There are so many good things going on. Mark is learning and he's happy. Lately he's really liked "school" time. So much so that he will pull out and set up the magnetic chalkboard when he thinks I'm not moving fast enough! This is a big change for him and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.
He's still in the middle of another hormone surge. One of the ways we discovered to identify one is a continual low grade fever with no other symptoms/illnesses. That explains a lot of things that were going on with him.
He's become more curious and adventurous in some things. The example from this morning is his Kaleidoscope. I bought him a metal one quite a while back. I showed him how to use it but he was more interested in drumming on the metal cylinder. It was in the toy basket in the living room. Today I looked over at him and he had pulled it out. He was actually looking through it and twisting the end! I stopped and watched him as he did this for several minutes before stopping. He had a big grin on his face! And he put it away!
And Quiet bear has become a fixture. Quiet bear is a purple beannie bear. Mark saw it and fell in love with it. It's deep purple and very, very soft. And the soft didn't change after washing. Mark, until recently, snuggled it for sleeping and occasionally played with it. But lately he's been carrying the bear around with him - a lot. I've had to make extra sure to check and make sure the bear isn't left outside when we go inside in the evenings. Oh, and it's Quiet bear because that's what Mark named him.
On a different topic, Mark has been changing his own clothes lately. It's creating a lot of laundry. At the same time it's letting me teach him about what's appropriate to wear in different environments. But there have been two things that really amuse me.
The first is his impromptu changing after climbing out of his little pool. He's never been bothered by wet clothes before but apparently is now. And he's realized that he can do something about it. Most of the time he goes inside to change and I have to watch to grab wet clothes off the floor. But occasionally.....well let's just say he's getting in streaking practice. But at least he is heading straight for the house to get new clothes as soon as the wet ones come off. Fortunately, most of the time, he is going inside before the clothes come off.
The second is him snagging clothes off of the clothesline to change. I don't mind that he's changing his clothes. But he's changing completely in the backyard! Fortunately he's doing it quickly. Yesterday he had done it in the time it took for me to walk back in to the washing machine and come back out with more to hang. He had maybe a minute to do it. Also, happily for me, the outside most line was covered in blankets and towels, so no one could see what he did. Maybe I need a third line to hang towels on so that he won't see the clothes! But again, this isn't something that occurs frequently so I'm just going to have to correct it as it happens. And I'll keep making sure that he changes in appropriate places whenever I catch him doing it, in or out of the house. He's picking up a lot of stuff intuitively lately so I don't think it will be long before he's got this learned.
I'm enjoying the changes in Mark. I think he's enjoying the changes as well. He seems to be comprehending a lot of new things. Or making connections that he's had problems making in the past. On the last doctor's visit he did everything his doctor asked. (ear, open mouth, etc.) We were both amazed. We think it may be because he had to go to a couple of doctor visits for me and saw what I was doing. Again, new connections.
Our life is like a Kaleidoscope nowadays. It probably always has been. But now he's seeing the pieces and angles and making connections. Or maybe it's that he's seeing the pieces differently and making new connections. Whichever way it is, it's wonderful and beautiful to see.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Migraines
Mark was pulled to homeschool because of health issues. Some of those issues have abated. He is no longer getting sick every week or so. (He missed 25 days of school from August to January due to illnesses!) In fact, since leaving school Mark has only been sick once, and that was an outer ear infection caused by swimming. That's really good news!
But another issue was migraines. The migraines had abated for the most part with only occasional flare ups that I was able to track to external stimuli. Mainly, fluorescent lighting and echoing noisy environments. But the last week or so has also proven that the hormone swings seem to "assist" in triggering more migraines. The triggers are the same but during a hormone swing his tolerance of the triggers is drastically reduced. This is both good and bad news. Bad news because it means that while he's going through the hormone swings migraines will be easy to trigger in certain environments. Good news because it hopefully means that when the hormone swings are gone the migraines will be drastically reduced.
Some of the other issues, like losing his balance, had disappeared as well but have reappeared with the hormone surges. Actually, have reappeared with the migraines. As if the migraines are actually why he's having balance problems, which is possible.
And this is the topic today because the stress of a new environment (co-op) and the fluorescent lights at the doctor's office triggered a migraine that had Mark curling up in my bed with all lights out and blankets over his head. After about an hour of that he started playing in my bed, and now he's up and playing. But no lights are allowed on in the house right now. And he absolutely refuses to go outside, even to play in his pool. And for most of the afternoon, he wouldn't eat. Hopefully he'll be feeling better by tomorrow morning.
But another issue was migraines. The migraines had abated for the most part with only occasional flare ups that I was able to track to external stimuli. Mainly, fluorescent lighting and echoing noisy environments. But the last week or so has also proven that the hormone swings seem to "assist" in triggering more migraines. The triggers are the same but during a hormone swing his tolerance of the triggers is drastically reduced. This is both good and bad news. Bad news because it means that while he's going through the hormone swings migraines will be easy to trigger in certain environments. Good news because it hopefully means that when the hormone swings are gone the migraines will be drastically reduced.
Some of the other issues, like losing his balance, had disappeared as well but have reappeared with the hormone surges. Actually, have reappeared with the migraines. As if the migraines are actually why he's having balance problems, which is possible.
And this is the topic today because the stress of a new environment (co-op) and the fluorescent lights at the doctor's office triggered a migraine that had Mark curling up in my bed with all lights out and blankets over his head. After about an hour of that he started playing in my bed, and now he's up and playing. But no lights are allowed on in the house right now. And he absolutely refuses to go outside, even to play in his pool. And for most of the afternoon, he wouldn't eat. Hopefully he'll be feeling better by tomorrow morning.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Moving on!
Spelling is going really well. Still some problems with the 4 letter words but otherwise he's doing as well with spelling the real way as he was with the guides. And he seems to enjoy it more. I was really amused, and happy, when he set up the magnetic chalkboard for spelling one morning. He really does seem to view it as a puzzle. And he is starting to remake the connections between letters and their phonetic sounds.
Reading is good. Yesterday I laughed because he decided he wanted more reading and went to his bookshelf, got a book, and brought it to me. So we had an extra reading session. I really like when he prompts for activities.
Math is good. He's still hit and miss with numbers as far as doing something so many times but he's got number of objects solid. I'll keep working on both so that he learns them.
He really likes to make things. So I'm working on ideas for educational arts and crafts. Like the cards. I'm slowly building up things he can do at his current skill levels so that he is encouraged to work without prompting as much as possible.
He has made some amazing leaps in other areas of life as well. He will now bring me the tea jug and a glass when he is thirsty. He will "prompt" me for activities he wants. Lately his favorite has been to walk behind me while guiding me to where he wants me to go - normally to the trampoline. Tonight he want me to change into a dress that he likes. It's one of my favorites but I'm not changing this late at night.
Words had faded for a bit but are now back as strong as ever with a few new things thrown in. I can't share the new ones yet because I'm either not sure of the word or I have only heard it once. I normally wait until I've heard it enough to know that he's making a word association before I decide that it is a word for him.
On other news, his eating schedule is finally settling into something like normal. He no longer needs to eat lunch at 10:30 am. Although if he's getting grouchy/grumpy I will make sure that he gets a snack to tide him over to lunch at 12.
Mark is also showing much better receptive language skills. He is showing the ability to comprehend and follow two or three levels of instructions at a time. Although sometimes he gets in one of his moods and I can only get him to do one step at a time. He's got many things solid now. Stuff like where his backpack goes, where his belt goes, where glasses go when he's not wearing them, where to put dishes when he's done eating, etc.
And he's come to almost fully comprehend just what is allowed to be worn out in public vs what can be worn in the house vs what can be worn in the yard. This has been something that has eluded him for many years but has begun to sink in lately. Unfortunately, it also means that he's going through several outfits a day as he decides to change from activity to the next. It really shows when he decides that we will be going somewhere because he will show up dressed appropriately for going in public vs going into the back yard. It's also funny when he decides that he's done swimming and he swipes new clothes from the clothes line to avoid coming in the house. He's also become very good at getting his shoes where they belong all by himself.
All in all, Mark is making amazing progress in many areas. All of them parallel about where he is education wise. I'm looking forward to him continuing to make progress.
Reading is good. Yesterday I laughed because he decided he wanted more reading and went to his bookshelf, got a book, and brought it to me. So we had an extra reading session. I really like when he prompts for activities.
Math is good. He's still hit and miss with numbers as far as doing something so many times but he's got number of objects solid. I'll keep working on both so that he learns them.
He really likes to make things. So I'm working on ideas for educational arts and crafts. Like the cards. I'm slowly building up things he can do at his current skill levels so that he is encouraged to work without prompting as much as possible.
He has made some amazing leaps in other areas of life as well. He will now bring me the tea jug and a glass when he is thirsty. He will "prompt" me for activities he wants. Lately his favorite has been to walk behind me while guiding me to where he wants me to go - normally to the trampoline. Tonight he want me to change into a dress that he likes. It's one of my favorites but I'm not changing this late at night.
Words had faded for a bit but are now back as strong as ever with a few new things thrown in. I can't share the new ones yet because I'm either not sure of the word or I have only heard it once. I normally wait until I've heard it enough to know that he's making a word association before I decide that it is a word for him.
On other news, his eating schedule is finally settling into something like normal. He no longer needs to eat lunch at 10:30 am. Although if he's getting grouchy/grumpy I will make sure that he gets a snack to tide him over to lunch at 12.
Mark is also showing much better receptive language skills. He is showing the ability to comprehend and follow two or three levels of instructions at a time. Although sometimes he gets in one of his moods and I can only get him to do one step at a time. He's got many things solid now. Stuff like where his backpack goes, where his belt goes, where glasses go when he's not wearing them, where to put dishes when he's done eating, etc.
And he's come to almost fully comprehend just what is allowed to be worn out in public vs what can be worn in the house vs what can be worn in the yard. This has been something that has eluded him for many years but has begun to sink in lately. Unfortunately, it also means that he's going through several outfits a day as he decides to change from activity to the next. It really shows when he decides that we will be going somewhere because he will show up dressed appropriately for going in public vs going into the back yard. It's also funny when he decides that he's done swimming and he swipes new clothes from the clothes line to avoid coming in the house. He's also become very good at getting his shoes where they belong all by himself.
All in all, Mark is making amazing progress in many areas. All of them parallel about where he is education wise. I'm looking forward to him continuing to make progress.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Gwiet!!!
Gwiet is Mark's new word. It's his combination of Quiet and Go Away. He was talkative today. I got told to go away, be quiet, and "love you". And when asked a yes/no question he started chanting "yuppy, yuppy, yuppy". That was completely new so we'll see if it happens again. Regardless there was much joy over the talking and the new words.
I jinxed us. Yup. So I'm not saying another word because I don't want to rejinx us.
We are still staying on the number 3. The plan was to start moving on again this week. But then I discovered that Mark wasn't really transferring/understanding the number thing. He's been ok with giving me things, including random objects but when I asked him to do something he froze up. So we are working on transferring that counting skill to actions as well as objects. For example, tap the table 3 times.
If you all can think of somewhere else I may need to work on that skill with him, please speak up. I'd like to transfer this skill across as many areas as possible while we are still in the beginning stages, that way it will be easier for him to comprehend as the number quantities get larger.
Spelling took a leap at the end of last week. I had already been leaving letters out and having him figure them out. That was actually going really well. Well he got aggravated waiting for me one day and took the board and spelled "do" without any prompting and no guide letters. So, since he was in the mood, I decided to see how spelling would go with no written prompts. And it's gone ok. So far he's got three words that he'll spell correctly 90% of the time with no prompts at all - do, one, and see. The rest vary from day to day. And when I give prompts, it's the phonetic pronunciation of the letter, which is hit or miss right now. I know that he was taught this at one point, but I think it's been so long that he's not remembering. But as of right now we are working the original 10 words with nothing but verbal prompts, and only when absolutely necessary. I'll start adding new words again next week and work them through the cycle. First, word id with textured words so that he can feel the letters as they are traced - both hand written and printed. Then partial spelling with written guides. Then after a week of that, true spelling. He seems to be viewing it as a puzzle, and enjoying it under that guise, although some days are harder for him then others.
I might also start doing some things with the letters phonetically. I have Hooked on Phonics but was holding off until he got further along. I'll look through the materials over the weekend. He also has a Leap Frog video that goes through the letters and their phonetic sounds. And I'm sure if I go hunting online I'll find more resources. I'm just not sure about adding yet another thing on top of the things he is currently struggling with.
Reading has been holding at the current level while the things were going on with spelling. But I'm glad that he made the jump because I was running out of reading material. I have a very extensive collection of primer readers but even that was getting exhausted. So also next week, we'll start moving up to new books with the new words.
The Sparks blog has added reading sentences that focus on sight words. So I'll be adding those to our reading as well. I might add pictures where possible but I'll spend this weekend exploring the options before I print anything.
Anyways, sorry for not updating sooner but it's been busy around here. I'll try to do better. I hope you all are having a good day.
I jinxed us. Yup. So I'm not saying another word because I don't want to rejinx us.
We are still staying on the number 3. The plan was to start moving on again this week. But then I discovered that Mark wasn't really transferring/understanding the number thing. He's been ok with giving me things, including random objects but when I asked him to do something he froze up. So we are working on transferring that counting skill to actions as well as objects. For example, tap the table 3 times.
If you all can think of somewhere else I may need to work on that skill with him, please speak up. I'd like to transfer this skill across as many areas as possible while we are still in the beginning stages, that way it will be easier for him to comprehend as the number quantities get larger.
Spelling took a leap at the end of last week. I had already been leaving letters out and having him figure them out. That was actually going really well. Well he got aggravated waiting for me one day and took the board and spelled "do" without any prompting and no guide letters. So, since he was in the mood, I decided to see how spelling would go with no written prompts. And it's gone ok. So far he's got three words that he'll spell correctly 90% of the time with no prompts at all - do, one, and see. The rest vary from day to day. And when I give prompts, it's the phonetic pronunciation of the letter, which is hit or miss right now. I know that he was taught this at one point, but I think it's been so long that he's not remembering. But as of right now we are working the original 10 words with nothing but verbal prompts, and only when absolutely necessary. I'll start adding new words again next week and work them through the cycle. First, word id with textured words so that he can feel the letters as they are traced - both hand written and printed. Then partial spelling with written guides. Then after a week of that, true spelling. He seems to be viewing it as a puzzle, and enjoying it under that guise, although some days are harder for him then others.
I might also start doing some things with the letters phonetically. I have Hooked on Phonics but was holding off until he got further along. I'll look through the materials over the weekend. He also has a Leap Frog video that goes through the letters and their phonetic sounds. And I'm sure if I go hunting online I'll find more resources. I'm just not sure about adding yet another thing on top of the things he is currently struggling with.
Reading has been holding at the current level while the things were going on with spelling. But I'm glad that he made the jump because I was running out of reading material. I have a very extensive collection of primer readers but even that was getting exhausted. So also next week, we'll start moving up to new books with the new words.
The Sparks blog has added reading sentences that focus on sight words. So I'll be adding those to our reading as well. I might add pictures where possible but I'll spend this weekend exploring the options before I print anything.
Anyways, sorry for not updating sooner but it's been busy around here. I'll try to do better. I hope you all are having a good day.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Bubble bath ???!!!
Mark is full of mischief. But one of the behaviors that he has dropped in the past few months is that of stealing my dish detergent so that he can smear it. So I've gotten out of the habit of hiding the bottle. We've even managed a compromise on bar soap so that he only uses it in the shower.
Imagine my surprise when I came out to check on him the other day and found that he had turned the pool into one gigantic bubble bath! He was grinning like a maniac and having a blast! So I retrieved my now empty bottle of dish detergent and left him to it. Fortunately the bottle was most of the way empty before he got to it. But the bubbles lasted all day. And I cleaned them out the next morning. And then there was enough detergent left in the pool for him to make a whole new batch of bubbles that day. And then they were gone.... And getting the pool in balance again make take a complete water swap out - but he's much more relaxed and happier so it's worth it. (And I'm so, so, so glad that I make sure to buy cleaners that don't have any of his food allergens as cleaners.)
And that seems to have satisfied his urge to play in bubbles since he has been leaving the new bottle of dish detergent alone. I'll keep my fingers crossed. (No new jinxes!)
And yes, he's still using Quiet and Happy quite frequently and appropriately. I'm waiting to see what he decides to say next.
Imagine my surprise when I came out to check on him the other day and found that he had turned the pool into one gigantic bubble bath! He was grinning like a maniac and having a blast! So I retrieved my now empty bottle of dish detergent and left him to it. Fortunately the bottle was most of the way empty before he got to it. But the bubbles lasted all day. And I cleaned them out the next morning. And then there was enough detergent left in the pool for him to make a whole new batch of bubbles that day. And then they were gone.... And getting the pool in balance again make take a complete water swap out - but he's much more relaxed and happier so it's worth it. (And I'm so, so, so glad that I make sure to buy cleaners that don't have any of his food allergens as cleaners.)
And that seems to have satisfied his urge to play in bubbles since he has been leaving the new bottle of dish detergent alone. I'll keep my fingers crossed. (No new jinxes!)
And yes, he's still using Quiet and Happy quite frequently and appropriately. I'm waiting to see what he decides to say next.
Friday, April 6, 2012
Help me!
This was a completely new phrase, used appropriately (I think) in the middle of the day a few days ago. Mark was running around doing one of his "Be Happy" chants while he seemed to be very distressed. He was running back in forth in a tight pattern through the living room.
I was keeping an eye on him to see if I could figure out what had triggered/was triggering this when he suddenly stopped. Stopped running and stopped chanting. Then he very clearly said "Help me" and looked at me. I looked at him and said "What do you need?" Mark then very quickly climbed into my lap and had me give him big hugs. He didn't give any signs of hurt or pain, just a need for contact and pressure. He then pulled me in so that we could lay down on the bed and he could cuddle under the covers. The silliness of the cuddling was that he was under the covers pressing hard against my back curled into a ball, but I was not allowed under the covers or to roll over and pressure hug him. Every time I tried, he rolled me back over and went back to the same position. Silly, yes, but it seemed to be what he needed and he was running the show.
I have yet to figure out what was wrong or why he needed the contact and pressure, but after about 15 minutes he was back up and bouncing. But I truly hope that he realized that little phrase was important and that he will use it again when it's needed.
I was keeping an eye on him to see if I could figure out what had triggered/was triggering this when he suddenly stopped. Stopped running and stopped chanting. Then he very clearly said "Help me" and looked at me. I looked at him and said "What do you need?" Mark then very quickly climbed into my lap and had me give him big hugs. He didn't give any signs of hurt or pain, just a need for contact and pressure. He then pulled me in so that we could lay down on the bed and he could cuddle under the covers. The silliness of the cuddling was that he was under the covers pressing hard against my back curled into a ball, but I was not allowed under the covers or to roll over and pressure hug him. Every time I tried, he rolled me back over and went back to the same position. Silly, yes, but it seemed to be what he needed and he was running the show.
I have yet to figure out what was wrong or why he needed the contact and pressure, but after about 15 minutes he was back up and bouncing. But I truly hope that he realized that little phrase was important and that he will use it again when it's needed.
Be Happy!
Last week was a little rough for me in one way. In another way it was a reminder about how things affect my son. My son has no understanding of what occurred last week, and I worked very hard to keep him from knowing just how much it upset me. But not all of it could be hidden. And my son, in his unlimited loving way, decided he would help. So "Be Happy" has been his chant for over a week now. Happy was a word that the aide's at school taught him a couple of years ago. I've never been sure, until now, that he understood what the word meant. But his use of it has been just as expansive and dead on as his use of "Quiet".
It all depends on his tone of voice and body language. He will chant "happy, happy, happy" while bouncing up and down because he's truly happy with what we are doing. He will chant "be happy, happy, happy" when he seems to think that he, or I, are not happy with what is going on. He will distinctly look me in the face and say "Be Happy" when he seems to think that I am not happy. He will give me silly grins. He tries to tickle me. He instigates tickle/wrestling matches. He sneaks up behind me and gives me big hugs. All while looking at me and saying "Be Happy".
Now please don't think that I've been down in the gloomy dumps for the past week or so. I haven't, even though there was a rough day or two. But it was the reminder of how things affect my son. We've been doing very, very well for the last couple of months, and that has been drastically reflected in his behaviors. Without the continual overstimulation and headaches Mark is behaving like a normal boy his age with little to no stim behaviors. But if I get badly upset, he knows it and the tension goes up. And his bad behaviors return because they are his way of dealing with stress. Fortunately for both of us, since he was doing so well beforehand this episode has taught us both new things. Mark has learned how to try to "cheer up" mommy and that he can do positive things to help his stress. So, despite the severity of the occurrence for me, Mark is recovering from the stressors very quickly. I'm hoping that by the end of the weekend he will have settled back down into his "new" level of wonderful behavior. And mommy has learned to let her beautiful son "cheer her up" in his own unique ways. Even if she's not ticklish.
It all depends on his tone of voice and body language. He will chant "happy, happy, happy" while bouncing up and down because he's truly happy with what we are doing. He will chant "be happy, happy, happy" when he seems to think that he, or I, are not happy with what is going on. He will distinctly look me in the face and say "Be Happy" when he seems to think that I am not happy. He will give me silly grins. He tries to tickle me. He instigates tickle/wrestling matches. He sneaks up behind me and gives me big hugs. All while looking at me and saying "Be Happy".
Now please don't think that I've been down in the gloomy dumps for the past week or so. I haven't, even though there was a rough day or two. But it was the reminder of how things affect my son. We've been doing very, very well for the last couple of months, and that has been drastically reflected in his behaviors. Without the continual overstimulation and headaches Mark is behaving like a normal boy his age with little to no stim behaviors. But if I get badly upset, he knows it and the tension goes up. And his bad behaviors return because they are his way of dealing with stress. Fortunately for both of us, since he was doing so well beforehand this episode has taught us both new things. Mark has learned how to try to "cheer up" mommy and that he can do positive things to help his stress. So, despite the severity of the occurrence for me, Mark is recovering from the stressors very quickly. I'm hoping that by the end of the weekend he will have settled back down into his "new" level of wonderful behavior. And mommy has learned to let her beautiful son "cheer her up" in his own unique ways. Even if she's not ticklish.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Tickle Me!
It's been a rough couple of days at the house for me. Not for Mark. Mark has been doing very well.
I was amused to discover that this is Spring Break week for the regular school system. Note that I didn't know and we aren't taking a "Spring Break". Mark has done much much better with a schedule that involves at least two school activities every day. In fact, if we take days off it's much harder for him to come back to task for a couple of days. This includes weekends.
Each day typically has much more than two activities. In truth the minimum we do is three. That normally occurs on the day that he has swim fellowship. And swim fellowship normally makes it easier for him to get through the school work.
Word ID is still a problem. So I'm adding to it in new ways. We will still do the basic word ID cards. But we are now in the process of making a set of cards with the word traced with glitter glue. Mark really likes this activity, both the making and the using the cards later. Next we will do a set with sand. And one day we will be making a sand tracing mat. Another day we will make one with thickened paint. Mark definitely focuses more on an activity when he has had a part in making the tools we use so hopefully this will help him with words some. And the glitter & sand add a texture to the cards that makes more of an impression when we are tracing the words.
Oh, and Math. That's been the biggest surprise. While Mark is still showing prompting issues with Word ID, he seems to have snapped out of it with math. He can now hand me 1, 2, or 3 blocks/stickers when asked. I'm stopping here for a bit and expanding the skill for him. So he is learning to match items to the numbers (ex: 2 sticker with the number 2). He is learning to count things in general life, like muffins for breakfast or items in the grocery store. He is learning to count anything I can get him to count. I want to help him make this skill as broad spectrum as possible as early as possible. Mark isn't so sure that he likes that idea.
And the "Tickle Me" popped out, clearly and loud, this morning when Mark decided he wanted me to pounce and play with him. I was standing at the side of the bed and had asked him "What do you want me to do?" since he had pulled me into the room and then climbed on the bed. So he got tickled. And he tried to tickle back. And the smiles and laughter were golden.
I was amused to discover that this is Spring Break week for the regular school system. Note that I didn't know and we aren't taking a "Spring Break". Mark has done much much better with a schedule that involves at least two school activities every day. In fact, if we take days off it's much harder for him to come back to task for a couple of days. This includes weekends.
Each day typically has much more than two activities. In truth the minimum we do is three. That normally occurs on the day that he has swim fellowship. And swim fellowship normally makes it easier for him to get through the school work.
Word ID is still a problem. So I'm adding to it in new ways. We will still do the basic word ID cards. But we are now in the process of making a set of cards with the word traced with glitter glue. Mark really likes this activity, both the making and the using the cards later. Next we will do a set with sand. And one day we will be making a sand tracing mat. Another day we will make one with thickened paint. Mark definitely focuses more on an activity when he has had a part in making the tools we use so hopefully this will help him with words some. And the glitter & sand add a texture to the cards that makes more of an impression when we are tracing the words.
Oh, and Math. That's been the biggest surprise. While Mark is still showing prompting issues with Word ID, he seems to have snapped out of it with math. He can now hand me 1, 2, or 3 blocks/stickers when asked. I'm stopping here for a bit and expanding the skill for him. So he is learning to match items to the numbers (ex: 2 sticker with the number 2). He is learning to count things in general life, like muffins for breakfast or items in the grocery store. He is learning to count anything I can get him to count. I want to help him make this skill as broad spectrum as possible as early as possible. Mark isn't so sure that he likes that idea.
And the "Tickle Me" popped out, clearly and loud, this morning when Mark decided he wanted me to pounce and play with him. I was standing at the side of the bed and had asked him "What do you want me to do?" since he had pulled me into the room and then climbed on the bed. So he got tickled. And he tried to tickle back. And the smiles and laughter were golden.
Friday, March 23, 2012
And More Words....and Mischief
The talkative streak is continuing.
An event that truly surprised me occurred yesterday evening. Mark apparently decided that he wanted me to wear a different color of dress. I have two spring dresses that I love to wear. They are identical except one is dark blue and the other is a purple/magenta. Yesterday I was wearing the dark blue dress. During the evening Mark appeared with the purple/magenta dress which he proceeded to drape over me. Then he started to push the straps of the blue one off of my shoulders. I froze for a second as my mind processed everything. Then I gently caught his hands and looked him in the face. I asked him "Mark, do you want mommy to put on the purple dress?" Mark promptly looked me in the eyes and said "Yes." This is amazing on so many levels that I don't even know where to start. But it gives me very good hope for Mark eventually communicating at least some things with words.
No, I didn't change dresses. I did explain to him that I wasn't going to change but maybe I would wear the purple dress tomorrow. He apparently was ok with that since he didn't try again. And that had been his second try.
And an earlier event that was just as wonderful - Mark pulled me to the bed for a tickle match. He promptly wrapped both my arms around him, looked me in the face and said "Got me." To which I responded "Yes, I've got you." And then hugged and tickled him.
At another point he was being noisy and mischievous. I looked at him and he looked back and he said "Quiet". I said "You are not being quiet." (I was grinning.) He looked at me with that sly/sass smile and said "I'm quiet." (And he was being anything but quiet!)
It's not just that Mark is using words. Or even that he's using them appropriately. It's the level of comprehension of both receptive and expressive language skills that he is showing now that has me so amazed. It's that understanding of me vs. you that is popping up. It's the mischief that accompanies it. It's that the words are complete and distinct, not half sounds. I have fingers crossed that we can somehow help him to break the block he normally seems to have on those skills. But I am just flat out astounded at the things being revealed by simple phrases and sentences. And I honestly pray that it keeps growing.
An event that truly surprised me occurred yesterday evening. Mark apparently decided that he wanted me to wear a different color of dress. I have two spring dresses that I love to wear. They are identical except one is dark blue and the other is a purple/magenta. Yesterday I was wearing the dark blue dress. During the evening Mark appeared with the purple/magenta dress which he proceeded to drape over me. Then he started to push the straps of the blue one off of my shoulders. I froze for a second as my mind processed everything. Then I gently caught his hands and looked him in the face. I asked him "Mark, do you want mommy to put on the purple dress?" Mark promptly looked me in the eyes and said "Yes." This is amazing on so many levels that I don't even know where to start. But it gives me very good hope for Mark eventually communicating at least some things with words.
No, I didn't change dresses. I did explain to him that I wasn't going to change but maybe I would wear the purple dress tomorrow. He apparently was ok with that since he didn't try again. And that had been his second try.
And an earlier event that was just as wonderful - Mark pulled me to the bed for a tickle match. He promptly wrapped both my arms around him, looked me in the face and said "Got me." To which I responded "Yes, I've got you." And then hugged and tickled him.
At another point he was being noisy and mischievous. I looked at him and he looked back and he said "Quiet". I said "You are not being quiet." (I was grinning.) He looked at me with that sly/sass smile and said "I'm quiet." (And he was being anything but quiet!)
It's not just that Mark is using words. Or even that he's using them appropriately. It's the level of comprehension of both receptive and expressive language skills that he is showing now that has me so amazed. It's that understanding of me vs. you that is popping up. It's the mischief that accompanies it. It's that the words are complete and distinct, not half sounds. I have fingers crossed that we can somehow help him to break the block he normally seems to have on those skills. But I am just flat out astounded at the things being revealed by simple phrases and sentences. And I honestly pray that it keeps growing.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Words, Words, and more Words
Wow! Mark has been talkative today. Along with his normal collection of words, he's been spouting lots of new random sounds.
Then he pounced me and asked for "More". In fact, he chanted "more, more, more" for several seconds. So he got "more" rice krispie treats. A yummy made for our, now moved, camping trip.
And then he pounced me again. And while holding me said "Got you". Not gotcha. But a full "got you".
Thought you all would cheer as much as I did.
I've got to go rescue the rest of the rice krispie treats now.
Then he pounced me and asked for "More". In fact, he chanted "more, more, more" for several seconds. So he got "more" rice krispie treats. A yummy made for our, now moved, camping trip.
And then he pounced me again. And while holding me said "Got you". Not gotcha. But a full "got you".
Thought you all would cheer as much as I did.
I've got to go rescue the rest of the rice krispie treats now.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Spring Fever
Spring fever has hit. Mark has decided, for himself, that every moment that is not spent in lessons should be spent outside. And a new behavior has popped up - Mark comes and gives me random hugs. Just out of the blue I will find him coming up and giving me a big hug. He doesn't want anything. He doesn't ask for anything. He just hugs me and then runs off. Occasionally, he has me follow him outside to the trampoline. I love both behaviors and look forward to losing enough weight so I can join him on the trampoline.
And TV watching is drastically reduced. It's gotten to the point where it might be one movie a day. Yesterday there were no movies. And that happened several days last week. And this is Mark's decision, not mine. He'd rather play outside than sit inside. In fact I got scolded thoroughly one day when he wasn't allowed to go back outside (punishment for not coming when called multiple times).
Math is doing much better. 1 and 2 are pretty solid, so I'll be starting 3 tomorrow while reinforcing the others. Oh, and he's not really happy that I am asking him to count things around the house. Today he shot me a grumpy look and I told him that math was every where in life. That just got me another grumpy look.
Reading is still having problems. We are using multiple books at the same level because we are having to hold where we are at right now. Spelling is much better but he's having real problems with Word ID. Even with candies as rewards. A lot of this is him falling back into prompting behaviors. I'm taking it slow and steady. He is asked to ID a word up to 3 times, with the words getting shuffled each time. If he gets it in one, he gets a candy. The words are sorted as he gets them. In one try, they go in one pile. Within 3 tries, they go in another pile. Never, they go in a third pile. When we are done he has to trace the "never" pile on his board two times. And then trace the "within 3" pile on the board once.
While he's getting better at tracing, he's not happy about it. And probably would love to avoid it.
Next week I'll start keeping more detailed data sheets on counting, spelling and word ID. I'll need that data as we go forward in order to know where his strengths and weaknesses are. And so that I can see which words might be best to start making him truly spell without guides.
Oh, and yesterday he pointed at one of his cards and said "Right there" in response to my request for a word. He was wrong, but I loved hearing him say it. And this morning I got told to "Do it" (tickles).
So far, spring fever is doing good things here. Even the onions, garlic, and potatoes are jumping up to say hi. I hope it's bringing good things to you.
And TV watching is drastically reduced. It's gotten to the point where it might be one movie a day. Yesterday there were no movies. And that happened several days last week. And this is Mark's decision, not mine. He'd rather play outside than sit inside. In fact I got scolded thoroughly one day when he wasn't allowed to go back outside (punishment for not coming when called multiple times).
Math is doing much better. 1 and 2 are pretty solid, so I'll be starting 3 tomorrow while reinforcing the others. Oh, and he's not really happy that I am asking him to count things around the house. Today he shot me a grumpy look and I told him that math was every where in life. That just got me another grumpy look.
Reading is still having problems. We are using multiple books at the same level because we are having to hold where we are at right now. Spelling is much better but he's having real problems with Word ID. Even with candies as rewards. A lot of this is him falling back into prompting behaviors. I'm taking it slow and steady. He is asked to ID a word up to 3 times, with the words getting shuffled each time. If he gets it in one, he gets a candy. The words are sorted as he gets them. In one try, they go in one pile. Within 3 tries, they go in another pile. Never, they go in a third pile. When we are done he has to trace the "never" pile on his board two times. And then trace the "within 3" pile on the board once.
While he's getting better at tracing, he's not happy about it. And probably would love to avoid it.
Next week I'll start keeping more detailed data sheets on counting, spelling and word ID. I'll need that data as we go forward in order to know where his strengths and weaknesses are. And so that I can see which words might be best to start making him truly spell without guides.
Oh, and yesterday he pointed at one of his cards and said "Right there" in response to my request for a word. He was wrong, but I loved hearing him say it. And this morning I got told to "Do it" (tickles).
So far, spring fever is doing good things here. Even the onions, garlic, and potatoes are jumping up to say hi. I hope it's bringing good things to you.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Happy Birthday!
Did Mark have a happy birthday? Well, I think so.
First please realize that Mark doesn't understand what his birthday means. I try very hard to make sure that he knows he is loved every day. And there's not really a way to do that even more on his birthday. And I don't consider an excess of gifts to be a way to show love. Not to mention that an overload of gifts sends him into overload. But, as always, I did sit him down and explain that on his birthday, all those years ago, I was given a special and beautiful gift. And that gift was Mark.
And we did go to WalMart and stock up on the Dri-Star shirts that he loves so much. So now he has plenty to wear throughout the week. And we went to the pool and exhausted ourselves. And he got to watch his favorite movies as many times as he wanted. And he got to eat one of his favorite dinners. And even better, to him, was that there was no school work on his birthday.
But he is still dealing with a painful outer ear infection. So he was a little bit slower on the move than normal. And spent a lot of time just laying around. But he was happy, giggling, and bouncy - so I'm going with the idea that he had a good day.
And next week he gets to go camping!
First please realize that Mark doesn't understand what his birthday means. I try very hard to make sure that he knows he is loved every day. And there's not really a way to do that even more on his birthday. And I don't consider an excess of gifts to be a way to show love. Not to mention that an overload of gifts sends him into overload. But, as always, I did sit him down and explain that on his birthday, all those years ago, I was given a special and beautiful gift. And that gift was Mark.
And we did go to WalMart and stock up on the Dri-Star shirts that he loves so much. So now he has plenty to wear throughout the week. And we went to the pool and exhausted ourselves. And he got to watch his favorite movies as many times as he wanted. And he got to eat one of his favorite dinners. And even better, to him, was that there was no school work on his birthday.
But he is still dealing with a painful outer ear infection. So he was a little bit slower on the move than normal. And spent a lot of time just laying around. But he was happy, giggling, and bouncy - so I'm going with the idea that he had a good day.
And next week he gets to go camping!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Jinxed!
If you had been in my house the last couple of days you would already understand.
First, Mark now has an ear infection. It looks like it's outer ear from swimming.
And second, probably because of the pain from the ear infection, lessons have been full of full scale screaming tantrums and meltdowns. Especially when we got into dealing with Mark's prompt dependency.
I jinxed myself with a prior post. I think I'll be more careful from now on. Jinxes like that are not something we need.
On the positive side, Mark very definitively gave me 1 or 2 cubes today depending on what I asked for. If he's still got it down through next week we will move on. Fingers crossed here.
First, Mark now has an ear infection. It looks like it's outer ear from swimming.
And second, probably because of the pain from the ear infection, lessons have been full of full scale screaming tantrums and meltdowns. Especially when we got into dealing with Mark's prompt dependency.
I jinxed myself with a prior post. I think I'll be more careful from now on. Jinxes like that are not something we need.
On the positive side, Mark very definitively gave me 1 or 2 cubes today depending on what I asked for. If he's still got it down through next week we will move on. Fingers crossed here.
Monday, March 12, 2012
A Little Light Around The Edges.
Do you know how light leaks out from around a closed door into a dark hallway at night? That's the feeling I get about Math right now. The door is still closed but something is starting to show. Maybe a 20 watt behind the door, on the other side of the room.
We finished the number two cards and have started working on both numbers 1 and 2. And the old behavior has immediately popped back up. He consistently expects me to tell him to stop in order to get the answer right. And I don't. He could stop himself when we were working on just 1 or just 2. But as soon as I started working both of them together he reverted. So we spent a good twenty minutes (probably longer) today working on just one or the other. I finally managed to get him to do the one twice in a row without any help, then the two. He is majorly confused as to what he keeps doing wrong. And I can't find anyway new way to explain it or show it. So we keep repeating the activity. It's as frustrating for me as for him but we are just going to have to keep working through the frustration. I know that he can learn it. He did get it right a few times. So we just have to keep going until he realizes what it is that he is getting right. Ahh the joys of teaching my child. And I love him so we will keep going.
One of the interesting twists on this is that most of the time, if presented with a quantity, he can pick the correct number. Say 60% of the time, which is really good for him. It's just the opposite that he can't get most of the time. The plan is to have this skill up to 90% by August. Not sure if it will happen but I am sure that we will increase the percentage by then.
Pray that the door opens for him soon. It would save him so much frustration.
And despite problems with school work, he is generally happy. He was a little frustrated today since the weather kept him inside. Not many ways to work off extra energy inside but we did do a few extra crafts and games to keep him active.
We finished the number two cards and have started working on both numbers 1 and 2. And the old behavior has immediately popped back up. He consistently expects me to tell him to stop in order to get the answer right. And I don't. He could stop himself when we were working on just 1 or just 2. But as soon as I started working both of them together he reverted. So we spent a good twenty minutes (probably longer) today working on just one or the other. I finally managed to get him to do the one twice in a row without any help, then the two. He is majorly confused as to what he keeps doing wrong. And I can't find anyway new way to explain it or show it. So we keep repeating the activity. It's as frustrating for me as for him but we are just going to have to keep working through the frustration. I know that he can learn it. He did get it right a few times. So we just have to keep going until he realizes what it is that he is getting right. Ahh the joys of teaching my child. And I love him so we will keep going.
One of the interesting twists on this is that most of the time, if presented with a quantity, he can pick the correct number. Say 60% of the time, which is really good for him. It's just the opposite that he can't get most of the time. The plan is to have this skill up to 90% by August. Not sure if it will happen but I am sure that we will increase the percentage by then.
Pray that the door opens for him soon. It would save him so much frustration.
And despite problems with school work, he is generally happy. He was a little frustrated today since the weather kept him inside. Not many ways to work off extra energy inside but we did do a few extra crafts and games to keep him active.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Schedule
Ok, I said, in an earlier post, that we are not following a strict schedule for multiple reasons. But I do have to tell you that we are now following a loose schedule.
Since no subject has been any easier, or harder, for Mark based on the time it's done I now try to get us through most of our subjects before noon. On swim days this changes because swim is from 10am to 12pm. And it will change on field trip days as well. But for most days, we get up and do one subject immediately. Then Mark gets a break, typically a long shower and breakfast. Then we do another subject. And then Mark gets another break, typically a half hour to just play around. And then a third subject. After that he can run free. Those are his three major subjects: reading, math, and science. And each session is a minimum of a half hour. Handwriting is an afternoon "fun" activity. And then there is another reading session just before bed, which is just reading a book not all the added activities. And on good weather days, there is a long walk to work on safety behaviors. On bad days we work inside on hygiene stuff. And the three heavy subjects are not done in any particular order.
In addition, when we are out and about, I bring up things more often. For example, counting 1, 2, or 3 of an item. Or reading words that are on the current site words list. Or field trips that go along with our science. Or just home activities that go along with science - like planting.
Now the reason for the change was because sometimes we were doing so many other things that we ran behind in getting our school work done. And I found us spending late afternoons/evening trying to catch up. Some days that wasn't a problem. But on days we had spent running errands we were both very tired. And my patience was typically running a little low. So if we get things done before we do anything else then there's nothing to worry about if we are running behind or tired later on.
And of amusement, Mark is still giving "tantrums" but they are not anywhere near the level that we had been seeing all year. Typically now a "tantrum" consists of Mark pushing his chair away and laying on the floor while grumping at me. And he promptly gets back up and in the chair when told to. As far as I can tell he just feels that this is the only way he can express how much he doesn't want to do an activity. But he understands that he does have to do it. And since I have no problem with him expressing his feelings, and he's not being violent about it, I'm leaving it alone. As he learns to use the XOOM more I will work on getting him to express his feelings with it. But it is amusing to see how carefully he "throws a tantrum" now. And the expression on his face when he throws it.
And on a positive note, very positive note, Mark has not gotten sick since we stopped going to school. And his headaches only occur now when we are in a store for too long. I'm still working on figuring out the timing there but it may also be linked to how many stores we've been in or the size of the store. So there are variables that I have to look at. But lately only WalMart & Publix have triggered headaches. And Publix was a short visit, but after multiple other errands hence the need to examine the variables. But those headaches seem to fade within half an hour to an hour. All in all that's a much better situation then the headaches that kept building and getting worse throughout the week.
Since no subject has been any easier, or harder, for Mark based on the time it's done I now try to get us through most of our subjects before noon. On swim days this changes because swim is from 10am to 12pm. And it will change on field trip days as well. But for most days, we get up and do one subject immediately. Then Mark gets a break, typically a long shower and breakfast. Then we do another subject. And then Mark gets another break, typically a half hour to just play around. And then a third subject. After that he can run free. Those are his three major subjects: reading, math, and science. And each session is a minimum of a half hour. Handwriting is an afternoon "fun" activity. And then there is another reading session just before bed, which is just reading a book not all the added activities. And on good weather days, there is a long walk to work on safety behaviors. On bad days we work inside on hygiene stuff. And the three heavy subjects are not done in any particular order.
In addition, when we are out and about, I bring up things more often. For example, counting 1, 2, or 3 of an item. Or reading words that are on the current site words list. Or field trips that go along with our science. Or just home activities that go along with science - like planting.
Now the reason for the change was because sometimes we were doing so many other things that we ran behind in getting our school work done. And I found us spending late afternoons/evening trying to catch up. Some days that wasn't a problem. But on days we had spent running errands we were both very tired. And my patience was typically running a little low. So if we get things done before we do anything else then there's nothing to worry about if we are running behind or tired later on.
And of amusement, Mark is still giving "tantrums" but they are not anywhere near the level that we had been seeing all year. Typically now a "tantrum" consists of Mark pushing his chair away and laying on the floor while grumping at me. And he promptly gets back up and in the chair when told to. As far as I can tell he just feels that this is the only way he can express how much he doesn't want to do an activity. But he understands that he does have to do it. And since I have no problem with him expressing his feelings, and he's not being violent about it, I'm leaving it alone. As he learns to use the XOOM more I will work on getting him to express his feelings with it. But it is amusing to see how carefully he "throws a tantrum" now. And the expression on his face when he throws it.
And on a positive note, very positive note, Mark has not gotten sick since we stopped going to school. And his headaches only occur now when we are in a store for too long. I'm still working on figuring out the timing there but it may also be linked to how many stores we've been in or the size of the store. So there are variables that I have to look at. But lately only WalMart & Publix have triggered headaches. And Publix was a short visit, but after multiple other errands hence the need to examine the variables. But those headaches seem to fade within half an hour to an hour. All in all that's a much better situation then the headaches that kept building and getting worse throughout the week.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
And he said it again!!!
I got Mark to say "go outside" one more time today. So despite difficult lessons, I'm still dancing on clouds.
Words
Verbal language is difficult for Mark. In truth, we rarely hear more than a small collection of words from him. At the end of last year he started saying "Quiet". And he uses it appropriately 99% of the time.
Mark uses Quiet to tell me that he wants me to be quiet. He uses quiet to tell me when he things he's going to be told to be quiet. He uses quiet to tell me when things around him are too loud.
To encourage Mark in using words, I always respond to what he says. Even if I'm not going to do it. For example, when Mark tells me quiet while we are working on a lesson. He typically does that if he doesn't want to do, or continue, the lesson. My response is basic. I say "I know you want me to be quiet, but we need to finish this first." Another example is when Goliath barks at something. Mark will look at me and say "Quiet." And I will look at Mark and say "Yes, Goliath needs to be quiet."
Now Mark has other words but he goes long periods of time between volunteering them. He will say them when asked. (A lot of times he will say a different word, then say the first word when you ask for another word!) But he doesn't volunteer words often.
Today, Mark not only volunteered a word, he volunteered a sentence! I gave Mark the choice between taking a shower or going outside. Both activities are very favored by Mark and since he had done great during math he had earned a reward. Initially, he chose both. I told him that he could only choose one for right now. So he looked at me for several long moments and then said "Go outside". I wish I had a picture of the stunned look that I am quite sure was on my face for a couple of seconds. But then I recovered and said "Go outside. Okay, let's go!" while giving him a tremendous hug. And then a couple of seconds later I recovered enough to look him in the eyes and say "Good talking."
And I think Mark surprised himself. Or was surprised that saying it worked. I'm not sure which. But he seemed surprised that I immediately went and opened the back door so that he could play outside. And several times he came up to me for hugs. Maybe he made a good connection that will help with future talking. I hope so. But regardless, I'm dancing on clouds today - just because of two words from my wonderful son.
Mark uses Quiet to tell me that he wants me to be quiet. He uses quiet to tell me when he things he's going to be told to be quiet. He uses quiet to tell me when things around him are too loud.
To encourage Mark in using words, I always respond to what he says. Even if I'm not going to do it. For example, when Mark tells me quiet while we are working on a lesson. He typically does that if he doesn't want to do, or continue, the lesson. My response is basic. I say "I know you want me to be quiet, but we need to finish this first." Another example is when Goliath barks at something. Mark will look at me and say "Quiet." And I will look at Mark and say "Yes, Goliath needs to be quiet."
Now Mark has other words but he goes long periods of time between volunteering them. He will say them when asked. (A lot of times he will say a different word, then say the first word when you ask for another word!) But he doesn't volunteer words often.
Today, Mark not only volunteered a word, he volunteered a sentence! I gave Mark the choice between taking a shower or going outside. Both activities are very favored by Mark and since he had done great during math he had earned a reward. Initially, he chose both. I told him that he could only choose one for right now. So he looked at me for several long moments and then said "Go outside". I wish I had a picture of the stunned look that I am quite sure was on my face for a couple of seconds. But then I recovered and said "Go outside. Okay, let's go!" while giving him a tremendous hug. And then a couple of seconds later I recovered enough to look him in the eyes and say "Good talking."
And I think Mark surprised himself. Or was surprised that saying it worked. I'm not sure which. But he seemed surprised that I immediately went and opened the back door so that he could play outside. And several times he came up to me for hugs. Maybe he made a good connection that will help with future talking. I hope so. But regardless, I'm dancing on clouds today - just because of two words from my wonderful son.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Our Days
Two posts in one day! Yup, there was just two much for one post without it becoming too long and meandering.
I wanted to share what our days are typically like, and some not so typical days. For example, yesterday we did school work, but we also went and spent a large chunk of the day with family. One of the nice things about homeschooling is its flexibility. And I'm using that flexibility to break Mark of his fixation on absolute schedules - again. So far, honestly, he hasn't had much trouble with it now that his days don't exist as a rigid schedule.
So, the atypical day, using yesterday as an example. We got up early. Before breakfast Mark changed the calendar and put the date on the whiteboard. After breakfast we did handwriting exercises. Those were coloring (holding the crayon correctly), building letters on the magnet board, and geoboard. Then we showered and went to meet family. While with family, Mark did puzzles on the XOOM, about 10 of them. And that was really the only task he did during any of that time. After we got home, about 6 hours later, we sat down and did reading. Then about a half hour later, we did Word ID and spelling. After dinner we did Math. It was a very busy day, yet we got everything in.
Today most things will be done by time kids get out of school. We started with reading and Word ID. Then after a break, we did Calendar, Spelling, Handwriting, and Word Building. After lunch we'll do Math. And probably more Handwriting. And later in the afternoon, we'll do our safety walk and Science (magnets). In between all of this Mark will play outside or in his room. And he's doing good with this.
Now, we don't typically do the same things at the same time, or in the same order, every day. I will tell Mark what we are doing beforehand, and sometimes set a timer, but I am not keeping things the same. For multiple reasons.
The first reason is because we spent a lot of time, when Mark was younger, making sure that he wasn't fixated on schedules or specific procedures. This is a problem for most children with autism and we didn't want it to be a problem for him. Unfortunately, in the last couple of years it has popped up as a problem. Mark became resistant to any changes in what he perceived as his regular schedule. He also became resistant to going to new places. Fortunately, this seems to have been a relatively quickly fixed issue. He is now typically happy to go places and handles the "randomness" like a champ. He now only has issues with going out if we have been running around a lot for two days. On the third day he won't want to go, but he does if necessary and is good. But I can't blame him. Two days with lots of running around is my limit as well. And while school can be scheduled around trips, the trips make us more tired. Well, except for swimming.
The second reason is because I want to see if a task is easier for Mark to concentrate on at a different time of day. For example, does he do better at reading first thing in the morning or after lunch or just before bedtime? So far I haven't found any patterns there but if something pops up then I'll try to use it to help him.
The third reason is because Mark needs to learn to do the tasks when and where asked. So if we are at Grandpa's house, he still needs to do the task. If we are at the grocery store, he still needs to do the task. Ect. This helps Mark in a number of ways. Most importantly, it teaches him that the skills he is learning are to be used everywhere. And it also teaches him that he needs to do the task regardless of who is present, and regardless of what time it is. Eventually I'll start asking others to request tasks from him so that we can get him doing tasks regardless of who is asking.
But all in all we have typical days and easily get through our school work. And that's a good thing for both of us.
I wanted to share what our days are typically like, and some not so typical days. For example, yesterday we did school work, but we also went and spent a large chunk of the day with family. One of the nice things about homeschooling is its flexibility. And I'm using that flexibility to break Mark of his fixation on absolute schedules - again. So far, honestly, he hasn't had much trouble with it now that his days don't exist as a rigid schedule.
So, the atypical day, using yesterday as an example. We got up early. Before breakfast Mark changed the calendar and put the date on the whiteboard. After breakfast we did handwriting exercises. Those were coloring (holding the crayon correctly), building letters on the magnet board, and geoboard. Then we showered and went to meet family. While with family, Mark did puzzles on the XOOM, about 10 of them. And that was really the only task he did during any of that time. After we got home, about 6 hours later, we sat down and did reading. Then about a half hour later, we did Word ID and spelling. After dinner we did Math. It was a very busy day, yet we got everything in.
Today most things will be done by time kids get out of school. We started with reading and Word ID. Then after a break, we did Calendar, Spelling, Handwriting, and Word Building. After lunch we'll do Math. And probably more Handwriting. And later in the afternoon, we'll do our safety walk and Science (magnets). In between all of this Mark will play outside or in his room. And he's doing good with this.
Now, we don't typically do the same things at the same time, or in the same order, every day. I will tell Mark what we are doing beforehand, and sometimes set a timer, but I am not keeping things the same. For multiple reasons.
The first reason is because we spent a lot of time, when Mark was younger, making sure that he wasn't fixated on schedules or specific procedures. This is a problem for most children with autism and we didn't want it to be a problem for him. Unfortunately, in the last couple of years it has popped up as a problem. Mark became resistant to any changes in what he perceived as his regular schedule. He also became resistant to going to new places. Fortunately, this seems to have been a relatively quickly fixed issue. He is now typically happy to go places and handles the "randomness" like a champ. He now only has issues with going out if we have been running around a lot for two days. On the third day he won't want to go, but he does if necessary and is good. But I can't blame him. Two days with lots of running around is my limit as well. And while school can be scheduled around trips, the trips make us more tired. Well, except for swimming.
The second reason is because I want to see if a task is easier for Mark to concentrate on at a different time of day. For example, does he do better at reading first thing in the morning or after lunch or just before bedtime? So far I haven't found any patterns there but if something pops up then I'll try to use it to help him.
The third reason is because Mark needs to learn to do the tasks when and where asked. So if we are at Grandpa's house, he still needs to do the task. If we are at the grocery store, he still needs to do the task. Ect. This helps Mark in a number of ways. Most importantly, it teaches him that the skills he is learning are to be used everywhere. And it also teaches him that he needs to do the task regardless of who is present, and regardless of what time it is. Eventually I'll start asking others to request tasks from him so that we can get him doing tasks regardless of who is asking.
But all in all we have typical days and easily get through our school work. And that's a good thing for both of us.
Working Independently
Life is settling down for us and yet still busy. I hadn't realized that it has been a week since my last post until I got here to post.
Things are pretty much the same. Mark is having real problems with the "no prompting" and "no hand over hand". Whenever possible, I don't prompt at all. When I do have to, I start with simple verbal. I don't physically prompt him at all if it is possible. And so far, despite his protests, it is possible.
My solution for the letter tracing in the Fisher Price toy was simple. We are using stencils until he gets the idea. I will fade each stencil throughout the week until he's doing the letter on his own. If necessary we will take two weeks. Frankly, we will take however long Mark needs to be able to do the task independently. The focus isn't just learning how to shape the letters but for Mark to be able to work independently.
Mark working independently is the overarching focus throughout every task. Now, my definition of independently is simply that Mark does the task without anything more than simple verbal instructions with infrequent simple verbal prompting. I do not give him a task and then walk away. He's nowhere near ready for that. Many of Mark's tasks are designed with this independence in mind and don't really give him, or me, much room for physical prompting. Ok, maybe they could but since it's an absolute no-no in my mind it just doesn't happen.
In my mind, if I assist him physically, then I am the one answering the question or doing the task - not Mark. And Mark's behavior when he tries to get me to physically prompt him only reinforces this view. Mark only reaches for my hand to physically prompt when he continually gets an answer wrong or does a task wrong. Instead I will verbally prompt him. Or I will show him the task separately and have him do it independently. But truthfully, typically, Mark wants physical prompts only when he doesn't want to do a task or is being lazy. And while it's painfully slow going, he is beginning to realize that I won't physically prompt and that laziness only makes the task harder. While this stretches my patience some, I realize that I am trying to undo over 7 years worth of behavior training. So my patience stretches and we get through the tasks. His patience stretches, he tantrums, and we get through the tasks. I think we are both getting extensive lessons in patience. :-)
My normal response to slow going tasks is to find a new angle or new way to teach it. That way we can keep moving. But this is just one of those things that will take time.
On the fun front, I made Mark a mini geoboard. It's square and only 6 inches by 6 inches. The pegs are an inch apart and I give him the small, small, small rubber bands to use with it. It's great for finger coordination between the first fingers and thumbs. Sometimes the second fingers get involved. And in his mind, it's all play. It's two sided and we have playing rules. On the first side he can only put one rubber band between the same two pegs, and he has to do angles as well as straight lines. When he's done most of the board, I flip it and the second side it complete free play. Which for Mark means that it's all straight lines with lots of rubber bands on each set of pegs. Regardless, his fingers are getting better at coordinating together and this is showing in handwriting.
Things are pretty much the same. Mark is having real problems with the "no prompting" and "no hand over hand". Whenever possible, I don't prompt at all. When I do have to, I start with simple verbal. I don't physically prompt him at all if it is possible. And so far, despite his protests, it is possible.
My solution for the letter tracing in the Fisher Price toy was simple. We are using stencils until he gets the idea. I will fade each stencil throughout the week until he's doing the letter on his own. If necessary we will take two weeks. Frankly, we will take however long Mark needs to be able to do the task independently. The focus isn't just learning how to shape the letters but for Mark to be able to work independently.
Mark working independently is the overarching focus throughout every task. Now, my definition of independently is simply that Mark does the task without anything more than simple verbal instructions with infrequent simple verbal prompting. I do not give him a task and then walk away. He's nowhere near ready for that. Many of Mark's tasks are designed with this independence in mind and don't really give him, or me, much room for physical prompting. Ok, maybe they could but since it's an absolute no-no in my mind it just doesn't happen.
In my mind, if I assist him physically, then I am the one answering the question or doing the task - not Mark. And Mark's behavior when he tries to get me to physically prompt him only reinforces this view. Mark only reaches for my hand to physically prompt when he continually gets an answer wrong or does a task wrong. Instead I will verbally prompt him. Or I will show him the task separately and have him do it independently. But truthfully, typically, Mark wants physical prompts only when he doesn't want to do a task or is being lazy. And while it's painfully slow going, he is beginning to realize that I won't physically prompt and that laziness only makes the task harder. While this stretches my patience some, I realize that I am trying to undo over 7 years worth of behavior training. So my patience stretches and we get through the tasks. His patience stretches, he tantrums, and we get through the tasks. I think we are both getting extensive lessons in patience. :-)
My normal response to slow going tasks is to find a new angle or new way to teach it. That way we can keep moving. But this is just one of those things that will take time.
On the fun front, I made Mark a mini geoboard. It's square and only 6 inches by 6 inches. The pegs are an inch apart and I give him the small, small, small rubber bands to use with it. It's great for finger coordination between the first fingers and thumbs. Sometimes the second fingers get involved. And in his mind, it's all play. It's two sided and we have playing rules. On the first side he can only put one rubber band between the same two pegs, and he has to do angles as well as straight lines. When he's done most of the board, I flip it and the second side it complete free play. Which for Mark means that it's all straight lines with lots of rubber bands on each set of pegs. Regardless, his fingers are getting better at coordinating together and this is showing in handwriting.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Stubborness
Yup, Mark has a stubborn streak. He forgot that Mommy has one as well.
Mark has apparently decided that since I won't prompt, he'll be lazy. It's the most obvious in Word ID. I'll ask for a word and he'll grab one. Always the same spot first. If it's not that one, then he'll try the next spot. And then finally the third. It happens in other activities, but to lesser degrees because there's just not the opportunities.
He wasn't happy today when I started addressing this. First step was that he had to trace each word when he finally got it right. Second step was that it went back into the pile to be done again. He was definitely not happy. I got yelled at. And then he tried to run. Then he learned that he was going to have to keep coming back to the table until he got through them all. He got the last three words correct on the first try each. We'll see if it's really sunk in tomorrow.
And we're working more on Handwriting. Not that we haven't been working on it. But I had to make some decisions regarding how we were going to do it. The school was using Handwriting Without Tears. And Mark was most clear on what he thought about that. And he had become dependent on physical prompting again. So we were back to working on the very, very basics. He was coloring while making sure to hold the crayon correctly. He was tracing the outline of shapes and trying to color inside the lines. These tasks require a fine motor control that he's not real good at yet.
Now that I have several fonts to do it with, I will start making prewriting worksheets again. We are going to be using three lines for his writing guidelines. This should make it easier for him.
A couple of days ago I added "building" letters with magnetic foam pieces. I made a set of straights and curves to fit 2" letters. We are starting with upper and lower case B. He actually enjoys "building" the letters. He's less enthusiastic about "building" the letter that he's asked for. And even less enthusiastic about telling which letter is Big and which is Little. He got mad at me today when I kept asking until he got it right. (He kept trying to get me to take his hand.)
And another activity we've added is drawing the letter on his Fisher Price board. I don't know what this thing is called but it's like the old crayon scratch boards except the roller can smooth it out again. That's not so popular with him for the moment. And not with me because I'm having to use physical prompting. I'm going to brainstorm on it some more and see what ideas pop up. If you have any ideas, please share.
Mark has apparently decided that since I won't prompt, he'll be lazy. It's the most obvious in Word ID. I'll ask for a word and he'll grab one. Always the same spot first. If it's not that one, then he'll try the next spot. And then finally the third. It happens in other activities, but to lesser degrees because there's just not the opportunities.
He wasn't happy today when I started addressing this. First step was that he had to trace each word when he finally got it right. Second step was that it went back into the pile to be done again. He was definitely not happy. I got yelled at. And then he tried to run. Then he learned that he was going to have to keep coming back to the table until he got through them all. He got the last three words correct on the first try each. We'll see if it's really sunk in tomorrow.
And we're working more on Handwriting. Not that we haven't been working on it. But I had to make some decisions regarding how we were going to do it. The school was using Handwriting Without Tears. And Mark was most clear on what he thought about that. And he had become dependent on physical prompting again. So we were back to working on the very, very basics. He was coloring while making sure to hold the crayon correctly. He was tracing the outline of shapes and trying to color inside the lines. These tasks require a fine motor control that he's not real good at yet.
Now that I have several fonts to do it with, I will start making prewriting worksheets again. We are going to be using three lines for his writing guidelines. This should make it easier for him.
A couple of days ago I added "building" letters with magnetic foam pieces. I made a set of straights and curves to fit 2" letters. We are starting with upper and lower case B. He actually enjoys "building" the letters. He's less enthusiastic about "building" the letter that he's asked for. And even less enthusiastic about telling which letter is Big and which is Little. He got mad at me today when I kept asking until he got it right. (He kept trying to get me to take his hand.)
And another activity we've added is drawing the letter on his Fisher Price board. I don't know what this thing is called but it's like the old crayon scratch boards except the roller can smooth it out again. That's not so popular with him for the moment. And not with me because I'm having to use physical prompting. I'm going to brainstorm on it some more and see what ideas pop up. If you have any ideas, please share.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
A Happy Boy
It's been a few days because gardening needs have been taking up what little spare time I've had.
Mark is a very happy boy. He's really enjoying making his own cards, even if he doesn't understand it. Working on the cards gets big grins. The only thing that gets bigger grins is another new math activity. I have some origami boxes that now have dots on the covers. Once a day he gets asked to give me the box with one dot. If he gets it right he gets the piece of candy that's inside. This is helping both with Math, and with focusing to give the correct answer the first time. As we do more numbers, I'll add more boxes and vary the question. It's a good thing that I can make small candy treats for him!
The weather has been good enough that Mark has been able to enjoy playing in the backyard. He's been getting lots of great exercise. And we've been working on him learning to put things, like his glasses, in a bag that I've attached to the trampoline net. For some reason, at random, he decides he doesn't want to wear his glasses, or tags. Or he gets a drink and finishes it. And he drops these items on the trampoline, which is dangerous for him (and for his glasses!). So I attached the net bag and have been working with him on putting things into the bag. So far, so good.
Another interesting development has occurred. Unless Mark is in the backyard, he wants to be wherever I am. If I'm working in the garden, he's in the backyard. If we are in the house, he is wherever he can be closest to me, or completely see me. He knows not to come in the kitchen while I'm cooking, but he makes sure that he can see me. If I go sit in the bedroom, I get pounced. Fortunately, he has realized that this is not appropriate behavior for the bathroom and will leave me in peace there. I figure this is a side effect of spring fever and the new activities. It will probably fade over time. But I'll enjoy the extra tickles, cuddles, and hugs while he's giving them out. And yes, he is trying to tickle me.
Oh, and while he's being somewhat slow to catch on to the XOOM, he has been using his communication cards a lot. But not in the expected way. He has been taking off all the cards except the one he's trying to use. So far two sets have blown away because of this, so I'll be visiting Staples again soon. And we'll have to work on this some more, or in a different way.
And lastly, but definitely not least, he tried to say "A big boy" today. He got boy and big flipped around but he did try. I love hearing words come out, and phrases/sentences are absolutely stellar.
Mark is a very happy boy. He's really enjoying making his own cards, even if he doesn't understand it. Working on the cards gets big grins. The only thing that gets bigger grins is another new math activity. I have some origami boxes that now have dots on the covers. Once a day he gets asked to give me the box with one dot. If he gets it right he gets the piece of candy that's inside. This is helping both with Math, and with focusing to give the correct answer the first time. As we do more numbers, I'll add more boxes and vary the question. It's a good thing that I can make small candy treats for him!
The weather has been good enough that Mark has been able to enjoy playing in the backyard. He's been getting lots of great exercise. And we've been working on him learning to put things, like his glasses, in a bag that I've attached to the trampoline net. For some reason, at random, he decides he doesn't want to wear his glasses, or tags. Or he gets a drink and finishes it. And he drops these items on the trampoline, which is dangerous for him (and for his glasses!). So I attached the net bag and have been working with him on putting things into the bag. So far, so good.
Another interesting development has occurred. Unless Mark is in the backyard, he wants to be wherever I am. If I'm working in the garden, he's in the backyard. If we are in the house, he is wherever he can be closest to me, or completely see me. He knows not to come in the kitchen while I'm cooking, but he makes sure that he can see me. If I go sit in the bedroom, I get pounced. Fortunately, he has realized that this is not appropriate behavior for the bathroom and will leave me in peace there. I figure this is a side effect of spring fever and the new activities. It will probably fade over time. But I'll enjoy the extra tickles, cuddles, and hugs while he's giving them out. And yes, he is trying to tickle me.
Oh, and while he's being somewhat slow to catch on to the XOOM, he has been using his communication cards a lot. But not in the expected way. He has been taking off all the cards except the one he's trying to use. So far two sets have blown away because of this, so I'll be visiting Staples again soon. And we'll have to work on this some more, or in a different way.
And lastly, but definitely not least, he tried to say "A big boy" today. He got boy and big flipped around but he did try. I love hearing words come out, and phrases/sentences are absolutely stellar.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Playing Cards
Ok. I needed a way for us to review the quantities of numbers. And a way that would kind of force me to be patient while knowing that we were doing something. And, yet again, a way for Mark to physically do something to represent the number one. He's not really a visual or aural learner. So, we are going to make a set of playing cards from foam.
Each playing card is a 4 x 6 foam piece. I got a pack of them at the Dollar Tree. And I'll be stopping to get another pack of them, and some more reward stickers, tomorrow. This is what we make. (No, I'm not an experienced photographer, not even a good amateur.)
The number 1 written in the top right corner is done by me. And I gave him dashes to trace in the lower left corner. This time, I wrote the word one underneath the spot where he put the foam letters. From the rest of them, he'll use this card as a reference. Then I had him give me one foam sticker. And then he put it in place.
So for the next three days, we will do a worksheet or two that focuses solely on the number 1. And then we'll make another card. Then we'll do the same for 2. After we make a set of 2s, we'll spend a few days comparing the two sets, and doing comparison worksheets, before we move on to 3. We will keep using the Cuisinare rods as well, since he does make a connection with them. Hopefully, by the time we reach 5 he will start breaking the prompt dependency. If not we'll keep going on the cards, up through 10, and start on a set of dominoes. Well, actually we'll do through 10 and make the dominoes anyways. But if he breaks the dependency we'll start on basic addition for 1 through 5 while we continue with the cards. If we get through the card set and dominoes and still have prompting issues, we'll starting one a set of memory cards. At some point, I'm sure Mark will realize what he needs to. And I'm betting it'll be sometime while we are making dominoes.
All of these items will be used for continuing games and activities. So he will not only have the fun of creating the items, but will have the fun of continuing to use them. I hope that will help him to make connections that he does not make with purchased flash cards, dominoes, etc.
By the way, I'm coming to love the Dollar Tree for supplies. The one closest to my house is so-so about schooling and craft supplies. But the one further away has an absolutely fabulous selection of items, probably because it's in a bigger market area. I have managed to pick up quite a collection of tools without assassinating my budget. We'll be able to make the set of cards, and dominoes, for under $6. And still have supplies left over for other projects. It's also where I found blank word strips, which I use to write his vocabulary words from reading. And then later, I found the printed sight words on word strips, which has helped him to make a connection between the written and printed letters/words. I would strongly recommend that anyone visit their local Dollar Tree before they go spend a ton of money elsewhere. You would be very surprised at what's available. And they have a website if you want to team up with others and do a bulk order. I'm actually considering doing a bulk order, just for us, on some things.
Anyways, back to life, we've got a reading lesson to do now. I hope you are having a good day!
Each playing card is a 4 x 6 foam piece. I got a pack of them at the Dollar Tree. And I'll be stopping to get another pack of them, and some more reward stickers, tomorrow. This is what we make. (No, I'm not an experienced photographer, not even a good amateur.)
The number 1 written in the top right corner is done by me. And I gave him dashes to trace in the lower left corner. This time, I wrote the word one underneath the spot where he put the foam letters. From the rest of them, he'll use this card as a reference. Then I had him give me one foam sticker. And then he put it in place.
So for the next three days, we will do a worksheet or two that focuses solely on the number 1. And then we'll make another card. Then we'll do the same for 2. After we make a set of 2s, we'll spend a few days comparing the two sets, and doing comparison worksheets, before we move on to 3. We will keep using the Cuisinare rods as well, since he does make a connection with them. Hopefully, by the time we reach 5 he will start breaking the prompt dependency. If not we'll keep going on the cards, up through 10, and start on a set of dominoes. Well, actually we'll do through 10 and make the dominoes anyways. But if he breaks the dependency we'll start on basic addition for 1 through 5 while we continue with the cards. If we get through the card set and dominoes and still have prompting issues, we'll starting one a set of memory cards. At some point, I'm sure Mark will realize what he needs to. And I'm betting it'll be sometime while we are making dominoes.
All of these items will be used for continuing games and activities. So he will not only have the fun of creating the items, but will have the fun of continuing to use them. I hope that will help him to make connections that he does not make with purchased flash cards, dominoes, etc.
By the way, I'm coming to love the Dollar Tree for supplies. The one closest to my house is so-so about schooling and craft supplies. But the one further away has an absolutely fabulous selection of items, probably because it's in a bigger market area. I have managed to pick up quite a collection of tools without assassinating my budget. We'll be able to make the set of cards, and dominoes, for under $6. And still have supplies left over for other projects. It's also where I found blank word strips, which I use to write his vocabulary words from reading. And then later, I found the printed sight words on word strips, which has helped him to make a connection between the written and printed letters/words. I would strongly recommend that anyone visit their local Dollar Tree before they go spend a ton of money elsewhere. You would be very surprised at what's available. And they have a website if you want to team up with others and do a bulk order. I'm actually considering doing a bulk order, just for us, on some things.
Anyways, back to life, we've got a reading lesson to do now. I hope you are having a good day!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
A Bright Sunny Day
And that's what today has been. Well, except for lessons. Mainly because Mark would have truly preferred to spend the whole day playing. :-) But then, what child wouldn't on such a wonderful bright day. He did definitely enjoy playing in the yard today.
Math is still having problems. I've backed up completely to having him match quantities to the quantity shown. For example, I hold 3 snap blocks and he needs to give me three snap blocks. Or he matches the #1 cuisenaire blocks to the blocks for 2, 3, 4, or 5. He's still completely fixated on using all the blocks available unless he's told to stop. Today I created a place for "extra" blocks to go. I don't know if that will work or not but I'm giving it a shot. I know this is a problem caused by years of HOH/verbal prompting but I can't seem to find a way to break through. If anyone has a suggestion, please comment.
On the other hand, spelling is going fabulously. He has L to R progression down solid now. The only time he changes it is if he has a problem matching the written letter to the magnetic letter. And then it only takes a verbal correction, and occasionally verbal prompting, to get him back on track. I haven't had to do HOH since friday?? Next week I'll take the oldest spelling words and start dropping letters out. By then we should be up to 8 or 9 of the Dolch Sight Words.
And I'm looking for an android reading app that's designed for kids, if anyone knows of one. The regular apps zoom in if he touches the screen for too long. Or they jump pages if he taps the bottom too frequently. I need one that will allow him to touch the screen without zooming and will only change pages if he touches specific spots. I don't know if there is one out there but again, if you know of one please let me know. This would saving me a fortune in ink.
Oh, and I found some absolutely fabulous puzzle apps. I was already using the Kid's Preschool Puzzles by IntelliJoy (http://www.intellijoy.com/), which he loves. I then found a variety of puzzle games by Teacher's Paradise (http://www.teachersparadise.com/apps). Some look like actual jigsaw puzzles, others are just shapes cut apart. The only one we couldn't get to work was the Trucks puzzles. I don't know what was wrong with it. But the other 4 puzzle sets we got work wonderfully and he loves them.
Oh, by the way, none of these companies/developers have asked me for these reviews or opinions. These are truly programs that I located on my own and have found to work for us. I hope they might work for you.
Math is still having problems. I've backed up completely to having him match quantities to the quantity shown. For example, I hold 3 snap blocks and he needs to give me three snap blocks. Or he matches the #1 cuisenaire blocks to the blocks for 2, 3, 4, or 5. He's still completely fixated on using all the blocks available unless he's told to stop. Today I created a place for "extra" blocks to go. I don't know if that will work or not but I'm giving it a shot. I know this is a problem caused by years of HOH/verbal prompting but I can't seem to find a way to break through. If anyone has a suggestion, please comment.
On the other hand, spelling is going fabulously. He has L to R progression down solid now. The only time he changes it is if he has a problem matching the written letter to the magnetic letter. And then it only takes a verbal correction, and occasionally verbal prompting, to get him back on track. I haven't had to do HOH since friday?? Next week I'll take the oldest spelling words and start dropping letters out. By then we should be up to 8 or 9 of the Dolch Sight Words.
And I'm looking for an android reading app that's designed for kids, if anyone knows of one. The regular apps zoom in if he touches the screen for too long. Or they jump pages if he taps the bottom too frequently. I need one that will allow him to touch the screen without zooming and will only change pages if he touches specific spots. I don't know if there is one out there but again, if you know of one please let me know. This would saving me a fortune in ink.
Oh, and I found some absolutely fabulous puzzle apps. I was already using the Kid's Preschool Puzzles by IntelliJoy (http://www.intellijoy.com/), which he loves. I then found a variety of puzzle games by Teacher's Paradise (http://www.teachersparadise.com/apps). Some look like actual jigsaw puzzles, others are just shapes cut apart. The only one we couldn't get to work was the Trucks puzzles. I don't know what was wrong with it. But the other 4 puzzle sets we got work wonderfully and he loves them.
Oh, by the way, none of these companies/developers have asked me for these reviews or opinions. These are truly programs that I located on my own and have found to work for us. I hope they might work for you.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Remembering a lesson.
Today I got reminded vividly of one of the issues I had with Mark's work at school. The problem was that Mark typically only had a 15 minute times span in which to do his tasks. So he tended to get a lot of HOH/verbal prompting to help him get the task done in 15 minutes. Apparently, I picked up this habit while going to school with him. Bad, Kim!
So today, Math took a while longer. Because we reviewed the material, and then I asked questions. I did not prompt. I did not do HOH. I merely asked Mark to "give x blocks to Mommy". I held up the number of fingers for the number with one hand, and held the other hand out flat. I did not give any other responses until he placed the blocks in my hand. If he was incorrect, I calmly said "No. Let's try again." and I would set the blocks back out. When he got it right, he got hugs, cheers, and kisses. He got the numbers 1 - 4 within 5 tries each time. The number 5 was not so successful though. After 20 tries I told him to stop when he had 5 blocks, and we counted them. We did this 3 more times before I called it quits for that part of math. No it wasn't perfect, and yes he made many mistakes. But he's learning to do it for himself without prompting.
And I did the same thing for the 25 piece puzzle. And the 12 piece. I only interfered when he was becoming overly fixated on a piece that he wasn't ready for. I would take the piece away for a bit so that he could move on. By the end of the 12 piece he was pretty happy. In a little while, I'll do it again with reading.
Basically, I have to remember to do it in his time frame, not mine. Otherwise I'm not really helping him at all, I'm enabling him. And that only hurts him. And that is so much easier to say and write than it is to actually do. But I know that if I do it, his time frame will become shorter and his confidence in his skills will increase. (and how many times did I ask for patience when I was younger???? I'm definitely learning it now.)
So today, Math took a while longer. Because we reviewed the material, and then I asked questions. I did not prompt. I did not do HOH. I merely asked Mark to "give x blocks to Mommy". I held up the number of fingers for the number with one hand, and held the other hand out flat. I did not give any other responses until he placed the blocks in my hand. If he was incorrect, I calmly said "No. Let's try again." and I would set the blocks back out. When he got it right, he got hugs, cheers, and kisses. He got the numbers 1 - 4 within 5 tries each time. The number 5 was not so successful though. After 20 tries I told him to stop when he had 5 blocks, and we counted them. We did this 3 more times before I called it quits for that part of math. No it wasn't perfect, and yes he made many mistakes. But he's learning to do it for himself without prompting.
And I did the same thing for the 25 piece puzzle. And the 12 piece. I only interfered when he was becoming overly fixated on a piece that he wasn't ready for. I would take the piece away for a bit so that he could move on. By the end of the 12 piece he was pretty happy. In a little while, I'll do it again with reading.
Basically, I have to remember to do it in his time frame, not mine. Otherwise I'm not really helping him at all, I'm enabling him. And that only hurts him. And that is so much easier to say and write than it is to actually do. But I know that if I do it, his time frame will become shorter and his confidence in his skills will increase. (and how many times did I ask for patience when I was younger???? I'm definitely learning it now.)
Saturday, February 18, 2012
A Day Off.
Yup. We actually don't take many days off because it is easier for Mark if we try to do similar things daily. And since "school" time isn't as stressful anymore it works. In fact when Mark thinks that he needs "school" time, he will either sit at the table or come get me. It's cute. But today was a day off from school stuff. We might do a math craft later but we'll see.
One another note, I wanted to tell you about a spelling program for Android that is absolutely wonderful. It's called Droid Spell. And Mark actually did play this today. And puzzles. So maybe we weren't completely school free today.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.vg.droidspell.donate&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLnZnLmRyb2lkc3BlbGwuZG9uYXRlIl0.
Wow, what a long link but it's worth it. This one program doesn't have any of the issues I had with other programs. To start with, it allows you to choose whether your child gets only the letters needed for the word, or those & more. And you get to pick, in a general sense, how many more! This is great for teaching your child to discriminate between the letters. It also gives them a very good start for later spelling lessons. You know, the ones that don't involve pictures and visible letters.
Even more, it allows you to set it so that your child must follow left to right progression to spell the word! Since that is one of Mark's problem areas, I love this setting. Mark doesn't like it so much but he's quickly figuring it out. And to be honest, the program is great for this because it has much more patience than I do.
You can hide the target letters, or not. In our case they are not hidden. As Mark's skills increase they will be hidden.
You can choose whether the words are all uppercase, all lowercase, or first letter uppercase with remaining lower case (clean). We are using the last setting for right now.
You can choose whether the movable letters will be in random order or not. For Mark they are, but for kids that are at the very, very beginning this would be helpful.
You can choose whether there are background images or not. This was a big issue for Mark originally because he couldn't focus past the beautiful images. So for us, background images are off. Later, when his skills are more solid, I'll probably turn them back on so that he can learn to focus more.
And you can choose whether there is a picture for the word during or after spelling is completed. For us, I just leave it up. Hopefully it will help Mark make connections between the words and the images, thereby building his vocabulary even more.
Oh, and the your child will need to get the letters into place, they do not snap into place just because they are close. This turned out to be great because Mark would try to drag and drop letters expecting them to just fall into place.
Oh, and just in case you don't realize it, the program will speak the letters out loud when they are touched. And then it spells and says the word when your child is done.
All in all, the program is soooo worth the $2.99 donation that they ask for. I'm looking forward to future changes, and other programs, from this program developer. They seem to have a good idea how to design for the child to truly learn a skill.
One another note, I wanted to tell you about a spelling program for Android that is absolutely wonderful. It's called Droid Spell. And Mark actually did play this today. And puzzles. So maybe we weren't completely school free today.
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.vg.droidspell.donate&feature=more_from_developer#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEwMiwiY29tLnZnLmRyb2lkc3BlbGwuZG9uYXRlIl0.
Wow, what a long link but it's worth it. This one program doesn't have any of the issues I had with other programs. To start with, it allows you to choose whether your child gets only the letters needed for the word, or those & more. And you get to pick, in a general sense, how many more! This is great for teaching your child to discriminate between the letters. It also gives them a very good start for later spelling lessons. You know, the ones that don't involve pictures and visible letters.
Even more, it allows you to set it so that your child must follow left to right progression to spell the word! Since that is one of Mark's problem areas, I love this setting. Mark doesn't like it so much but he's quickly figuring it out. And to be honest, the program is great for this because it has much more patience than I do.
You can hide the target letters, or not. In our case they are not hidden. As Mark's skills increase they will be hidden.
You can choose whether the words are all uppercase, all lowercase, or first letter uppercase with remaining lower case (clean). We are using the last setting for right now.
You can choose whether the movable letters will be in random order or not. For Mark they are, but for kids that are at the very, very beginning this would be helpful.
You can choose whether there are background images or not. This was a big issue for Mark originally because he couldn't focus past the beautiful images. So for us, background images are off. Later, when his skills are more solid, I'll probably turn them back on so that he can learn to focus more.
And you can choose whether there is a picture for the word during or after spelling is completed. For us, I just leave it up. Hopefully it will help Mark make connections between the words and the images, thereby building his vocabulary even more.
Oh, and the your child will need to get the letters into place, they do not snap into place just because they are close. This turned out to be great because Mark would try to drag and drop letters expecting them to just fall into place.
Oh, and just in case you don't realize it, the program will speak the letters out loud when they are touched. And then it spells and says the word when your child is done.
All in all, the program is soooo worth the $2.99 donation that they ask for. I'm looking forward to future changes, and other programs, from this program developer. They seem to have a good idea how to design for the child to truly learn a skill.
Friday, February 17, 2012
A little bit of light...on Math.
Despite knowing the problems that Mark is having in Math, none of the alternatives I was trying were doing any good. I think, now, that part of the problem was that I was using the same techniques that were being used at school - manipulatives, cards, dittos. Mark was responding the same way he did for school. He expected everything to be HOH, and he expected me to tell him when to stop adding manipulatives.
Well, this was severely frustrating. So when another mom, Mary, suggested an alternative approach I decided to try it. Her suggestion was Cuisenaire rods. And since she was done using her set for her children, she offered them to me to try with Mark. So I went digging on line just to find out what these rods were. And that resulted in a DUH! smack to my head. I did not have the rods but I did have two alternatives that I could use alongside the rods. I have a set of rods done in inch segments (Cuisenaire rods are done in cm segments). And I had snap blocks. So I found both of those items last night. And recolored the numbers on the rods. And then today I picked up the Cuisenaire rods.
Now, the reason I still got the Cuisenaire rods is because there is a whole solid math system for teaching counting, addition, subtraction, division, multiplaction, etc. If Mark responded positively to the rods, I would need the set to continue using them.
So this morning we sat down and did a very simple math session. I put a number magnet on his board, and then I had him put the corresponding Cuisenaire rod above the number. And a light came on in his eyes. I don't think he's suddenly understood everything but I think he's made a connection that he hadn't made before. He actually had fun doing math with me today. We used snap blocks to count 1 to 5. Then I took the blocks apart and had him give me a certain quantity. We worked through 1 to 5. He gave me 1 and 4 without any help at all. And he did the others with only verbal reminders to check how many. I did not tell him to stop. Then we did 1 to 5 on his abacus.
So, if this continues to improve, then I'll probably follow the Miquon math curriculum. And I'll work separately to get him to transfer his counting skills to other areas.
Oh, and yes, Mark has an abacus. I took him to a local toy store that has every Melissa and Doug Toy in the catalog. And he spent his valentine's money on an abacus. You remember his love of bead toys, right? And then I got him another set of the letter magnets so that we can get through spelling words like "see". And I still got grins and extra hugs. I've got a happy, and tired, child tonight.
Well, this was severely frustrating. So when another mom, Mary, suggested an alternative approach I decided to try it. Her suggestion was Cuisenaire rods. And since she was done using her set for her children, she offered them to me to try with Mark. So I went digging on line just to find out what these rods were. And that resulted in a DUH! smack to my head. I did not have the rods but I did have two alternatives that I could use alongside the rods. I have a set of rods done in inch segments (Cuisenaire rods are done in cm segments). And I had snap blocks. So I found both of those items last night. And recolored the numbers on the rods. And then today I picked up the Cuisenaire rods.
Now, the reason I still got the Cuisenaire rods is because there is a whole solid math system for teaching counting, addition, subtraction, division, multiplaction, etc. If Mark responded positively to the rods, I would need the set to continue using them.
So this morning we sat down and did a very simple math session. I put a number magnet on his board, and then I had him put the corresponding Cuisenaire rod above the number. And a light came on in his eyes. I don't think he's suddenly understood everything but I think he's made a connection that he hadn't made before. He actually had fun doing math with me today. We used snap blocks to count 1 to 5. Then I took the blocks apart and had him give me a certain quantity. We worked through 1 to 5. He gave me 1 and 4 without any help at all. And he did the others with only verbal reminders to check how many. I did not tell him to stop. Then we did 1 to 5 on his abacus.
So, if this continues to improve, then I'll probably follow the Miquon math curriculum. And I'll work separately to get him to transfer his counting skills to other areas.
Oh, and yes, Mark has an abacus. I took him to a local toy store that has every Melissa and Doug Toy in the catalog. And he spent his valentine's money on an abacus. You remember his love of bead toys, right? And then I got him another set of the letter magnets so that we can get through spelling words like "see". And I still got grins and extra hugs. I've got a happy, and tired, child tonight.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Breakthrough in Spelling
Seriously doing the happy dance here. And Mark was as well. He grumped his way through reading. Then grumped his way through Word ID, so I was expecting spelling to be tantrums. And it wasn't. In fact when we started, he was grinning. And he kept grinning all the way through!!!! We used the chalkboard and alphabet magnets today. And he loved it. He put the correct letter on top of the written letter every time. And only had to be told he had the wrong letter twice. (Note: told, no HOH.) Then halfway through, he started doing it L to R without prompting! He got major hugs and cheers for that, which kept him on track for L to R for the remainder of the words. I had only originally planned 4 words but quickly changed it to 10 since he was doing so well. And spelling ended on a majorly positive note! (And I think Mark was as happy about that as I was!)
And his reward, which he loved just as much, was free play with the cookie cutters and Model Magic. Now he's out bouncing.
I'm only going to list one program today (there are more) because the focus of this blog is supposed to be how Mark is doing. And this has turned out to be one of his more favored programs. I'll try to list one each day as we keep going.
The program is Kids Preschool Puzzles by Intellijoy. http://www.intellijoy.com/
This program provides shape jigsaw puzzles for the kids. The number of pieces varies. And so far he's managed to solve every one of them without any assistance. No it's not the same as a regular jigsaw puzzle because the pieces can't be upside down, backwards, etc. But it is good for making him focus, compare shapes and moving them together. And even on a rough day, he can easily, and happily, do four or five of the puzzles. It provides skills, and fun.
And his reward, which he loved just as much, was free play with the cookie cutters and Model Magic. Now he's out bouncing.
I'm only going to list one program today (there are more) because the focus of this blog is supposed to be how Mark is doing. And this has turned out to be one of his more favored programs. I'll try to list one each day as we keep going.
The program is Kids Preschool Puzzles by Intellijoy. http://www.intellijoy.com/
This program provides shape jigsaw puzzles for the kids. The number of pieces varies. And so far he's managed to solve every one of them without any assistance. No it's not the same as a regular jigsaw puzzle because the pieces can't be upside down, backwards, etc. But it is good for making him focus, compare shapes and moving them together. And even on a rough day, he can easily, and happily, do four or five of the puzzles. It provides skills, and fun.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
I love the XOOM!
Ok, if it was for me, to be honest - I'd hate it. Sorry, but Tablets do not replace a good laptop/desktop. But within their limitations, they make a wonderful communication & education device.
So far I've downloaded and deleted dozens of programs. But here are the keepers so far. I'm only going to list three today. I'll get to more tomorrow.
First - JABtalk. http://www.jabstone.com/
To put it simply - WOW! It is a completely flexible program that you custom design with your materials. It does not do it's own audio, you either have to record it or provide your own recordings. And for us that is just fine. You can make your own categories, subcategories, and words. You can use an image you want. And most amazingly - It's Free!!! I would have paid for this happily given just how useful it is. I'm not locked into using any one companies symbols. I can use my own pictures, stock symbols, or the internet. Now that the case protectors are here, I'm sure Mark will love using this to tell me what he wants.
Second - First, Then Visual Schedule http://www.goodkarmaapplications.com/first-then-visual-schedule.html
If you've seen this for IPad, you can now be happy. It's available for android now. And it's worth the $9.99 to buy it. It's completely flexible for making your own visual schedules for your child to follow. I'm looking forward to taking some time to create schedules for errands and trips. I've already created a basic First, Then board that has really helped Mark. Same as JABtalk, you can use stock pictures/recordings, your own, or the internet. They provide a really large selection of images that you can download if you want to. So far, I haven't and I'm still thrilled.
Third - Visual Timer http://www.moonmirage.com/mobileapps/visualtimer/visualtimer.html
Honestly, this is great. I went through dozens of programs trying to find a visual timer like this. More than worth the $.99 for the full version. Best part, if you back out but don't turn it off, it will keep going in the background and sound when the time is up. This is helpful when you are timing another activity that you are doing on the phone. Only downside, which I will live with, is that the clock face does not have any numbers. That would make it absolutely perfect.
Ok, that covers the three programs. And today the things to protect the XOOM while Mark is using it arrived. The XOOM is now in an Otterbox Defender case. And the Otterbox Utility Series straps are on it. I have to admit that even I feel more comfortable handling it with these items on it. The Defender case is infinitely easier to grip and hold on to with its silicone cover. And the straps give me complete confidence in carrying it. It would take me having a really bad day to drop it now. But no bets on Mark. We'll see how it handles him.
So far I've downloaded and deleted dozens of programs. But here are the keepers so far. I'm only going to list three today. I'll get to more tomorrow.
First - JABtalk. http://www.jabstone.com/
To put it simply - WOW! It is a completely flexible program that you custom design with your materials. It does not do it's own audio, you either have to record it or provide your own recordings. And for us that is just fine. You can make your own categories, subcategories, and words. You can use an image you want. And most amazingly - It's Free!!! I would have paid for this happily given just how useful it is. I'm not locked into using any one companies symbols. I can use my own pictures, stock symbols, or the internet. Now that the case protectors are here, I'm sure Mark will love using this to tell me what he wants.
Second - First, Then Visual Schedule http://www.goodkarmaapplications.com/first-then-visual-schedule.html
If you've seen this for IPad, you can now be happy. It's available for android now. And it's worth the $9.99 to buy it. It's completely flexible for making your own visual schedules for your child to follow. I'm looking forward to taking some time to create schedules for errands and trips. I've already created a basic First, Then board that has really helped Mark. Same as JABtalk, you can use stock pictures/recordings, your own, or the internet. They provide a really large selection of images that you can download if you want to. So far, I haven't and I'm still thrilled.
Third - Visual Timer http://www.moonmirage.com/mobileapps/visualtimer/visualtimer.html
Honestly, this is great. I went through dozens of programs trying to find a visual timer like this. More than worth the $.99 for the full version. Best part, if you back out but don't turn it off, it will keep going in the background and sound when the time is up. This is helpful when you are timing another activity that you are doing on the phone. Only downside, which I will live with, is that the clock face does not have any numbers. That would make it absolutely perfect.
Ok, that covers the three programs. And today the things to protect the XOOM while Mark is using it arrived. The XOOM is now in an Otterbox Defender case. And the Otterbox Utility Series straps are on it. I have to admit that even I feel more comfortable handling it with these items on it. The Defender case is infinitely easier to grip and hold on to with its silicone cover. And the straps give me complete confidence in carrying it. It would take me having a really bad day to drop it now. But no bets on Mark. We'll see how it handles him.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Dah, Dah, Dah, Dum..........
BOOM!
We had a massive explosion of the temper tantrum type today. It was kind of expected. I've been waiting for the "I'm not in school, I shouldn't have to do school work!" explosion. And it hit today. During math of course. That's the most difficult subject for him at the moment so I shouldn't have been surprised that it was the trigger. But we got through it. And promptly after we finished math, he proceeded to throw a longer tantrum with running and jumping. So I made him go to bed. It was only supposed to be for 15 minutes, but he actually curled up under the blanket and calmed (although he did not sleep). So I left him until he was ready to come out, which was over an hour later. That was plenty of time to get the living room cleaned up and swept.
Mark is wired energy wise which I think is spring fever. He even had problems with slowing his hand movements for working on the XOOM. So tomorrow I think I will bundle him up really good and let him go run/bounce/swing it off. A hour or so of sunshine and playing in the backyard should do a lot to calm him down.
And I ordered two visual timers today. They are not Time Timers. His classroom had two Time Timers and they were forever either not working "at the moment"/only partially working/not working at all. So I found two possible timers on Amazon. I'll post them here if they work out.
I'm planning on using one of them to let him know when "work" time is coming up. I'll set it and put the PECS card for the "work" with it. And then when it goes off, we will work on that item. I think that will settle his nerves some because he'll know that it's coming and be able to "prepare" for it. Since we are not following a rigid schedule like the school does he seems to have the occasional problem with work just "popping up". Even if I've told him beforehand that we are going to do something and do a "countdown". So this should help with that issue until he readjusts to life being random. And even after that, it will help on bad/hard/difficult days.
The second timer is for when we are working. I'll set it so that he knows how long each task will take before he is done, including rewards. And the first, then/visual schedule program is on the XOOM. So I'll be using that to show him what things we'll be doing during each work period, if needed. And it probably will be needed until we get over the hump regarding school work at home.
Despite the explosion it was actually a really good day. He helped to clean up. He didn't do so good with identifying quantities 1-5, but he did very well with calendar. Reading was ok. I still need to figure out the format for books on the XOOM. That will be cool because some of the books have interactives that he will be able to do.
Spelling is a challenge still but we may be taking some of the challenges out of that. I found a lined magnetic chalkboard. So spelling is going to be done on it, with large magnetic letters, until he finally comprehends what we are working on. Then I'll start working the small magnetics and other manipulative back into the work. One of the programs on the XOOM makes him trace the letters using his finger, which he started doing somewhat independently today. (My thumb was on the side of his wrist but otherwise there was no contact and no verbal.)
All in all, things are happening. A little slowly, and at lower levels than I anticipated, but still happening. And he's really excited about the XOOM. He doesn't like the work on it but he loves the games. And he's very quickly learning that he has to do the work to get to the games.
So Blessing all around. And I'm grateful for them. I hope your day has Blessing as well.
We had a massive explosion of the temper tantrum type today. It was kind of expected. I've been waiting for the "I'm not in school, I shouldn't have to do school work!" explosion. And it hit today. During math of course. That's the most difficult subject for him at the moment so I shouldn't have been surprised that it was the trigger. But we got through it. And promptly after we finished math, he proceeded to throw a longer tantrum with running and jumping. So I made him go to bed. It was only supposed to be for 15 minutes, but he actually curled up under the blanket and calmed (although he did not sleep). So I left him until he was ready to come out, which was over an hour later. That was plenty of time to get the living room cleaned up and swept.
Mark is wired energy wise which I think is spring fever. He even had problems with slowing his hand movements for working on the XOOM. So tomorrow I think I will bundle him up really good and let him go run/bounce/swing it off. A hour or so of sunshine and playing in the backyard should do a lot to calm him down.
And I ordered two visual timers today. They are not Time Timers. His classroom had two Time Timers and they were forever either not working "at the moment"/only partially working/not working at all. So I found two possible timers on Amazon. I'll post them here if they work out.
I'm planning on using one of them to let him know when "work" time is coming up. I'll set it and put the PECS card for the "work" with it. And then when it goes off, we will work on that item. I think that will settle his nerves some because he'll know that it's coming and be able to "prepare" for it. Since we are not following a rigid schedule like the school does he seems to have the occasional problem with work just "popping up". Even if I've told him beforehand that we are going to do something and do a "countdown". So this should help with that issue until he readjusts to life being random. And even after that, it will help on bad/hard/difficult days.
The second timer is for when we are working. I'll set it so that he knows how long each task will take before he is done, including rewards. And the first, then/visual schedule program is on the XOOM. So I'll be using that to show him what things we'll be doing during each work period, if needed. And it probably will be needed until we get over the hump regarding school work at home.
Despite the explosion it was actually a really good day. He helped to clean up. He didn't do so good with identifying quantities 1-5, but he did very well with calendar. Reading was ok. I still need to figure out the format for books on the XOOM. That will be cool because some of the books have interactives that he will be able to do.
Spelling is a challenge still but we may be taking some of the challenges out of that. I found a lined magnetic chalkboard. So spelling is going to be done on it, with large magnetic letters, until he finally comprehends what we are working on. Then I'll start working the small magnetics and other manipulative back into the work. One of the programs on the XOOM makes him trace the letters using his finger, which he started doing somewhat independently today. (My thumb was on the side of his wrist but otherwise there was no contact and no verbal.)
All in all, things are happening. A little slowly, and at lower levels than I anticipated, but still happening. And he's really excited about the XOOM. He doesn't like the work on it but he loves the games. And he's very quickly learning that he has to do the work to get to the games.
So Blessing all around. And I'm grateful for them. I hope your day has Blessing as well.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Math Issues and, hopefully, a solution
Math has proven to be a real issue. Mark can give you a number if you ask for it. He can give you the word for a number. But he cannot give the quantity independently. If asked for "x of an item" Mark will continue to put items on until you say stop (or make dots, or stickers). So we are having to back up to a very basic math skill. This was one of my worries when they wanted to push putting numbers in order. And unfortunately, it is a problem. (I was really hoping it wouldn't be.)
So, for the next few weeks, we will be working on quantities of items. 1 through 10 first. Then 11 through 20. Once we have 11 through 20 down solid we will be using "Hooked on Math" to move on to other math areas will I continue to work independently on the next set of 10 numbers in quantities. That will continue until we've hit 50, maybe 100 if he's really getting it. I've downloaded 2 apps to the XOOM that are counting apps. And I'll be using some ideas from School Sparks. And lastly, but definitely not least, we'll be playing a lot of simple games that use Math.
BTW, School Sparks is a wonderful source of stuff for working with Kindergarten levels. And for kids with disabilities. (and I'm not affiliated in any way - and they didn't ask me to say something!) So far Mark hasn't had any issues with the worksheets and their guidelines give me ideas of what gaps need to be filled.
And another source for great stuff, if you are in Tennessee, is McKay Books. I haven't been to Knoxville or Chattanooga in a while but I always found lots of material there. And the Nashville location has provided quite a lot of material for my son. And today I found the complete "Hooked on Math" series and most of the "Hooked on Phonics" series. A few weeks ago I found good books on Health & Safety, Science, and Social Studies - all appropriate for his skill levels. I'm not sure I needed the Hooked on Phonics but I should be able to use it alongside the Harcourt Primers with no issues.
I hope you all are having a great day, wherever you are!
So, for the next few weeks, we will be working on quantities of items. 1 through 10 first. Then 11 through 20. Once we have 11 through 20 down solid we will be using "Hooked on Math" to move on to other math areas will I continue to work independently on the next set of 10 numbers in quantities. That will continue until we've hit 50, maybe 100 if he's really getting it. I've downloaded 2 apps to the XOOM that are counting apps. And I'll be using some ideas from School Sparks. And lastly, but definitely not least, we'll be playing a lot of simple games that use Math.
BTW, School Sparks is a wonderful source of stuff for working with Kindergarten levels. And for kids with disabilities. (and I'm not affiliated in any way - and they didn't ask me to say something!) So far Mark hasn't had any issues with the worksheets and their guidelines give me ideas of what gaps need to be filled.
And another source for great stuff, if you are in Tennessee, is McKay Books. I haven't been to Knoxville or Chattanooga in a while but I always found lots of material there. And the Nashville location has provided quite a lot of material for my son. And today I found the complete "Hooked on Math" series and most of the "Hooked on Phonics" series. A few weeks ago I found good books on Health & Safety, Science, and Social Studies - all appropriate for his skill levels. I'm not sure I needed the Hooked on Phonics but I should be able to use it alongside the Harcourt Primers with no issues.
I hope you all are having a great day, wherever you are!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
The Pool.....and XOOM!
Mark's tablet was ordered and arrived today. It's a Motorola XOOM. And while it's going to take me a while to figure this thing out, Mark was already thrilled with the two "game" apps I put on it. He likes the piano keyboard and the "Scratch It" drawing board. I found several apps that should be interesting to try with him. One has him use his finger to trace letters. It definitely did not thrill him but he didn't throw a fit either.
But before Mark gets any free hands-on time I've still got to get the Otterbox and straps. Since the XOOM upgraded to 3.2 and therefore will work for us, I've got to get those ordered. I waited just in case.
And today was Mark's first time at the pool with the rest of the homeschool group. Once he settled in he had a blast. This will definitely be one event that we will be attending regularly. I don't think it will be long before he's trying some of the things he's seeing the other kids do. But he was just flat out having a blast in the heated pool. I think he dumped a lot of stress today. And that made for a tired boy who went to bed early and fell asleep promptly.
One bonus of the pool trip was that Mark seems to have gotten over his issues with getting dressed to go out. We had to run out this evening and he cheerfully got dressed and was happy the whole time. He didn't even fuss when he saw the school. This would be a very good thing. I hadn't consciously realized that most of our car trips were to school and back until now. Now he's realizing that school isn't a destination anymore. And he's looking forward to seeing where we are going. It's been a slow process but the pool trip seems to have gotten us over the hump.
But before Mark gets any free hands-on time I've still got to get the Otterbox and straps. Since the XOOM upgraded to 3.2 and therefore will work for us, I've got to get those ordered. I waited just in case.
And today was Mark's first time at the pool with the rest of the homeschool group. Once he settled in he had a blast. This will definitely be one event that we will be attending regularly. I don't think it will be long before he's trying some of the things he's seeing the other kids do. But he was just flat out having a blast in the heated pool. I think he dumped a lot of stress today. And that made for a tired boy who went to bed early and fell asleep promptly.
One bonus of the pool trip was that Mark seems to have gotten over his issues with getting dressed to go out. We had to run out this evening and he cheerfully got dressed and was happy the whole time. He didn't even fuss when he saw the school. This would be a very good thing. I hadn't consciously realized that most of our car trips were to school and back until now. Now he's realizing that school isn't a destination anymore. And he's looking forward to seeing where we are going. It's been a slow process but the pool trip seems to have gotten us over the hump.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
It's raining! indoors.....
Mark is becoming very independent lately. He's become very determined to figure out how to do some of his favorite things - without my help. This normally involves him trying to put in DVDs. The DVDs typically end up in the VCR.
But today he decided he wanted another shower. And he didn't have a way to tell me. So suddenly I hear a wildly giggling little boy and the water running in the shower. He almost had it. He'll have to work on two things.
The first thing is temperature control. He only had the hot water turned on!
The second thing is pulling the tab for shower all the way up. He got it halfway and then stopped for some reason.
I don't know why he wanted a second shower today but he's still in there making happy noises so all is good. And he actually remembered that clothes don't get worn in the shower! So for now, it's raining inside and all is good.
But today he decided he wanted another shower. And he didn't have a way to tell me. So suddenly I hear a wildly giggling little boy and the water running in the shower. He almost had it. He'll have to work on two things.
The first thing is temperature control. He only had the hot water turned on!
The second thing is pulling the tab for shower all the way up. He got it halfway and then stopped for some reason.
I don't know why he wanted a second shower today but he's still in there making happy noises so all is good. And he actually remembered that clothes don't get worn in the shower! So for now, it's raining inside and all is good.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
A real Oops!
Thursday afternoon/evening we went to McKay books in Nashville. The purpose of the trip was to let Mark get a bunch of books at his reading level and books which he can relate to. And a few videos if they had them. Well when we got there I discovered that they had an IPOD that I could afford (with trade ins). So cheerfully I grabbed it expecting to install Mark's communication apps on it. The plan was for this to be Mark's easily portable communication device since the tablets are all somewhat large for this purpose. Then we got home and I discovered that the communication apps wouldn't work with this IPOD. Nuts! So we will go back this week and return it. And let Mark stock up some more. And I will be watching for an IPOD Touch on ebay. Wish us luck!
But even with the IPOD, Mark got a new movie and quite a few new books. He focused mainly on books that he has movies of. And spent yesterday, and today, flipping through the pages of those books while following the movies. It's been amazing, and amusing, to watch. Especially when he was watching Hunchback earlier. So when we go back I will definitely be looking at movie books for him.
And my find for him - a curriculum on Health and Safety that we can follow on the days when we can't work directly on the safety goals for him. In fact I'm off to work on reworking the lessons so that they are understandable by Mark.
Hope you all are having a good day!
But even with the IPOD, Mark got a new movie and quite a few new books. He focused mainly on books that he has movies of. And spent yesterday, and today, flipping through the pages of those books while following the movies. It's been amazing, and amusing, to watch. Especially when he was watching Hunchback earlier. So when we go back I will definitely be looking at movie books for him.
And my find for him - a curriculum on Health and Safety that we can follow on the days when we can't work directly on the safety goals for him. In fact I'm off to work on reworking the lessons so that they are understandable by Mark.
Hope you all are having a good day!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Spelling
I'm going to share how we are working the parts of Mark's education. The first one is spelling.
Mark has had very little instruction in spelling. Most of it consisted of computer based spelling games. So spelling is proving to be a challenge for him. What Mark is doing now is not spelling so much as letter matching, which is the same thing the computer games do. There are several differences though.
First I'm going to explain the tools we are using for spelling. The first tool is a small magnetic dry erase board that is divided down the center and has ten rows. Right now we do ten words at a time for each spelling lesson. The words are based on the word list in the book he is reading for the week. The second tool is a black dry erase marker. And the third tool is a set of homemade magnetic letters. I designed the letters on the computer and put the HWT lines on each tile so that when he gets to writing he has already got the visual of how the letters go in his head. Each tile is 1/2" wide by 3/4" long and only slightly thicker than a sheet of paper. These were printed on the magnet paper that you can buy for your inkjet. I have both lower case and upper case letters but right now we are only working with the lower case letters. In the long run (in 3 or 4 weeks) I will add Scrabble tiles with upper and lower case (home made) letters. And possibly stamps and sensory letters.
Now to the differences. The first difference is that Mark has to choose the correct letters out of a field of ten letters. Eventually he will have to pick from the full field of 26 letters. On the computer games only the letters needed are available. On the computer games he just has to put the letters into the matching spots. For our current version of spelling Mark has to pick the correct letter from the field of 10.
The second difference is that Mark has to put the letters directly on the correct line, in the correct position. He can't just "float" them across and let go. So he's having to deal with two issues. The first is his preference to have all the letters together thereby running one word into another. The second is having to work from right to left to spell the word. Somehow, despite years of schooling, Mark has missed the basic knowledge of left to right progression.
The next difference is the left to right progression. On the computer games, he could put any letter into any place at any time. Now he has to put them in place from left to right. He's having big issues with this, and not just in spelling.
The final difference is that Mark is having to match written letters to printed letters. This is something that he's going to have to work through since, to my knowledge, he's never had to do it before. When I'm writing the words I try to make the letters look as much like the print letters as possible but there are still differences.
An "add-on" to spelling will start once he's relatively stable with the current activity. At that point I will take words and start dropping letters out. Mark will then need to spell the word I say and get the missing letters correct. Eventually this will completely transform to the type of spelling lessons that his peers complete.
Mark has had very little instruction in spelling. Most of it consisted of computer based spelling games. So spelling is proving to be a challenge for him. What Mark is doing now is not spelling so much as letter matching, which is the same thing the computer games do. There are several differences though.
First I'm going to explain the tools we are using for spelling. The first tool is a small magnetic dry erase board that is divided down the center and has ten rows. Right now we do ten words at a time for each spelling lesson. The words are based on the word list in the book he is reading for the week. The second tool is a black dry erase marker. And the third tool is a set of homemade magnetic letters. I designed the letters on the computer and put the HWT lines on each tile so that when he gets to writing he has already got the visual of how the letters go in his head. Each tile is 1/2" wide by 3/4" long and only slightly thicker than a sheet of paper. These were printed on the magnet paper that you can buy for your inkjet. I have both lower case and upper case letters but right now we are only working with the lower case letters. In the long run (in 3 or 4 weeks) I will add Scrabble tiles with upper and lower case (home made) letters. And possibly stamps and sensory letters.
Now to the differences. The first difference is that Mark has to choose the correct letters out of a field of ten letters. Eventually he will have to pick from the full field of 26 letters. On the computer games only the letters needed are available. On the computer games he just has to put the letters into the matching spots. For our current version of spelling Mark has to pick the correct letter from the field of 10.
The second difference is that Mark has to put the letters directly on the correct line, in the correct position. He can't just "float" them across and let go. So he's having to deal with two issues. The first is his preference to have all the letters together thereby running one word into another. The second is having to work from right to left to spell the word. Somehow, despite years of schooling, Mark has missed the basic knowledge of left to right progression.
The next difference is the left to right progression. On the computer games, he could put any letter into any place at any time. Now he has to put them in place from left to right. He's having big issues with this, and not just in spelling.
The final difference is that Mark is having to match written letters to printed letters. This is something that he's going to have to work through since, to my knowledge, he's never had to do it before. When I'm writing the words I try to make the letters look as much like the print letters as possible but there are still differences.
An "add-on" to spelling will start once he's relatively stable with the current activity. At that point I will take words and start dropping letters out. Mark will then need to spell the word I say and get the missing letters correct. Eventually this will completely transform to the type of spelling lessons that his peers complete.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Fun.........
Yup. We've been having fun.
Mark doesn't always like the work part but he's doing it. And he's loving the rest of it. Friday we'll be joining a group for walking. Next week we'll start joining a swimming group. And I'm looking into a P.E. class once a week (maybe twice), and possible swim classes. He'll love those. And a sports group come spring.
He's biggest issue at the moment is remembering to do things left to right. He gets going and wants to put things in order randomly. It reminds me of when I didn't want to write out algebra problems as I did them. I learned to do it and I'm sure he will.
But for now, he's a relatively happy boy. No headaches. And no other things - but I'm not risking jinxing myself with that. Goliath has adapted relatively quickly and appears next to Mark or at his feet as soon as we sit down for lessons. Mark is the determining factor for Goliath. If Mark's being physical, then Goliath is right next to him. If Mark's calm then Goliath is at his feet. And Goliath spent yesterday watching over Mark outside while Mark bounced his heart out. Mark was one exhausted boy at bedtime last night. He put himself to bed at 7:30!
And lots of words! Lots and lots and lots of words! Some old, some new. I got told "I can read" when we were reading yesterday!
Anyways that's the update. I hope everything is going well for you all.
Mark doesn't always like the work part but he's doing it. And he's loving the rest of it. Friday we'll be joining a group for walking. Next week we'll start joining a swimming group. And I'm looking into a P.E. class once a week (maybe twice), and possible swim classes. He'll love those. And a sports group come spring.
He's biggest issue at the moment is remembering to do things left to right. He gets going and wants to put things in order randomly. It reminds me of when I didn't want to write out algebra problems as I did them. I learned to do it and I'm sure he will.
But for now, he's a relatively happy boy. No headaches. And no other things - but I'm not risking jinxing myself with that. Goliath has adapted relatively quickly and appears next to Mark or at his feet as soon as we sit down for lessons. Mark is the determining factor for Goliath. If Mark's being physical, then Goliath is right next to him. If Mark's calm then Goliath is at his feet. And Goliath spent yesterday watching over Mark outside while Mark bounced his heart out. Mark was one exhausted boy at bedtime last night. He put himself to bed at 7:30!
And lots of words! Lots and lots and lots of words! Some old, some new. I got told "I can read" when we were reading yesterday!
Anyways that's the update. I hope everything is going well for you all.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
A relaxing day.
Hmm.. I'm gonna have to think of better titles here.
But that's what it was. Mark was happy for the most part. He took a nap. :-0 I know - he rarely takes naps. But apparently he needed one.
He got a little confused when I had him do the number 28 with 2 separate magnets but seemed to catch on. He did good at reading. And he identified the story characters by pointing when he was asked.
He got annoyed when I had him do word identification and spelling though. Spelling has two difficulties for him. The first he was almost over by the end of today. He was having problems understanding the idea of spelling the word, even though he's done it on computer programs. He especially didn't like that he had to put the letters in place in order. But by the last two words he was doing it smoothly. (And I've got to print more magnet letters - we ran out of a couple!) The second problem is the magnet letters. But it's a problem I'm not going to fix. The magnet letters are 1/2" by 3/4" printed on magnetic paper. So his fine motor pinching grip is getting a workout. And he doesn't like it. I predict that within a week or two he'll have it mastered though.
Puzzles weren't bad. He needed a little prompting but did well otherwise.
Making patterns gave him difficulty though. He kept expecting me to HOH prompt. And when I wouldn't he would reach for the wrong piece. From the way his eyes were moving it was deliberate. So I would take the wrong piece and verbally redirect him. Breaking him of HOH assistance is going to be a challenge apparently but it's going to happen.
But generally a good day. Right now he's happily swinging in his room, grinning at me when I come in.....and telling me "quiet" every chance he gets. <BG>
But that's what it was. Mark was happy for the most part. He took a nap. :-0 I know - he rarely takes naps. But apparently he needed one.
He got a little confused when I had him do the number 28 with 2 separate magnets but seemed to catch on. He did good at reading. And he identified the story characters by pointing when he was asked.
He got annoyed when I had him do word identification and spelling though. Spelling has two difficulties for him. The first he was almost over by the end of today. He was having problems understanding the idea of spelling the word, even though he's done it on computer programs. He especially didn't like that he had to put the letters in place in order. But by the last two words he was doing it smoothly. (And I've got to print more magnet letters - we ran out of a couple!) The second problem is the magnet letters. But it's a problem I'm not going to fix. The magnet letters are 1/2" by 3/4" printed on magnetic paper. So his fine motor pinching grip is getting a workout. And he doesn't like it. I predict that within a week or two he'll have it mastered though.
Puzzles weren't bad. He needed a little prompting but did well otherwise.
Making patterns gave him difficulty though. He kept expecting me to HOH prompt. And when I wouldn't he would reach for the wrong piece. From the way his eyes were moving it was deliberate. So I would take the wrong piece and verbally redirect him. Breaking him of HOH assistance is going to be a challenge apparently but it's going to happen.
But generally a good day. Right now he's happily swinging in his room, grinning at me when I come in.....and telling me "quiet" every chance he gets. <BG>
Friday, January 27, 2012
Just another day.
Mark woke up congested and feverish again. So we missed his last day at school. Hopefully he will get to see everyone and say good bye on Monday. And even better, hopefully everyone will keep in touch through here and he can see them now and again later.
Despite the yucky waking, the morning was good. He picked the date out of a field of three with no problem. I think I'm going to pull out the other magnet numbers soon and have him "spell" the numbers. Right now 11, 12, 13 are on the magnet as such. But with the other magnets he would have to pair the numbers to make the numbers higher than 9.
And he got me good. I asked him about the weather using the puzzle pieces again. Well he pointed to the cloudy one which shows the sun and clouds. Fortunately I kept my mouth shut until I looked outside. Yep, it was bright and sunny but there were clouds as well. I think I'll need to make a separate cloudy icon. And even better, make sure he understands that it's ok to make more than one choice. Such as sunny and cloudy, snowy and cloudy, etc.
He got his putty out today (blue) and put it away by himself when he was done. And he didn't have too big a fuss over having to read with me.
But the afternoon pretty much got blown because he developed a headache while we were at the grocery store getting his medicine. Ah well. We'll try more tomorrow. And I'll make sure to only do short brief trips for the next week or so until the headaches have abated.
But right now he's hunting tickles and kisses. So I'm going to go play.
Despite the yucky waking, the morning was good. He picked the date out of a field of three with no problem. I think I'm going to pull out the other magnet numbers soon and have him "spell" the numbers. Right now 11, 12, 13 are on the magnet as such. But with the other magnets he would have to pair the numbers to make the numbers higher than 9.
And he got me good. I asked him about the weather using the puzzle pieces again. Well he pointed to the cloudy one which shows the sun and clouds. Fortunately I kept my mouth shut until I looked outside. Yep, it was bright and sunny but there were clouds as well. I think I'll need to make a separate cloudy icon. And even better, make sure he understands that it's ok to make more than one choice. Such as sunny and cloudy, snowy and cloudy, etc.
He got his putty out today (blue) and put it away by himself when he was done. And he didn't have too big a fuss over having to read with me.
But the afternoon pretty much got blown because he developed a headache while we were at the grocery store getting his medicine. Ah well. We'll try more tomorrow. And I'll make sure to only do short brief trips for the next week or so until the headaches have abated.
But right now he's hunting tickles and kisses. So I'm going to go play.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Sick Again........
Oh the frustration. For me. And I think for Mark as well. But he's sick again. Fever, congestion, coughing, and sneezing. Ah well. Hopefully the frequency of illnesses will decrease when he isn't in school everyday. He's had years when he's gotten sick frequently but this year has topped them all. Hopefully, like the migraines, something in his hormone surges is at the base of this. If so, then as things settle out he won't get sick as frequently.
But it's been a good day for him, with medicines. So he was able to point out the correct number for today's date. And he's been enjoying both strengths of theraputty. Interestingly enough, he has been picking the blue putty today rather than the green. His fingers must need the workout. He makes the most fun designs with the strings of putty. And then he'll press it all out and start over again. And he laughed at me when I pulled out an old set of puzzles. They were toddler puzzles and he had them done in under a minute. And then he pointed to rainy when I asked him what today's weather was. (One of the puzzles was weather.)
Earlier today he was bouncy and runny. I was on the receiving end of many hug collisions as he ran around. And a few attempted pigback rides when I was close to something he could climb on. Good fun and big grins all around!
But now he's settled and seems to be getting a headache. So going to do lights out with him and see if some calm time won't handle the headache before it explodes.
But it's been a good day for him, with medicines. So he was able to point out the correct number for today's date. And he's been enjoying both strengths of theraputty. Interestingly enough, he has been picking the blue putty today rather than the green. His fingers must need the workout. He makes the most fun designs with the strings of putty. And then he'll press it all out and start over again. And he laughed at me when I pulled out an old set of puzzles. They were toddler puzzles and he had them done in under a minute. And then he pointed to rainy when I asked him what today's weather was. (One of the puzzles was weather.)
Earlier today he was bouncy and runny. I was on the receiving end of many hug collisions as he ran around. And a few attempted pigback rides when I was close to something he could climb on. Good fun and big grins all around!
But now he's settled and seems to be getting a headache. So going to do lights out with him and see if some calm time won't handle the headache before it explodes.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Adventure Number ????
Ok, for all of you out there that I don't get to keep in touch with on a regular basis......I'm going to try keeping this blog. I'm hoping that you can use it to keep up with what is going on in Mark and I's lives. Well, mainly Mark's life.
Mark and I are starting off on adventure number ????. I don't know what number because our life is always full of adventures. But as of Monday, we are starting off on a big one for us. As of Monday, we are going to try homeschooling. Mark has had multiple medical issues since the start of this school year. In order to give his body time to deal with these issues, without major drugs, we are going to homeschool for the rest of this school year and the summer. Will it continue after that? I don't know. That depends on how things go. Right now the focus is continuing his education in an environment that isn't triggering medical issues.
So, keep us in mind please. Please share wisdom and ideas when you have them. And hopefully, I will be able to keep this up better than I keep up with diaries.
Mark and I are starting off on adventure number ????. I don't know what number because our life is always full of adventures. But as of Monday, we are starting off on a big one for us. As of Monday, we are going to try homeschooling. Mark has had multiple medical issues since the start of this school year. In order to give his body time to deal with these issues, without major drugs, we are going to homeschool for the rest of this school year and the summer. Will it continue after that? I don't know. That depends on how things go. Right now the focus is continuing his education in an environment that isn't triggering medical issues.
So, keep us in mind please. Please share wisdom and ideas when you have them. And hopefully, I will be able to keep this up better than I keep up with diaries.
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