Including "is" + "location" in Speech

I recently did an evaluation on a student who is working on an objective in speech to work on using the word "is" + a location.  For example, "The pig IS IN the mud."

Problem/Sensory issues

The problem here is that our student (let's call him Frank), leaves out the "is" and sometimes other parts of the sentence.  He does get both of the subjects which is helpful to those of us participating in conversations with him.

Anyhow, the idea to use music to help was to slow the speech down to help with his auditory tracking and processing and place emphasis on the "is" and the location.  Successful auditory tracking requires our brain to track or "catch" the sequence of sounds heard, re-create the sounds (requires short-term memory), organize and determine relationships between each sound (put in order), and then file into memory.  Frank is only processing parts of the sentence and it happens to be the important words like the two subjects and the verb (The boy going store).

Successful music

I found that putting the selected sentence to the tune of Sally is Wearing a Red Dress worked very well. It's an old Wee Sing song.  You can hear me singing it with my kids (not clients) in the video above.

This piece:

1. Is in 6/8 time which creates the "swaying" feeling, heavily emphasizing each beat.
2. Is slow enough to give Frank more processing time on each syllable.  
3. Has 4 phrases which gives the opportunity to repeat the sentence 4 times and help with filing the sounds into memory.

Steps for the Intervention

1. Present a visual (I used speech cards from Artic. You can also use something like a box and an animal or manipulative)
2. Sing the entire song (a capella).
3. Take turns singing each line (you go first).
4. Repeat as necessary.
5. When they master the objective or several sentences add some accompaniment to make it more fun.

Example Sentence

The pig...is....in..the barn. 

The pig...is...in..the barn.

The pig...is...in the barn.

The pig is in the barn.

Shoe Problems

So I'm a little paranoid.  About shoes. Shoes in the house, specifically.  Growing up, we took them off at the front door. This habit began when we lived overseas in Dubai.  The local people there did the same when they entered their homes.  Sounded good to us.  Less dirt in the house!  And now, less allergens tracked in.

Turns out, there is another advantage of putting your shoes by the door when you come in.  We always know where our shoes are.  In the closet or by the door. I have dragged Scott into this idea which he has kindly begun to get on board with.  The kids however, are still working on the habit. I still hear grumbles and "awwws" as I announce, "Please take off your shoes and put them by the door."   Sometimes they sweetly oblige, but other times the shoes do not come off right away and end up in no man's land.  This of course means that shoes cannot be found when they are needed. Like when Mom is dragging them out the door to be somewhere.

Fortunately,  this is a mistake they can afford to make with a small price to pay.  I would rather them learn from this kind of mistake than some one with a bigger price down the road when they are a few years older. As Foster and Clive have said, we build self-esteem by learning to make successful choices.  I just have to remind myself of this and tell myself that I do not need to follow them and say, "Put your shoes by the door" until they do it (unless there is mud).  I forget sometimes....a lot of times..., but this weekend I remembered to just give one warning. So this morning, (Sunday!) when we were trying to leave for church AND the USA vs Australia women's soccer (YEAH!!!!!) we had some problems.  Zachary was trying to pack his change of clothes that included his sneakers and they were no where to be found.

I tried super hard to be patient...hmmm you might have to ask them how that turned out...and then also sympathetic to how he was feeling so I could lessen the power struggle (as indicated in Love and Logic which I'm trying to make sure I'm doing because I do love their philosophy).  So I said, "I'm sorry you can't find the shoes you need. I feel very frustrated when that happens to me."  He was extremely upset without his sneakers and ended up having to go with just sandals.  The first few minutes of the car ride were extremely unpleasant with a little boy screaming that he wanted his shoes.  Hopefully our sympathetic lines of, "I'm sorry you don't have your shoes...I know it's frustrating to not know where you put them" helped with the realization that it was his responsibility.   We also did ask him when he was in his calmer state about what might have happened if he had put his shoes by the door.

Anyhow, after the morning at church and then the game at the Alamo Dome, we came home and Zachary searched for his shoes, very concerned that he would not have them for P.E. tomorrow (found them in the guest bathroom...?what??? I never would have thought to look there).  The hope is that the shoes will be sitting happily in their home by the door far more often.

Maps for Kids on the Road

Image from Google Maps.  Thanks Google!

Welcome back to the blog!  I've been off for the summer.  I went on a kind of "obligation vacation" of the sort (with the exception of parenting).  I got to have a break from music therapy work, choir, teaching faith formation, scheduled sports and as you can see, I have not taken the time to post either. These are all things I love but the break this summer was very needed.  School is beginning in two weeks and I could have gone two more plus that as far as school starting again but it's coming so here I am getting back into the swing. 

We are about to take our last trip for the summer. It will be a long weekend trip up to Amarillo and Lubbock where my parent-in-laws live as well as some cousins of Scott's family.  We do not travel up there often so we are very excited.  Especially the kids!  But of course...the drive will be long and kids will be asking, "Are we there yet?" or "when can we go to the bathroom?" as I DEFINITELY did when I was a kid. 

Back in the spring ,NPR's Talk of the Nation, had a show on maps.  I found it fascinating and one of the callers shared what she does in the car for her kids to help them continue to develop spacial awareness skills. She gives one or two kids a map to look at while driving and the other might get the GPS.  

To get a better idea, spatial awareness is the ability to be aware of oneself in space or organized knowledge of objects in relation to oneself in that give space (http://occupationaltherapyforchildren.over-blog.com.).    Spatial awareness visualize patterns in space especially in depth and distance (Ehow.com.) Spatial awareness can also transfer to many other skill areas especially in relating to structure, organization, how you visually picture things in your mind and is an important factor in our overall perception.  

I thought back to how much I LOVED looking at maps as a kid.  I used to stare endlessly at a giant and detailed map of Louisiana in the Dairy Queen my grandpa owned when I would go to work with him.  Honestly I still love to look at maps. 

 I thought that having maps for my kids during our upcoming drive would be more fun for my kids as well.  They can stay a little more occupied AND  learn to figure out when the next bathroom stop will be.  Well... it maybe a few more years before we reach that one.

Map Actitvity

1. I printed off a large map of Texas with the basic rout (as seen above.)  
2. I also printed out more detailed maps of different sections of the route. 
3. I then also printed an even more specific one of Amarillo so they can see individual streets when we get close.  Of course they may be fast a sleep by the time we arrive but you NEVER know!!

I hope this is something that others find enjoyable and also helpful.  

Fiesta Wreaths

Adelyn's wreath! She picked the colors and glued them herself.

San Antonio celebrated the annual Fiesta in April!  If you are not familiar with Fiesta here, I'll just tell you it's like Mardi Gras but Texas style.  It's a huge celebration to honor the battles of the Alamo and San Jacinto.  We got parades, costumes, and big ol' parties.  It started out as a single event but now there are about 100 events during Fiesta week.  I saw Fiesta wreaths similar to these one in one of the schools where I see a client so Adelyn and I made these one Monday morning for our craft.  We used tissue paper and glued it to a poster board circle cut out.  Last we attached the ribbon. 

That was our little Fiesta celebration this year!

Vegetable Bouquet

This past week was teacher appreciate week!!  Several children in Zachary's class came with adorable and unique ideas.  I remember when my mom was a teacher and she came home with bundles of chocolate and goodies.  It was very exciting for my brother and I!  We always offered to help her eat it and it took a while! We loved it and Mom liked the gifts but I found myself wondering this week if maybe I should come up with something else that would be cute, very useful, healthy, and would not clutter the house.  Especially if any teachers are trying to limit sugar or cholesterol intake.

When Scott did his very first half marathon he was on a big salad and vegetable kick.  I made him a vegetable bouquet for the race so that triggered the idea to do this one.  I looked on Pinterest because I was sure that other people would have done something like this and figured it would have looked much more gorgeous and creative than the one I had given Scott.  I definitely found some...and yes... they were much too fancy for me to throw together quickly so what you see here was what I came up with.  We brought this one to Adelyn's Mom's Day Out teacher.  She ended up loving it and said she would be eating it for lunch that day!

This one is complete with:

• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Green beans
• carrots
• yellow sunburst tomatoes
• a clementine orange (which I added later after the picture)

We also brought a bowl, a fork and olive oil vinegar dressing.

It definitely made me more excited about eating veggies! What are your creative gift ideas?  

Teaching the Mass to Kindergarteners

This year I have had the privilege of teaching Zachary's kindergarten faith formation class this past year.  I had a fantastic partner, Denise.  One of my favorite weeks we taught about last month was the Mass.  I really wanted them to have a greater appreciate for the Mass, however I knew it would be tough because right now with the short attention spans they have, it is hard for them to understand what is going on and appreciate it in the moment.

We did a couple of things to engage them.

Acting

We decided we would act out the Mass and have the children be a different part.  We had a priest, a deacon, 2 readers, gift bearers and the choir.  The picture above shows the altar that we used.  The choir enjoyed using egg shakers and rhythm sticks when it was their turn.  We have 10 kids in the class so this set up worked very well.

Visual Mass Parts

We printed off each detailed step of the Mass. For example, the greeting, Penitential Act, First reading, etc. Each child got 2 of these papers and when we got to that part of the pretend Mass we asked who had that part.  They had to look at their papers and figure it out for themselves.  

Hanging the papers up allowed them to see the entire Mass in front of them which helped them make sense of the order.  The kids also agreed that they would be less confused at Mass if they had something like this to follow along with.  

Here are the steps we did.

• Greeting
• Penitential Act
• Kyrie
• Gloria
• Liturgy of the Word Begins-First Reading-Old Testament
• Psalm- Old
• Second Reading- New Testament
• Gospel/Homily- New
• Creed
• Prayers of the Faithful
• Offertory
• Liturgy of the Eucharist
• Holy Holy Holy
• Calling of the Holy Spirit
• Consecration of Bread
• Consecration of Wine
• Great Amen
• Our Father
• Sign of Peace
• Lamb of God
• Communion
• Final Blessing
• Recessional 

Picture Missals for Purchase

There are some picture missals for sale at Catholic bookstores or online through Pauline Books and Media, St. Josephs, etc.  You have to decide for yourself which one fits your child. Some are not as detailed as others and some of the pictures may reach your child more than others. 

We started with St. Joseph's Coloring Book of the Mass. It worked well for ages 3-4 or even 5.

We also used one called My Picture Missal when Zachary turned 5. It has more words but still has pictures.

Making Your Own

I personally wanted something very detailed so last weekend I made a book out of these papers we used for class.  I wanted to have something for every little step of the Mass and not all of the books get that detailed.  I found some images on google.  A lot of bloggers allow readers to print the pictures for educational use in your family or in church.  One great resources that I got some of the pictures from was http://Thatresourcesite.com.  If you are an artist and can make the pictures yourself, you have one up on the rest of us. I'm sure your children will appreciate having their own parent's art work. 

What's the Point?

I very much agree that the more you use visuals and hands on teaching tools at home or during Mass, the more they will understand and hopefully appreciate it.  You can make your old testament page look like an older book or something creative like that. It's okay to explain things that are happening during the Mass.  I tell my son what we are praying for after the reader reads off each prayer of the faithful so he feels like he is involved.

So how do you teach your children? What have you found that works for you?

Denise, quizzing the kids at the end to review what we learned.

Picture Schedules and Children with Autism

In the previous post I had information about why the blue pocket organizer was so great for teaching routines whether at home or in sessions with clients.  There are several ways it can be helpful when working with children with autism.  

Just to review, I mentioned before that the pocket schedules are great for:

• Children who are not yet reading
• Quick processing- the brain processes pictures rather than learned skills (language/reading) more quickly
• lowering anxiety by allowing children to know what is coming next and feel like they have control

I also believe that it can be good for some children with autism in helping them to be comfortable with changing a routine. All children are different but it may be helpful.  I began thinking more about this when another music therapist was telling a group of us about a client who will not move on to another activity if the activities are out of order or something new has been added to the routine.  One of the clients I have was at one time, not okay with changing the order of our activities/interventions.   Let me just call her, Jesse.  Over time Jess became more comfortable with changing the order of these activities and adding new things to the routine both of which had to do with the pocket schedule, setting out ALL of the activities in a line, and a reward.

1. Changing the Order-  Since Jesse could see the order of activities and what was coming next every session for several weeks she became very comfortable with our session.  When I swapped two of the activities she could still see that everything else was the same and also that I still had the same activities planned which were in the line she saw every week.  This helped to eliminate any anxiety she might have had from lack of control and unpredictability.  
2. Adding new activities/interventions- These same ideas can be applied to adding new activities.  Jesse could still see that the rest of the routine was still the same which gave her a sense of control and predictability.  
3. Rewards-To assist with number 1 and 2, Jesse got a token put on her token chart. These tokens earn her extra time with favorite activities in the classroom.  For each activity she participated in, she got a token.   With that in mind the transition to new or swapped activities went more smoothly.  

It will be interesting to find out how this works for others with similar struggles.  All children respond differently but it is something else to try!