For some quick facts on autism, visit this page from Autism Speaks.
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Facts on Autism
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010Carving Pumpkins
Saturday, October 31st, 2009David was off of work on Friday, so we had a bit of fun. We carved the pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch.
Before we carved the pumpkins, we talked about the pumpkin life cycle. I printed these cards and we used the song From Seed to Pumpkin found here.
We then took the tops off of the pumpkins and began cleaning them out. Ethan didn’t want to have anything to do with the pumpkins innards, however, Hayden wanted to eat them.
After cleaning the pumpkins out, we went to carving.
Ethan chose the facial features he wanted for his pumpkin, I drew them on the pumpkin with a dry erase marker, and he helped cut them out. Here is the end result.
We didn’t think we could trust Hayden with the knife, so we helped him put together a pirate pumpkin.
Here is David working away on his pumpkin.
Books Galore!
Sunday, September 20th, 2009We have a ton of children’s books, too many actually. I hate shopping, but the one thing I can manage to shop for with great enthusiasm is children’s books.
For many months, I have immersed myself in trying to organize our books and come up with a system for making our book collection accessible to the boys without being overwhelming.
To help in this quest, I purchased The New York Times Parent’s Guide To The Best Books For Children by Eden Ross Lipson. The book hosts over 1,700 titles and several indexes listing the books by title, author, illustrator, age appropriateness, subject, and more.
Using this book, I have weeded out our book collection and organized it based on the age appropriateness. The books are divided into Infant+, Toddler+, Preschool+, Elementary+, Middle School+, and Young Adult.
I have packed away our Elementary+, Middle School+ and Young Adult books until the boys are older. I am storing the Preschool+ books in file crates until the boys are ready for them. We will be reading through the Infant+ and Toddler+ books in our collection.
To organize the Infant+ and Toddler+ books so they will be read and I can keep track of when they are read, I have entered the titles and age level into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. We have about 150 books for these age groups. I then added a filter so I can easily sort the books by age level. As I go along, I may add themes to the spreadsheet, but my number one goal right now is making the books usable and easily accessible to the boys.
After entering the books into the spreadsheet, I went through the list and pulled out the boys favorite books. There were 20 titles that they seem to love having read to them. I then placed them in a book basket that I will keep out for them so they can read the books anytime they want. On a weekly basis, I will swap out a quarter of the books, in our case 5, with other titles from our collection. I am hoping by doing this, the boys will keep some familiar well loved titles at their fingertips for their reading enjoyment, but I will also be able to rotate in other titles that will hopefully become favorites.
Here is what we have in our book basket for this week:
- Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle (ITP)***
- Chicka Chicka Boom Boom written by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault and illustrated by: Lois Ehlert (TP)
- David Gets In Trouble written and illustrated by David Shannon (TPE)
- Freight Train written and illustrated by Donald Crews (TP)—Caldecott Honor Book
- Goodnight Gorilla written and illustrated by Peggy Rathmann (TP)
- Goodnight Moon written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd (ITP)
- I Like Bugs written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by G. Brian Karas (TP)
- More More More Said the Baby written and illustrated by Vera B. Williams (ITP)—Caldecott Honor Book
- No David! written and illustrated by David Shannon (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book
- Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle (TP)
- Sheep In a Jeep written by Nancy Shaw and illustrated by Margot Apple (TP)
- The Carrot Seed written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Crockett Johnson (TP)
- The Eye Book written by Dr. Seuss and illustrated by Joe Mathieu (TP)
- The Foot Book written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss (TP)
- The Shape of Me and Other Stuff written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss (TP)
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar written and illustrated by Eric Carle (TP)
- There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly written and illustrated by Simms Taback (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book
- Watch Your Step Mr. Rabbit! written and illustrated by Richard Scarry (TP)
- We’re Going On a Bear Hunt written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (TP)
- Yo! Yes! written and illustrated by Chris Raschaka (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book
***In parentheses I have listed the appropriate age range for each book. I=Infant, T=Toddler, P=Preschooler, E=Elementary, M=Middle School, YA=Young Adult.
Preschool for 2009-2010
Thursday, August 6th, 2009It is hard to believe that the summer is nearly over and school time is upon us. Time truly does fly when you are busy and having fun.
Over the past several weeks, I have been thinking about our preschool plans for Ethan. He is three, and it is time for a more structured approach to learning.
With that being said, let me preface my comments with this: My goal for Ethan and Hayden during their preschool year is not learning content (although content will be taught). Overall, I would like for them to have fun learning, to spend time exploring, to develop a love for knowledge and the skills to seek that knowledge out as they continue in their education.
I have explored several different preschool education philosophies, and I think I have come to like some of the ideas associated with Montessori. I know that the free choice aspect of the Montessori philosophy will not work for Ethan. However, the hands on sensory approach to learning seems a perfect match for Ethan.
I will aim to have one and a half hours of structured school time per day. I have loosely divided our school time into several courses that will be explored several times throughout the week.
Within the loose framework I have established a structured flexibility. I have created activity lists to provide a sequence for presentation. However, the amount of time spent on an activity and the number of times an activity is completed are at Ethan’s discretion. Once an activity is presented, he will be able to choose to do that activity within our allotted school day. Within each activity list, I have also given myself flexibility to add other activities and ideas to our lists.
I do not have a preschool plan for Hayden for this school year. In my opinion he is a bit young to have a scheduled school time. However, I am sure he will want to participate with Ethan in school. I will provide him with some learning activities that are similar, but age appropriate, to what Ethan is doing.
We will officially begin school on August 25. There is nothing special about the day, that is just when schools here start. I am looking forward to our learning journey.
Below, I have listed the learning goals I have for Ethan over the course of the next school year and some of the resources (books and websites) that I will be using to construct our daily curriculum.
Learning Goals
Bible (Monday-Friday)
- Develop daily Bible reading and prayer habits
- Become familiar with several well known Bible stories
Language (Monday-Friday)
- Continued vocabulary development
- Categorizing
- Rhyming
- Begin basic writing
- Identify letters of the alphabet and sounds each letter makes
- Sequence letters
- Identify beginning sounds of words
Math (Monday-Friday)
- Count objects to 10
- Recognize numerals to 10
- Sequence numbers to 10
History (Monday-Friday)
- Develop a sense of time
- Monitor weather and seasons
- Explore familial connections
- Learn stories of famous people
Story Time (Monday-Friday)
- Continued appreciation for literature
- Explore various literary genres
- Develop attention span
- Engage in questioning
- Develop comprehension skills
Practical Life Skills (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
- Continue developing fine motor control
- Continue developing sorting, matching, and patterning skills
Sensory Development (Tuesday, Thursday)
- Develop all five senses and sensory discrimination
Geography (Monday)
- Identify the three elements of the earth (land, air, and water)
- Become familiar with globes and maps and their purpose
- Develop a sense of place and where he lives
Visual Art (Tuesday)
- Explore art and craft projects that require cutting, gluing, drawing, and painting
- Follow verbal and visual directions
- Continue to develop appreciation for Art
Natural Sciences (Wednesday)
- Explore biological science concepts including living and nonliving, animals, the human body, five senses, and plants.
- Explore physical science concepts including water, optics, air, magnetism, gravity, and sound
Music and Movement (Thursday)
- Continue to develop an appreciation for music
- Explore rhythm
Computer Time (Friday)
- Learn to use the mouse (computer) and remote controller (V-Smile and V-Motion)
- Continue to develop listening skills
- Follow directions
- Develop attention span
Books
Basic Montessori by David Gettman
Montessori on a Shoestring by Jody Erickson
Climbing Art Obstacles in Autism by Karen Loden Talmage
The Eentsy, Weentsy Spider Fingerplays and Action Rhymes by Joanna Cole and Stephanie Calmenson
The Rhyme Bible Storybook for Toddlers by L.J. Sattgast
What Your Preschooler Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. and Linda Bevilacqua
Online Resources
Montessori Teacher’s Collective—I will be using several activities from their online culture album.
Shu-Chen Jenny Yen’s On-line Montessori Albums—I will be using several activities from her math, language, sensorial, and practical life albums.
Homeschool SkedTrack—I will be using this online web application to plan, organize, and schedule our days.
Montessori Materials—I will be using some of the printables for our learning experiences.
Montessori for Everyone—I will be using some of the printables for our learning experience.
Open Wide: Our Trip to the Dentist
Friday, July 10th, 2009I feel like such a horrible mother. I forgot to take our camera to document Ethan’s first trip to the dentist yesterday afternoon. Oh well, I guess the story will have to suffice.
Before I tell you about our trip to the dentist, I would like to let you know that we spent several weeks preparing to see the dentist. Below I will list a few ideas that will help prepare little ones for a very scary experience.*
Use a Social Story. This blog provides a great social story about going to the dentist that I modified, added pictures to, and made into a book for Ethan to use to learn about what to expect on his trip to the dentist.
View Videos and Photographs. This website provides a sample video featuring a trip to the dentist. Here you can find a photo gallery detailing a little boy’s trip to the dentist.
Get Books. Visit your local library to discover books about the dentist. There are several great books out there, and you can even find books based on favorite kid’s television shows and characters.
Have Fun with Pretend Play. Have fun playing dentist with your child. Try to obtain a paper mask similar to what the dentist will wear and act out a trip to the dentist using dolls or stuffed animals as patients.
Get Crafty. Try some toothbrush painting. Print out a picture of a tooth or a mouth full of teeth, give your child an old toothbrush, let them dip it in paint, and "brush" the teeth. This is a fun way to discuss good dental hygiene and teach good brushing habits.
Now, on with our trip……
Our appointment was at 2:30. We went to see a pediatric dentist that had been recommended to us as having experience working with autistic children. We arrived for our appointment right on time, so we didn’t have to wait at all.
We were immediately taken back where Ethan was allowed to choose a new toothbrush. After choosing a blue toothbrush, he went to sit in the chair. The dentist showed Ethan the tools she was going to use and talked to him about them. She also let him feel the vibrating head of the tooth polisher.
After getting to know the tools, it was time to take a ride in the chair. The dentist laid the chair back and moved it up, and Ethan wasn’t so so sure he wanted to lay back. She offered him sunglasses to wear to shield his eyes from the light, but he refused them as well.
Then came the fun part. The dentist turned on the tooth polisher and the screaming began. Ethan fought hard. I restrained his hands while the dentist worked fast and furiously to clean and examine his teeth and apply fluoride. I guess the screaming was a good thing because it did keep his mouth open.
The whole process took about five minutes, and when it was over, Ethan was able to choose a toy and get a sticker while the dentist talked to me about his teeth. Ethan has all 20 baby teeth, they were very clean, he doesn’t have any stains, his teeth and gums are healthy, and he has the perfect amount of space between his teeth.
From start to finish our trip to the dentist lasted about 20 minutes. On our way out of the office, Ethan got to put his name on the no cavity tree, and we got our next appointment for sometime in January.
*Disclaimer: I currently work with two very gifted therapists who provide me with wonderful ideas and inspiration in helping Ethan learn to interact with the world around him. Without them I would be lost.