Review: Time Timer

Most of the books I've ever read about ADHD, SPD, and Autism suggest that timers can help kiddos make smoother transitions. We started using one about a year ago, and for us, at least, that seems to be true.We use timers all day here, during school, to monitor screen time, and for things like minutes until bath time.

We were recently sent a 3" Time Timer to review, which retails for $30 from the Time Timer website. The timers are also available in 8" and 12" size for classroom and group use, ($35 and $40 respectively,) and the company additionally sells Time Timer computer software for $24, and has an app available via iTunes for $1.99. 

The timer we received requires one AA battery.

Time Timer.

The Time Timer essentially works like any other, with the addition of a red film that acts as a visual cue, getting smaller as time passes. This means that even children who can't yet tell time, (like 3 year old V,) can monitor it using relative terms. ("I have a little time left." or "I have lots of time left.")

We've been using this timer daily since receiving it. It's easy to use, and lightweight enough to throw in a purse or backpack for use outside the home. (Minutes at the park, the swimming pool, etc.) Although L can read the numbers on a regular timer, he seems to benefit from being able to see time visibly passing. It feels less arbitrary to him, I think.

I do wish the "ding" was a little louder. We have a pretty noisy crew around here, (kids and dogs,) and at times I found myself straining to hear the timer go off when there was lots of background noise.

Based on my own observations, I'd particularly recommend this product to families with special needs, or young children who can't yet tell time. I'm really glad we got to check it out.

Head over to the Homeschool Crew blog to find out what other homeschooling families thought of this product.






Disclosure: I received a Time Timer in order to facilitate this review. No other compensation was provided, and the opinions expressed here are my own.

Be the Fun Mom Occasionally

When we decided to homeschool, way back before L was even born, I had lots of ideas about what I thought homeschooling would look like. I had visions of us working on fun projects, spending long hours snuggling and reading books, and having time, always enough time.

Real life looks quite a bit different, most days. L's limited attention span, and very small set of intense interests means that we read for short bursts here and there, and it's sometimes hard to draw him into projects that aren't related to Pokemon. Time is always at a premium. With a busy preschooler literally hanging on me all day, a husband that works lots of hours, on an irregular schedule, there never seems to be enough time.

We've found homeschool curriculum that we like. It covers all the bases, and  it's generally enjoyable, but it doesn't look much like those days I imagined.

Several weeks ago, we started off a typical school day on the wrong foot. L couldn't settle down, couldn't stop talking about Pokemon. Typically, I would have had two choices, press on anyway, and end up with everyone cross, and a sub par effort from L, or blow it off, and call a holiday.

I suddenly had a little mental breakthrough, though. We pulled out dozens of cans of play doh, and built Pokemon habitats.

Play Doh Pokemon habitats.

(For those of you who don't eat, sleep, and breathe Pokemon, I should explain that each Pokemon has a "type," which dictates the kind of attacks they're capable of, and oftentimes where they live. A fire type Pokemon will have fiery attacks, and might live near a volcano, etc.) 

Charmander, in his natural habitat.

After talking about what would happen if  Pokemon no longer had access to their appropriate habitats, we were able to branch out, and discuss real animal habitats, and the effects of pollution, deforestation, melting icebergs, and so on.

It was a stretch, and it certainly wasn't on the lesson plan, but it was learning. He had a blast, and he thoughtfully participated in the discussion. He's retained the information, too.

It's not possible or practical to try to relate every lesson to Pokemon, but I was reminded that part of the reason we homeschool is so that we can be flexible and have fun.

Whether we homeschool or not, it's awfully easy to get hung up on the "have tos," and miss out on the fun stuff. Don't forget to be the fun mom occasionally, whether it's on the schedule or not. (I may have to tattoo that on my forehead...)

Reflections on Kindergarten

Well, here we are, at the end of our kindergarten year.

Our plan was to sort of hang loose this year, try to figure out what works for us, in terms of schedule and curriculum, and basically just try to have fun. You're only five years old once. 

I think we've succeeded in general. We're going to be schooling year round, so that opens us up to being pretty flexible (with regards to scheduling,) next year. My husband and I are discussing the possibility of schooling four days a week. I've found curriculum (Heart of Dakota) that I think is going to be a good fit for us. L likes it, and it's totally do-able for me.

We had set one hard and fast goal for L this year, and that was to have him reading fluently by the end of the year. I'm happy to say that we've met our goal. As nearly as I can tell without formally testing him, I think he's reading at about a second grade level, and is happily devouring Pokemon books. It's been a pleasure to watch him progress. Frankly it's been sort of a nice confidence booster for me, too, since it means we've managed to scale this first real hurdle together.

We've also managed to (mostly) stay the course this year in spite of several major illnesses and a few deaths in our family. I've realized that given certain ongoing situations, (chronic illness of loved ones, my husband's weird work schedule,)  we need to be sure that we're building lots of flexibility into our plans, so that we can be available without feeling  like we're neglecting school. (This is where the four day week may come in for us.)

We're going to be schooling during the summer, but we're going to hold off on the formal curriculum, and "unschool." I've written before about L's extremely narrow set of interests, which generally center around one or two topics, to the exclusion of everything else. He's recently made sort of a breakthrough, though. He's asking questions about random things, like how flies eyes work, and "what are mummies?" This is huge for me, and in order to encourage it, I'm going to let him lead us for the next couple of months.

So that's where we are right now. We've overcome a few bumps, and we're currently struggling with some others, but with God's help, I think we do this homeschool thing.

Thanks for sharing the journey with us.

On having a child with ADHD...

Allow me if I may to venture outside of my usual domain for a minute.

I keep reading articles/websites/tweets about the supposed over diagnoses and treatment of ADHD, particularly in little boys. The argument goes that little boys are supposed to be energetic, rowdy, full of life, and that parents, unable or unwilling to manage them, are quick to jump on the ADHD bandwagon, and eager to medicate,  in order to bring their boys under control.
I have no doubt that children are wrongly diagnosed with ADHD, as people of all ages are regularly misdiagnosed with all sorts of things. ADHD symptoms can also be attributed to any number of other issues, and ADHD often appears co morbidly with issues like ASD, or SPD. It's complicated. I'm no doctor.
I have to say though, that I resent the tone of these statements.
My son has ADHD. He's not merely an energetic, lively little boy, and I'm not taking the lazy way out, medicating him into submission so I can have more energy for watching talk shows and eating bon bons.
Before seeking treatment for my son, he was virtually unable to carry on sustained play, unable to carry on a normal conversation. Words and activity seemed to come exploding out of him, like water from a fire hose. He was helpless to control it, even if he wanted to.
After waiting several years for him to outgrow some of his issues, a period in which things got worse instead of better, we finally resigned ourselves to the idea that something was really going on. We had him evaluated, and found that among other things, he has ADHD. After discussing treatment options,we consented to trying him on a low dose of medication, and were frankly amazed when he showed an almost unbelievable level of improvement.
Contrary to what what these articles would imply, he's not a little zombie, vegging out in front of the tube, drinking soda and eating ding dongs. He's still an incredibly active little boy.
The fire hose is more like a water hose now. Manageable.
He's able to play now, able to listen, able to learn, able to take advantage of all the God given smarts he already had, but wasn't able to access before. Now other people are able to see what we already knew: how funny, and smart, and sweet he is.
I hope that some day he'll be able to discontinue the use of his medication. It has known, and probably unknown side effects, it's expensive, it carries a stigma. My hope is that as he grows older, he may be able to learn some behavioral strategies to help him be able to overcome his challenges. This may or may not actually be realistic.
Until then, we'll keep doing what we think is the best thing for our son, in a world that isn't willing to accommodate the differently abled, and yet is full of suggestions about how we should parent them. (How many times have I heard that "what he really needs is a spanking," or "what he really needs as an organic, GFCF diet," or "what he really needs is more time outside." And on and on. What he really needs is for his loving parents to do the best they can with the information, and medical advice that's available, depending on God for the rest. And that's what he's going to get.)

By the way, if you're wondering what inspired this post, it was this article at the Huffington Post, and this flippant Tweet by the National Wildlife Federation, (whose Tweets I usually enjoy.) There have been many others along this same vein.