Family

It's been a very hard year so far for 2010. My mom lost her father to Cancer in January. That was very heard on her and her siblings...but nothing could have ever prepared our family for the news February 23rd would bring. My cousin's youngest son died tragically from what in my heart I feel was a very miscalculated mistake. I feel it was an accident like no other. We ask God why Jacob had to leave us now, he was so young...but we are left with so much confusion and heartache. We adored this kid. He was 13 years old, would have turned 14 on March 2nd. My heart aches just at every turn...but to imagine the immense & unbearable pain his mom and dad and brother Joshua are going through...it just rips my heart out. I wanted so much to be there to grieve with my family & help my cousin & her family in any way possible...but Rob has been away in Naknek working and had no relief as the other practitioner is in Australia. It is so difficult not being able to be there with then, but even worse being here in Fairbanks alone. I try to tell Katie why this is so sad & so hard to accept, at first she was worried about me. She drew pictures & gave hugs, but two days later she would say, "are you crying again?"
The only blessing during this time for me to highlight has been the empathy Trapper showed. He kept bringing me tissues & trying to wipe my eyes & kissing my cheek or hugging me. First I have ever seen of this in him.
Jacob will be missed so much, for the rest of our lives. I cannot imagine this pain ever going away. I pray continually for my cousin & her family...as well as her sister & parents. They are a very small, very close family & we love them so much.

Cathing up!

It is a beautiful day in Fairbanks! The sun feels so good coming through the dining room window and warming us as we do our studies this morning. It is -4F this morning, but the sun is shining and the coffee (and Katie's cocoa) is hot! We have about 4 or 5 inches of snow on the ground, but it hasn't snowed for a few days now. I think it is expected tomorrow though.

It's been a fairly crazy fall. Trying to figure out a schedule and curriculum that works for Katie's home school....plus construction projects...plus Rob going away to work in the village of Naknek a few times all ready this fall. We also have gotten a lot of construction & home improvement jobs done this fall as well. Now though in November, we are trying to iron out all the kinks in our first year homeschooling our daughter Katlynn. Who by the way just lost her first tooth last night! She is working on her Handwriting right now and we will be leaving for her horse back riding lessons in about 20 minutes. Our schedule is pretty busy on Mondays & Tuesdays always.
Katie has eight clear subjects at this point and I am working on getting her work samples together and turned in to our contact teacher at IDEA by Thursday. This requires a sample of each subject she is doing this 1st semester, besides her Bible Studies which are not counted by the state, but still included in her home school schedule.
Her Subjects:
1.)Bible Studies
2.)Social Studies/History & Geography
3.)Language Arts (Reading, writing, phonics)
4.)Science
5.)P.E./ Health (Horseback riding, swimming, skiing...etc)
6.)Music (soon Guitar, but currently just a history of)
7.)Art
8.) Auditory/Speech (Required by her IEP)

So...back to it. This is great for tracking progress and keeping her schedule.
I really need to organize this part of our lives first!:)

God Bless!

Flight to Naknek, Alaska... to see Daddy!

I'm playing a little catch up here...as usual.
On July 5th the kids, Zion (Trapper's service dog) & myself boarded a plane @ noon for Naknek, Alaska. Rob is working there this summer for a community Health Center. The worst part of the entire trip was going through security. It was horrid. I was great with loading all six big bags (mostly food & supplies for Rob) onto a luggage cart, throwing Trapper's umbrella stroller onto the stack...then I had Trapper geared up & tethered to Zion & Katie carried her backpack & stayed beside me (most of the time). We got stares from all in the lines next to us, but really I don't care. We have every right to fly & what people don't get is that we are flying inside Alaska, so baggage allowence is still three per person with no charge. So glare all you want...I was actually three bags short of my allowed baggage.;)
So check-in was fine & we hurried to the elevator expecting security to be a hassel. Well, I so underestimated what a kaiotic experience it would be. I warned the security personell that as soon as I untethered my son from his Service dog he most likely would try to run. So I juggled shoes off all three of us, vest & sweaters off the kids (it's Alaska & even in July sometimes we need sweaters on our kids). Then took laptop & camera out of my carry on, folded down the stroller to be run through. Told Katie to go through first, then took all Zions gear off (too much metal) & held Trapper screaming on one side of me & a very upset/excited Zion on the other. Zion is trained in behavious disruption. So when Trapper is upset Zion will either nuzzle or even lay accross his lap or body. I wasn't allowing this...plus when Zion's gear comes off he pretty much goes out of "working mode". It can be hard to settle him down. I am sure this will change as he gets older, but right now he is still a young dog. So They wanted Trapper to go through first. I let go of him & he bolted the opposite direction. Down the stairs, screaming & giggling the entire time. Well I couldn't let go of Zion because he was ready to "get his boy". He will chase & even pin him down when he runs. Although this has already saved Trapper from getting hit by a car, I didn't want him chasing Trapper down stairs. The woman securiity & other ten security agents standing there alll looked puzzled...even though I just told them this would happen! Well one asked, "what can we do?" I said "catch that kid!" So one tall lankey guy with large strides ran to get him. He snatched him up with one arm & sprinted back. This infurated my son. He was screaming bloody murder. One security lady said they were not supposed to touch, pick-up, or handle anyone going through security. I looked at her a little puzzeled and then told the tall lankey agent thank you so so much, he may have just saved my kids life. Trapper was heading to the Auto opening doors on the first level before he was caught. I asked if next time they could just wand the dog, like I asked for in the beginning. I never got an answer really, they all just started laughing. It was quit the scene...let me tell you. We made it onto the plane just before they shut the doors. I was dripping in sweat & totally wiped out from the whole ordeal. Unlike the last flight with Zion where a man in First class complained about my son's sounds & crying...this time a woman in first class handed us her water & her husbands & helped us with our carry on and even helped Katie with her seat belt! She was an angel!
The rest of the flight was great & our three hour lay over in Anchorage wasn't bad at all, neither was the last leg of our flight to King Salmon. We were ahead of schedule & waited about ten minutes before Rob showed up to get us @ the airport.
It was so great to see him!

Progress in Fairbanks...

I have to say that not only have we seen a great amount of progress in Trapper, we also feel a little more rooted here in Fairbanks. The remodeling stuff helped make the home we are in a little more ours...but really meeting a couple of the neighbors & finding out about more & more opportunities for both Katie & Trapper have really added to my love for the place we now call home.
We do miss Skagway a lot, but hope to visit & maybe move back some day. It will be a long way off, but always a thought. We miss our church family & friends in the community. Our daughter, Katie still asks when we are going back to our home in the little green house. She had good friends there & it hasn't been a great start here with the class room sizes @ the public school she attend...as well as her choice in friends. She picked a very mean hearted, "diva" girl for her first friend. She learned all kinds of back-talk. She started saying, "whatever", "o-no you did'nt" and even brought home a couple foul words...so we feel pretty good about our decision to home school Katie this year for 1st grade. Trapper is in a really good school class room, with teachers & aid that love Trapper & report on every tiny thing he does...I love this! I had asked at Katie's IEP meetings for this, but it was too much for her 1st teacher there & never done by the second. The teachers were not bad teachers, both were loving & great fun...but they had at minimum 26 children in each class room. How would they ever be able to give 1:1 for any of these kids.
In Skagway, Katie was one of four children in her class. Her teacher was awesome and very focused on each child's learning styles & needs. When we moved it was hardest on Katie. She was thrown to the sharks. So we hope to back paddle & get her excited about learning & all the things she can participate in as a home schooled student. We had her interview today from a place called IDEA. I was able to ask all my questions & really am thankful for the opportunity to do so. Over the last two weeks Katie has been at two different day camps. Most of the parents I met were home schooling their child or children. It just seems this is the way God was pointing us...we are very anxious to get started. Tomorrow I am going to go down to the center (they have a classroom or meeting area here in Fairbanks & teachers for us to call if we need help)...I have already found the curriculum I like, but should still see what Katie's teacher contact thinks too.
Also...huge news! Trapper had his speech evaluation yesterday @ Talk About, Inc. He will being external speech therapy soon! Yay! This is why we moved here!;) Trapper is in a ESY summer Autism program @ Joy Elementary school this summer for five weeks. He is actually doing pretty good...except that he has picked up some screaming stem...working on stopping it before it gets really bad. He leaves on the bus each day & I have been picking him up for OT, PT & SPLT every day this week.
It will be wonderful to see Rob again in a few days!

Good Night & God Bless!
~Jami

More Home School in Alaska...

Also...some educational & fun places & programs:

1. Anchorage Museum of History and Art
   
   • At the Rasmuson Center. A world-class museum which seeks to preserve, exhibit and interpret the art and history of Alaska and the circumpolar North. 121 W. 7th Ave; Anchorage, AK 99501. http://www.anchoragemuseum.org/
2. The Imaginarium
   
   • Alaska's only hands-on Science Discovery Center, is designed as a place where people can have fun learning about science by actually doing science. Located in downtown Anchorage. 737 West 5th Avenue #G, Anchorage, (907) 276-3179 http://www.imaginarium.org/

   • Home School Programs ~The Imaginarium recognizes that home-school families have specific needs, so whether you're interested in membership, student workshops, or family learning programs, we offer a program for you. Our classes are offered on Wednesdays from October through May. Family participation is encouraged.

     1. Science Workshops ~Workshops are 45 minutes of interactive and exciting discovery for students. Limited to 25 students.
     1. Family Learning Labs~Two hours of hands-on family science. Parental participation is required; limited to 15 students. Camp Habitat Summer Camps
     2. Nature Education & Ecology Camps for Youth at Creamer's Migratory Waterfowl Refuge on College Road in Fairbanks, Alaska
3. Camp Habitat Summer Camps

   Nature Education & Ecology Camps for Youth at Creamer's Migratory Waterfowl Refuge on College Road in Fairbanks, Alaska

• Day Camp Programs (Ages 6-11) Full-day programs, 9am - 4pm Young people learn about the natural history of Interior Alaska through a engaging activities, games, hikes, projects and guest speakers. Youth explore the natural world through themes such as plants, animals, birds, fish, habitats, & people and the environment.

• Water Striders (Ages 8-9): This group is based at Creamer's Field the entire week with one campout.

• Refuge Adventurers (Ages 10-11): This group is based at Creamer's Field the entire week with one campout.

• Nature Detectives (Ages 6-7): This group is based at Creamer's Field the entire week with no campout.

Kayak Education

I have been researching home school programs & organizations, businesses & community based programs here in Alaska that would help our daughter Katie not only enjoy being home schooled, but also get even more opportunities for hands on learning of some really cool activities. Being in Alaska and an outdoor lov'in mama...naturally I want my daughter to grow up strong & confident that she can do all sorts of awesome things for hobbies or for life.
The first place I found was a site called
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/trips/AlaskaTrips.htm

...and the first program listed under "ALASKA" was Alaska Kayak Academy
"A day program for home school families in Alaska. We run the program at an indoor water park in Anchorage. (907) 746-6600."

I checked out the site & found a great trip for families with children under eight on a self-guided Kayak adventure. This is down in Wasilla area, but would be a great activity to plan for to introduce Katie & her brother to Kayaking. Once over the age of 10 there are several winter & summer classes, trip, & safety training for children through out Alaska.

That ofcourse gets mom excited about oppertunities for Katie to experience life & the outdoors in a whole new way.

I'm searching for more oppertunities & will post them as I find them.
If you know of any great oppertunities for children home school or not here in Alaska, please share.

Home school...finding the right curriculum for Katie...

Well, we have decided to home school our daughter Katie for the 1st grade. I have been searching for a program that I feel would not only be engaging, but fun for Katie to learn & for my husband & myself to teach.
I've spent the last two days searching out curriculum & believe I found the perfect one. It by Sonlight. www.sonlight.com

Please tell me what you think?