My Favorite Learning Materials for Social and Emotional Skills

While social and emotional skills are not overtly academic in nature, I suspect that most parents and caretakers of littles would agree that when a child is struggling in his or her ability to interact with others and manage their emotions, academic learning comes with greater difficulty.  Add in the fact that early childhood is a time when most kids are concrete and literal thinkers, it is not an easy task to help them to navigate their way through such a grey "subject".  But it is an important task.

A couple of things I try to keep in mind when it comes to helping my kids learn and grow in their social and emotional regulations skills:

• I try to remember that Darin and I are in this for the long haul.  Our kids' hearts are tender and precious and right now they trust us with their feelings and they take their social cues from us.  The way we handle their feelings now could lay the foundation as to whether they will trust us with them later in life.  The examples we set for them in social interactions now is likely to influence how they relate to others as adults.
• It definitely pays off (at least in our experience) to "teach" about emotional regulation and social skills when they are not already in the midst of big and distressing feelings or a difficult social scenario.  My hope is that when Lucy and Collin need redirection and/or correction in such moments, that the instructions I give are already familiar to them because they were addressed in a less escalated moment.  Of course, sometimes, we don't realize specific areas that we need to work on with them until a situation becomes escalated, and other times it does not matter how much groundwork has been laid, things can just go badly.  But you get what I'm saying!

Now, for the materials and resources that I have compiled for emotion regulation and social skills!  

Here's what I have for ya!

                                     

1. Ready 2 Learn Giant Feelings Stamps
I found this set of giant feelings stamps on Zulily and snatched them up. The set has ten face stamps, each one depicting a different feeling.  Some of the feelings include: content, nervous, tired, scared, happy, sick, etc.  Lucy and I have an ongoing project with these stamps.  I give her a sheet of construction paper and ask her to choose one of the face stamps and the color of ink she wishes to use. After she stamps the image on her paper I tell her what the feeling is and I have her print the word on the sheet.  Then she and I collaborate on making a list of what kinds of things bring about this feeling in her. Then she and I have fun looking in a mirror and making the facial expressions that match the feeling we've just talked about.  She LOVES this activity, and when we have made a page for each of the ten feelings, I plan on assembling them together in a little booklet for her to revisit as she wishes.

2. Kimochis Mixed Feelings
This is a simple set of cute and quirky little softies that depict facial expressions and are labeled with the corresponding emotion.  They are good for introducing and defining a variety of feelings in a gentle and playful way.  Each "kimochi" is small enough to fit inside a little hand or be carried around in pockets, if that provides any comfort to little ones who are learning about BIG feelings.

3. Mr. Printables Emotion Flash Cards
The Mr. Printables website is so. Awesome.  This is NOT the last time you will hear about Mr. Printables from me!  They offer so MANY high quality FREE printable educational materials.  LOVE them.  These are some robot-themed emotion flash cards that provide another fun opportunity to expand a little one's awareness of emotions.  These may especially appeal to any little boys out there who, like my Collin, love robots.

4. Mr. Printables Make a Face DIY Toy
See, I told you I would be talking about Mr. Printables again!  This is such a clever little printable/DIY project.  Print and cut out the face and individual facial features. The tutorial suggests mounting the pieces on cardboard but I printed mine on card stock and laminated them instead. The features are then attached to the face with brads. Once the piece is assembled, it can be used to show and talk about SO many different feelings.  Children have fun experimenting with all the features and can see how just changing the position of the eyebrows can show an entirely different emotion. I also like that it includes teardrops-was able to use them along with the smile to help my kids start to grasp the concept that someone could cry "happy tears" which can be a very puzzling concept for them to consider.

5. Eeboo Polite Pig Activity Book
Eeboo is another name that I'll refer to often as well.  I love Eeboo products for their beautiful visual design, physically sturdy materials and frequent depiction of cultural diversity, or, in the case of this charming little activity book, diversity and good breeding in the animal kingdom! : )  "Polite Pig and His Good Friends" is a simple coloring and activity book that I appreciate, not only for its introduction to good manners and politeness, but also for the exposure it gives to some basic mathematical and visual-spatial reasoning concepts.

6. Eeboo Make My Day Chart
Another offering from Eeboo, the "Make My Day Chart" is great tool to help little ones start out their day well with realistic expectations and goals.  It is a sturdy cardboard wall hanging that incorporates little dials for kids to spin and select what day of the week it is, the calendar date, the season, current  weather and what kind of clothing would be appropriate to choose.  Children can then use the board to communicate the feelings they have as they start their day and express what things they wish to "try".  At the end of the day children and parents can even use the board to choose a descriptor for how the day turned out and select a reward sticker if desired. This product is set apart from the other items I have mentioned so far because it makes the important connection between social and emotional functioning and an awareness of what is going on in our physical environment and how to begin orienting ourselves, our goals and our decisions according to the calendar.

7. Melissa and Doug Bear Dress Up Wooden Puzzle
This little puzzle from Melissa and Doug has been around for awhile, in fact I believe ours was handed down from my nieces who have practically grown up despite the fact that I specifically asked them not to! : ) This is a great addition to any toy and puzzle collection and proves to be another helpful way to introduce and identify moods and emotions as children can give the bear a different facial expression to go along with each outfit that may be interchanged on the puzzle.

8. The Big Picture Story Bible
I saved the best " learning resource" (in my opinion) for last  When it comes to guiding my children through the difficult work of understanding and managing their feelings, it could be pretty easy to lead them down a path of self-absorption which will not serve them well. As a follower of Jesus, it is my conviction that the best way I can serve Lucy and Collin in this area of their life is to point them to our Heavenly Father and endeavor to show them the joys of entrusting their hearts to Him.  We have several "Bible storybooks" in our home library and each one has been helpful in our efforts to introduce the scriptures to Lucy and Collin. The reason I highlight the Big Picture Story Bible in this list is because I feel that both the author and illustrator did a stunning job of portraying the emotional responses of mankind to God through the ages including joy, sorrow, fear, anger, etc. as well as God's response to mankind. Additionally, I appreciate the way the authors keep the individual stories flowing together to present the Bible as one big story about a great God. A great and loving God who invites them to trust Him with their big feelings, find forgiveness and be made new and whole through the cross of Christ Jesus.

Thanks for allowing me to share. I hope this collection of resources will be helpful for many of you, and if you feel so inclined to share with any other parents who are interested, I'd be honored. Also, would love to hear about any other resources or materials along these lines that you might recommend! I'll be working on adding more lists of my favorite learning resources little by little as I am able.

Xoxo,

The Happy Home-School Helper

I am a total nerd enthusiast when it comes to quality learning materials for my children. Whether I am scrolling through my Pinterest feed, checking out what's new on Zulily, pawing through the shelves of TJ Maxx or walking the aisles of my favorite local educational supplies shop, I always have an eye out for high quality learning materials that I believe will be an asset in my efforts to facilitate joyful learning experiences in our home. 

I also keep finding myself talking with other mamas who are either contemplating home-schooling or are looking for more ways to engage their children in joyful learning outside of school or during the summer months. I have been asked by several of these ladies "where to start" with curriculum and materials, and though I am certainly not qualified to advise anyone on "where to start" I am a total extrovert and will happily tell anyone about materials that help the kids and I to delight in learning together.  After recommending the same websites, products, and book lists to three different mamas recently, the thought occurred to me that I could attempt to compile some lists of my favorite early-childhood learning materials and share them here in hopes that it could be helpful if only to my small circle of friends who are interested.  So that is what I hope to do over a series of posts when I am able to make time amidst all my other responsibilities.

I hope to organize my lists by category and share one post at a time, but before I jump in, I thought would finish out this post by defining what I even mean when I refer to "learning materials" and sharing the "criteria" that guides my decision-making process when I purchase the items. I would consider learning "materials" to be any books, craft supplies, games, toys, workbooks, flashcards, songs, apps, or websites that contribute to a child's joy of learning.  That is a pretty wide range and the market is saturated with "educational products" to choose from.  It can be dizzying to choose what to bring into our home from all that is available.  The following criteria are not rigid for me but a basic list of what I look for when choosing "high quality learning materials" and most of what I will try to share in future posts should reflect these "values":

• Simple, yet can be used to address more than one set of skills. When choosing games, educational toys, books, or manipulatives to engage my children in playful learning, I don't want items that are complicated for me to assemble and figure out or will overload them with sensory stimuli. I also love it if an activity addresses more than one skill, for example, fine motor through manipulating small objects as part of an activity that addresses mathematical concepts.
• Physically Durable and Timeless Content. When I consider purchasing a non-consumable item with my children's education in mind I ask myself if I expect it to stand the test time.  Is this item physically built to last as my kids play hard with it and makes memories with it? It may show signs of wear, but would they be pleased to present it to their own kids someday? Also, is their content too dependent upon the times in which we are now living? Or will it aid me while I try to show my children that things were much different before their time and that they are certain to see rapid change in the world around them in the years ahead?
• Visually Well-Designed. I love to see children's materials that give evidence that someone took great care to consider the importance of artistry in their visual design. I like to see visual design that is not dependent on the most popular current children's fads and television characters. I like design that embraces child-likeness without being childish; that honors the intelligence of the child as a whole person. (This is a concept from the Charlotte Mason Educational Method that I have come to embrace during my short years of parenting so far.)

My life is pretty full right now and getting blog posts up hasn't been a high-priority lately, but this is a "project" I am excited about and hope will benefit friends who are like some of the ladies I have talked to lately and are just looking for a "place to start".  Thanks for reading, and I hope to be back soon with my favorite materials for a very difficult skill set: social and emotional regulation skills.

xoxo,

Remaining in Him

Lucy and Collin's bedtime drew near this evening and if asked to describe the day with only one word, I would have said that today was "satisfying".  But things can change quickly.  And they did.  But I will get to that later.

The kids and I did some hard work today.  I'd like to spare some detail, so suffice it to say that I endeavored to tackle some poor habits that all of us have been practicing at home and attempted to introduce some new habits that I believe will serve our family well. 

I was really proud of both of my "big kids".  They received and followed my instructions and exercised diligence that defied their developmental stages.  By the end of the day we were all tired, and Darin had to work late.

Sweet 9-month-old Nora was pretty worn out too.  She had been along for the ride throughout our busyness and ended up being awake for much more of the day than I had anticipated.

So I made a plan to get her down for bed and be "Fun Mommy" for the rest of the evening by doing a movie and popcorn night with Lucy and Collin.  It was just going to be the three of us and it was going to be great.

And oh boy, was I ever "Fun Mommy".  I popped the corn, I sprinkled in the M&Ms, I made up chocolate milk and we were JUST about to snuggle in front of Curious George, when one of the kids acted upon an impulse that started a chain reaction that ultimately brought the movie, popcorn and snuggling plans to a halt. Nora woke up.  Chaos ensued. All three of the kids were crying.

I am sorry to say that when I scolded the child who made the impulsive move, I overreacted and laid blame.  I could have responded with grace, I could have overlooked the "offense", especially after a full day of this child doing so beautifully with the tasks of the day. But I blew it.

After Darin got home from work he was able to help me get the older two kids to bed while I was working with Nora to help her sleep again. I began to replay the events of the evening and go through all the ways I would have handled myself differently if I could. In those moments, if you had asked me to describe myself in one word, I might have said "scum".

But then, the Holy Spirit brought to mind something that I had written five and a half years ago.  Once I tracked it down and read it, it gave me goosebumps. I realized that God in His sovereignty just might have prompted me in January of 2009 to pray for the very things and write down the very words that I would need on this balmy July night in 2014.

Please allow me to share:

" When Darin and I face difficult parenting issues, I can trust God to supply us with the wisdom we need to be the parents that our children need. I can also trust Him to forgive us when we make parenting mistakes. We can ask God to heal our children when we hurt them.

As I pray for our children and for Darin and I as their parents, I want to ask God to protect all of us from pain that we might inflict upon each other. But now I'm sensing the Holy Spirit reshaping my prayers... and rather than asking God to keep us from hurting each other, I start to focus more on asking God to bring our children to faith in Him at an early age. That we may all have our Savior in common and that we will all be able to run to Jesus together when we inevitably hurt each other, or deal with disappointment within our family. That rather than shielding my children from pain, I would be able to guide them to the One who can heal them of their hurts.

I don't know the challenges that lie ahead for our family. But I know the One who is building our family and I have faith that He is building it for His glory. That gives me more peace and more confidence to parent our children than anything else."

Revisiting these words and prayers from years ago was a gift.  And now, if you were to ask me to use one word to describe what I am striving for, I would have to break the rules and give you three.  "Remaining in Him" (which is what Jesus invited his followers and friends to do in John 15:4).  Incidentally, the kids and I listened to this scripture (set to music) several times today. While we were hard at work, this album was in the playlist:

 I can't say enough how much I am enjoying the music from Seeds Family Worship which just so happens to be available for free audio streaming for Amazon Prime users.  Click on the above image for the link.

And thanks for allowing me to share what is on my heart tonight.

xoxo,

Oh Hello Again!

It's an understatement to say that it has "been awhile" since I last posted. There have been some big changes and milestones for our family that have happened since then.  Here is the biggest and by far SWEETEST change our family has experienced:

 

 This little 4-month-old, 12 lb package of sweetness is Nora Amelia. She was born to us on October 8th, 2013 and she has simply stolen our hearts.  She cries and fusses quite a lot (more than either of her older siblings did as babies) and she grins and giggles even more.  Carrying her was a little more taxing than my pregnancy with Collin, but giving birth to her was so "easy" it was almost dreamlike.  She hates napping during the day, but loves sleeping at night.  She loves to snuggle close to me in my baby carrier, but also loves moving around and flexing her muscles during playtime.  The whole family is smitten with this sweet little study in contrasts, but no one's affections for her seem to rival her big sister Lucy's (although Collin's run a VERY close second).

In other family updates, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer a little over a year ago and has since undergone surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments.  We are all just so thankful that our "Mama Gail" was diagnosed early, treated in a timely manner and is now cancer free.  It was hard to see my mother endure the suffering that this chapter brought (especially with the miles that physically separate us), but it has also been a privilege to see her do so with her eyes fixed on Jesus and with a spirit of dependence on Him.  Thankfully her chemo and radiation treatments concluded BEFORE our Nora was born and she and my dad were both able to come and spend time with us as soon as she arrived.

 

It has been a "milestone" school year for Miss Lucy as she and I have been homeschooling for kindergarten.  While academic learning definitely does not come easily for her, she simply LOVES school time.  Even if everything else in her world isn't going her way, she is always eager to sit down with me for our lessons and I couldn't be more proud of her.  She is making particularly great strides in reading and math and it is such a privilege to be a part of that learning process with her.  

 

Darin and I decided to enroll Collin in a preschool class for this year which we feel has been especially beneficial for him in light of all the changes that a new baby has brought for our family.  He attends on Tuesdays and Thursdays and it has been just a wonderful addition to his life and I see the fruits of his teachers' investments in him as we continue to reinforce his early learning here at home.  He is a joy and his creativity, curiosity and desire to be a helper have blossomed during the past few months.

Darin and I are both pretty exhausted these days, but investing in the life of our little family has certainly been a rewarding way to be tired. These early days of parenthood may not be the most glamorously romantic times for a marriage, but working side by side sure opens our eyes to the depth of our devotion to each other and certainly reveals where our dependence lies.  Thankfully, though imperfectly, we are both depending on the sustaining grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in this life as we eagerly await our perfection in the life to come.  I have been especially blessed to see Darin manage a truly demanding career at our local community college in addition to serving and loving our family.  He has been creating and implementing programs in our community that provide vocational training to folks who are unemployed and underemployed and then connects them to potential employers.  It just makes this former social worker's heart go all a flutter and makes me fall in love with him all over again.  I love my guy.

We didn't get a Christmas card out this year nor did we even send out a birth announcement for Nora, so please accept this blog post as a (belated) substitute.  I am just so thankful to be the wife and mommy in this bunch.  On the pleasant days and the rough ones. 

xoxo,

The Company of Friends

I remember talking with my mom and dad right after we lost my dear grandmother about 2 1/2 years ago.  Reminiscing about "Mama Ann"  soon turned into my parents reminiscing about their childhoods and one of the things they talked about was their mothers' daily coffee visits with the other mothers in their neighborhoods.  It sounds like it was the norm for the neighborhood homemakers in the 50's to have daily coffee with each other.  Both my parents remember how everyday after their mothers had their essential domestic tasks completed they would call up "Mrs. So-in-So" who lived  a couple of doors down to find out whose house was the coffee site for that morning.  It wasn't a question of "if" they would have coffee it was who was coming over to whose house for coffee.

I am happy with my and Darin's decision to live off of his income so that I can stay home with our children...AND I admire and respect mothers who earn income in or outside of their home in addition to their mothering responsibilities.  So this post is not meant to complain about the fact that it is not exactly the "norm"  for mothers be full-time homemakers anymore.  But I have to say that hearing my parents talk about their mothers' daily coffee visits made me stop in my tracks and ponder the fact that the neighborhood camaraderie that mothers seemed to share in that day is a thing of the past.  Today mothers who desire something similar must forge those realtionships with creativity and determination.

I have been singularly blessed with many dear friends who are authentic and encouraging, giving me many avenues to forge that type of connection.  April is one such friend.

April has three kids all close in age to mine and she and her husband have also chosen to homeschool. She and I became friends at church years before either of us had children.  When we were in the process of adopting Lucy, April and her husband Troy were some of our best "cheerleaders", and before that, she was one of my most considerate and thoughtful friends when I was experiencing infertility.  She threw me a shower when Lucy came home to us... she got goosebumps when I told her I was pregnant with Collin.  So last fall when she approached me with the idea of us getting our kids together regularly throughout the school year, I agreed without hesitation.

                         

Before the school year began, the two of us had coffee and discussed our  hopes and ideas for our times together. We decided that each of us would plan one "playdate" each month for the duration of the school year calendar.  And let me tell you...this is the best thing I have done with/for my children this entire year when it comes to our homeschooling endeavors.  

We have done a variety of playdates both in the community and in each other's homes.  Some of them have had educational components to them, others have been purely recreational.  Some have gone so smoothly they were almost dreamlike.... others were a little bumpy and involved tears and making up.  It is almost summer now and we are wrapping up for the school year... As I am reflecting on our time together, I'd like to share some observations that April and I have consistently made about our playdates and how they have benefited our families:

1. Less-Gumpy Mommies.  Let's just keep it real.  The smiling faces that you see on us and our children in the pictures we post on Facebook don't exactly tell the whole story.  One of the realities of stay-at-home motherhood is that mothers can sometimes become...well...grumpy. And the age-old adage that says, "if mamma ain't  happy, ain't nobody happy"... Yeah it's the truth.  April and I can both attest to the fact that often we have come into playdates frazzled and grumpy.  But something happens when we meet up.  We get into a new environment, our kids are thrilled to see each other and all of a sudden the isolation we may have been feeling melts away and we aren't taking ourselves quite so seriously.  It is beautiful. For us and for our children.

2. Bonding Occurs. It has been so beautiful to watch our children bond with each other this year.  Preschool and early elementary years are such a tender and important time for our children's development.  Among all the things we seek to teach our kids, one of the most challenging "subjects" for them to grasp is the give and take of developing friendships.  Having a small group of friends to be with on a regular basis has afforded us the delightful opportunity to guide our kids through the process of caring for, learning with, apologizing to, forgiving and celebrating with their peers. Most parents care about the friendships their children develop, and our window of influence in this aspect of their lives is short. We are so thankful to have found a pleasant way to make the most of this time that we have to guide them on how to find and be good friends.

3. Masks Come Off. I am currently reading the book No More Perfect Moms by Jill Savage, and in chapter one she urges moms to remove their "masks" that would otherwise communicate to the world that we don't have problems.  Although I tend to think that I am not prone to portray myself or my life as more rosey than it is, when I am honest I will agree that I am still tempted to put on a "mask" of perfection as much as any woman.  But when I am consistently spending face time with April and our kids, there is simply not an option to wear that mask.  We know each other well enough now to see through them. It's healthy as mothers to be in that positon regularly.

I could go on and on (arguably, I have gone on and on), and not just about my friendship with April. I could tell you about Kimberly, Shannon, Jonna, Amy, Andrea, Jamie, Stacy-all friends (who are also moms) near and far whose presence in my life won't allow me to think I am doing this alone. My point is this: it is currently so easy to live in isolation as mothers and developing the friendships we need to combat that isolation takes intentional effort, creativity and energy.  I hope that in sharing some details about experiences that April and I have had (and I have done so with her permission) I have conveyed that it is SO worth the effort, creativity and energy. If our kids could articulate it, I believe they would say so too.

xoxo,

Finding Help

It has been on my heart lately to share a little about how the process of identifying Lucy's special needs has opened my and Darin's hearts more and more to seeking help (in the professional sense) for her (and us).

It has been humbling for me to realize that there are aspects of parenting our daughter that Darin and I are not able to handle without professional help.  The amount and type of help we have sought and received has come in many stages and varieties, and I am guessing that other types of help also will enter our world in the future. I shared in this post about our experiences with identifying Lucy's expressive-receptive language disorder and sensory processing disorder and how we found help for her through speech-language therapy and occupational therapy. After about a year of occupational therapy and approximately two-years of speech-language therapy, we were feeling really encouraged.  Lucy was making amazing language progress and many of the difficult sensory-seeking behaviors were minimized.

We were, however experiencing increased meltdowns that were triggered when Darin or I had to correct, redirect or discipline Lucy. If it were not for the presence of Lucy's other known issues, we might have chalked up these behavioral challenges to being a "phase" or consider her to be a "strong-willed child".  But understanding everything we already did caused us to dig a little deeper into Lucy's behaviors. "Conventional" wisdom in how to discipline children fell flat with her (i.e. timeouts, removing privileges, etc.).  She either seemed completely unaffected by these measures or would melt-down to the point that any teachable opportunity was lost.  Sometimes her emotional response to our discipline measures seemed unusual and puzzling, for example when I took a serious or stern tone with her, she would erupt in uncontrollable laughter.  When I would calmly attempt to remove her from an escalated situation, she would become panicky, yelling at me in protest and sometimes become physically aggressive towards me. Sometimes these meltdowns would last 45-minutes to an hour. Sometimes they would occur multiple times a day.  I found myself feeling hopeless and sometimes angry.  I was also at a loss as to how to give Collin the attention he deserved from me when so much of my energy was spent helping Lucy through these episodes that were beyond her (and my) control.  Too often when Lucy's meltdowns occurred, I just set Collin down in front of a DVD, feeling horribly guilty for resorting to that.  I told Darin that I believed that it was time to enlist the help of a child and family therapist.  This was the help that was the most difficult to seek out... I won't dive into it here, but this was the realization that hurt my "pride" the most.

I had to tackle this feeling of wounded pride head-on, because I knew it was a hindrance to getting what our family needed to keep moving forward.  All of a sudden I had a "flash-forward" in my mind to Lucy's early adulthood.  I wondered what the trajectory of our family's life would look like if we  started to get that help right now as opposed to what it would look like if we kept trudging along in isolation and frustration.  I feared that the visible anxieties, stress and sadness that Darin and I felt over these struggles would start to make it harder for Lucy to feel secure in her relationship with her mommy and daddy.  I feared that the progress we'd made since her infancy in developing a trusting parent-child bond would be disrupted. I also feared that I would become too negative towards her and she would pick up on it. I knew that getting professional help for these challenges wouldn't guarantee a smooth future, but I imagined us continuing on the path we'd been on WITHOUT help for the long haul.  I imagined Lucy as a young adult, perhaps feeling disconnected and distrustful of us.  I imagined myself having to tell her that when she was a little girl, we saw hints of these challenges brewing and considered getting help but refused to do so because of our pride.  Pardon me for saying this, but that's crap. For me, envisioning the possibility of having to admit that to my adult daughter sealed the deal.  I hope with all my heart that as a young adult, Lucy will feel close to us... that she will feel safe with me as her mother and might even be able to view me as a friend.  But, if that is not what unfolds in the future, I'd hate to look back upon her early childhood and have memories of myself clinging to my pride rather than humbling myself when the Holy Spirit had prompted me to let it go and get help.  And I am convinced that the "flash forward" moment I had was a gift from God.

Soon after that key moment, Darin and I got a referral from the agency where Lucy receives her speech and occupational therapies and began to meet regularly with a child and family therapist.  We ended up meeting with this gal for about 3 or 4 months and she helped us learn some simple ideas/strategies that we would have never thought of on our own.  Many of these strategies have made a difference in our ability to guide Lucy in her behavior.  Even though it wasn't practical or feasible to continue meeting regularly with her for the long term, I will look back on the time we spent with her as a turning point and springboard from which we began to make strides in learning to understand and approach Lucy's behavioral challenges.

More recently, we have decided to begin a modified "Applied Behavioral Analysis" (ABA) program in our home with a delightful gal whom we recently connected with.  Ruth is the wife of a pastor at a large local church who has parented a child (now age 18) with issues similar to Lucy's.  I began reading Ruth's blog which she launched several months ago, called Connecting One Piece at a Time and while perusing her site I read about the in-home ABA services she offers to families like ours.  This is the statement from Ruth that captured my attention the most:

"I have developed a passion for encouraging, helping and training children who have learning differences, along with their families. I love helping families normalize family life while living with disabilities."

Between that statement and the encouragement I received from her regular blog posts, I knew that it was worth our while to pursue her help.  So we met her and acquainted her with Lucy's specific needs and began the process of hiring her to come and work with Lucy (and our family) on a weekly basis.  We just had our first session with Ruth this past week and all I can say is that I am feeling grateful and hopeful about this addition to the array of help we have sought and received.

Lucy is a curious, helpful, compassionate, sharing, enthusiastic little girl all wrapped up in an adorable 35 lb package.  It breaks my heart that at times I have been so preoccupied with how to understand her needs and challenges and how to parent her that I have been hindered in enjoying her as the beautiful gift that she is.  But now, with the combination of help that we currently have in place for her I feel like I am being given back the gift of simply enjoying her as my daughter.  I praise God and acknowledge that it's His hand that has guided us through every step in this process.  It is so worth it to seek help. And I hope that somehow our story can encourage others who may need help but feel reluctant to seek it in their own parenting journey.

xoxo,

Plugging Away At Preschool

So we are two months into 2013 and our Midwest winter weather has afforded my little sweeties and I a lot of indoor time at home.  We have been plugging away at our pre-school lessons, but it has been awhile since we've done a Before Five in a Row unit (as much as we LOVE doing them).  I have several more BFIAR books on our shelf that I hope to go through with Lucy and Collin before the school year is up, but after Christmas, I was looking at all the gifts the kids received for Christmas as well as the MANY wonderful educational games, books (not BFIAR), iPad apps and preschool materials that we have collected over time.  I realized that while I was scouring the internet every week for printable materials to go with BFIAR lessons, I wasn't making the best use of what we already had at our fingertips. So, during the past couple of months we have taken a less formal approach for our learning times by simply pulling things from our school room shelves and our iPad and enjoying them together.

Here is a smattering of SOME of our favorite things that we have recently enjoyed together:

1. ABCs of God app for iPhone and iPad.  We have had this sweet little iPad app for several months now, and I just adore it.  It addresses letter recognition, writing, upper case and lower cases and highlights a different attribute of God for each letter.  Lucy has mastered letter recognition and sounds, but my Collin is still working on these concepts, so I have him play with this app a lot and he really enjoys it!

2. Gakken Let's Create preschool workbook.  If you are a fan of the Kumon preschool work books, then you will love this Gakken preschool workbook, "Let's Create".  It includes tracing, cutting, pasting, and coloring.  The illustrations are engaging and cute and it includes stickers to put on each completed sheet as a reward.  It is a hit with both my kids.  My only wish is that the sheets were perforated especially for the pasting activities, but we still love it.

3. Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game. I can't express how much preschoolers learn through playing board games!  Aside from the academic component of educational games, I love the opportunities to teach social skills such as waiting for your turn and learning to win and lose graciously.  Lucy and Collin request to play the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game all the time.  It is very similar to "Hi-Ho-Cherry-O" with the added step of grasping the pieces (in this case, acorns) with tongs, which is a great fine motor  skill practive.

4. Over the Rainbow Game.  This is another great board game that my kiddos love.  I am very impressed with the quality of the cardboard pieces and illustrations.  It addresses color recognition and helps to build vocabulary.

5. Eloise Wilkin Stories In the beginning of this school year, I was considering using Sonlight's Pre K 3-4 Core with Lucy and Collin.  While I didn't go with the full set, I did purchase some of the individual books from the reading list, and the Eloise Wilkin Stories treasury book has been such a big, big hit.  I love and recognize many of these stories from my childhood and they have obviously stood the test of time because Lucy and Collin have become quite attached and seem to have made friends with several of the characters even though they are obviously from a different era.  The first morning that I read "We Help Mommy" to them, they were practically begging me to give them some household chores to do.  Score!

6. Bug Games app for iPhone and iPad.  Here is another pre-school iPad app that we love.  It includes phonics, visual-spatial awareness, counting/number recognition and music activities in a bright and simple bug-related games.  Lucy and Collin particularly enjoy putting virtual stickers on the giant leaf every time they complete three activities in a row.

7. The Book of Children's Classics.  I think I picked up this book treasury at Half-Price Books years ago before I even had children.  I bought it because it contained so many beloved children's books from my own childhood that I had to have it and save it for "when I had kids someday".  The included stories that have been the biggest hits in our home are: Corduroy by Don Freeman, Ferdinand the Bull by Munro Leaf, and Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans.  These books have been a particularly big hit with Collin, and he loves to retell them in his own words, which is such a great learning practice, especially championed by the Charlotte Mason educational methods.

8. Preschool Lotto Game by Eeboo.  This is yet another high-quality game that Lucy and Collin keep requesting to play over and over again. It is also a great vocabulary-builder, especially for kids like Lucy who need extra help with speech-language development. If you haven't discovered Eeboo products yet, then you are in for a treat.  Their games, puzzles and craft kits are so fun, creative and engaging.  I have a feeling that this game is just the first of many Eeboo products to enter our home.

Another exciting development in our family that pertains to our preschool endeavors, is that Miss Lucy has begun sounding out words!  I have been so proud of her dedication to learning to read simple words and I can't express how wonderful of a feeling it was for me to be present for the first word that she sounded out independently.  To keep her little mind stimulated, I created a couple of sight words file folder games.  She brings them to me all the time requesting to "work on her words".  I thought it would be fun to share the two games that I created as free printables, in hopes that they will be fun early-reading activities for others to enjoy with their little ones.  I am totally new to this whole PDF-document-making and uploading thing, so if anyone would be so kind as to test these links out and let me know if you were able to successfully download them, I would love to know if they work or not!

Sight Words File Folder Game

Sight Words File Folder Game 2

We sure have been enjoying our laid-back learning here at home in the past few months.  I hope that these "reviews" are helpful and give good ideas to other parents who desire to have meaningful learning opportunities at home with their preschoolers!

xoxo,