Tuesday, March 9

Write On!

Just in the last few weeks, I've seen vast improvement in Samuel's ability to color within the lines -- he's gone from scribbling over whatever he's coloring to giving fairly even color coverage within the outline. It is a little discouraging to see the scribble alongside the picture using poor handwriting to describe the scene. However, I am seeing more of a "tripod" grasp of the pencil. Both the coloring and grasp are prerequisites for handwriting, so I am hoping we are on our way. Wooo hooo!

Friday, March 5

To Heed or Not to Heed?

I suppose the first line of defense for a youngest child is to scream like crazy; most assuredly,  I engaged in the same strategy. When you have older siblings who are bigger, stronger, and more wily, what else can you do?

Now as a mama, my question becomes: when do I intervene? Especially when that older child is a spectrum kid?

Does Samuel keep pestering his younger brother because he can (big brother), or is he pestering him because he lacks the social skills to know he's gone too far. Since the younger brother knows he can get my attention by hollering like crazy, is he sounding the alarm because he truly needs help, or is he calling in the best reinforcements to "his side"?

Bunches of parents complain when their kids don't get along, and most probably ask the same questions about intervention. But with Samuel, we have a lot more figuring to do ....

Tuesday, March 2

Keeping Up Keeping Up

I am really struggling to combine household work with home schooling. I more or less took fall off, letting many projects go. Now I'm in serious catch-up mode and feeling like I'm not doing as much with the schooling as I should. This is compounded by some of the occupational therapy work that needs to be integrated. Sigh.

Monday, March 1

Testing Part Two

I got a glimpse of the California Achievement Tests that Samuel will take and am much encouraged. The concepts tested seem to be well within his grasp. I've also learned that several federal laws provide for giving a special needs student "reasonable accommodation" to take the test.

Among other things, I've worried that his difficulty with fine motor skills would make it next to impossible for him to fill in those little ovals used to mark answers on standardized tests. It's reasonable to have an adult fill in the answer Samuel indicates.

We've been working on reading comprehension, and I've noticed that some days he's much more on task than others. One day, I can ask Samuel questions about what he reading (or what I'm reading to him) and he answers with ease. Other days he acts like he hasn't seen or heard a word -- but I'll later hear him talking about the story and he'll easily pick it up on another day.

While taking the tests within the given time should be OK for most subjects, it seems reasonable to delay the comprehension test if he's  "off" on that particular day. Giving extra time is a common accommodation for special needs students.