N is for Noah

School went much smoother this week.  I was more organized and I had taken a look at week one and was able to find ways to tweak our schedule.  I think by week four or five we will be right on task.  Our theme for the week was Noah and his Ark.  We learned about the letter "N", the number one, and the color orange.  Our memory verse was : "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Genesis 6:8  The big discussion of the week was that just like Noah, we need to listen to what God tells us, no matter how crazy we think it may be.

 On Wednesdays the kids have a friend over who is doing the same home school plan.  We will call her "Princess".  This weeks sensory bin was a water bin with Noah's Ark.  We used the Ark and animals to act out the story.  I started and then prompted the kids to finish the story on their own.  They did an awesome job and had obviously listening been listening to the story when we had been teaching it to them because they were able to tell the story without my help.  I then let the kids have a little free play together in the water. 

And unlike in the Bible....our Ark sank.  :-)

After I cleaned up our wet mess from the water bin, I pulled out the bin from last week.  We didn't get a chance to use it last week because we ran out of time, and I thought the kids would really like it...and they did.  Last week we learned about insects.  I made a small bin filled with Decaffeinated coffee, plastic bugs and spoons and small cups.  The kids loved it!  It took alot to get them away from the bin when our time was up!  Although the kids enjoyed this activity, and it was a great sensory activity (the soft but gritty coffee grounds and strong fragrant smell), it was VERY messy and had the potential for some big stains on clothing.  (Next time, I think we will be sure to have old clothing on!)  I'm glad Peanut was wearing darker colors.  Sassy was wearing Khakis and although they looked like they may be ruined, all of the staining came out in the wash without any extra work.

They seem to love coffee almost as much as I do!

This week's fine motor activity we called "nickels".  I chose to use nickels because they began with the letter, "N" so it was an additional way include some phonic in our lesson.  I took a small shoe box for each child, and put a small slit in the lid.  The kids each got a handful of nickels (place flat on the table).  They then had to take the nickels, one at a time, and put them in the box.  This was a great fine motor activity!  It's not easy using your index finger and thumb to pick a coin up off a smooth table.

 

Peanut has an issue with a right sided neglect (he ignores/avoids using his right side).  He performs activities better with his right side, but prefers to use his left, which is actually more difficult for him.  He tries to use his left hand to write and cut but I suspect he is truly right handed.  When doing the nickel activity I instructed him to use his right hand to pick up the nickels.  After this activity was done, we moved on to cutting.

This picture is a little blurry, but which hand is her using???  His right hand!  I handed him the scissors and allowed him to chose the side.  He then took the scissors and cut out his memory verse 100% independently!  This is the first time he has ever been able to do this!  The picture is probably blurry, because I'm quietly crying as I'm taking the picture!  Once their memory verses were cut out and taped, we moved on to another cutting activity from "Lets Learn to Cut."  Again, I let Peanut pick which hand to hold the scissors.  This time he insisted on using his left and had much more difficulty.  I think we are going to start to encourage more right hand usage!  I have now begun to research this issue.  We can't be the only family out there seeing this type of issue.  I have found some answers, and will share what we have found as soon as I can understand it all.

Both children have some visual perception issues, although Peanuts is much more apparent, so I try to include upright activities with the easel every week.  This week we painted out number ones with orange paint.  The kids had alot of fun with this.  I think we'll make this a weekly activity.

I had found a Noah Ark activity on First School that turned out really cute and the kids like doing it.  It kept their attention for a good 45 minutes!  We used Q-tips to paint the rainbow and the ark.  I cut all of the construction paper pieces out before hand and helped the kids glue them on.  Using the Q-tips was another nice fine motor activity.  It also encouraged the kids to use a tripod grasp to help with begining to write.

Last week was busy but went very well.  I was able to get great progress with peanut and his ABA goals, and actually got some data graphed too!   I'm finding it's still going to take a while to fall into our new schedule so everything can get done.  I feel we are doing the right thing for our kids.  They are getting what they need.  This is just yet another confirmation for me that if you follow Gods guidance he will bring you in the right direction.

'"but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;
   they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Isaiah 40:31

God Bless!

Mommy Provost