Weekly Wrap-up: Our school space

I had mentioned a while back that we were going to renovate the sensory room and turn it into a school room. Well, that is still on out "to do" list but for now had been put on hold until we can save up a little bit of money to pay for it.  (Maybe next summer??)  In the meantime I still needed (I should say wanted) a space that was dedicated solely for school.  My dining room was being over taken with school things and I was quickly loosing my organization.  I dedicated a couple of nights to cleaning and organizing and I managed to put together a nice school area for the kids.  Boy do they LOVE it!

This is what you first see when you walk into the room.  This is our "work table" where the kids and I sit to do their work.  We pray, say the Pledge of Allegiance, review the calender, the weather and what we are learning for the week (letter, number, bible concept, character trait etc).  After we finish with this we go to our "daily's" which is a traceable calender sheet, a tally sheet to track how many days of school we have had each month, a count down sheet to the 100th day of school, and a chart tracking the weather on school days.  Then we move on to our workboxes.

Our workbox system is pretty simple right now.  Once the kids move in to elementary level work I'm sure it will get more complicated, but for now simple is good.  Each child has 5 workboxes (pink, orange  green, blue, and purple).  There are stickers on the boxes with their names as well.  In each box they have one assignment or small project to complete.  Once they are done they put their complete work in the basket on the top which is our "all done basket".   I LOVE this system!  It not only keeps things organized and on track, but it also gives the kids a break where they can get up and move around a little!  After all of our workboxes are done we move on to station.

I created small stations for activities throughout the room to focus on particular skills.  I have 4 stations.  They are reading, table (fine motor), easel, and puzzles.  The reading station has books with flip open flaps and fun pictures.  We also have books that have been read during previous weeks.  This is one of Sassy's favorite stations.  She is definitely a book girl!

Then we have a small table with a fine motor activity or a fun sensory activity.  The kids love coming over to see what new activity is at the table.  I leave the activity there for the week for them to enjoy.

Next is easel.  One side is a white board with dry erase crayons (one of my favorites!) and the other side has a chalkboard with chalk.

And finally we have the puzzle station.  I have a mat on the floor for them to lay on, but Peanut of course has it all floded up so he can hang off it a little!  I rotate the puzzles daily and I change them up from simple puzzles (like the one in the picture) to complex 3-D puzzles.

The kids pick their stations and go off on their own for the most part.  I go from one child to the other working with them on what they are doing.  At times the other child may get interested in what mommy is helping with and may come over to participate.  Suddenly our independent stations turn into a group activity (which I love!) and we have fun together!

So that is our school room for Kindergarten!

Where I'm linking up this week:

Homemade Chicken Soup (AKA: Stuffy Nose Soup)

This morning Sassy awoke with the sneezy sniffles.  She was doing well holding her own for a good part of the day, but by 3:00 she was ready for a nap and was pretty miserable.  As soon as we got home I settled her into the couch with a warm blanket, a "lovie" (a stuffed animal she is in love with...we have many) and popped in a movie so she could relax a while.  Peanut seemed happy to join her so I went into the kitchen to get started on some homemade soup.  

My absolute FAVORITE pot!!

I love soups!  You can put anything you want into them and they are warm and comforting on a nice fall day (like today).  I always have homemade stock in the freezer and I had just gone out and bought a months worth of meat so I had plenty of chicken on hand.  (When I make stock I  Next is vegetables.  I like to use the carrots, peas, onion, celery and if I have it, a handful of kale.  I also will add in garlic, salt and pepper and you're done!  I sometimes I'll add in a gluten free pasta or rice, but I didn't want the yummy healthy goodness of my stock to get soaked up.  Sassy can be pretty picky when it comes to food.  She calls this soup "Stuffy Nose Soup" and will usually pick out the carrots and chicken and will sip on the broth.  

Homemade is the ONLY way to go, especially when it comes to a healing bowl of chicken soup!  Making your own stock has many health benefits and is healing to the body. See:  "Why Broth is Beautiful": Weston Price Foundation.  The vegetables all have wonderful health benefits as well.  You can't go wrong! When someone recommends soup for illness they are not wrong! The problem is you can't get these healing benefits from a can. Click HERE for my recipe for making your own stock.

Stuffy Nose Soup

• 3 cups of homemade organic chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
• 2 cups of filtered water
• 1-1/2 Ibs of raw organic chicken (omit if you want a veggie soup)
• 3 organic carrots
• 1 organic onion
• 3 stalks of organic celery
• 1/2 cup of frozen green peas
• 1/2 cup organic kale
• 1 clove of garlic
• Salt and pepper

1. If your broth/stock is frozen, place the jars in a bowl of hot water to begin to defrost.
2. Roughly cop the carrots, onion, celery and kale.
3. Crush and finely chop the garlic as small as possible (the last thing you want to do is take a ite of your soup and get a big chunk of garlic!)
4. Cut up the raw chicken into small bite sized pieces.
5. Add all of the ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil.  (The stock should now be defrosted enough to slide out of the jar and will melt in the pot.)
6. Boil until the chicken in cooked through and the vegetables are soft. (Approx 30 minutes)
7. Salt and Pepper to taste.
8. Enjoy!

Bon Appetite!!

Have you ever have one of those days???

Have you ever had one of those days when you wake up late and you are then chronically behind for the rest of the day, doomed to be late for any and all appointments for that entire day?

Have you ever had one of those days when your 5 year old is just as defiant as defiant can be and refuses to do anything you want them to do?

Have you ever had one of those days when not one but BOTH children manage to pee through a diaper in public and are suddenly soaked into their shoes?

Have you ever had one of those days when no matter what you do it seems there is more to be done?

Have you ever had one of those days when you are in a store and look at something for a fraction of a second and your toddler is gone?  You find him quickly, but that momentary feeling of fear is enough to ruin anyone's day.

This was a small snip it of my day yesterday.  It wasn't the greatest day, actually I would venture to call it an all around BAD day.  Near the end of the day when I was driving home with my tired little ones I had a chance to stop and reflect back.   Now I had a choice, I could stew on all the things that caused me to believe I had a bad day and let this bad day pull me into a worse mood; or I could try to look on the brighter side. The way I see it, staying in a bad mood won't help a thing, but finding a happier disposition would definitely make it easier to deal with the situation. On the surface that seems like it could be a tall order but we are told, "in everything praise God."  ("give thanks in all circumstances, for this is Gods will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18)  So, I took a closer look.

Yes, I woke up late and was late all day, but I got enough sleep to survive the day and we DID get to every appointment (albeit late, but we made it).  PRAISE GOD!

Yes, my 5 year old wouldn't do a thing I asked him to do, but that's actually a good thing.  He has a developmental delay, and this is typical 4 and 5 year old behavior.  He's catching up!  Not only that, but there are many children out there who can't speak or express themselves at all, but my child CAN.  PRAISE GOD!

Yes, BOTH children pee'd through their outfits today but I had a change of clothing with me (for both of them), and they didn't pee on me!  PRAISE GOD!

Yes, today did seem like no matter how much I did there was still more to do, but (God willing) there is always tomorrow.  PRAISE GOD!

Yes, Peanut wandered away from me in a store, and it was scary, but I found him in less than 30 seconds safe and sound.  PRAISE GOD!

Suddenly I felt better.  No matter how bad it seemed yesterday, it could have been much worse.  No matter what comes our way we are to PRAISE GOD.  We may not understand it all, or why...but praise Him anyway because we know that He inhabits the praises of His people.  ("But you are holy, O you that inhabit the praises of Israel."  Psalm 22:3)   I don't know about you, but I would rather God be right by my side at all times, and so I will PRAISE HIM.

 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

-John 16:33

Never Forget...

One World Trade Center- 2012

Never Forget...

"I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."  

Lamentations 3:20-23

Sassy's first ballet class!!!!!

Some of you may know that we recently decided to sign Sassy up for a ballet class in lieu of music therapy (see "Waiting Room Blues" ).  Well, we signed her up and her first class was today!  The day after I signed her up I went out and bought her little ballet slippers.  Then I took her to a dance store and let her pick out an outfit (with a "tutu" of course!) and a dance bag.  She was SO excited, and so was I.  My little girl was going to start ballet!  Not any kind of therapy or behavior program, but a ballet class, with neurotypical children!!  I can't even begin to explain how BIG this is for us!

Showing off her new ballet outfit!

 I was able to get a sitter for Peanut so I could focus all of my attention on Sassy in her class.  All the way to the class Sassy and I  talked about how excited she was.  She couldn't wait to get inside and put on her ballet slippers. I dropped her off in the class and sat back and watched, saying a little prayer quietly in my head, asking that she doesn't melt down. (Although she is ready to loose her diagnosis, she still can be rigid at times and will meltdown if she isn't allowed to do what she feels "needs" to be done).  I purposely didn't inform anyone of her diagnosis.  If we want to loose her autism label, then we need to get used to not having it.  The class started well, and Sassy was doing a great job following instructions.

Stretching

warm-up

Time to lean some ballet moves!

What a good little ballerina!

Near the end, she began to loose interest and was the only little one jumping around and playing to keep herself entertained.  She definitely was the energetic one in the class but did fairly well.  When class was over, I expected she would come over to me excited and happy with the class....but she didn't.  What she said was, "I wanna go home and play with my friends now!"

I was shocked, and honestly a little disappointed.  When I asked why she explained she didn't feel it was fair that Peanut and her friends were at her house playing and she wanted to be there to play too. Well, I guess I can't complain about that, she WANTS to play with her friends!  So off we went back home to have a snack and finish playing.  When we got home her friends asked her if she had fun.  At first she hesitated, but eventually said yes, she did have fun.

I told Sassy we could practice some of the ballet positions she learned this week.  She said that she would like that and that she is going to try really hard to listen more to the teacher next class.  I'm glad she wants to go back and try again.  It didn't quite go the way I expected, but I would definitely consider this a success!!!

Fun with a Scooter Board

We try our best to carry over as many therapy activities over to our home as much as possible.  When I used to do Physical Therapy with adults we used to give our patients a "home program."  This was a group of stretches and exercises they needed to do at home to maintain and build strength for whatever their injury or issue was.  When we dove into the world of pediatric therapy I was surprised to see that no one got a home program!  An hour a week of exercise is not enough to build strength, so I took things into my own hands.  I think to maximize success, therapy should be a DAILY activity.  Pediatric therapy is basically fun play activities geared towards a specific function, so why couldn't I work it into our activities at home?  

One activity that Peanuts OT and PT do is use a scooter board.  I went online and found that scooter boards on average sell for about $20.00.  I ordered one and got to work.  I got a thin rope and tied it to a closet door at the end of our hall.  Then Peanut sat on the scooter board and used the rope to pull himself down the hall.

He loved it!  After he reached the end we had him lay on the scooter board on his stomach and crawl down to the beginning of the hall using his hands and arms.  These are a great fun upper body and core strengthening activity, not to mention lots of fun!

Want some more ideas for using a scooter board?  Check out these links!

Therapy Fun Zone

Super Duper Publications: Scooter Board Activities

SPD Connection

Waiting Room Blues

One thing I have been struggling with, especially lately, is what to do with my practically recovered child (Sassy) while my other child (Peanut) is in therapy. Peanut goes to the same place for OT, PT, and Speech therapy. Sassy used to also go to the same place, but as she improved in skill and behavior she was discharged from therapy. At first I was celebrating...until I realized my new problem. Peanut still had 3 therapies and now Sassy was "stuck" in a waiting room 3 hours a week when she knew very well what was behind the therapy room doors. (Multiple rooms filled with toys, swings, ball pits, trampolines, balls, you name it!) Don't get me wrong, the waiting room is filled with books and toys, but it's nothing compared to those therapy rooms.
When Sassy finished OT, it was a struggle. She wanted to go play in the ball pits. I brought bags of activities and games. When we got our iPad we started to bring that too. After a while she got used to the new routine and now rarely gives me a problem.

Trying to keep Sassy busy outside while Peanut does OT and Speech

Now my new hurdle: Peanut needs to continue group music therapy and Sassy doesn't. I think this is going to be harder for her. We've decided to sign her up for a ballet class to make up for it. She says waiting while Peanut is in music therapy is okay with her (as long as she gets to go to ballet). I hope she's right...but she's 3. Only time will tell over the next couple of weeks when music therapy starts up again, and Sassy cant go through that door with the other kids.
I feel bad for her, but at the same time so excited. Sassy no longer needs ANY therapy. THANKYOU God, one child is practically recovered! One down, one to go!