Preschool Unit 1, Day 3: The Color Yellow!

Sorry the rest of the lesson plans are coming so late... Things have been SO crazy in my world... so without further ado, here are the plans for The Color Yellow!

• 9:00-10:00- Free Play Time

• 10:00-10:30- Circle Time

• Go over the schedule for the day (see photo).
• Weather Bear
• Day of the Week Song
• Alphabet Song
• Number Practice (1-10) (Decals are thanks to the Dollar Tree!)

• 10:30-11:15- Outside Art and Play
• Finger Paint with the color yellow.
• Today we will work on throwing and catching a ball during this time.
• 11:15-Noon- Changing and Lunch
• Noon-12:45- Art Project
• We will complete the third line of the rainbow as Trevor practices tearing yellow construction paper and placing it accordingly.

• 12:45-1:15- Sorting Colors

• So recently, I emptied a box of tissues and thought about how it would be a great way to add more fine motor skills to the sorting activities we are already practicing. Although the slot isn't as small as it would need to be to help most 5-6 year old children to practice their fine motor skills, with Trevor's coordination, I think that this is a good starting spot. 

• 1:55-2:15- Music
• Fun Rainbow Song for Preschoolers
• After watching this video and listening to the music, we will use paint and q-tips to practice placing the colors of the rainbow in the correct locations. Using the q-tips will also help with his fine motor skills as he has to grasp the q-tip in order to get the desired result (color on the paper). 
• Coloring sheet can be found here.

Preschool Unit 1, Day 1: The Color Orange!

As promised, I'm going to continue posting the rest of the lesson plans for the week. Day One is red, followed by orange on Day Two (can anyone sense a pattern??)

• 9:00-10:00- Free Play Time
• 10:00-10:30- Circle Time

• Go over schedule for the day.
• Weather Bear (Here is part of the pattern from A View From the Pew that I colored, glued to construction paper, laminated, and then cut out. Then, I placed magnets on the back so that they could be rearranged repeatedly on a cookie sheet or the fridge. My goal with Trevor is not necessarily recognizing what clothes go with what season yet, but I want him to recognize that the shirt goes on the upper body, pants on the legs, etc. He is still unable to dress himself independently, although he does put effort in appropriately. In addition, I saw a strong correlation between the way he practiced feeding his Ernie doll and the way he began to feed himself, so I am confident that experiences are an excellent way to make strides in the right direction!)
• Day of the Week Song
• Number Practice (1-10)
• Alphabet Song
• 10:30-11:15- Outside Art and Play
• Again, we will finger paint, but this time with the color orange. Again, my goal is to bring EXPERIENCES! 
• Go for a walk around the neighborhood (Since yesterday he had complete freedom to play outside, I'm going to change it up and give him a chance to explore the neighborhood. I find that when scheduling for a toddler, alternating activities constantly is key!)
• 11:15-Noon- Changing and Lunch
• Noon-12:45- Art Project
• We will continue working on our rainbow outline, but today, Trevor will tear orange construction paper and place it on the glue dots I stick on the second line.
• 12:45-1:15- Blocks
• I like to make sure that Trevor gets the chance to move around on the floor as he wants while also intently working on his fine motor skills. Yesterday, we worked on balance and larger motions with occupational therapy practice, so to change things up, we will build with blocks today. It involves bigger movements than ripping paper but gives him a chance to balance while knocking buildings over (enter picture of King Kong here...)
• 1:55-2:15- Bible
• In the goal to again change up the schedule some but also doing a more structured, sit-down activity, we are going to watch this kid-friendly video about Noah's Ark. Click here to see the video.
• Something that I learned from working with his different therapists is that children, although nonverbal, should be given plenty of opportunities to communicate-and not just with sign language! I also learned a very cool trick for testing comprehension that I never thought of before. After playing a song or showing a video, I will ask Trevor to select the correct picture based on the video. In this case, I will ask Trevor "which one looks like Noah?" and ask that he select the correct one from the 2 options below (remembering to limit his options, but that a more advanced child could benefit from having 4-5 options to choose from). 
• The picture I would show of Noah: 

Found on www.ebay.com

• The picture I would show as another option:

Found using www.bing.com

Preschool Unit 1, Day 1: The Color Red!

     Thanks to some research on Nothing But Monkey Business and the fact that I want my first classroom to follow a rainbow decor, I decided that it would be a perfect unit for Trevor and I. After all, he is working on identifying/sorting colors. It became a longer post than I thought it was going to be, so stay tuned and I'll attach links and lesson plans for the rest of the week ASAP! :)

   

Our Schedule Board
This is great for non-verbal students being able to
 follow along throughout the day and make choices!
Special thanks to the wonderful Dollar Tree for the
Schedule and lined cards!

• 9:00-10:00- Free Play Time
• 10:00-10:30- Circle Time
• Go over schedule for the day 
• Weather Bear (I will be posting on the next lesson plan showing how I use the Weather Bear!) Click here to find the free PDF I used from A View from the Pew.
• Day of the Week Song
• Number Practice (1-10)
• Alphabet Song
• 10:30-11:15- Outside Art and Play
• Finger Paint with red.
• Click here for coloring sheets, categorized by whatever colors you want to focus on! (Thanks to Twisty Noodle!)
• Free time outside.
• 11:15-Noon- Changing and Lunch
• Noon-12:45- Art Project
• Trevor will tear red construction paper and place on glue in rainbow outline.
• Click here to find rainbow outline. (Thanks to Projects for Preschoolers for free download!)
• 12:45-1:15- Occupational Therapy Practice
• 1:15-1:45- Sorting Colors



I used a die cut for the apples
and laminated them.
Obviously have many more to
cut out...

• Here, I will give him one of the apple cut outs and lay two baggies filled with apples separated by color on the table. He will be asked to place the apple in his hand in the appropriate stack. 
• Note: I limit his options (only 1-2) in activities like this one because that is how we are working to help him concentrate and increase in accuracy. This activity can easily be advanced for a more developed child, involving more color options and motor skills involved in opening and closing bags.
• 1:55-2:15- Music
• The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That- The Rainbow Song
• Then, I will ask Trevor to select which picture he thinks is the rainbow, based on the video and song we just watched. This is something that he works on in music therapy to encourage comprehension, even though he is primarily nonverbal.
• 2:15-3:00- Reading

• "What Makes A Rainbow?" By Betty Ann Schwartz and illustrated by Dona Turner.
• I like to give Trevor plenty of time at the beginning to look through the pictures and hold the book himself before I read the words and talk through the pages with him. This gives him time to really experience the book.
• 3:00-3:45- Number Practice
• Counting 1-10 using fingers.
• Pointing and counting aloud.
• Writing numbers by outlining with pointer finger.

Big Summer Blowout!

 Ok, maybe not like the big sale in Frozen, but I got inspired to share a quick and easy way to fix your hair in the morning that mimics what most women go to the salon to get. If you're like me, you see that some girls can blow dry their hair and it sets perfectly... or maybe you see tutorials about how to make your hair do different things with a blow dryer.... well this is not for girls who can do that!
     This is for girls like me, who have pretty naturally straight hair that, when blow dried, attempts to imitate a wave, but is truly volume-ized with poof... This is also a good trick for women who have flat hair. Using a 2 inch barrel curling iron near the roots can really boost them up for a lasting finish!

    This is a hairstyle that should be tried out on a Saturday afternoon or on a day you have an hour or so to get ready, just to be content with a pony tale. It took me a while to get my hair to cooperate, but now it's something I can do in 15 minutes maximum!
      The photo on the left is after my hair air dried after a shower (that way it's much less fluffy!) The one on the right was 30 minutes later (and that's hair AND makeup done! and ready to go!) I like that I can curl my hair while my coffee cools, and then drink it while I do my makeup, but that's just me!

1. I took the top layer of my hair and clipped it up. Then, since my hair is kind of think and long, I sectioned it into three sections. You should have a pretty good chunk so that the curler can grab it and hold it. Plus, you're going for big waves! Remember that! Sometimes when I focus on volume, I think: the curlier the better. But such is not true! Just trust me...

2. Clip the bottom inch or so and roll up. Get as close to your scalp as possible without burning yourself. You want to remember to clip enough that the hair doesn't slip out, but you also want to remember that if you clip too high, the bottom wave will start too high and you will have a crease in the wave. Depending on how much hair you have, you'll have to decide how long to hold it, but I'd go no more than 45 seconds. If you touch the outside layer of your hair and it's warm, you're good!

3. Unwrap your hair by unraveling the curling iron. Then, while you still have a loop or two still on the iron, lift up the clamp and let the hair fall. Give it a second to cool, then loosely grab the bottom curl and start wrapping it around your fingers. It's kind of tricky, but using a bobby pin or clip, let go of the curl so that its a nice like loop on the side of your head. It doesn't have to be perfect! Just try to keep the shape, even if you turn it flat to where the hair is pressed against your head, it's okay!

4. Repeat with the other sections on the bottom layer (I suggest that you have no more than 4 sections). Then, to help keep the top layer apart from the bottom layer, grab the top layer as you un-clip. I have found it helpful to work one section at a time on the top layer while pinning the rest back. Otherwise, I tend to grab hairs from pinned areas on the bottom and mess up that curl. With 3-4 sections on the top, continue grabbing a handful and curling it, pinning it as you finish each section.

5. I have longer, side-swept bangs, but I have found for volume sake, it's helpful to curl them straight back. If you have shorter bangs, you may choose to curl them by going under and curling forward, or giving them a bit of volume with a straightener. You know your hair best! If you have grown out your bangs... well, disregard number five.

 6. (Left photo). Pin back bangs if necessary. As you can see with mine, I have a lot more hair on one side than the other. That's how my hair is parted. If your part is in the middle, it will look more even, but regardless, you should curl and pin the hair on the side you want it on. It's messy to split up the hairs afterwards and could split up the curls!
7. (Right photo). Do makeup, leaving hair up. If some hairs fall out, it's okay! Unless a whole curl falls out and you re-pin it, try to leave it alone.

8. Give a LITTLE hairspray. I like to wait until my hair's falling a little until i spritz it, so I wait til after makeup. Don't bother with spraying it a lot while it's up, because that's not where you want it to stay!

9. Un-pin the curls carefully. I wanted to include this picture on the left to show you that the curls are like vintage pin-ups. That's okay! Leave them! The more you run your fingers through, the less they bounce in the end! So DON'T BRUSH! Just shake it a little, and when all the bobby pins are out, throw it over and really spray! Depending on your hair, you know how much you need, but I like to spray as I bounce the curls with my hand. Giving some volume is good. Raking your fingers through the curls is bad.



 10. Deal with bangs and carefully tame the mane! As you can see, my bangs went crazy, but with a bobby pin or two, they were back and I was ready to go!

The Start Of Something New

   

 No, I'm not publicizing Disney's High School Musical.... I just think that it's fitting for how my summer has been going so far. For college students, if seems as though there's two completely different lives going on. Moving back home, working more hours, taking summer classes, trying to tan... So much to do in the three months we get before we're expected to move our stuff back into the tiny dorm with someone... and dinner is a real change of pace for most of us... But it works. For me, this change of pace has just enough that I'm used to, but there's definitely still up in the air. I'm working with Trevor again, but this summer, it's more full time than last year. I've also been asked recently to tutor a 2nd grade girl, who's cute as a button, but scared to let it show and has troubles keeping up with her grade level. I've tutored before, but it was in a school setting, not in someone else's home! Plus, my little brother is graduating in a week from high school and all of our family members are staying in our house with us! AHH! So much going on!
     For me, this much change requires premeditated planning and a great organizer! So, I spent some time with my mom getting all of the big dates for the family events this summer. Then, I pulled out my lovely Disney calendar (I swear, I'm not trying to advertise for them!), my wonderful planner, and my 13 pocket organizer. I got the calendar and organizer from Wal-Mart (the organizer was in the clearance area for $3... my parents got me the calendar for Christmas, so not sure about the price.) and I got the 15 month planner for around $10 at Rite Aid. You see the different colored pens there, because color coding makes my life sooooo happy! Since my planner includes more details and is marked in constantly (especially during school), I don't color code it, I just use black ink and keep a highlighter in the spirals for special deadlines. However, since I only wrote the labels for the organizer once and I usually put all the dates on my calendar a month, if not more, in advance, I use a coloring system. Green is for Trevor and blue is for tutoring. Orange is for my blog stuff, red is for doctor's appointments, and black is for family events. I write enough to understand the deadline or what time I need to be where.
     Although I write just as much as I would with the same colored ink, I would definitely recommend this system for those of you out there who manage school, work, and family events. I am able to see quickly what part of town I need to be in and able to gauge my flexibility in rescheduling if something comes up (for example, I can call the doctor to change the date, but I can't leave Trevor home alone. I also know that I don't want to schedule something soon after a tutoring session because I like to chat afterwards with the girl and her mother about non-school-related things).
    Organization is one of the keys for success... and can definitely lower stress! It may take more time in the long run, but it's worth having everything in a way that makes sense to you and is efficient. If it doesn't save you time, don't hesitate to try something new! It's taken me years of trying different planners, filing systems, and color systems before I found one that ACTUALLY saves me time and stress, so I hope this inspires you to try out some new things. And, it doesn't have to be expensive! Check out clearance sections or go get your calendar in February when the selection may be low, but so is the price. Or, make free copies using templates online!
    Here's a few really cute and FREE ones that I found using Pinterest. Check them out and comment!
15 Free Printable Calendars, all in one easy place!
Printable Calendar from Remaking June!
2015 Free Printable Calendar from Iheartnaptime.net

Smarties, Snakes, and Sorting!

So... my 2nd year of college is ending. WOW! Where did all of the time go?? Finals week seems as long as the whole semester combined! But thankfully, I had some great friends who helped me de-stress...

This is my bestie Maria!

She is an aspiring Elementary school teacher as well, and she's got all the right requirements! For a program she's in called the PPN, she spent all semester in a single classroom working intensely with 25 students and their teacher. She collected data, taught lessons, and reformed behavior... needless to say, she was BUSY!

 But all of her hard work paid off as tears welled up in her eyes the day before her last trip to the class. So, as a goodbye to her kiddos and as encouragement for upcoming state testing, she made these CUTE smartie-pants!

 

Maria had seen the idea on Pinterest, so we went to work! We used blue envelopes for the "pants" by lining up the Smarties inside and bending the paper around it to form the crease we needed. Then, cutting at an angle, starting at the lower corner, we created the side of the first leg. Using a hot glue gun, we finished the first side and the placed the second Smartie in there to create the other crease. After cutting and hot gluing some more, we just used Elmer's glue and glitter to create the seams and pockets. And WAA LAA! 

Although this endeavor was pretty cheap (probably around $10), it did take both of us 3 hours to make all 26. However, this was a great 3 hour break from finals! (Visit Maria's blog at http://simplymaria.weebly.com​ to see some more of her fun and creative ideas!​)

After getting some FREE midnight pancakes that night at the BCM, I got up my last day on campus to go hiking. I LOVE the outdoors and the beauty of nature... but do NOT like bugs! I just have this problem where I flail around my arms to try to keep tiny flying things away from my face, and then I scream before covering as much of my eyes, ears, and nose as possible.... So although I agreed to go into the woods around the lake with my boyfriend for some peaceful cardio, I waited until the last possible minute to go.

As if I wasn't nervous enough about the postings and warnings about black bears and snakes for our hour long hike... in the first 5 minutes, we stopped to the sound of crinkling of leaves. Slowing slithering past us, only about a yard away was a snake that was coming out of a pile of leaves... and he just kept coming. We stood there waiting in silence for minutes until his tail finally came out and he moved a good distance away from us towards a tree. My boyfriend, Logan, got a picture of him to show to his friends... Sorry it's not that clear, but I was pushing him to run far away!

 And so, we continued on our trip, only to pass ANOTHER, smaller, but equally scary snake, have a funeral for a dead frog we poked at, and to run screaming from something that was about to push out of a snake hole under ground (we could even hear him slithering underground). One hour and a very sweaty t-shirt later, we made it out of the covered area and back onto campus. I had never been so grateful to be back at school...

And so... I packed up the last of my things, cleaned the empty room, and said goodbye to Logan. But summer brings another whole list of to-dos. With Trevor getting out of school soon, I'm working hard to develop lesson plans that will be both entertaining to his short attention span, but also educational.

I'm excited to say that our first week will be involving my favorite thing: RAINBOWS! Filled with finger paint, loading up Noah's ark, and dancing with ribbon streamers, I think it's going to be a great opportunity for me to decide what activities he likes best while introducing him to new experiences. Since I've got a few weeks until he gets out of school, I'm focusing my time now to work on his sorting activities. One of his goals is to be able to identify the correct object (whether that be his name, a letter, or a color) if given 2-3 options. 

I found this awesome download on teacherspayteachers that had the perfect labels for a color sorting activity (you can follow this link for a free download: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Mr-And-Mrs). 

I'm really excited about printing these out and laminating them to become the main labels, and then using a crayon dye-cut to cut out different colored construction paper and laminating it as the colors Trevor will sort. Cheaper than buying anything, and buttons or small objects scare me because with Trevor, everything goes in his mouth!

Maybe you've had an adventure or tried a sorting activity with a child?? Please leave comments with any ideas! Feedback is appreciated! Have a blessed day! :)

Creating a Schedule

Getting into the swing of things can be HARD! Especially for young children... especially for young children with disabilities!
This is Trevor (I've changed his name for privacy sake, but the following is true).

Isn't he just precious! (In this photo, I actually gave him play dough to play with, but he's obviously having more fun with the container the play dough came in... )

Anyway, Trevor has Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (or CdLS). It's quite a rare and confusing disease, so I looked up the definition. www.cdlsusa.org describes it as " a genetic disorder present from birth, but not always diagnosed at birth. It causes a range of physical, cognitive and medical challenges and affects both genders equally. CdLS does not discriminate—it’s seen in all races and ethnic backgrounds. The occurrence of CdLS is estimated to be 1 in 10,000 live births."

For Trevor, this means that although he is 5 years old, he is unable to speak (although he giggles all of the time), is not potty trained, struggles with fine motor activities, and is fed with a feeding tube. He also has a very weak immune system, so he gets very sick a lot... starting Kindergarten this year has definitely been a struggle for him.

But, school has also been very helpful, because although he was doing physical, speech, and music therapy, now he is able to interact with his peers and learn at a whole new level! I am his caretaker, and a close family friend. I am also an elementary education major, so of course I want to see him progress! But how can I keep him learning when he hardly seems to comprehend who I am?

My thinking is to use a schedule system, to keep not only me but Trevor on track. He has learned this year that pointing to pictures can communicate, but is not using this system consistently. So I have been taking pictures as he is doing activities, such as playing with blocks or reading (as seen below... but don't let him fool you, he's not always this studious.)

Trevor studying Cookie Monster.   

I want to take these pictures, laminate them, and attach velcro onto the backs so that I can put them in order on a large poster board in the kitchen, and he will be able to see what comes next in the schedule. As we complete each activity, I will mark a sticker on a schedule for the week. Hopefully this will ensure that we change up the activities each day while still making sure that he gets as many experiences as possible. I hope that this will also give him positive reinforcement for doing educational activities, not just the fun ones.

Sorry for the poor quality, maybe I can figure out a better way to post a document as a picture next time...

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Comment and let me know what has and hasn't worked for you, or maybe if you just have a strike of creative genius! I am open to new ideas for the success of Trevor, and the future students in my classroom. I am so excited to embark on this new adventure and will post soon to show you more! :) Have a blessed day!