We just finished registering both children for preschool. Why on earth am I making decisions now about preschool that doesn't begin until August? My daughter is two years old and I am supposed to try and decide how many mornings a week of preschool I think she will be ready for eight months from now. I am just supposed to guess whether or not she'll still be taking an afternoon nap so I can decide if I want to enroll her in the crowded morning sessions or the less crowded afternoon sessions. Sure, I could wait to enroll her, but the program fills up quickly. If I wait, I'll probably lose the opportunity all together.
We decided to play it conservatively. We enrolled both children five mornings a week. We can always change our mind later and decide to only send them three mornings a week, but if we don't reserve all five mornings we won't have the opportunity to increase our number of days after the spots have all filled up.
We decided to move Michael up from the explore classroom (a mix of 3 and 4 year olds who mostly attend part-time) to the discover classroom (a pre-school classroom of 4 year olds who are required to enroll for all five days of the week). I feel like he is getting a little bored at home and wants to spend more of his time with his peers in a social environment. Of course, as soon as I made that decision I began second guessing it. I don't really want him to go all five weekdays. I'd like to have one more year where the three of us (Michael, Ava, and I) have a full day at home together. Still, I remind myself, I can change my mind in the fall.
We decided to enroll Ava at a different school all together. We enrolled Ava at the same school she'll be receiving her IEP speech services from beginning in March. The preschool program there is supposed to be amazing and some of the rooms are co-taught by SLPs. They can just pull her out of her classroom for her speech session which will save me an extra trip twice a week. Of course, as soon as I made that decision I began to wonder if I should have just enrolled her at our local school (Michael's school) for preschool. We know and like the explore room classroom teacher. If we had done that she'd be going to the same school as her brother. I'd just drive her from one school to another two days a week for speech.
All of this would be more straightforward if I weren't forced to make these decisions eight months ahead of time based on information that will be outdated by the fall. What's done is done. Fall will come. Everything will work out. The children will be older and more independent as it should be. I just need to relax and calm the decision anxiety a little.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
No-Cook Oatmeal Playdough Treasure Hunt
Today, during our occupational therapy session we made oatmeal play dough. It is a no-cook recipe and requires only three ingredients.
Oatmeal Play Dough Recipe
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water
Step 1
Our purpose in making and playing with the oatmeal playdough is to decrease Ava's tactile sensitivity by having her use her hands with a messy activity. So we began by putting a half cup of oatmeal into a mixing bowl and letting her explore the dry oatmeal with her hands. She enjoyed the oatmeal and took several tastes of the oatmeal.
Step 2
Then we added the cup of flour into the bowl. Again, Ava explored the flour with her hands and tasted it. Then she thoroughly mixed the two dry ingredients with her hand (one hand is in a cast, so we were doing this activity one-handed).
Step 3
Next we poured in the half cup of water. At first we just observed it. We watched the water pool on top for a few minutes and some oatmeal float on the top like tiny boats. We talked about how they would be perfect boats for ants. Then the water was slowly absorbed into the dry ingredients and we began to mix with our fingers. The mix was extremely sticky. This is part of why it makes such a great occupational therapy activity for children who are ready (if your child is still demonstrating extreme tactile defensiveness this isn't the right activity). Once the mixture seemed evenly sticky we removed it from the bowl and started to work with it/play with it on the table. (Note: Over the next 10-15 minutes, the oatmeal continued to absorb the excess water and the texture became much less sticky.)
Step 4
To extend the activity and continue to keep Ava's hand engaged in the dough we played a buried treasure game with the ball of play dough. I took several glass marbles and gems and a penny and hid them inside the play dough. Then Ava would dig around in the play dough to find the treasures.
Overall, the activity went extremely well. The oatmeal play dough has several advantages.
Oatmeal Play Dough Recipe
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 cup water
Step 1
Our purpose in making and playing with the oatmeal playdough is to decrease Ava's tactile sensitivity by having her use her hands with a messy activity. So we began by putting a half cup of oatmeal into a mixing bowl and letting her explore the dry oatmeal with her hands. She enjoyed the oatmeal and took several tastes of the oatmeal.
Step 2
Then we added the cup of flour into the bowl. Again, Ava explored the flour with her hands and tasted it. Then she thoroughly mixed the two dry ingredients with her hand (one hand is in a cast, so we were doing this activity one-handed).
Step 3
Next we poured in the half cup of water. At first we just observed it. We watched the water pool on top for a few minutes and some oatmeal float on the top like tiny boats. We talked about how they would be perfect boats for ants. Then the water was slowly absorbed into the dry ingredients and we began to mix with our fingers. The mix was extremely sticky. This is part of why it makes such a great occupational therapy activity for children who are ready (if your child is still demonstrating extreme tactile defensiveness this isn't the right activity). Once the mixture seemed evenly sticky we removed it from the bowl and started to work with it/play with it on the table. (Note: Over the next 10-15 minutes, the oatmeal continued to absorb the excess water and the texture became much less sticky.)
Step 4
To extend the activity and continue to keep Ava's hand engaged in the dough we played a buried treasure game with the ball of play dough. I took several glass marbles and gems and a penny and hid them inside the play dough. Then Ava would dig around in the play dough to find the treasures.
Overall, the activity went extremely well. The oatmeal play dough has several advantages.
- It is a no-cook recipe.
- It is made with a small number of inexpensive, easy to find ingredients.
- It goes through a variety of textures (dry, wet and sticky, traditional play-dough like).
- The end product is pretty stiff making it a great medium for increasing hand strength as a bonus.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Revising Our At Home Day
I have observed that when Michael is engaged in a planned activity he is an angel. He is engaged, focused, enthusiastic, and respectful and has a beautiful attention span. When left to his own devices to simply play with the many available toys in his home his behavior starts out fine and spirals downwards towards a hyperactive, attention-seeking, disrespectful mess. I think he is bored. I wish he could independently choose and engage in one of the many activities available to him, but he is just not doing that yet.
Without realizing it, over the past few weeks I have been coping with this behavior by slowly increasing television time to give myself a break. I think it has ultimately been counterproductive. He walks away from the tv even more wound up than before. This week I am going to attempt a detox. We will have little or no tv this week and a significant increase in planned activities.
In order to make the planning manageable I am going to try to hit several types of activities each day: art, physical activity, music, science, reading, and a fine motor focus activity. I will fill in an activity in each of those categories on each at-home day this week.
Today, for example, art is going to be making a collage. I'll give the children scissors, glue, paper, and lots of things to cut and glue onto their paper. This particular art project will be about process rather than product. For a physical activity we will play our run-around-the-circle game (our first floor has a continuous path through all the rooms around a central staircase). I sit in the playroom holding a play golf club about 3-4 inches off the floor and each time they run by they jump over the club. Then to change things up I'll raise it several feet off the floor and they crawl under it. They can keep this up for at least 15 minutes running around the circle a good 30 times. It is great exercise.
For music we will play the piano. For science we are going to try trapping alka seltzer tablets in a small container with a cap and watch the tops pop off. We'll talk about why that happens. We'll have a reading time with as many books as they'll listen to in one sitting. They can usually do that for at least half an hour. For a fine motor activity I'm going to get out the sand on the light box and we'll do a copy the pattern game.
I'm hoping that the plan will keep everyone happily engaged all morning without anyone getting crazy (myself included). Then we'll have lunch followed by nap. Wish me luck.
Without realizing it, over the past few weeks I have been coping with this behavior by slowly increasing television time to give myself a break. I think it has ultimately been counterproductive. He walks away from the tv even more wound up than before. This week I am going to attempt a detox. We will have little or no tv this week and a significant increase in planned activities.
In order to make the planning manageable I am going to try to hit several types of activities each day: art, physical activity, music, science, reading, and a fine motor focus activity. I will fill in an activity in each of those categories on each at-home day this week.
Today, for example, art is going to be making a collage. I'll give the children scissors, glue, paper, and lots of things to cut and glue onto their paper. This particular art project will be about process rather than product. For a physical activity we will play our run-around-the-circle game (our first floor has a continuous path through all the rooms around a central staircase). I sit in the playroom holding a play golf club about 3-4 inches off the floor and each time they run by they jump over the club. Then to change things up I'll raise it several feet off the floor and they crawl under it. They can keep this up for at least 15 minutes running around the circle a good 30 times. It is great exercise.
For music we will play the piano. For science we are going to try trapping alka seltzer tablets in a small container with a cap and watch the tops pop off. We'll talk about why that happens. We'll have a reading time with as many books as they'll listen to in one sitting. They can usually do that for at least half an hour. For a fine motor activity I'm going to get out the sand on the light box and we'll do a copy the pattern game.
I'm hoping that the plan will keep everyone happily engaged all morning without anyone getting crazy (myself included). Then we'll have lunch followed by nap. Wish me luck.
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