Welcome Back!

The Back to school hype is over and everyone is back into a routine.  Fall, football and homework are back in our lives.  Team meetings, IEPs and a set schedule are becoming more of my daily life while at work.

This year I will still be servicing Eaton Rapids 4 full days a week and then the 5th day I will be at an elementary school in Charlotte.

It's a lot of buildings, a lot of sensory and fine motor needs and it seems like there's not a lot of time!

So, I think this blog can be a way for me to reach all of you and give my perspective on how important OT is in the school setting.  I would love to post weekly, but this is will be done during my personal time (we'll see how I do!).

Stay tuned and learn a lot about how we can all help our students be more successful and actually more importantly......happy in the school setting.

In the past I have made handouts for teachers and parents to help understand fine motor development and sensory processing disorder.  My goal is for this blog to for go the handouts - I think it will save time and money/paper/ink.

As a teacher or parent - if there is something you would like to know more information about, let me know!

I like to be organized in my mind so I am thinking a weekly theme for the kids to work on specific skills and then I will explain "why I do, what I do?"  And hopefully a sensory tid-bit along with these explanations.

Since I didn't have a chance to write a post the first 2 weeks of servicing kids:
Week 1:  Who can draw all of their shapes perfectly?
Scribbling: the kids like holding a marker, crayon, pen, paint brush and seeing pretty colors (1st barrier complete).  About 1.5-2 years old

Straight lines (horizontal and vertical): Everything is becoming more purposeful.  Letters "i", "l" (I'm not developmentally expecting letters from a 2 year old but I feel like the pressure is on! This is all a toddler is capable of)  Age: 2 years-2.5 years

Scribbles in circular motions:  At this point in the school year, I myself feel like this stage lasts forever!  I see a lot of this.  Ages 2.5-3 years

Circles (1 single circle allows us to make smiley faces in Art class, "O", "C", "Q" and so on but we'll be getting to letters a different week).  Age: 3 years

Cross (horizontal/vertical line intersecting) = for an OT this helps us know that the kids are able to cross over a barrier to keep drawing (crossing the midline neurologically).  This helps with pre-reading skills and writing too.  Kids can then add a body and arms to their smiley face and make letter "T", "L" or "t".  Ages: 3-3.5 years

Squares: half of a square really makes an "L"!  Make sure the angles are all right angles.  The kids love to trick everyone with one rounded side.  Age: 4 years

Triangles:  Are getting harder and harder for the little ones.  I feel like we are rushing them into letters.  Neurologically kids are unable to create diagonal lines until 5 or 6.  Starting at the top left and going to the bottom right or starting to the upper right hand side and going to the bottom left.  This is hard with wiki sticks, pegs in a peg board, strings or other materials.....so I can imagine it's hard with using a pencil and paper.  I like seeing pointy triangle tops that could pop a bubble.  But I will see rounded triangle tops, triangles with a vertical left line and horizontal bottom line and a weird right line to connect the 2 other lines.  I see really interesting roof's on houses.  Since we are showing them letters at about 6-8 months (ha!), I tell them to start making an "A" but stop before they make the middle line.  I'd love to see some pretty triangles and confident house drawings (squares and triangles)!  Age: 5 years

Diamonds:  How many adults can draw a good old fashioned diamond?  Hard. Hard. Hard. Most kids I service cannot draw a beautiful diamond.  Practice.  My tip for the kids:  Start with your pointy bubble popping "A" and connect it to a "V" at the bottom.  Age: 6 years.

Some of my older students printed first/last names. Drew people. And some worked on drawing stars, hearts and noticed the difference between ovals/circles, squares/rectangles, +/X.

Everyone also had a finger strength activity (squeezing clips with a pinch grasp was a good choice).  A pinch grasp is using your thumb, index and  middle finger to pick up and squeeze items.  This will encourage an age appropriate grasp while holding a writing utensil.

After reading this your assumption is  "shapes should be easier to draw than letters" and the ability to draw some of these shapes does not occur until age 6.  So, if my child cannot print the alphabet at 4 or 5 years old, it's ok?? YES!

Sensory Tip: Feel free to get messy.  Touching different textures is going to make life easy at school.  We got out messy with moon sand or play dough during some of our sessions this week.

Whew!  Week 2s activity will be coming soon!