What Matters Most
8 years ago
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Jordan, Tony, and Duchis' Musical Missions
Today, Jordan, Tony and Duchis had musical missions for the second time. It lasted 2 hours! They used the magic carpet to go to different countries. They used the cards with landscapes to decide where to go. They created a map to establish the route to follow. First, Jordan made the map, but then Tony made the second map. In the different coutries, they have different things to do. Duchis' dolls came in teh adventures this time, since she was into dolls today. In one adventure, Tony ended up dressed like Cinderella and Duch was dressed like a knight! In another adventure, they went to a ball. Jordan ended up dressed like Alice in Wonderland. I took these pictures at the very end. Tony and Duch looked tired, but the whole 2 hours were completely peaceful and wiht total engagement!!!! Keep visualizing with the visualization posters, ladies! :) And keep showing the kids, how much fun friends are! :)
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Molly and Megan's first sessions
This week Molly and Megan had their first sessions with the kids. They got feedback and Megan got to see her video, too. Great start! The kids were excited and were open to new friends! Welcome to the team!
Monday, September 5, 2011
Summary of Group Meeting - August 28th 2011
Here is the summary! Let me know if you have any questions! Thanks!
LIAM
1. “WHERE?” + “FIND” ---- Liam’s speech therapist, Jeannie, is working on “WHERE?” on Thursdays. She has this great cards that he loves and he asks her for cards using “where is …?”. Here are some ideas of how to help him to use more “where?” at home. He has used it in the past, so it is a matter of showing him how helpful it can be.
a. Play “hide and find” games. Hide things that he is motivated for, but that he is not too attached to. Hide them in the room, in the tent, in the ball pit, etc, etc.
b. You could hide snacks and then he has to find them.
c. Bring some cups/glasses to the room and hide things under the cups like the magicians do. First show him how the game works and then invite him to guess where things are.
d. Play “I Spy” with him since he loves those books and games. Plus, he just got an I Spy mat puzzle where you can also find things using “WHERE” and “FIND”.
e. Get “find and seek” sheets from Sam’s. Combine them with Bingo dots and flashlights.
2. “YES” and “NO” ---- We keep working on yes/no. We are getting there!!! It is a matter of persistence and consistency. Here are some ideas:
a. When you ask Liam questions, DON’T end the question with a noun. So, if you have applesauce or a snack in your hands, you can say “Do you want ….?” (pointing to the applesauce), but don’t say the word. He can say “YES”, “NO” or “applesauce”. If he says “applesauce”, you say “YES, applesauce”!
b. The sentence Shelby has been using to not use the NOUN is: “Is this what you want?”
c. I had a great time the other day playing this game with Liam. He wanted me to draw. So, he said: “draw an airplane.” I had some animal puzzle pieces there, so I would say: “What about a dog?, let’s draw a dog”. Liam: “NO dog”. Mom: “What about a fox?, let’s draw a fox”. Liam: “NO fox”. Mom: “So, should I draw this?” (pointing to the airplane in the book). Liam: “yes, airplane”. We did it many times. He was HIGHLY motivated by the drawing and would tell me no to the puzzle pieces and yes to the pictures he wanted from the book.
d. If you are using the light buttons, make sure you vary the questions so that Liam does not get used to answer only YES or only NO.
e. We made some glasses with YES and NO cards on top. With a YES glass, you can say: “YES, I love to sing” and start singing. Do fun stuff with the YES glasses. And then, with NO glasses, stop and do nothing. Keep showing him the differences between the YES and NO glasses.
f. In addition to “do you want …?” remember to use variations like “should we …?” or “should I …?
g. Make a game of things you know Liam DOES NOT like, so that he gets to answer NO. For example: “Do you want me to hang you from your toes?” Do you want me to scream as loud as I can?” “Should we wear more clothes on?” “Should I brush your hair more?” “Should we read this book about princesses?”
3. Tip-toeing ----- I will send you again the old and new videos for Liam’s feet. Please remember to do the foot exercises in your sessions. This is also a matter of consistency and persistence. Other ideas from Cara for helping his feet, which can be added to the obstacle courses:
a. Crab walk
b. Penguin walk
c. Walking backwards
d. Animal walk (except bear walk)
e. These animal walks could be combined with the animal cards and animal sounds games.
4. Obstacle courses: Keep using prepositions like: over, under, through, around, etc. At some point ask him what to do first, second, etc. We could use pictures, if we have taken pictures of steps of obstacle courses, or drawings, or words to give him choices for obstacle course steps.
5. Emotions, things we love --- Here are some ideas to show Liam more sentences about emotions and more adjectives about his favorite hugs/kisses/tickles games:
a. Keep telling Liam (and Dusya) sentences like: “I love playing ….”, “This is so much fun”, “This is great”, “This is silly”.
b. Introduce adjectives for the kisses, hugs, and tickles, like “I love crazy kisses”, “I love long hugs”, etc, etc. I, for example, types some sentences like this and cut them and put them in a bag and he had to pick a piece of paper and we would do whatever the paper said.
DUCHIS
1. If you see a chance to play a game with Tony and Duchis about something that BOTH love, like LEGOS, start playing and see if they both come to join you.
2. Duals in the playroom with 2 adults --- When the opportunity is there, we can play 2 adults with Duch so that we keep modeling her being a friend and things like: empathy, sharing, imitation (simon says, follow the leader, action songs). Even when you are alone with her in the room, keep creating play scenarios where she gets to learn things like:
a. “How are you?”
b. “What did you do today?”
c. ___ looks excited. ____ looks sad.
d. A friend gets hurt
e. A friend does not want to share a toy
f. A friend is confused
g. “Are you ok?”
h. “Can I help you?”
i. Show her to pay attention to another person and how to talk with another person in these situations.
j. The other day, I typed in pieces of paper different scenarios of things that happen to friends, like “my friend has a fever” or “my friend’s toy broke” and we got to play puppet shows of the scenarios with her toys. I had the pieces of paper in a bag and she was very motivated to give me papers so that I would recreate the next scenario.
3. Conversations ---- Talk with Duch about experiences she has had, like the movies or the bookstore. Use sentences like “Tell me about story time at the bookstore”, or “Tell me about the Smurfs movie”, “what is your favorite part?” “Tell me more”. Use her favorite topics so that she is highly motivated. Inspire her engage in conversations.
4. Pronouns ---- Cara taught us the trick of using our hand and point to ourselves, when we say “Me/I/My” and pointing to her (Duch), when we say “You/Your” and pointing to somebody else when we say “he/his”. Keep pairing names and pronouns so that she gets more used to use pronouns. It is a matter of modeling a lot and she will start doing it more.
LIAM
1. “WHERE?” + “FIND” ---- Liam’s speech therapist, Jeannie, is working on “WHERE?” on Thursdays. She has this great cards that he loves and he asks her for cards using “where is …?”. Here are some ideas of how to help him to use more “where?” at home. He has used it in the past, so it is a matter of showing him how helpful it can be.
a. Play “hide and find” games. Hide things that he is motivated for, but that he is not too attached to. Hide them in the room, in the tent, in the ball pit, etc, etc.
b. You could hide snacks and then he has to find them.
c. Bring some cups/glasses to the room and hide things under the cups like the magicians do. First show him how the game works and then invite him to guess where things are.
d. Play “I Spy” with him since he loves those books and games. Plus, he just got an I Spy mat puzzle where you can also find things using “WHERE” and “FIND”.
e. Get “find and seek” sheets from Sam’s. Combine them with Bingo dots and flashlights.
2. “YES” and “NO” ---- We keep working on yes/no. We are getting there!!! It is a matter of persistence and consistency. Here are some ideas:
a. When you ask Liam questions, DON’T end the question with a noun. So, if you have applesauce or a snack in your hands, you can say “Do you want ….?” (pointing to the applesauce), but don’t say the word. He can say “YES”, “NO” or “applesauce”. If he says “applesauce”, you say “YES, applesauce”!
b. The sentence Shelby has been using to not use the NOUN is: “Is this what you want?”
c. I had a great time the other day playing this game with Liam. He wanted me to draw. So, he said: “draw an airplane.” I had some animal puzzle pieces there, so I would say: “What about a dog?, let’s draw a dog”. Liam: “NO dog”. Mom: “What about a fox?, let’s draw a fox”. Liam: “NO fox”. Mom: “So, should I draw this?” (pointing to the airplane in the book). Liam: “yes, airplane”. We did it many times. He was HIGHLY motivated by the drawing and would tell me no to the puzzle pieces and yes to the pictures he wanted from the book.
d. If you are using the light buttons, make sure you vary the questions so that Liam does not get used to answer only YES or only NO.
e. We made some glasses with YES and NO cards on top. With a YES glass, you can say: “YES, I love to sing” and start singing. Do fun stuff with the YES glasses. And then, with NO glasses, stop and do nothing. Keep showing him the differences between the YES and NO glasses.
f. In addition to “do you want …?” remember to use variations like “should we …?” or “should I …?
g. Make a game of things you know Liam DOES NOT like, so that he gets to answer NO. For example: “Do you want me to hang you from your toes?” Do you want me to scream as loud as I can?” “Should we wear more clothes on?” “Should I brush your hair more?” “Should we read this book about princesses?”
3. Tip-toeing ----- I will send you again the old and new videos for Liam’s feet. Please remember to do the foot exercises in your sessions. This is also a matter of consistency and persistence. Other ideas from Cara for helping his feet, which can be added to the obstacle courses:
a. Crab walk
b. Penguin walk
c. Walking backwards
d. Animal walk (except bear walk)
e. These animal walks could be combined with the animal cards and animal sounds games.
4. Obstacle courses: Keep using prepositions like: over, under, through, around, etc. At some point ask him what to do first, second, etc. We could use pictures, if we have taken pictures of steps of obstacle courses, or drawings, or words to give him choices for obstacle course steps.
5. Emotions, things we love --- Here are some ideas to show Liam more sentences about emotions and more adjectives about his favorite hugs/kisses/tickles games:
a. Keep telling Liam (and Dusya) sentences like: “I love playing ….”, “This is so much fun”, “This is great”, “This is silly”.
b. Introduce adjectives for the kisses, hugs, and tickles, like “I love crazy kisses”, “I love long hugs”, etc, etc. I, for example, types some sentences like this and cut them and put them in a bag and he had to pick a piece of paper and we would do whatever the paper said.
DUCHIS
1. If you see a chance to play a game with Tony and Duchis about something that BOTH love, like LEGOS, start playing and see if they both come to join you.
2. Duals in the playroom with 2 adults --- When the opportunity is there, we can play 2 adults with Duch so that we keep modeling her being a friend and things like: empathy, sharing, imitation (simon says, follow the leader, action songs). Even when you are alone with her in the room, keep creating play scenarios where she gets to learn things like:
a. “How are you?”
b. “What did you do today?”
c. ___ looks excited. ____ looks sad.
d. A friend gets hurt
e. A friend does not want to share a toy
f. A friend is confused
g. “Are you ok?”
h. “Can I help you?”
i. Show her to pay attention to another person and how to talk with another person in these situations.
j. The other day, I typed in pieces of paper different scenarios of things that happen to friends, like “my friend has a fever” or “my friend’s toy broke” and we got to play puppet shows of the scenarios with her toys. I had the pieces of paper in a bag and she was very motivated to give me papers so that I would recreate the next scenario.
3. Conversations ---- Talk with Duch about experiences she has had, like the movies or the bookstore. Use sentences like “Tell me about story time at the bookstore”, or “Tell me about the Smurfs movie”, “what is your favorite part?” “Tell me more”. Use her favorite topics so that she is highly motivated. Inspire her engage in conversations.
4. Pronouns ---- Cara taught us the trick of using our hand and point to ourselves, when we say “Me/I/My” and pointing to her (Duch), when we say “You/Your” and pointing to somebody else when we say “he/his”. Keep pairing names and pronouns so that she gets more used to use pronouns. It is a matter of modeling a lot and she will start doing it more.
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