Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Preschool Land! :)

It's All About Context...

In my morning class is a sweet little guy with Autism, I. He is just the happiest, funniest kid with Autism I've ever met. Despite being mostly non-verbal (he has distinctive noises he makes & occasionally will parrot a word we use) he definitely communicates what he wants through eye contact & body language. Plus he's a snuggler, which I love!

Today was PJ Day at school as it was the last day before Christmas Holidays. We were having popcorn for snack before sitting down to watch a short Mickey Mouse movie and I was requesting away, as usual, using his PECS (small pictures he gives us to tell us what he wants).

He decided he was thirsty & reached for his Juice pec. The velcro was really sticky & he was having a tough time pulling it off his book when, clear as a bell, he muttered,

"Aww, sh*t!"

My EA & I immediately locked eyes. "Did he just say...?"

We almost fell off our chairs laughing. Yes, it was inappropriate. No, a three year old shouldn't know that word. But know what, we were so proud! He used it in the right context!

The rest of the day I bragged to other staff about what I said. Yeah, it was also a funny story, but he used a two word phrase, spontaneously & in the appropriate context!

I've never been so happy to hear someone swear before.

More Snippets...

There's a particularly sweet little girl in my morning class, C, whose family is going through a very rough time right now. As a result she's often emotional and displaying classic physical symptoms of anxiety. Yesterday, however, she seemed much more relaxed and happy than usual, so great to see! So we had a chance for some fun little convos:

C: You're so funny, Mrs. R.

Me: I'm funny? What do I do that is funny?

C: You say funny things.

Me: What funny things?

C: "Be careful on the stairs so you don't trip!"

*Apparently safety tips are now "funny"!*

We were sitting at the table colouring together when out of the blue she announced with a sigh, "I just don't understand Chinese boys."

I was completely baffled what she might mean as we do not have anyone of Chinese descent in our classroom (other ethnicities, yes).

I asked her to repeat what she said to make sure I heard it right. I did. So I probed further.

Me: What do you mean, honey? What don't you understand?

C: Well they just talk in funny other words. I just don't understand.

*lightbulb*

Me: Oh! It IS hard to understand other languages, isn't it?

c: *big sigh again* Yeah.

Have I mentioned I love this kid? ;)

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

So we set up our trees in my classes this week. There was a few days of panic where I thought one of my classes wouldn't get a tree this year (I've never had to have TWO Christmas trees for school before). Thankfully one of the secretaries at one school stepped up & lent us a tree for the month! :)

Then it was just a mad scramble to find enough unbreakable ornaments for two trees! ;)

But it all worked out and the trees look great. The kids had SO much fun decorating them (as they do every year). It always makes me giggle to see the trees 3/4 decorated since they can't reach the top. So sweet!

I always love seeing how (particularly) the students with Autism love the tree. Every year my Autistic students will lay under it, looking up at the lights, walk around the tree for ages, rearrange the ornaments, etc. I remember being little and spending hours just staring at the tree daydreaming.

P.S. I apologize that part of this post appears to be underlined. I can't seem to fix it! I'm not exactly a techie!

Tony Stark?

So this post isn't about my classroom kids, but one of my nephews instead. Still so cute I had to share it!

My hubby & I were babysitting our two nephews, 6 & 7 years old, on Saturday night. It was lots of fun. Besides the epic Nerf battle that broke out between the three of them, one hilarious thing happened.

I literally just walked through the door when the 6 year old comes running towards me,

"Auntie Manda! Auntie Manda! I want you to name your baby Tony Stark! Will you? Will you really name your baby Tony Stark in real life, Auntie Manda?"

*I should explain here my husband & I are expecting our miracle baby in May*

This went on all night. And I mean ALL night.

Every five minutes.

"But will you for real name your baby Tony Stark? Wouldn't that be cool, Auntie Manda if your baby grew up to be Iron Man? Are you going to name your baby Tony Stark? If I had a boy I would name him Tony Stark. Your baby could be Iron Man, Auntie Manda."

After about an hour & a half of this I sought to get him on a different track with, what if it's a girl baby?

No problem, he had the solution for that too, Padme (from Star Wars).

Well I guess that's settled then! ;)

More Snippets...

I was in the bathroom with the girls washing my hands.

D looked over at me & gave me an unusual compliment,

"You're a good hand washer."

Walking down the hallway to the classroom with a few little ones when N excitedly started pointing at the classroom door,

"I found it! I found it! I found Missa Awr! Dere it is!"

This one's not about me, but D insists on calling my one EA, Kirsten, Mister Kirsten! Makes me giggle every time.

Every little girl in my afternoon class is in love with one little boy, M. I don't blame them, he's super cute & SOO sweet. We did a scooter board relay race in gym today & we encourage them to cheer for their friends. Well when it was M's turn they ALL cheered, "Go M! Go M!" over & over again, regardless of what team they were on.

The best part though, is even when M's turn was over & two completely different students were racing they all continued to cheer for M!

Last Post Addition

I attempted to post these pics on my last post but it didn't work. So here they are now!

We played a game where we measured ocean animals with Goldfish crackers, them counted them & ate them! Yum!

And yes, we had a pool in the classroom. With water. On the carpet.

Trust me, it's better on carpet than lino! Wet lino = broken limbs!

The kids had a blast!

Beach Day!

It was ironic that our Beach Day in my afternoon class fell on the day after our first big blizzard of the year. But that just meant we all needed it that much more!

Where do I live?

I was chatting with one little girl while waiting for her foster mom to pick her up this morning. We were talking about how we both were tired & I wanted a nap.
L: Where's your bed? (looking around the room like she's expecting it to be behind my desk)
Me: At my house.
*pause*
L: Then....why, why, why (she has a stutter) are you a teacher?
Me: Because I come to school in the daytime & go home to my house at nighttime.
*blank stare*

It always makes me giggle how shocked they are to find out I don't live at school. :)

Fall Fun!

I love this activity! Take a screwdriver & punch some holes in a pumpkin. Then let kids makes silly faces with Mr. Potato Head pieces! Always a hit!

Another great pumpkin activity. Have kids guess what is inside a pumpkin. When each has guessed, open it up & let them feel/scoop around inside. So fun!

Yes, I was a fairy on Costume Day.

Fingerprint pumpkin painting. Great sensory & fine motor!

Why, You Ask?

Many people don't see the point of putting severely disabled children in a 'regular' classroom. I have one such student. She is a quadriplegic, has a seizure disorder and Cerebral Palsy. She can't speak in any way, she is just starting to eat baby food for the first time, she can can't control her head or arm movements or move her legs at all. She requires complete support & help for everything. So why put her in a classroom where she can do nothing?

Because she can do something amazing.

She can teach my kids that people who are different are people too. She can teach them compassion & empathy. She can teach them to be kind, accepting & loving of others, regardless of what they can or can't do.

Still not convinced she's a valuable addition to a classroom?

One of my kids asked her mom if she could bring treats to school for her friends for our party on Friday. Her mom said sure & they went shopping to buy some candy for her classmates. At this point my student (remember, she's not even 4 yet) remembered her friend M can't eat candy because she drinks from a bottle at snacktime. So she asked her mom if they could buy her a toy because she knew she could hold a toy. So they bought her a stuffed pumpkin.

Not ashamed to say I cried on Friday.

That is the value of inclusion.

Technologically Savvy!

So our visual timer broke the other day (well, actually it was broken BY someone, but that's another story). So this afternoon we were desperate for a visual timer so I grabbed my iphone because, there's an app for that!

It worked great and I was about to put my phone away when A (the little guy with the Buzz Lightyear obsession) spotted it.

He put his hand on my arm, looked me in the face and said (clear as day)

"Missa Awr, I pay Angy Birds?"

It was awesome.

A Few Pics

I know you're not supposed to have favourites,

but A stole my heart when he was in my class

last year & I was so excited to be his teacher

again this year! He's showing me his favourite

book here. Every day he tells me the same story,

"Missa Awr! Buzz...Woody...Buzz fall...crash!"

I love these blocks, they have coloured plastic in

the centre of them. It's so fun to watch the kids

discover what happens when you hold them

up to your eyes & look around! A few of them built

this beautiful wall.

Amatuer Paleontologists

Playing at the playground with my class yesterday and one of the little girls tripped over a tree root.

All three little girls from my class crowded around the root together and were staring at it quite intently. I wandered over to see what they were doing.

Girl 1: We found a dinosaur bone!

Me: Cool! I wonder what kind of dinosaur it was.

Girl 2: It was a black dinosaur.

Me: Oh.

Girl 2: Yeah. It killed itself.

Me: *pause* How do you know that?

Girl 2: It fell and dropped its bone and died here! That's why we found the bone.

Seems logical to me.

Sick as a Dog

So once again I'm sick. This is a pretty regular occurrence when you work in Early Ed.

By the afternoon today I sounded & felt totally awful. I could barely talk my nose was so stuffed up & my throat was so sore.

So I'm sitting at the craft table with 4 of my little ones and H looks at me with a funny expression on her face.

H: You sound all snuffawy (snuffly).

Me: I know I do. I have a cold.

H: A cold?! You shouldn't be here!

Amen, sister. Amen.

Don' Cha Wish Your Girlfriend...

I overheard two moms of my students chatting yesterday about how their boys were liking school so far, etc.

L's mom asked A's mom if he had any favourite friends yet that he talked about at home.

A's mom, paused for a moment and slowly answered, "No...but yesterday his grandma did ask him jokingly if he had a girlfriend at school yet. He got all red faced and shy and stared at his feet for a few seconds, then quietly said, 'Missa Awr'."

*Melt!*

More Convos with Preschoolers!

Overheard my EA & a little guy, D, talking while playing Lego today:

EA: You're great at building airplanes, D. Are you going to be an airplane builder when you grow up?

D (looks at her as if she were the dumbest person on the planet):

Uh, NO! I'm gonna be Spiderman!

I was playing a game with my kids at circle where I hold up photos of kids with different facial expressions & they guess how that kid is feeling, what made them feel that way, what makes them feel that way sometimes, etc.

Every card I held up I asked a little girl, J, "Do you ever feel ________ (sad, happy, tired, angry) sometimes?"

Every single time she shrugged her shoulders and shook her head no. Finally I guess she got tired of me asking cuz the next time I asked she said,

"I just don't get lots of feelings."

My Rules of Adulthood.

Fight Right

Do it now

First things first

Don't expect a gold star

Everyone is fighting their own battle

Identify the problem

Lighten up

Assume the best

If you can't say something nice...

Be still & know that I am God

You can only be you

Act the way you want to feel

Reach out

New Snippets from a New Year.

Little girl looking in the mirror while washing her hands:

"I sure look pretty today."

Little boy picks up a Spiderman toy from the floor:

"Dis is not apprwopwiate for kids. I'm putting dis away."

Me quickly trying to fix my hair in the mirror while helping the girls wash their hand. Little girl looks at me:

"Don't worry Teacher. Your hair looks pretty!"

Little girl had been screaming for about 20 mins at this point. Starts pulling at her throat & looks at me:

"Fix it! Fix it!"

My OT ran to get her a glass of water from the staff room (we were in the hallways at this point) & came back with a mug she offered to her. She pushes it away & announces:

"No coffee!"

Don't Smile Til Christmas.

If you are a teacher then at some point, someone has told you to do this. Don't smile til Christmas. The idea being that you need to show the kids "who's boss" from Sept through December, then you can lighten up a little cuz by then, they'll respect you.

I was told to do this in my APT by my mentor teacher, a man I respected and admired (at the time anyways. He later ruined that, but that's another story.)

Don't smile til Christmas. Pretty much every "old school" teacher adheres to this adage and they pass it on to fresh faced teaching graduates hoping to help them.

Don't smile til Christmas.

FORGET THAT!!

I hate this saying. I hate it with everything in me. The first time I heard it I hated it, but then I was too insecure in my profession to question it.

My passion for children tells me its wrong. My love for children tells me its wrong. My love for learning tells me its wrong. My knowledge of healthy attachment tells me its wrong. My knowledge of how kids learn best tells me its wrong.

Just to clarify, I 100% believe in firm discipline, consequences and taking responsibility for one's actions. My students have always and will always know what to expect when they misbehave. Quick, firm correction, often followed by a consequence (natural if safe, reasonable if natural consequences are not safe). Then an immediate wiping of the slate and back to a happy equilibrium with myself and the classroom community.

Don't smile til Christmas?? You need to smile the most you ever will in the first day of school. How else will these kids know that school is a great place to be?

Although, if you're a teacher who doesn't believe in smiling, then school probably isn't a great place to be, so never mind then.

Love. Play. Learn

All summer long I've been grappling with the whole Mission Statement assignment I was given months ago. I've tried wordy ones, I've tried getting it to fit into one sentence, I've tried making a mind map, a list of meaningful words, etc. I've tried to boil down my passionate (& sometimes opinionated) beliefs related to my job into one comprehensive statement & found it frustratingly impossible. I was starting to feel like a failure.
Yesterday my hubby & I made a mini-road trip which involved getting stuck on the highway at a near standstill for over 1/2 hr due to a minor accident. Sitting in the car, alternating chatting, reading & staring out the window at the prairie scenery, I thought a lot about my work, my job, my attitude and many other deep & philosophical things. ;)
Finally three words rang in my brain & I couldn't shake them. I argued & struggled with how simple they sounded. Not very profound, not impressive or groundbreaking. Not earth shattering, & yet at the same time, I couldn't shake that it was everything to me.
Love.
Play.
Learn.
Whenever I asked myself what the MOST IMPORTANT thing I wanted to accomplish in each of my students' lives was, I only came up with one answer. Love.
I want them to know they are loved unconditionally by someone (me & other staff), I want them to know they are worthy of love, I want them to love themselves & learn by example how to love others.
The next thing was I want them to play. I read a quote the other day I loved so much: "It's called Preschool; not bootcamp for Kindergarten." Children learn best through play. Play IS their work. Play is the best (& only if you ask me) option for teaching children under 6. Let them PLAY!
Since play is the way a child learns, learn comes "last" in my mission statement. Let me explain the order of those three words in another way.
A child cannot learn well if their basic needs are not met, those needs are: safety (emotional & physical) & physical necessities (food, heat, water, etc.). They also cannot learn well if the "teaching" is done in a way that is not developmentally appropriate.
Therefore, a child cannot learn without love & play.
So there you (& I) have it: LOVE. PLAY. LEARN.

Do you have a child that won't respect you?

Let me explain how this works to you since it seems to elude a vast majority of the general populace.

A child will not respect you unless you have a healthy, affectionate, trusting relationship.

Healthy attachment = respect & love.

*Blind obedience can sometimes come from fear but that's a whole different topic I'm not attacking here.*

Does your child regularly ignore/disrespect you? Then I'm willing to bet forming a healthy loving relationship with them is not #1 on your priority list. How much one-on-one time do you spend with your child just having fun each day? If the answer is less than 5-10 mins I'm sensing a problem here...

So let me reiterate this in case you missed it the first time:

HEALTHY ATTACHMENT = RESPECT & LOVE

That's it. Simple, yes, but the most important thing you can do for your child.

The end. Now go play with your kid already!

Is the church destroying the family?

Provocative statement I know, but an important one to discuss.

I just watched a documentary online called "Divided" about the overwhelming failure of age-segregated ministry in North American churches. I encourage you to take an hour of your time and watch it as well: http://www.dividedthemovie.com

What struck me the most, as an educator, was that the church has the same ultimate complaint/frustration that the secular education system has:

Why are we (school, church, teachers, pastors) expected to raise kids instead of their parents? How can we get parents to take responsibility for their family again?

Every teacher I have spoken to (myself included) will have one immediate answer to the question, What's the hardest part of your job?

The parents.

Hands down, the worst, hardest, most frustrating and challenging part of a teacher's job is the parents of their students.

How do I get them involved? How can I support them? How can I help them? How can I get them to see their child for the precious gift they are? On, and on.

Any and every teacher will tell you, a child will not improve substantially until the family gets on board. The family is the key.

Yes, this is a massive responsibility but it cannot be gotten away from. It is undeniably true that the family is the building block of society. The "health" of our communities, societies and the world as a whole is a direct mirror of the "health" of our families.

So why do we keep putting institutions in the place of the family?

I have many questions I plan to investigate further after watching this film:

What does the Bible say about age-segregated ministry and education?

What does the Bible say about educators/ministry workers role in supporting the family?

How can I do a better job of training, supporting and discipling the families I am in contact with?

Teaching & Learning

One of my students gave me a Chapters gift card as an end of the year gift. (I'm not embarrassed to say each year I hope I get a Chapters gift card!) I automatically went to the office supply section, they really have the funnest office supplies there. As I was wandering through the notebooks (a blank notebook gives me immeasurable joy for some reason) a book caught my eye. "The Happiness Project" it was called, "Or how I spent a year trying to sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read Aristotle and generally have more fun".

I picked it up for a closer look.

The author, Gretchen Rubin, spent a year of her life actively trying to play more, sleep more, eat better, have more fun and in general appreciate her life more. Sound familiar? Is there a single one of us that doesn't want those things?

But this post isn't a book review (it is pretty great so far though). This post is about a quote I read in it, "People teach what they need to learn."

Now, as a teacher this statement grabbed me instantly and hasn't let go. I teach not just as my profession, but as anyone who knows me will tell you, a teacher is WHO I AM, it defines me in so many ways. So this was a statement definitely worth mulling over closely.

What am I teaching that I need to learn?

Yes I have a barely jr. high grasp of math, but that's not what I'm talking about. :)

I have always been very aware of the irony of the fact that I (basically) teach parents how to better parent their special needs children, and yet I can't have children. Does this mean I need to learn to parent, perhaps, but still not the conclusion I've come to.

My program's entire focus is Learn Through Play. I teach kids how to play, I teach parents how to play, I teach educational professionals how to play, yet I don't play away from work. Ironic? Oh yeah.

At home I'm exhausted, I'm grouchy and often bitter. I'm frustrated and unmotivated to do things around the house or have fun with my hubby.

I teach play because I need to learn to play. I need to learn to lighten up, be silly, let go and have fun (and not just when I'm around 4 yr olds).

At school I make funny voices, I build with Lego, I play dress up, I run around, I hulahoop, I draw & colour, I PLAY!

Why don't I do these things at home? Just because I don't have children at home doesn't mean I can't play just the same.

I teach play because I need to learn to play.

What are you teaching that you need to learn?

Maybe I AM a Workaholic...

So here I am, three days into summer vacation and I'm already bored out of my tree! I really think there is something to my husband's frequent allegations that I don't actually know how to relax. I slept for the first day and a half (wonderful) and since then have been running errands, teaching Sunday School, scrapbooking & cardmaking, organizing, cleaning, baking and starting school work for next year.

I think I need help.

Anyone wanna volunteer to give me lessons on to freaking chill out?

Last Day :(

So today was the last day with students this year. Such mixed feelings! I'm in desperate need of a long rest and dangerously close to burning out. Ok, fine, I burnt out a few weeks ago and have barely been keeping it together. Anyways...

While part of me was immensely relieved to have a few weeks of rest ahead of me, the other part of me was/is so sad at saying goodbye to so many of my kids. Because of the way my job is looking next year I'm pretty much guaranteed to NOT have any but 2 of my kids again next year, which means a lot of goodbyes. Two in particular were very hard, mostly my little J.

He's going to a completely different school system next year which means it really IS goodbye. He gave me a wonderful last-day gift though; he briefly played catch with another student! I was so shocked, never have I even seen him play with a ball, never mind with another student.

I was super impressed with myself for keeping it together all day, no tears, no choking up, just a few big hugs and high-fives for the kiddos.

Then this evening I was telling someone about the first time J spoke earlier this year and it hit me. It's over. I said goodbye to him today. Cue the tears.

Mission

So all of Early Ed at my school has been asked to come up with a Mission Statement to post outside their classroom when we get back to school in the fall. Several (ok, dozens) of the staff saw this as "more work", "waste of time", and on, and on.
I however saw it as a challenge, a big one.
How can I boil down everything I think and feel about my kids, my families, my approach to education all into one sentence? How can I express exactly what fires me and drives me and informs every breath I take when I'm in the classroom (or out of it for that matter! Ask my hubby, I never stop thinking about school!).
I've since been jotting down words, phrases and thoughts that might make it into my statement but this is turning out to be way more difficult than I originally thought. I really wish I could put some scripture in it (but I could probably get sued for that one). Cuz whenever I think about teaching I think about this verse: “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." Matt 18:6.
I take that verse very much to heart.
So I'm going to keep working on this Mission Statement and if I ever get it hammered out to my satisfaction (or at least close to my stupid level of perfectionism) I'll post it here.

Reminiscing...

Today was the last round of meetings with parents for the school year to review IPPs, assessments, transitions for next year, etc.

Almost every parent commented on how fast the year has gone by, how they can't believe school is over in just two weeks and so on.

It didn't really hit me until I was meeting with J's mom.

We had a great talk about how all the astonishing progress he's made since he started in my class in Sept of '09. We were talking about how best to transition him to his new school next year and how I could help his new school when she looked at me and said, "I can't believe he'll be going to a new school. I've been sitting across a table from you for 2 years!"

That's when it hit me. Two years of my life I've invested in this little guy and his family. Two years I've been an integral part of their lives (and vice versa) and in two weeks it'll be all over. It's very possible that I may not see J again (unless I run into them in the community). I can hardly believe it.

I got a little choked up when I thought about it. I can't believe it.

Encouraging Words

My oldest niece has recently been overcoming her fear of water. Her grad one class has started swimming lessons and she absolutely loves it (provided she doesn't have to get her face wet of course). She's been begging my sister to take her and her brother and sisters swimming altogether. Considering my sister just gave birth to her 4th child, this won't be happening any time soon.
I told her that I would take her and her 4 yr old sister swimming over summer holidays. She was placated by this idea and excitedly ran over to her sister. "Auntie's going to take us swimming! You're going to sink like a ROCK!"

I almost fell over I was laughing so hard.

A Special Visit

I got a wonderful surprise at lunch today: a visit from a former student & his family! It was so great! He was by far one of my favs from last year, just the cutest, sweetest little guy. He was also a complete enigma. His family and the team at school had been trying to find a diagnosis for him since he began the program at 2 1/2 yrs old, he's in Kindergarten now. We never did get a diagnosis by the time he headed off to Kindergarten last year, so we were all really worried about him. It was amazing to hear how well he's doing now! His mom said he's been asking about myself & my EAs from last year all the time. He begged her to bring him for a visit to Mrs.R's room! *melt*

It means so much to all of us at the school to get any kind of update once our kids leave the program. We always wonder & worry about how they're doing after we send them out into the "real" world of "big kid" school.

Man, I needed that today!

Sidebar:

He was telling me how old he is now & we had the following hilarious convo.

J: I'm 6 now. How old are you Mrs.R?

Me: I'm a lot older than that, J.

J: You 67?

Me: Ummm, no. Not quite.

J: You 99?

Me: *laughing*

J: You 101?

Me: No, J, I'm not 101. I think I'd be in the hospital if I were 101!

J: Nooo! You 14?

Me: I like that one best. Let's go with that one!

The Reptile Guy

Just a few pics of the Jeff, The Reptile Guy who came to our classroom with just a few of his "pets". He brought half a dozen snakes, several lizards and one giant Saharan tortoise named Crush. He was personal fav! Apparently in the summer he lets Crush wander the yard "mowing" the grass and eating all the dandelions. He's 45 pounds and not even full grown yet! So cool. The kids had such a great time petting all the animals & learning about them. Not a single one of them was even scared of the huge boa constrictor!

Rapunzel

My gorgeous little niece has beautiful blonde, wavy hair down to her butt. She also eerily resembles Disney's new Rapunzel character.

Today as we were leaving church she looked up at me & said, "Auntie, I think I have the longest hair in the whole world."

Me: "You do? Are you going to be Rapunzel when you grow up?"

Her: "Yeah. I'm going to carry my long golden hair around in a basket. With a kitty. It will purr."

LOVE!

Fingerpainting? That's for wussies!

Forget fingerpainting, man. We did TOE-painting! It was a RIDICULOUS mess & I will plan much better next time to protect the floor. However, it was AWESOME & the kids loved it!

What do you make?

Recently I watched a clip of a teacher who spoke at a convention. At a fancy dinner party a high-paid lawyer at the table started a rant about teachers & how no one can expect much from students that are taught by teachers when the only reason to become a teacher is because you can't do anything worth any money. He then turned to the teacher & condescendingly asked, "You're a teacher. Be honest, what do you make?"

The following rant is my response to those who would ask me a similar question.

What do you make?:

I make a 6 yr old child speak for the first time when his parents & speech therapists have given up years ago

I make actually stopping when I say “stop” feel like winning an Olympic gold medal

I make parents who are at the end of their rope see their child in a new light & fall in love with them all over again

I make children who have known nothing but abuse & neglect feel safe, unconditionally loved & free of fear

I make “normal” kids not just accept their special needs peers but become fast friends & recognize & appreciate what each person brings to the classroom

I make children who have been given up on by therapists, psychiatrists & the foster care system happy, healthy, responsible kidsI make families stronger

I make children happier.

I make a difference every day.

That's what I make.

Boxes are Fun!

Boxes are fun!

I am continuously amazed anew when we bring empty boxes into the classroom & let the kids go nuts with them.

So much fun!

*I could not get over how adorable this pic was!*

What I Want...

At church:

- every child should be welcomed as enthusiastically & warmly as every other child

-no family should be turned away or be made to feel unwanted

-every family should be supported, helped & loved to the ultimate ability of the church

-the church should seek out training, advice & help when encountering a challenge

-every child should be met at their physical, emotional, developmental & cognitive level

I know this is probably just a dream, but it's what I want & I'm going to keep trying to get there.

5...4...3...2...1!

Last week one of the most monumental things to happen in my teaching career occurred on a boring, typical afternoon.

J & I were sitting at a table doing one of his favourite activities. Hand over hand we write numbers on a sheet of paper, then he points at them while I count out loud. Once in awhile I pause before saying the number, he then shifts his gaze to make eye contact with me & I say the number. If I pause too long he sometimes puts his hand on my face & opens my mouth. So cute.

That day I felt like pushing things a bit so I was pausing a lot more than usual & for longer intervals. J (who recently turned 6) apparently got sick of waiting for me to say the numbers, so he said them instead!!!

This is a 6 yr old boy who has never in his life spoken in any way that could be construed as purposeful communication. He makes odd noises, hums, etc. but that's it.

He was pointing to the numbers starting at 10 counting down, when he got to 5 I stopped saying the numbers & he went "Fie...fo...wee...oo...un." as he pointed at each number. Then he kept doing it! He counted from 1 to 10 next. And kept going and going. I sat beside him with my hand over my mouth & tears running down my face. I waved my one EA over cuz I barely trusted myself to speak & she crouched behind him & listened to it too (so I wasn't hallucinating).

I seriously was crying & shaking for the rest of the afternoon. When I told his mom after school she was in complete shock. At first she didn't believe me (I don't blame her), then she was so excited.

Sadly, he hasn't done it again since, but we're still trying! The important thing is this is a monumental breakthrough. I have to remind myself that when he first signed "more" it took weeks & weeks of repetition before he would do it regularly, so I'm not giving up!

He WILL speak!! :D

*sigh*

Some days, I tell ya, some days I wonder if we've even made a dent!

Today is St. Patrick's Day so I sat down with the kids to paint shamrocks.

But first, to give them the context!

We sat at the table & I announced:

"Today is a very special day! Does anyone know what special day it is today?"

*pause*

One little guy pipes up, "Tree!"

*sigh*

Middle Names

I was chatting with a former fav student & his parents the other day. He's quite obsessed right now with knowing everyone's full name, how to spell it & all of your relatives & friends' names too. For a few minutes he bombarded me with:

"What's your name? What's your first name? What's your middle name? How you spell it? What's your mom name? What's your dad name? What's your huband name? What's your sister name?" on and on it went.

So I started asking him back,

"How do you spell your name?"

He spelt it.

"What's your middle name?"

"Johnathon."

"No, that's your brother's name? What's your middle name?" I asked again.

His dad piped in, "What does daddy call you when you don't listen?"

Expecting, I assume him to say his full name.

He thought for a moment, then declared, "Snotty bear!"

His mom laughed so hard she almost fell over.

Awesome.

Who Says You Can't Get Kids to Clean?

Who would have thought it, but we actually had ALL my kids (despite needs or diagnosis) happily engaged for many minutes in cleaning today. Yes, cleaning. Washing toys to be precise!

Now before you go & call Alberta Ed or Child Services to report child labour concerns, hear me out. ;)

Our wonderful OT brought in an activity to work on fine motor skills that, I will admit, did not think would be all that much of a hit. Being of the mind I'll try almost anything once, we gave it a shot though. What a success!

What do you need to have your children happily washing toys? Your very own mini-car wash!

Take several metal toy cars/trains/trucks, wet them, coat them in sand & let them partially dry. Place a bucket of soapy water, toothbrushes & small pieces of sponges on the table. (To contain the mess give each child a cookie sheet or plastic tray to work on).

Voila! Instant car-wash fun! And what fun they had! Every single kid loved it, my older kids must have washed those cars over & over again for at least 15 minutes.

Now if you'll excuse me I'm gonna finish picking sand out from under my fingernails...

Ummm, wow.

So my little guy, J, does this one activity that's really cute. You put a puppet on your hand & using a visual support he requests whether he wants the puppet to tickle him, hug him or give him a "kiss". When he gives it a kiss he just presses his mouth against it briefly over & over again. So cute! *This ties in, I promise*

So today he came over to & gestured that he wanted me to pick him up. Now the only time he ever wants to be picked up is to reach something he can't have, so we never do it. Only today I was standing in the middle of the room with nothing up high near me. After trying to redirect him several times & him persisting in wanting "up" I was curious enough to do it (he's not easy to pick up now that's he's 6!). So I picked him up & asked, "What do you want now?"

He tucked his head under my chin & cuddled me for a few seconds. Holy. #$%^.

Then he started sniffing my neck. I'm assuming he liked my perfume. I hope. :)

Then he started kissing my shoulder just like he does the puppet.

I just stood there in shock. I looked over at my EA & asked, "Is he doing what I think he is?"

"Well it looks like he's giving you kisses like the puppet," then half-joking, "But he could be about to bite you too!"

I was so shocked & excited-but it did occur to me that he might still bite me- I just stood still to see what he would do.

Next he stared into my face & started randomly vocalizing like he does, so I did what I often do which is imitate him. Once I started making the sounds he was making he put his hands on my face & stared at my mouth. I stopped vocalizing & he started making my mouth open & close with his hands.

This was by far the coolest interaction we've ever had. It was so amazing, I was-and still am- completely stunned. I still don't know what to think.

More Snippets...

More interesting quotes from my classroom:

Little guy walks up to me today, "Do you want to smell my tummy?"

While making "eggs" out of playdough for our toy chickens a little girls yelps, "They're hatching!"

"What's inside the eggs?" I asked.

"Fish!"

*pause* "Well that's going to be one surprised chicken." I responded.

Again while making eggs out of playdough a little boy picks up one of his, "He's hatching! The first superhero chicken ever is being hatched!"

Greetings from...

I have a little guy recently officially diagnosed with ASD. This was no big surprise since I had him last year too and we pretty much all saw it. He is such a funny little guy! He's got curls to die for, looooooves to sing & doesn't so much walk anywhere as he does hop.

Well he now has a new cute factor; his personalized greetings for each person at school.

He has separate greetings for each of my EAs (J & C), his bus driver, myself & our Speech Therapist (D).

J: "Blech!" as he he sticks out his tongue emphatically.

C: "Stop!" as he puts up his hand.

D: "Errrr!" as he squeezes himself in a big hug.

Myself: "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!"

Bus Driver: "Ah choo!" as he makes a very convincing fake sneeze.

I'm not joking. This is how he greets each of these people every day, possibly multiple times a day if they leave & come back again. Now to you this probably seems extremely odd, perhaps even downright weird. But knowing him as I do I know why he greets each person that way & it actually makes perfect sense!

J: Is always telling him to take toys/clothes/books out his mouth by telling him "Out of mouth. Blech, yucky."

C: Every day reads his favourite book with him that tells us the way to be a Super Friend. "Stop & think, what would a Super Friend do?"

D: He loves getting big bear hugs from D each time he sees him.

Bus Driver: He loves the way she says "Bless You!" every time he sneezes.

Myself: All last year I worked with him on greeting people by looking at them & saying "Hi".

I guess what I'm trying to say is, context and relationship is EVERYTHING! Never, ever forget that. Outside of a caring relationship his behaviour would seem completely unusual, worrisome and honestly, probably annoying. But in the context of understanding his personality, medical diagnosis, like/dislikes, interests, etc. it makes perfect, awesome sense.