We celebrated Talk Like A Pirate Day this week!
Here’s a link to the book: Let’s Learn About Pirates
We learned lots of cool facts about pirates, such as who the most feared pirate was, what was REALLY in their treasure boxes, and what their most important rule onboard was. We have featured 3 students who took on the role as pirates this week and are on the front and back of the book.
Enjoy, or walk the plank! 😉
We learned all about Uncle Sam this week.
Here is a link to the book: Fun Facts About Uncle Sam
Did you know that Uncle Sam was actually based off of a real person? Our book tells you who the real Uncle Sam is, why he was called Uncle Sam, and how Uncle Sam became a symbol of the United States.
We have a couple of students who are decked out in their red, white, and blue on the front and back of the book also 🙂
We are traveling to space this week!
Here is a link to the book: Let’s Learn About Space!
The book goes over some pretty neat facts about space, like which planet could have life on it other than Earth, how long footsteps on the moon will be there, and also how much a space suit costs to make. Our book also features a couple of our students on the front and back who have traveled to space and back 😉 Enjoy!
After what seems like the longest Spring Break in the history of Spring Breaks, we are BACK!
Here is a link to our book this week: Time To Go Back To School
We’re excited about being back around each other and getting back to a schedule here at school! Our book has lots of pictures of students and staff around school. Things look a little different although we are trying to keep it as close to normal as possible. We are all trying to make sure to follow the rules like keeping our masks on and being socially distant from each other. The year might look different, but we’re going to make it the best it can be!
We’re BACK!! We are so glad to be back at school and to see our students again. School started this week, but a little bit differently for sure. Our county is doing a hybrid model with some students “brick and mortar” and some digital. Here at Group by Group we are adapting our model to meet the changes we are all facing. You will notice smaller and fewer boxes in our sensory section—-no more sharing materials! We also are doing things a little differently in our fine motor and language sections. A nice addition has been our PT on board with gross motor ideas! Enjoy!
SENSORY
We used blue and yellow rice to represent the colors of our school. At home you could just use plain rice or any other sensory material of your choice.
Learning letters and numbers is a big part of the school experience so we added some for our students to find.
Science access point: use senses to recognize objects.
There were some laminated pictures of school buses, school houses, etc. that he students could push into black kinetic sand.
We chose the black sand to represent a road. At home you could use regular sand or play dough with toy cars and figures.
Science access point: apply a push to move an object.
Music is one of our favorite special areas so we let our students make their own using shaker bottles. We made our shaker bottles using soda bottles and beads (gluing the lids closed). At home you can use toy rattles or maracas—we just didn’t have enough for everyone to have their own individual instrument.
Science access point: recognize the change in the motion of an object.
Shaving cream finger painting reminded us of another favorite special area—art! We used plastic plates so everyone had their own personal palette!
Whether at home or at school—- shaving cream is always fun 🙂
Science access point: recognize that pushing and pulling an object makes it move.
Washing hands is even more important these days! The students practiced washing their hands in water with our scent of the week—-apple from Bath and Body Works. At home you could use any kind of bath gel to add some fun bubbles and aroma to the activity.
Science access point: observe and recognize that people need water.
The matching lotion applied to arms or hands left a nice sensory reminder of our activities.
Science access point: recognize one or more external body parts.
GROSS MOTOR
This week we worked on campus mobility to familiar areas on campus using pictures as a clue.
Ambulatory students or students who are able to self propel their wheelchairs walked/rolled to a requested location either by name, using clues to figure out the location being described, or by using pictures. Transitions between various surfaces, stairs, curbs, ramps, etc. were included when traveling to the requested location.
For digital academy students, you could work on moving around within the home environment.
For students who are unable to walk or roll themselves, we worked on reaching for, or pointing to, a requested picture of a location while sitting or standing to address balance. For digital academy students, you could have students stand on a pillow to challenge their balance during the activity.
Students working on head control practiced lifting their heads to look at a picture or school related item. For students working on head control at home, a song/music video about school could be pulled up on the computer to practice lifting their heads and/or maintaining an upright head position.
FINE MOTOR
For the first project, the students added the letters of their names to craft foam school buses picked up at the dollar store. Of course we can’t show you our students real names so we made a model for them to hold up for the Ta Da photos.
First, the students identified the color of their writing utensil by pointing to communication symbols.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
They colored the letters using crayons or markers.
Science access point: recognize a change in the appearance of an object.
The letters were glued to the school bus using squeeze glue to work on hand strengthening.
Math access point: recognize when an object is added to a situation.
TA DA!!!
The wheels on the bus go round and round.
For the second project the students painted masks!
First, they chose which paint color they wanted to use.
Science access point: identify objects by one observable property, such as color.
Then, they painted their cotton masks—–the colors were so vibrant!!! After painting, we turned the masks over and patted them down with paper towels to blot excess paint.
Science access point: recognize a change in the appearance of an object.
TA DA!!!
Our masks are cute, colorful and stylish 🙂
LANGUAGE
We made some really cute back to school snacks featuring our mascot, Hootie the Owl, this week in our language group! This is the recipe that we used: Let’s Make Welcome Back Hootie Snacks
For this recipe, each person had to request each food item in order to put together their owl snack. They had to request either verbally or by using their communication symbols.
Our students worked on spreading the peanut butter. This was challenging for many of them, so they had to ask for HELP.
We talked about eyes next. Each student had to make sure that they were given 2 banana slices for 2 eyes. We talked about how the eyes go at the TOP.
Then, each student had to PUT a LITTLE bit of peanut butter in the MIDDLE of the banana slices in order for the chocolate chips to stay on.
They had to request 2 apple slices for the wings, 1 dried cranberry for the beak, and some Cheerios for the feathers. If they WANTED MORE Cheerios, they had to request.
These were a HOOT to make and to eat!
We are so happy to see our kiddos again 🙂 Join us again next time for more fun and learning—–Group by Group!
The weather is pretty nice outside right now and perfect for picnicking—-in your back yard, porch, or on your living room floor 🙂
Enjoy the activities our OT, PT, and SLP have come up with for you this week!
SENSORY
This week our focus is on tactile (TOUCH) input. For this activity you need sunscreen (if you are going outside) or plain lotion (if staying inside). If you are using scented lotion, be sure you let your child SMELL the lotion.
Rather than a quick slather, gently massage the lotion on to your child’s arms, legs, etc. concentrating on each body part as you go. Go slowly and talk about the body part you are applying the lotion to—perhaps even make up a little song to go with it!
GROSS MOTOR
Whether you have your picnic inside or outside include some games. There are many kinds of games you can play. I looked online and found lots. There are games for inside and outside. There are games that include water (for a hot day) and items that you have around the house.
Play some sort of a game where you have to throw an object to a target. Games like horseshoes, washers, corn hole, ring toss, or bowling. Use what you have from home to play your game. You could use bean bags, foam balls, swim rings, laundry baskets, boxes, cones, recycled plastic bottles, etc. If you want to challenge your child’s balance have them stand on a pillow while throwing objects to the target. If you are outside, you could use water balloons and buckets. These could all be played while sitting or standing. You could also play by having your child reach to place an object in a container while they are seated in their wheelchair or chair. Move the target up high, down low, to the side, forward, etc. to place the object in/on the target (bucket, box, cone, etc.). Have them cross midline and use both hands.
Also, include a game that requires running. Games such as relay races (there are many online that include water balloons and sponges if it is a hot day), freeze tag, red light green light, hide and seek, or kick ball. If your child is in a wheelchair and they can self propel their chair, have them push their chair to play the game. If they are unable to push their chair, have a sibling be their partner and move them as the game requires.
Try a game that involves gross motor movements such as sack races, hopscotch, and obstacle courses. Make your own hopscotch path using sidewalk chalk or hula hoops. You can also use sidewalk chalk, hula hoops, pool noodles, cones, etc. to make an obstacle course for your child to move through.
Maybe, end the day with a scavenger hunt to find a hidden sweet treat. Have fun and enjoy!
FINE MOTOR
Have fun blowing bubbles! If you are doing this inside, you probably want to have a towel handy to wipe up spills. As the bubbles drift into the air, encourage your child to follow them with their eyes. Ask them to catch them by waving their arms, clapping the bubbles between their hands, poking them with a finger, or even isolating the index finger and thumb to “pinch” the bubbles.
Hold the bubble container and ask your child to dip the wand in to work on eye hand coordination. If you are really brave, let your child hold the container——make sure to have that towel handy 🙂
Blowing bubbles is a simple but oh so much fun activity—-enjoy!
LANGUAGE
The weather is so beautiful right now and PERFECT for a picnic! Here’s an activity you can do inside or outside: What Should We Bring To The Picnic
Talk with your child about the different things that they might want to eat at a picnic. There are picture supports in the link above. You can use the picture symbols of food that are in the link or you can cut food out from magazines.
Since you won’t be too far from home while on your picnic, here’s a little recipe that doesn’t require many ingredients and will be yummy to have when it’s hot outside. Take a look at the recipe to see our students putting this treat together from 2018 🙂 Here’s a link to the recipe: Lets Make Strawberry Sorbet
LITERACY
We suggest this book from January 2015: The Little Brown Owl Makes a Healthy Snack
And this book from this book from October 2013: Who Did Alice See
Join us next time for more fun and home learning—-Group by Group!
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Distance learning continues with a fun unit about animals. We have done lots of animal themed posts in the past so it made picking photos from our library extra hard—-so many cute ones to choose from 🙂
Our PT, OT, and SLP have come up with some more fun activities for you to do at home—-enjoy!
SENSORY
Every week we make sensory boxes—our students LOVE them! It’s easy to your own animal themed box at home—-you can find the perfect material right in your kitchen such as rice, beans, pasta, oatmeal, popcorn, potato flakes, or cereal. Just remember if you have a child who likes to “taste”, make sure it is something that’s okay for them to swallow! Gather up some plastic animals and maybe add some measuring scoops and a funnel for extra fun 🙂
You might even try going out of the box and using dried coffee grounds, birdseed or even make a swamp out of green jello!
Have fun!
GROSS MOTOR
So, this week, you can try moving like animals would move.
Use some books around the house that have animals in them and as you read the book talk about how the animals move and have your child do the same movement as the animals in the story. Some of my kids’ favorite animal books were Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See or From Head to Toe.
You could also look up different animals online, watch how they move, and have your child copy the animal’s movement. You could also use movies with animals in them, and as you watch the movie pause it to act out the animal’s movements. A family favorite of ours was The Jungle Book.
Some movements that my kids and I came up with are the bear crawl, crab walk, frog jump, bunny hop, elephant walk, inch worm, duck walk, fly like a bird, swim like a fish, slither like a snake, swing through the trees like a monkey, stand on one leg like a flamingo, waddle like a penguin, kick like a donkey, cat/cow stretch. Just to name a few, but I am sure you all can come up with some more.
If your child is unable to do the movements independently help them to move their arms and legs to mimic the movements or you or a sibling do the movements and have them chose between a choice of two or three of which animal movement you are acting out. This can be done in supported positions (standing or sitting) to work on balance and strengthening.
Have fun moving like some of our animal friends. Animal sounds are optional! Have a great week!
FINE MOTOR
Here is a fun way to practice writing strokes!
Draw some spiders on a piece of paper. Have your child start at the TOP and draw a DOWN line to the spider. Proficient writers can then turn the paper sideways and write the word SPIDER on the line—-making sure letters touch the line and are aligned correctly.
Draw an animal on a piece of paper. Have your child start on the LEFT side and draw ACROSS to create a fence. Proficient writers can write the name of the animal on a line. Again, making sure letters touch the line and are aligned correctly.
Draw a fish on a piece paper. Have your child draw CIRCLES to make bubbles. Proficient writers can write a letter in each bubble—-making sure the letters stay within the bubbles.
LANGUAGE
Here’s a fun animal themed recipe for you to make at home! Here’s the recipe: lets make a zebra striped parfait
When you’re putting all the ingredients together, you can talk to your child about things like:
LITERACY
We recommend reading this book from May 2018:Let_s Go To The Zoo!
And this book from September 2017:On Old McDonald’s Farm
Join us again next time for more fun and home learning—–Group by Group!
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Our distance learning themes continue with more fun at home OT, PT, SLP activities—-and a sprinkling of old photos 🙂
This week we thought it would be fun to have a dance party!
SENSORY
A dance party has to have something to LISTEN to so pick out some music. A lot of our students love Kids Bop but there is a world of music out there—-maybe try something you haven’t listened to before! Does your child like it LOUD or SOFT? FAST or SLOW? What instruments do they prefer—DRUMS, GUITARS, HORNS?
Since it is a dance party, play with lighting—-dim the lights or turn them off completely and use flashlights, maybe put up some twinkle lights!
FINE MOTOR
Let’s make some paper chain party decorations! You will need paper of your choice—construction paper, notebook paper, wrapping paper, junk mail flyers etc. and tape, glue, or a stapler.
Start by cutting the paper into 2 inch wide strips. You probably want it to be at least 8-10 inches long.
For students who need assistance to use classroom tools: if you have a scrapbooking paper cutter, have your child help by pushing or pulling the handle. If you don’t happen to have one of those, sharply crease the paper and have your child help hold while you tear along the crease.
For students who are learning to use classroom tools: draw lines on the paper and ask them to “cut on the road”.
For students who are proficient with classroom tools: have them draw their own lines using a ruler.
Once all the strips are cut, begin assembling by joining one strip together to form a ring. Slide the next strip through the ring and fasten it into a circle. Continue adding strips until to have the length you want—-or run out of paper, whichever comes first 🙂
Drape your festive paper chain over the mantle piece, over bookshelves, pictures etc.
GROSS MOTOR
At the dance party, have a dance off with your child. Take turns showing off your moves and then have the other person mimic them. For students whom can independently move, they can move their arms, their legs, or their wheelchair. It doesn’t matter, just move.
For students whom need more assistance with movement, move their arms with hand held assistance or push their wheelchair around in different directions (linearly-forward and back, rotation-clockwise and counter-clockwise, or adjust the tilt of the wheelchair). Dance until you can’t dance any more.
Enjoy the party!
LANGUAGE
Here are some communication symbols that can be used during your dance party: Dance Language
You can either keep all of the symbols on the single piece of paper, or you can cut the symbols out to hold them up to your child. Most importantly, HAVE FUN!
LITERACY
We recommend reading this book from November 2013: Let’s Turn on the Jukebox!
Join us again next time for more fun and home learning—-Group by Group!
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As schools are closed for the next few weeks, we are going to do a series of posts with ideas for our parents at home. Since our students aren’t here we are just pulling archived photos—which is kind of fun actually 🙂
This week our activities are centered on taking a walk outside in your backyard!
SENSORY:
What can you HEAR, SEE, SMELL? Does it FEEL different to walk/ride over bumps in the grass/sidewalk, go fast/slow? Are there things to TOUCH?
GROSS MOTOR:
For students whom walk, take advantage of what your surroundings provide you with. Practice walking on and transitioning different surfaces, such as grass, mulch, gravel, sand, etc. Also, practice walking up/down hills, curbs, stairs, ramps, etc. Walk in areas where the student has to step over or around objects in their path of travel, such as water hoses, tree roots, etc.
For students whom self propel their wheelchairs, have them push on different surfaces or inclines/declines/ramps. Have them turn their wheelchair in a requested direction or weave around objects in their path of travel.
Hopefully this will provide you with some good ideas. Make sure you provide as much assistance and/or supervision as needed to ensure student safety. Most of all have fun and enjoy your walk together. The weather has been great.
FINE MOTOR:
For students who need assistance with classroom tools, draw a simple picture of something you saw outside (ex. tree or house) and have them color it. If you have to help them hold the utensil that is okay, but encourage them to move their arms themselves. Markers may be easier for them to use (less friction/brighter colors)and remember the writing surface can be placed vertically.
For students learning to use classroom tools, ask them to draw a picture of something they saw outside. For example, you can model a square house step by step to encourage visual copy skills. Using verbal prompts such as DOWN and ACROSS lines can be helpful. You could also add start/endpoint dots for the lines.
For students learning to write, ask them to write a sentence about what they saw. Give them a model to copy if they need it. Sometimes, using a highlighter to emphasize the top and bottom lines of the paper can be helpful.
LANGUAGE: Practice core vocabulary words HELP/STOP/GO. Do you need HELP to get ready? Do you want to GO? Do you want to STOP here? Talk about what you SEE (“I see a BIG house” or “I see a LITTLE bug”).
Ask them to find different things like a leaf, a stick, a car. Talk about the weather and if it’s SUNNY or CLOUDY.
LITERACY: we suggest reading our book from 4/1/2018— Let_s Go To The Park
So this is our new normal! Join us again next time for more fun and learning—-Group by Group!
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HERE IS A LINK TO THE BOOK: Let’s Learn About Sound And Light
We’re following the Unique theme this week and talking about light and sound. We learned that light does different things with different types of matter. We also learned that sound is a vibration that travels through matter. We have one of our students on the front enjoying some music and another student on the back enjoying the light room in our sensory room.