Great pictures from our July group meeting!

My family together in Guayaquil

So grateful for my family, so lucky ... feel the love

Reminders for the next two weeks

A few reminders before I go to Ecuador. Here they are:
1) In the next two weeks is super key for all of us to continue being super consistent with Duch and Liam across our sessions. For Duch, our goal is for her to decrease the whining and for Liam, our goal is for him to use long sentences all the time. Please keep in mind all the techniques that Megan explained to us for these two goals.

2) Please remember to do the exercises from Yulene, specially the exercises for Liam's feet and the lines with the vibrating pen for Duch. I am thinking this can be the year when Liam stops tip-toeing and when Duchis develops pressure in her hands so that she can write better. Let's be consistent with this and we can help them to do achieve these milestones.

3) Please remember to give the kids LOTS of water. They are in constant detoxying and water is VERY important for detoxying.

4) Keep innovating the games -- Duch. Today, for example, I played with Duch and I used the Puppet Show. I brought the backyardigans and I told her I was going to make a show about her two favorite stories from the Backyardigans' book: "Say Please" and "the Polka Palace." I found props in teh room to create teh story: a crown for Tasha, a horse-stick, a flower, a glass, a jewel, a pyramid, blue paper for water, instruments, cowboy hats, etc.  She LOVED the stories and she participated actively in the second one as part of the audience. Then, we read a Little Einstein story and also used the toys to make it come alive. I think it is great for her to see that her stories from teh books can be played out as a show. Imagine when we have some characters and she has some characters and we play the show together!

5) Keep innovating the games -- Liam. With Liam I had an obstacle course. He really likes to jump from the step-stair to the trampoline! At some point, he asked for a book with some food pictures, so I brought the food down and then it occurred to me I could play the "silly pizza" song-game. So, I had the big round flat pizza pieces and then started to use the plastic food to put silly ingredients on the pizza while I was singing. So, in a period of two hours we did obstacle course, silly pizza, dictionary book reading, and tickles. He laughs like CRAZY when you tickle his FEET!!!!

6) If you bring baby pop-corn for the kids to the room, please pick it up from the floor. It is very easy to pick up and that way we keep the room clean and avoid the kids eating from the floor. Also, please remember to pick up toys at teh end of the session so that the next person does not start with a room full of books or toys. And, teach the kids to clean the table before/after the kids eat, so that we avoid bacteria/germs around the eating areas.

7) Please also remember to write your notes while I am away. I LOVE to read the books when I come back from a trip!

8) Be present. Keep in mind the dance between playing, joining, and looking for green lights. When they look at us, we celebrate, and we show our game with lots of enthusiamsm; when they are exclusive, we join. When we play, we show them how fun is to have friends. When we join, we show them how much we respect them and love them. We never lose, we always get to be forces of love.

Enjoy these pictures from our days with Megan and Playtime around this house!

Some pictures of this summer

I haven't had time to update this blog much this summer. We have been busy with my trip to Berlin, Megan's outreach, summer classes, summer camps for Tony, and now my trip to Ecuador.  Here are some pictures to summarize a few of our last activities:

Tony had his last day of the school year

Tony and Daddy built a castle

We had fun at the beach with Jessie

We celebrated Kaffie's bday!

And also Daddy's bday!

The Wedding!

The news everybody is waiting for: Ashley got married and Duch did great at the wedding! She looked beautiful and enjoyed the wedding experience. Shelby will show us the official pictures of Duch, but for now, here are some unofficial pictures! Thanks to Ashley, Shelby and their family for including Duch in the BIG day! And thanks to Maddie for walking with Duch, and to Kelsey and Kaffie for helping her on the rehearsals and the actual day. And thanks to Jessie and Kristen for helping us on the day of the wedding with the 3 kids' logistics. I am telling you, "it takes a village ...."
The funny thing is Duch was playing with Zoe yesterday and I heard her saying "Let's get married" :)

Outreach Schedule with Megan (June 8-10)

Outreach Schedule with Megan (June 8-10, 2011)

Wednesday, June 8

9:00-11:30 Megan plays with Dusya (volunteers watch during that time).
11:30-12:00pm Q&A
12:00-1:00 LUNCH
1:00-2:00 Megan plays with Dusya (volunteers watch during that time)
2:00-2:45 pm Observe and Feedback to Jessie
2:45-3:30pm Observe and Feedback to Shelby
3:30-4:00pm Q&A about Feedback etc

Thursday, June 9

9:00-11:15 Megan plays with Liam (volunteers watch during that time).
11:15-11:45 Q&A
11:45-12:45pm LUNCH
12:45-2:00 Megan plays with Liam (volunteers watch during that time)
2:00-2:45pm Observe and Feedback to Kristen
2:45-3:30pm Observe and Feedback to Jessie
3:30-4:00pm Q&A about Feedback etc

Friday, June 10

9:00-12:00 Group Meeting
12:00-1:00 pm LUNCH
1:00-2:30 pm Megan and Tony play
2:30-4:00 pm Q&A/Suggestions for Tony

Summary of Group meeting (May 22, 2011)

Here are the notes of the consultation I had with Megan on May 22 and the group meeting we had that same day.

DUSYA

1. For Duchis the biggest change we are implementing is that the Sonrise Playroom is not anymore a 99% YES room. She has come SO far that not it is time to start showing that friends have their own opinion and that we can be friendly and easy-going but also we can show her how friends can have their own ideas. We are teaching her FRIENDSHIP SKILLLS now: think that you are all 5.5 year old to show Duchis how her friends her age will play with her. Here are more specifics about how to teach her friendship skills:
- The trick is to be friendly, easygoing, and to playfully tease her. We don't want it to be a struggle for her, or to be bosy or to provoke her purposely.
- When playing with her, you can show her that her friends will not always want to play Duchis' way by saying things like: "Duch, I don't want to play this way; I want to do it his way" or "I have an idea, let's do it my way this time. I will show you."
- If she says "NO NO NO NO", don't say "YES YES YES YES" because she does not like that at all, and that would be provoking her. If she tells you "NO NO ..." , you could say "why not?" or say "really?" or say "come on". The most important thing is the tone and the attitude. Be playful, be silly, be friendly. We want to be natural and fluid, like a friend, not like a teacher who is trying to teach her something.

2. With Duchis, we are also showing her more to share her toys and games with us. So, if you are playing dress up and she does not want you to touch the clothes, in the past, we would have done whatever she wanted. Now, we can tell her, that it is fun to share and that the game gets even better when you two share it together. Of course, if there are some toys that you know that she ADORES, don't mess up with those, yet, because that would be provoking her. Respect her wishes for toys she really likes, but for other things show her it is fun to share and that you also have ideas of how to play with them.

3. About the tent, we are taking the blanket or towels from the tent. If she says she wants a blanket, tell her the truth: "Duch, it is so much better without a blanket, because you can see me and I can see you. It is more fun if we can see each other."

4. If Duch is talking things from Liam's or Tony's room that you think Liam and Tony really want, just tell Duch: "This is Liam's" or "This is Tony's". That will also be a good lesson for her.

5. Megan said that the fact that Duchis' playroom will not be a 99% YES-room anymore to become more of a 60% YES room will be a challenge for Duchis at the start and she may cry a lot. It was great for her that she was the boss of the room because that helped us to gain her trust. Now it will be different and she will be shocked at the beginning. So, be loving, be patient, and she will learn day after day how friends work and to be more flexible and open. Be calm if she cries and do NOT react to her crying by doing what she wants or she will start crying more. She needs to see that cries does not work.

6. We talked about being CONSISTENT with Duch in multiple areas:
a. Invite her to clean up so that she helps you clean up. Don't let the room be full of things. Tell her that to get the next toy, she needs to clean up first.
b. She is almost out of the "I am done screaming" cycle. Don't get into that exchange. If she starts with "Are you done ...?" cycle, you just smile, show her THUMBS UP, and move on.
c. No blankets on the tent because she is hiding there.
d. When she says "no no no no", don't say "yes yes yes yes". Say other things like "why not?" or "really?" or something like that. Be playful.
e. Work on her workbooks every day a few pages. Get her to do it; she can do it.
f. Don't give her a pencil/crayon in the right or left hands. Just put it on the table in the middle and see what hand she uses to pick it up. We are not sure if she uses more the right or the left. Yulene is still trying to figure out.
g. Keep working on the experiments and art projects. We need to challenge her with new things all the time.

LIAM

1. We talked about not leaving Liam's cards and books on the floor when you leave your session because the next person is stuck with all that on the floor. Try to clean up with Liam and if he does not want, come downstairs to write in the notebook and let him have a break and then quickly go upstairs and put up his cards and stuff so that the next person can have a clean start of her session.

2. When you see Liam tip-toeing feel free to remind him, "Liam, walk on your flat feet". He is getting better, but he still tip-toes, so remind him.

3. Liam is talking so much, it is VERY exciting to see the progress in this area. He has ALL the words and sentences inside, it is a matter of him just saying them. This is what we agreed to do if he was talking very softly and we could not hear or if we were not sure what he was saying:
- Say "I am sorry, I didn't quite understand" and then WAIT
- Whisper back to him so that he can see how it sounds when you speak softly
- If it is a sentence/word you don't understand, repeat it back to him and say: "It sounds like you are saying ......, but I couldn't understand"
- Use non-verbal cues: Put your hand around your ear, like saying "what?"

4. We are working on open-ended questions. Ask a question and WAIT.

5. We are responding literally to his requests. If he says "book" that is not clear enough. Be friendly and helpful and tell him: "I love to read books" then WAIT to see how he looks for a way to be clearer.

6. We are working on multiple-choice questions. He tends to repeat the second option, like if you say "do you want the elephant or the mouse?" he tends to say "mouse." Megan said we should not say the words of the options, but  just show them to him and say "which one do you want first?" If he says "elephant and mouse" you can say "Oh, you want BOTH the elephant AND the mouse" and give him both, or you can say "Liam, let's pick one".

7. We are working on YES/NO questions. Ask a question and WAIT. If he does not respond shake your head, not your head, point ot the signs and he will realize what to do.

8. If you see him on the grass pulling grass, feel free to join him for 10 minutes or so and try to make a game out of it, just to break his routine a little. In teh playroom, play with feathers or bubbles, which have the same visual effect thant the grass in teh air.

9. Watch Yulene's videos again and take notes so that it is easy for you to keep doing the exercises. The ones for tapping are the squeezing exercises and the ones with the toes and feet. He is tapping a bit less now.

POTTY

1. With all kids, we said we want them to be more and more independent and more private. Motivate them  to go by themselves, to flush, to wipe, to put their clothes back up, and to wash and dry their hands. Also, they can turn the light of. We can also show them to close the door, especially with Duch, who has a door right there; the door thing is not necessary right now with Liam.

Thanks everybody for coming to the meeting!