ROB IS WRITING HIS OWN SHORT ANIMAL STORIES...

Hello folks,

Another lovely fall day...we are so lucky...am having a wonderful time in school. My Spanish is really taking off, have a lively bunch of highschool kids and am enjoying my Social Studies and Life of Paul with my Grade 2 boys, Rob and Micah.

With the help from a wonderful special ed. teacher from the AGSD...I am finally getting Rob on the road to writing his own original paragraphs. We are sticking to things he enjoys and can relate to. Moose, horses, being a cowboy, his life on the farm, his friends etc. He comes up with funny things like, insisting the moose in his backyard is called "Bob". Sorry Brother Bob, I hope you don't think he is calling u a moose, I think Rob likes you so much he expresses it that way.

I am hoping that this project will launch him into writing or typing to express his ideas. It is very laborious and sometimes tedious but I think that it will help him reach the goal of being able to write.  We write on a dry erase white board first, then transfer to lined paper covered in a sheet protector and write with dry erase markers. That way we can easily correct any mistakes and he can practice over and over again if he wants to. The dry erase idea came from one of his therapists too. For now we are doing only capitals...we will start with small later on.

I also have him "shadow write" which is a Zoo-phonics technique and which works very well for him. I write lightly and then he writes over my writing. I use the computer to write his stories from his dictation and then use a light gray ink so that he can "shadowrite" his story. We finish the project by illustrating or including real photos of his own life experience here on the farm. I am so glad I took so many photos of all he did/does, and I keep them all catalogued as much as possible so finding a photo that will fit his writing is not too hard.

Then we put the whole thing in a folder and hopefully he will want to read it out loud to family and friends.

We are using the Handwriting Without Tears method. It is easy and uncluttered. Don't know if he'll ever transition into cursive but am not too worried since I do not write cursive myself, much prefer a modified manuscript...

We are so enjoying having Pat back after almost 5 months of absence when he went hunting up on the Brookes and other places. Rob really enjoys his big brother. Pat seems to be happy here with the group of young people.

He is planning a trip to the UK to see his girlfriend for a month and after that plans to look for a job in the EMT area, maybe with the military. He also wants to get himself a vehicle, so we'll see how all that pans out.

May has her ticket for Dublin and is leaving first week in Nov. She will be spending 3 months over there and will surely have a great time. She will be travelling with her friend Rachel Trotter who is like a big sister to her. So glad for that, did not want May on the trip alone.

Annie is swamped with 11th. grade but enjoying it I think. Big Pat is busy with his piano tuning and repair business and has just returned from a trip to Valdez where he worked on a couple dozen pianos. So we are all keeping busy and enjoying our various activities.

The farm is buzzing with new projects, school, construction, etc. etc. The wave of summer visitors has finally come to a stop...except for a couple die hards who like to visit Alaska when it gets cool...

Well, no more for now. Have a great week!