Watching the light bulb

When I first starting working with Maddy in August of 2008 we knew that her ability to learn was not capped out. We had no idea how much she would be able to do or learn, but we knew that I could do a better job than the public school system.

The hubby and I sat down and talked about what we felt were the important things that Maddy would need to know. We decided that reading, money and life skills were most important things I would need to teach her.

When I started working with Maddy she had just finished the 8th grade in public school. She thought Science was looking up and copying definitions from the back of the book, she could not tell me how many quarters in a dollar, she had to use her fingers to add and subtract sometimes even when it was by one or two. She was in an excellent reading program at school, but she did not know the difference between a noun and an adjective.

Between 2008 and now we have seen so many changes in Maddy and she still surprises me with things she has learned and she is not anywhere near her end game yet. She gets up every morning with her own alarm clock. She now has great pride in her appearance. She helps with laundry and other household chores.

She is fascinated by the human body and is now working in a great science book at a 4-6 grade level. We do a general science work book and a general geography book as well.

We do brainteasers and mad libs to help with some of the outside of the box thinking. She LOVES to do find a word puzzles.

She loves the Wii and does all sorts of motor skills games on it and does not just get mad and give up like she did a year ago.

She is now working in a 4th grade level English Grammar book and is killing it! She has taken to writing and will either type or write 4-5 page stories and she wants us to edit them and help her to add more detail to them. Once we finish this book I am seriously considering making the jump to a 6th grade book.

She is using her fingers for math less and less, she knows multiple ways to make change for a dollar. The other day she blew me away when we were working in math and I told her we needed to double .30 cents. Without hesitation she told me .60 cents and then explained to me how she got the answer. She is doing 3-digit math with carry over as well as making change using more than just dimes and pennies.

There is no greater joy for me than to watch her light bulb grow brighter and brighter!