Taking the Scenic Route

As I have said before, this summer we added a literacy & reading comprehension component to Zane’s therapy schedule.  It is a new venture, so we are all learning as we go, but I am quite pleased with how it is working out.  Since it is far more motivating for him if he is interested in the subject matter, we are using science as the backbone to build comprehension and vocabulary.  He has been creating a picture based vocabulary dictionary through the semester, as he learns new words, that is being used as a reference guide to teach him how to look things up if he doesn’t remember off the top of his head (word recall is difficult for him, even if he understands the concept). That is tied in to a science experiment that demonstrates the concept, requires reading and interpreting directions, plus writing out a brief description of the experiment (question being asked, hypothesis, ect) based on the scientific method.  She includes a lot of visual supports, as you can see in this picture.

Zane HATES writing.  At home we have to do the majority of scribing for him because he struggles with trying to do the mechanical process/motor planning involved with writing, especially when trying to create meaningful content.  I had to seperate the components out to get anything done on the majority of schoolwork, and continue to include Handwriting as a stand alone component to keep hitting the motor skills.  We are now trying to begin the process of integrating the two of them together by encouraging him to write himself instead of dictating and having us scribe.  To motivate him, he gets a marble if he completes the small writing task himself, and no marble if he asks for help.  At the end of the session, he gets to take all of the marbles earned and drop them in a marble run.

Notice I refrained from any comments on the “Zane’s Marbles” jar.  What restraint I have.

And, the last minute or two of the hour is spent with the marble run.  (most of the pictures of this were blurry because he was excited and flapping like a madman.  lol)

We snuck downstairs to see Zora having a big party for her dolls, followed by a “ride” on the big stuffed dog.  Adorable.

(that is her blur in the foreground, but we didn’t want to turn on the flash and alert her to our presence)

aka: My Little Gentile.

Zora was writing (drawing) out the lyrics to a song she is learning at church. I asked her what it was and she said it was about Jesus and the Rabbits. Confused, I got her to elaborate. Evidently, Jesus was talking with the Rabbits, and they weren’t very nice (and bit him, apparently), but Jesus still loved them and was nice to them (he pets them).

I think I need to explain what a “Rabbi” is.

Zach’s birthday was pretty low key this year.  Zora helped make the brownies for Dad because she insisted that he needed a cake of some kind.  Both the kids made cards, and Zach’s best friend came over and bought him a burrito from Chipoltes for his birthday.

From Zora, picture is a truck

From Zane, picture is a skateboarder

Nature right up close and personal.  The kids discovered a young bird in the backyard, almost stepping on it.  It wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about moving and seemed pretty unsure of where to go or what to do.  It eventually walked to the corner of the yard and we sat outside and watched it for a long time.  Occasionally a mama bird would come by and try to scold us and lure us away.  We were in and out of the house to watch it throughout the day as it tried to fly.

By the end of the day it figured out how to fly.  What a treat to watch the process.

This summer we added a literacy component to Zane’s ST schedule, focusing on Reading Comprehension.  Since he loves science and doing science experiments, that is the vehicle we are using to help develop comprehension and writing skills.

This session’s experiment was putting Mentos into various kinds of soda pop to see which had the strongest reaction.  By the end of the experiment, he was wet and sticky from pop hitting him.  He kept licking himself. 

(photos from a combination of my cranky cell phone (first one), and the video the Clinical Educator is taking in this photo)

“Toad” from Mario Bros. (oil pastels on construction paper)

Her (completely imaginary, just to be very, very clear) baby sisters. (on the dry erase board) One is “Kella”, and she is going to come on her birthday.

Sidewalk Chalk on Cement

a person with a striped shirt

“duck”