he cared about me. He reminded me of that through his words and the way he spoke to me. I decided at that moment that I never wanted to feel like that again. I didn’t like how it felt disappointing someone whom I respected.  

He helped develop my character because instead of condemnation, he sought understanding. He taught me other options I could do when I felt overwhelmed or lost in my classes. He reminded me that I was a good girl and that he knew I was good. He reminded me that he had confidence in me and my mistake did not represent who I was. He accepted my behavior as a mistake, not a representation of me. That was huge for me.

 

Parents, hopefully, our children will be surrounded by people who have their best interests at heart. How do we teach character to our children and other children that we come into contact with? We remember a few things:

  • Showing every child that they are valued and loved by the way we speak to them and treat them.
  • Never allowing a child’s mistake to become the focal point of who they are. We do this by never saying things like, “You are dishonest” or “You are selfish”. Instead, we might say, “That was a dishonest answer” or “That was a selfish decision.”
  • Continuously showing each child how much we believe in them and their ability to make good choices by being their biggest cheerleader. We do this by saying things such as, “I know it’s difficult but I believe in you” or “I love how you are always striving to make the right choice, even though it’s painful to do so sometimes,” etc.
  • Reminding ourselves that it’s difficult to always make the right choice. You and I don’t make the right choice each day, and neither will our children. But, we can learn from our wrong choices and give each other and ourselves more grace.

 

Yes, character can be taught. It is best taught by example. One thing that cripples too many parents’ ability to influence their children is when there is hypocrisy between what they tell their kids to do and what they do themselves. Children are so smart. For them to respect us enough to listen to us, they have to believe that we, too, are trying our best to live what we profess to believe.

Developing character is a life-long journey, not a race. We are on the same journey as our children, trying to be a little better today than we were yesterday. Some days we do better than other days. May we never give up on ourselves or anyone else. Just keep going.

 

For resources to help you teach the skills of character, good manners, and life skills, please visit our website at www.TheEtiquetteFactory.com.

 

 

 

 

 


Did you enjoy this article?

Support the ongoing work of

SPED Homeschool

Donate Today