Homemade Books - Montessori Pink Series

I've searched the internet for free downloadable books that are suitable for use with the Montessori Pink Series level. (Links to my homemade books are at the end of this post)

I came across some but felt they werent suitable for the following reasons:
- too many words from Blue/Green series. For e.g. usage of c-v-c-v type words (instead of c-v-c), or blends
- too many sight words
- pictures aren't attractive. For e.g. some are black & white; most are clip art type illustration

I've not had time to search the bookshops for suitable ones. My friend, the kindergarten principal suggested Ladybird series. I presume she meant the Peter and Jane series. I browsed the series last year at my in-law's house. I think it's still not what I'm looking for. I also want books with a high rate of word repetition. I'm also looking for a series with a good variety of books at any particular reading level.

She did suggest the Scholastic's Clifford series, which she has and will bring along to show me next week. I'm very grateful for her help! I do hope it's suitable for my son's current reading level.

Another friend, also a Montessori trained kindergarten principal, suggested I take a look at the Grolier series. I couldnt find much about written about it on the internet. It's part of the Scholastic group. The perception I have of Scholastic books are that they're really expensive! I remember taking a look at their catalogue, given at the SEGi Appreciation Day & getting a shock at their listed price.

Perhaps I'm too demanding. As usual, if I cant find what I want in the market, and if I can make it myself, I will!

I've made over 20 mini books (and counting). Very very time consuming - so much time required in planning, organising, searching for photos, making the softcopies, and assembling.

For each book,
- I target one or 2 words that will be repeated many times
- I'm careful with the choice of words, sticking to c-v-c or v-c decodeable words in Pink Series
- I introduce very limited non-decodeable sight/high frequency words. For e.g. I've only used words like: a, the, I, he, but not all those words together in a single book.
- I keep it short with each book having between 4-10 pages, depending on the length of the phrase or sentence.
- Each page has only 1 phrase or sentence.
- Deliberately chose larger font size
- 99% of the photos used are "real", not illustrations
- I've tried to make it attractive by adding colour where appropriate e.g. on the front & back cover, borders of each page.

If you know where I can get early reader books, either softcopies from the internet, or printed copies at the bookshops, please do let me know. My email is on my profile. It'll save me a huge amount of time. For the moment, it ought to meet the criteria above. Most importantly, it should contain more than 75% Pink Series words, with high repetition of target words.

I plan to share some of the mini Pink Series books, in future postings.

Update - here are links to some of my homemade books that I think are suitable for the Montessori Pink Series level. It is not in sequential order, so please use your wisdom in choosing which ones to start introducing the child to (for e.g. the earlier books he read do not have sight words, but those books may in fact appear lower down or in the middle of the list below)
http://humbledmum-myjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-book-pink-series-so.html

http://humbledmum-myjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-books-pink-series-bad-cats.html

http://humbledmum-myjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-book-pink-series-who.html

http://humbledmum-myjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-book-pink-series-dogs-in.html

http://humbledmum-myjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-book-pink-series-get-out-cat.html

http://humbledmum-myjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-book-pink-series-dog-in.html

http://humbledmum-myjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-book-pink-series-fun.html

http://humbledmum-myjourney.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-book-pink-series-i-am.html

Little bits of progress

This is a round up of the little bits of progress that I've noted in my son over the past 2 weeks or so.

1. Cranial Sacral Therapy

His CST therapist was away for the month of August. He resumed his therapy last week, on Wed & Thurs. On Wednesday he noted that his left leg was a bit tight so she did myofascia release on him. She noted it was better on Thurs.

During the evening walks on Wed & Thurs, I noted that he spoke quite audibly (in terms of volume & clarity). I've noted this happening before where sometimes in the same evening after his CST, he either has better standing posture (straigther back) or clearer speech.

I also noted that he sat more often in a cross legged manner rather than his usual 'W' sitting over this past weekend - it's an improvement.

She said that although the stability of his hips have improved (compared to a year ago) it still needs to be more stable in order for his jaw to correspondingly be more stable, to see further improvements in his speech.

2. Reading

He surprised me by being able to 'read' these words that I showed him in a book of his: bed, hat, can. He didnt need me to say out the phonic sounds of each letter. He too didnt need to say out the phonic sound of each letter. He merely said the name of the letters, then said out the word.

3. Speech

He continues to speak in short phrases, occasionally a long phrase/sentence comes out. He still babbles which I imagine it to be him practising his speech muscles. I'm trying to remember to model sentences for him to repeat. I do it as and when the situation arises (as opposed to creating new activities for him) so, I do tend to forget sometimes.

He's had a few meltdowns with me because I absolutely could not figure out what he was saying. Not many, just perhaps one a day, for 3 days in the last week or so. Happens when he's hungry & tired. I imagine it'll be difficult when he goes to kindergarten where teachers & friends minght not understand most of his speech. Perhaps having me as his shadow aide is therefore required due to his speech impairment & not just motor impairment.

I've been "singing" the short vowel sounds partly for him to be familiar with them & for me to learn how to say them accurately. His speech therapist says that short vowel / long vowel sounds are difficult for us Malaysians cos we speak English differently from the Westerners. So I've to learn it before I can teach him properly. After 2 days of making it into a catchy jingle, he can say the short vowel 'a' sound more accurately (but not perfectly). Previously he says the sound of 'a' with Malay pronounciation (e.g. 'a' as in the word 'baca').

4. Fine motor

He is able to turn the small lock on the door knob, from a vertical position to horizontal, and twist the knob & pull to open the door of our bedroom. A few months ago, he was already able to do so with the toilet doorknob which is not as tight as the bedroom's.

He still struggles to peel off most types of stickers but noticed that there have been some occasions he did manage to peel off on his own. I'm showing him a new way to peel which will require lots of practice on his part. I've lots of sticker books so that'll keep the interest up.

He is able to stick stickers but not totally within the designated circle, as parts of the sticker would be out of the area. Also, he tends to stick it tilted, not straight/vertical. I'm not sure if these are part of normal development or if it indicates a problem with his vision.

Last week during a CST session, he surprised me by being able to place a finger puppet on his finger, all by himself. It indicates better control of his fingers & co-ordination of both hands.

He also surprised me by placing his toy car's tyres on a finger of both hands. I did not see how he did it - whether he used one hand to insert the tyre onto a finger (in which case, I'm impressed cos his left hand is much weaker than his right), or whether he poked his finger into the tyre, then raised the finger up so the tyre slides down, which might be more likely (which is good too cos fine motor skills & hand-eye coordination are needed).

Montessori Pink Series - Middle vowel

Homemade Middle Vowel Phonic Activity Sheet

As part of the Montessori reading pink series, my son ought to be able to identify the middle vowel of decodeable words. Pink series decodeable words are either vowel-consonant types (e.g on, in) or consonant-vowel-consonant types (like in the photo above).

I made the sheet for the middle vowel activity in the same manner as that for the ending consonant activity I wrote about in my last post. I merely changed the words.

I decided to start off by choosing words with the same beginning & ending consonant, like in the photo, & the only variant is the vowel. This would help emphasise the middle vowel sound. I got that idea from a VCD he likes watching - The Word Machine. In it they had a very catchy jingle about a big bog bug in a bag.

Having played the middle vowel game with my son, I realised that it's harder than the ending consonant activity, so I help him out by emphasising the middle vowel repeatedly. That's ok because it was stated as such in the montessori literary file I borrowed from my friend. The reason it's harder is that the vowel tends not to be emphasised in normal speech. That friend is also a kindergarten principal and she did agree that it's hard for the kids to identify it.

From my observation, the difficulty is the similarity in the sounds of the short vowel e & short vowel a. For e.g. b-a-g and b-e-g sounds the same. She wondered if my son had difficulty differentiating between the vowel i & e. Having thought about it, I think he's able to differentiate i & e.

I've made a few more pages of words with the middle vowel missing in the same manner (e.g. tap, top; cap, cop, cup) & will slowly introduce them over the next few weeks.

By the way, this activity also requires him to use his fine motor in picking up the correct letters from the box & laying them on the blanks (hand eye); reinforces alphabet recognition; visual discrimination etc.

Montessori Pink Series - Ending Consonant

Homemade Ending Consonant Activity

I had introduced the ending consonant phonic activity to my son a few weeks ago. It is part of the Montessori method of teaching to read.

Introducing it

I introduced it slowly, maybe in the first 2 weeks, it was just once a week, then in the following week 2 times in the week etc. Last week I think I brought it out 3 times.

Creating the sheets

- I used powerpoint, inserting relevant photos obtained from websites like http://www.corbis.com/ or http://www.fotosearch.com/.

- Having learnt from my earlier mistake with the matching word & picture cards, this time I started off making only 4 pages to test if he accepted the way it was presented.

Designing the sheets

- I was careful in choosing the words so that the ending consonant is very different for each word presented. For e.g. I avoid placing words ending with b, p, d in one page.

- I used large print (size 88) as I think he prefers that.

- I was also careful in choosing a font that doesnt use this letter "a" font, but instead using the letter 'a' font in the word 'bag' in the photo above. This is because he likes to use his finger to trace the letter, the way you do in sandpaper alphabets.

- I placed only 3 words on a page because this is a new skill for him to learn and I didnt want him to discourage him so early on. I can gauge his comfort level by asking if he wants an additional sheet when he completes the first sheet.

Filling in the blanks

The initial plan was to use the small moveable alphabets (SMA) I had made. He did use them for the first few times we did the activity. But I changed & used commercially bought plastic magnetic alphabets for the last 2 times we did this activity.

For kids without a motor disability, this can be varied by having them write in the missing alphabet (if they've mastered writing the alphabet).

The results?

Initially, he needed a lot of help. I would talk very briefly about the photos, then say the word, then emphasise the phonic sound slowly for him to catch it. He wasnt sure what I wanted from him. He'd then read out the letter on the sheet, which I allowed. Then I brought his attention back to what I wanted him to do. I'd say the word again, then breakdown the phonic sounds slowly & pointing to the alphabet as I said the phonic sound. Then I'd point out that there's a missing letter & ask him what he thinks it should be.

I did change the sheets ocassionally to keep it interesting, so as not to make it seem like a drill.

Yesterday, he surprised me. Papa was in the room when we played it. I just had to say the word once, with emphasis on the last sound. He picked up & placed the correct alphabets! On top of that, he then wanted to continue with the second sheet. He was slight slower with the second sheet but still noticeably better than a few weeks prior.

Sight words

He is able to "read" these words by sight:

no
on
to
go
of
it
is
the
cat
dog
bus
for
stop
star

I've cut & paste (the manual way) several groups of words in the pink series, where the middle vowel isn't "a". E.g. rimes like "-et", "-ot" but have yet to introduce them to him. He is more accepting of the rime "-ab" group of cards now that I've introduced them for the 4th time. I will intersperse "matching picture & word" activities with more "matching word to object" activities.

I've been wondering if I should attend a Phonics Workshop on 5 Sept. I had signed up for it over a week ago but not paid the fees yet. It's meant for preschool teachers...well, I consider myself a homeschool teacher (half baked one!). I'm very keen to learn more games & activities to improve his word recognition skills, stated in the brochure as one of the objectives. I'm hesitating cos of the H1N1. He's only just getting well now. I wouldn't want to bring back germs even if it's not the H1N1 virus.

Matching object to word; pouring; tongs

Activities on 14 Aug 2009

Montessori Pink Series - matching object to word

Noticing that he wasn't so interested in matching picture to word card the last round, I decided to change the activity to match object to word instead. These words are used more frequently (compared to say cab, jab, lab) and the objects are familiar to him. Also, its good to vary the type of activity to keep lessons interesting & seem less like learning & more like fun games.

For this first set of words, he seemed confident. He looked at the words. He took the objects. But his co-ordination was a bit off. E.g. he saw "cup" then took the cup, but when his gaze returned back to the paper, he was looking at the word "bun" and for a moment was about to place the cup at the "bun" word but he eventually sorted himself out and placed the cup in the right place, without me intervening.

Point to note is that he did not need me to prompt him to say out the alphabets, then say out the phonic sound & then blend it. He did went through that process silently in his head (or at least I like to think so). This is the 2nd time I brought out this set of words, so either he has a fantastic memory (of where to place what), or he really is beginning to get the hang of early reading.

Being a new skill that he's still learning, he did place the bun & bib in the wrong place (the object bib, was placed on the word "bun" & vice versa). I merely said out loud the phonic sounds for the word bun while pointing to the printed words (which I normally do anyway as reinforcement at the end of an activity). I didnt drop hints (body language) that it was wrong. I chose to start with "bun" as opposed to "bib" as "bun" is the first item on the page (top left on page). He realised it was wrong & scanned the page & swapped the bib with the bun. So I hope you dont think I'm boasting about my son being so smart.

I thought I'd try another sheet with him, since he finished the 1st sheet faster than I expected & to see if it was a case of blind memorising. So, was it blind memorising? I dont think so. But as with any new skill, he still needs lots of practice....slowly. I'm not a kiasu mum. I also dont want to push and risk him rejecting learning to read & write. Learning should be fun at his age. It just means I've to be a lot more patient & creative.

Photo above shows the 2nd set. Those words are not used as frequently on a day to day basis, as the 1st set. Noticed that he was losing his enthusiasm with this set. Perhaps I should only do one set at a time. With this, it was difficult to draw his attention to the words. So, I let him play with what he wished for a few minutes & then drew his attention back. I helped him along by saying aloud the phonic sound of the alphabets & let him blend them together & place the objects.


Pouring

I picked up a tiny coffee stirrer stick from Subway, where I had my dinner the night before this activity. It's that thin white stick placed across the yellow container in the photo below.

I wanted to see how he'd do with this new challenge, in terms of using it to scoop & pour. He could get a few pieces (just 1-2, but then again, spoon is real tiny) of the tiny pink sago beads onto the spoon but couldn't adjust his arm/wrist to keep the spoon horizontal. So after a few tries on his own, I modelled it for him by placing my hand over his & scooping.

After a just a few tries of that, he flicked the spoon out of the container which sent the beads flying everywhere! I expected a mess based on past experience, so I had placed only a thin layer of beads into a shallow container. For him it was just too fun to resist doing the flicking again! Ended up with loads everywhere. Ah well, I turned it around into getting him to help in cleaning up (he used his pincer grip); practice for using a brush & dustpan (can't do it yet); and to learn that there are consequences to his action.

Tongs

Took out the "cotton ball & tongs" activity from the same "pouring activity" box while I proceeded to nicely pack away the containers used. He's supposed to use the tongs to pick up cotton balls from that rectangular container & place them in the smaller circular container. It helps develop the muscles in his hand. It's an important fine motor skill to learn now, in the build up to learning to use a pair of scissors. When I turned around, he was placing the last ball with his tongs, into the circular container! He did it all by himself! Hooray!

In future, I can vary this activity by placing the cotton balls into a narrower container, or a deeper container (to get his wrist going), or use a tighter pair of tongs, or tweezers, or a pair of trainer chopsticks, or slightly heavier objects....

All done mama!

Montessori Reading Pink Series

I've reworked a few of the Pink Series Picture & Word cards to make it larger. Think he's more comfortable with this size. Later as he progresses & is more confident, I'll make it smaller.

Last week we played with the set where words end with "-at" (e.g. cat, bat, hat) and the "-en" series (e.g. den, hen, pen). He was able to recognise words in the "-at" series without needing my help, which is great! I think that's cos he's familiar with those words by now. Had introduced them to him some months ago, in a different format, before I learnt of the Montessori method.

For the "-en" series, he needed me to prompt him to say the phonic sound, which he can say & then he blends it himself & comes out with the word & matches it on his own. But he's not confident of himself. So I give him the feedback he needs along the process. Given that he can recognise the "-at" series without going through the process of sounding out & blending gives me hope that with practice, he'll be fine (at least with the pink series words). I simply need to be more creative to play phonic games in different ways!

2 days ago, we played with the "-ag" and "-ab" series. These words are not familiar in the sense that it's not used in daily conversation (except for "bag") & in the sense of the written word. For eg. we say "taxi" not "cab" and he insisted on naming that picture "taxi", not "cab". He wasn't keen on playing with these cards compared to the "-at" set. That's ok for now. Just need to introduce those words more often, in different phonic games.

Wed, 5 Aug 2009

Very bad haze today. Didn't go to the park this morning. Instead, he was in his Neurosuit this morning for about an hour doing indoor activities.

Widening his stride

As he tends to trot when he runs, I'm trying to widen his stride. I've tried a few things but it's not working...yet. Actually, I think sometimes, it does look a wee bit better but not consistently done...patience...must not give up.

- I'd hold his hand & walk with him slowly, showing him how to take big strides.

- I'd place pieces of his foam alphabets on the floor with a small gap in between & have him step over the gap. He'll follow once or twice, but resort to running the course instead.

- When at the shops and there are different coloured tiles or patterned tiles on the floor, I'd try to get him to step with only one foot on those different tiles.

- when I still had the step-up boxes (they've been returned to therapist), we'd do the same thing.

- I try not to paste masking tape on the floor (therapist suggested this) to make squares for him to step into cos it'll be so hard to remove the glue.

Movement while in his neurosuit

It must be really hard for him to move in the suit.

- If he fell, he tends to be "stuck" and is unable to (yet) or hasn't learnt how to get back up. The suit itself is a bit heavy. He feels heavier if I were to carry him while he is suited up compared to without.

- Walking up stairs or stepping up onto a box is a lot harder in the suit. He could easily do it without the suit. But in the first 2 days this week, he couldn't lift his leg up to the step while in the suit! Now, he can, but very slowly, with his right leg. Left leg needs help sometimes. I guess after some months in the suit, he'll have strong muscles! The therapist reported that her son & another boy had bulked up a bit after 3 months of suit therapy.

- It tires him out much faster, not just due to the weight of the suit, but also the resistance provided by the bungee cords. He breaks out into a sweat faster too. So this morning, we had the air-cond on at home (but it's also cos we closed all windows to minimise the haze from entering) and he seemed more comfortable.

- Putting him in the suit does initially trigger his gag reflex. It's odd that a person might gag when tired, but he does. As recently as a few months ago, he would gag easily when running at the neighbourhood park. Now that he's built up his endurance, he doesn't except when initially put into the suit & after some time of running around in the suit.

Wooden blocks

While he was still in his suit, we played with the blocks on the trampoline, using it like a low table this time. He had time to play freely. But I also got him to stretch to reach for the pieces - stretching his right arm far to the right and also far to the left crossing the midline etc.

LeapFrog (reading)

We tried out the Leap Frog for the 1st time. It's great that that's another avenue to teach him reading! He was quite intrigued with the voice coming out. He was a bit hesistant when asked by the voice to point to the letters during the 'game mode'. He could "read" the simple 3 letter words in the picture if we sounded out the phonic sound of the letter as I point to the alphabet. E.g. box = "berh"-"ohh"-"kersk". And he'd say "box".

Speech

I wanted to pump air into a flat stroller wheel & told him so. He then said: mama's wheel...mama's tyre flat like a pancake. That's a lot of syllables in one go. He learnt the phrase "flat like a pancake" several months ago. But a few days ago, the helper said that his poo poo (in his diaper) is flat like a pancake & it really tickled him. He couldnt stop laughing for a long time!

MidValley

I had to post a parcel, so went to MidValley as parking was easier (compared to the neighbourhood post office) and could pop into Jusco for groceries too. He wasn't happy to just sit and wait while I filled in the form, so my helper "read" the papers with him.

I'm beginning to wonder if he's purposely running funny by pretending there are bumps on the floor (kids go through phases where they do funny things) or whether there's something I really need to check out, e.g. whether there is a problem with his muscles. He doesnt go "bumping" all the time, but it's often enough in a day for me to start wondering otherwise & it's been going on for a few months now. But the therapists didnt point out any problems & he still has range of motion. My friend's son about a year older doesnt jump the normal way. He jumps the way my son "bumps" about. If he walks slowly, his gait appears normal. So, will just continue monitoring I guess.

At Jusco, he could follow my verbal instruction to turn right/turn left at the aisles, which is great! He was walking in front of me so there were no physical cues given to him.

He was also interested to read out the letters of the signs around him, while I was waiting my turn at the cashier. So I really have to get moving on reworking some of my material to teach him reading (I think the font size is a bit too small for him). So much to do, so little time.

Concept of Left/Right

I tried testing his understanding of left & right before & it's often correct but not always. I exposed him to the right/left concept probably about a year ago, doing things like:

- I occasionally remind him to use his left hand while playing with toys (blocks, picture cards etc). He has a very dominant right hand.

- while walking up or down the stairs, I will say left/right while he steps using that foot.

- in the shower, I say which part of the body that I'm soaping (e.g.it's left leg turn now to be soaped), which also helped in him learning the names of the parts of his body.

- having him look left/right/left again before crossing the road while holding my hand (also part of road safety awareness).

Reading to your child

I usually look out for the column in The Star newspaper written by Daphne Lee. She reviews children's books from young kids to teenagers, hence the title of her column, "Tots to Teens". Two Saturdays ago, she wrote a useful article on How To Choose Books. This is in the context of reading out aloud to kids, rather than leaving the child to read it on his own.

I'm including this on my blog because there are just so many books in the market and with the various tempting warehouse sales in the past few months (and 2 more sales this weekend), it'll be helpful to have some sort of guide in mind before purchasing the books.

The link is below (not sure how long it'll be posted on The Star's website): How to Choose Books:
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/7/19/lifebookshelf/4320911&sec=lifebookshelf



Last Saturday, she suggested some books for reading aloud. I found it useful too, because she included follow up activities & not just provide a review of the books. One of the books she did review was "The Gruffalo", (which was a gift from a friend - thanks Elly!) which my son & I enjoy. It's just so funny & richly illustrated. It exposes him at an early stage to rhyming too.

The link: What Should I Read to My Kids:
http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/7/26/lifebookshelf/4365747&sec=lifebookshelf

Is it Christmas again?

Hand-me-down toys
Got hold of some old toys from my childhood days & received toys that his cousin has outgrown. Great! It'll be like Christmas again for him! These are some of the stuff I took back for him:

Boggle

Will use it as part of reading activities. Reading requires a lot of practice so I'll need different activities to stimulate him & keep up the interest. This one requires fine motor skills. I suspect to start off with, he'll want to scatter the cubes rather than patiently find the letters he wants. Well, I'll have to be creative & go with the flow. (reading, fine motor)

Spill & spell

Similar concept to Boggle, except, you shake it out of a tube onto an open floor. The cubes are smaller than Boggle, so I'm not expecting much from it until he's older. (reading, fine motor)

Pop up mini Tent

Useful for our day trips to the beach. In the past we made do with just black plastic bin bags to sit on!

Beach toys

Medium sized beach ball (gross motor) and a set of various tools for building sand castles, scoop & pour, etc (fine motor, wrist movement)

McDonald's Happy Meal toys

Lots of these. Vehicles. I think I'll use them to teach him concepts of first, second, third in a pretend race to the finish line. He knows his numbers (1,2,3) but not in terms of 1st, 2nd, 3rd. (maths)

Books

Variety ranging from those for a 7 year old to pre-teens. Nursery rhyme types to Enid Blyton. Will be some years yet before it'll be utilised!

Skittles & ball

Plastic bowling set. A friend lent a set to him last year, but he preferred to use his hands to knock the skittles down! Will try it this year, perhaps he'll play with it the way it was meant. Good for gross motor, hand eye co-ordination.

What activities did I do with my son today?

1. Chase the birds

- He loves to chase birds (& cats), so used this interest of his to sneak in some of my objectives. Brought him along to the local mamak while hubby & I had roti telur for breakfast. Maid supervised him while we ate & vice versa.

- Why? to run/exercise & maintain his level of stamina; to increase his speech volume (we told him he has to shout out loud "Shooo birds!" or else the birds wont fly away)

- Noted: his running has gone a bit funny again. Left arm in a more pronounced "bat wing" position. Perhaps it's because I've not taken him to the playground for 2 weeks (car's in workshop) when it used to be twice a day, on an almost daily basis.

- To work on more: Must think of ways to use other muscles....playing in baby pool perhaps

2. Help with household chores

- How? Got him to say "push" a few times whenI was pushing the old mattresses away for storage.

- Why? to use oral muscles to pucker up in order to improve articulation of the "o" and "u" sound
- To work on more: puckering

- Noted: misses out the first phenome "p" in "push", which also happens with other words especially words beginning with "m"

3. Learn to shower (self care skills)

- How? Squeezed out some shower gel unto his palm. Placed my hands over his & helped him soap his legs by moving his arms up & down his legs.

- Why? To practise this movement to help not just in learning to shower himself, but also in learning to pull down his shorts when he needs to go to toilet

- Improvement noted: No longer afraid of standing under the large fixed shower head. Also slightly easier for him to bend down & move up.

4. Pre writing skills

- How? Draw a few capital letters on the back of sand paper, cut it out & paste it on cardboard. I chose a few of the easier alphabets used in his name to start off with. Easier in the sense of straight lines, like "A" and "N" & not curved lines, like "G". Wrote the alphabet by holding his pointer & middle finger together and moving it on the sandpaper.

- Why? That's the way it's being taught in his kindergarten & it was also suggested by one of his therapists. I had also read about this method somewhere in the internet. I think it's to do with engaging his tactile sense (apart from just visual). Experts say learning happens faster when more than one sense is involved (or something like that).

- Improvement noted: A little better in keeping his two fingers together when tracing. Remembers sequence of strokes in writing "A"

- To work on more: sequence of strokes for "H"

5. Reading his "Move It! Builders" Book

- What's this book? Bought this board book when he was 2 years old to get him to use his fine motor. He loves anything to do with cars, dump trucks, diggers etc. Each page of this book features a machine with one part that is moveable e.g. wheels of the dump truck can be spun around, steering wheel can be turned left or right. Very well illustrated & designed, which helps in maintaining his interest. Bought it from Border's but also available at http://www.mytoysandbooks.com/

- Purpose & method (i): fine motor exercise by making parts of the machines move in his book e.g. pushing the bulldozer's bucket up & down; swinging the demolition ball forward & backward; sliding the crane's heavy load left & right.

- Purpose & method (ii): Introduce simple "sight" words, specifically the word "it" because it appears on every page. There are only 2 words on each page.

- Purpose & method (iii): introduce maths concept of addition/doubling. E.g. 2 wheels on this side of the dumpster, so must be another 2 wheels on other side, so 2+2 = 4

- To work on more: to use left hand more instead of just right hand

- Noted: he could not turn the very thick board page by himself, which is a bit strange because he used to be able to do it. Perhaps it's because he hasn't read this book in a long time.

6. Swing

- How? We installed a "circular" swing in his room - able to spin, not just pendular movement. Swing bought from Ikea.

- Why? To improve his vestibular & proprioception sense, balance & coordination

- Improvement noted: in the last few weeks, he's been more confident & able to climb up on the swing & played on it in different ways

7. Little Yoga book

– what is it? A book illustrating simple yoga postures (imitating animals) which toddlers can follow (on loan from Fe, thanks)

- Purpose:
i) Getting into those physical postures helps him to be more aware of his body; stretches muscles
ii) reinforce alphabet recognition- he likes to count the number of times certain alphabets appear on a page e.g. 3 letter "o" here
iii) reinforce simple sight words like “book”
iv) introducing simple maths concept & vocab - on one of the pages, there's a series of letter "z" which starts of small in size but gradually gets bigger. So he learns sequencing, & the words bigger & biggest

- To work on more: he cant do the cat posture

8. Thunderstorm

- a storm was approaching, so took it as a teaching opportunity to introduce the following:

i) the concept that when noise is far away, it's soft & gets louder as it gets nearer
ii) introduce vocab: wind starts off gentle, gets stronger, and is strongest

- Noted: He hasn't picked up the new vocab as he's using small, bigger, bigger, biggest to describe the wind speed. But was pleasantly surprised that he did the action to go along with small wind, medium wind & big wind (I had shown it to him many months ago)

9. Sticker activity

– apart from what's already mentioned in earlier post about this activity, today I also introduced maths concept of subtraction. For e.g. "ok, there were 8 more stickers to stick & you’ve just stuck another sticker, so how many more to go?" "7 more. Right!"

10. Mega Bloks & Pop Upz
- purpose:

i) use both hands to work together (e.g. when dismantling a structure)
ii) to get him to open up his palm more (e.g. when pushing down a piece of brick instead of just using pointer)
iii) to use left hand more e.g. to put a piece into place (instead of always using just right hand)
iv) to develop creativity (e.g. building a house for the kangaroo)

11. Speech

– done through out the day. Still misses out first syllable or first phenome. Certain words better like yellow. Communicates with you, e.g. kangaroo sleeping... dark outside (ie. night time)

12. Wearing shirt (self care skill)

– just started to teach this self care skill. One small step at a time...Just at the stage of using both hands to hold a shirt at the collar & pulling over the head. Can achieve it sometimes. Then shown how to put arms through sleeve & to pull down shirt

13. Toilet training

– still cant get him to sit on WC to poo poo. Too afraid? Fear of falling off WC? Painful stools?

14. Gastroc muscle/achilles

– He seems to be doing a bit more tip toe walking which is not good. Will need to get splint on more often & also passively stretch it for him...& weather permitting, climb steep hills again

15. Butterflies on a paper stand

– there's slight progress cos I could increase the distance a bit more, maybe 3 inches now