It's Summer!!!!

It's summer and time to decompress!  Schedules get easier, the days get longer and it's time for some fun in the sun.  Kids need down time, too, so allow them to relax some of the time and enjoy their summer.  But, that doesn't mean plopping them in front of the tv, ipad or phone all day, every day.  Go to the pool, amusement park or playground.  Take them to visit friends and have some friends over to play.  Get your kids outside for some fresh air and exercise.  Remember, though, to have them read, or read to them.  Have special time in your day to enrich their minds so they are ready to go back to school on track.  It is a known fact that kids can loose knowledge over the summer if not properly stimulated.  So, allow your kids to enjoy their time off, but have them do some school work too so they are not behind in the fall.  Happy summer, and be safe!

Cute Chic

Try this cute chic for some spring time art.  Just cut out an oval (have the kids draw one and then cut it out, if they are capable) and cut it in 2 pieces using a zig zag pattern.  Cut out a chic shaped head from yellow paper.  Then put a hinge on the side and have the kids decorate as they like.

Good Read

I came upon this article about teaching young children.  Good read and would love to start discussion about people's opinions.  Please take the time to read and comment if you would like.
http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2011/03/why_preschool_shouldnt_be_like_school.html?wpsrc=sh_all_mob_fb_top
   Going into preschools, I see them progressively becoming more and more like kindergarten in what is expected from the children, so this article is relevant in today's world.

Back To School

It is back to school time and most parents are breathing a sigh of relief. Kids are anxious and excited; some may be scared of what is to come.  Back to school prep included getting supplies and backpacks, and new school clothes and shoes.  Kids are all ready to go- right?  But, let's not forget another important aspect of school prep- getting back into the school sleep routine.  We all know how we feel when we don't get enough sleep, or don't have a good night's sleep.  We tend to be tired, cranky and have difficulty functioning throughout the day.  Our caffeine consumption increases just to get us through the day.  We need to remember that poor, or lack of, sleep also affects our children and we should be working with our kids to ensure that they get the proper amount of sleep for maximal functioning.  It is our jobs as parents.  

So, how much sleep do our children need?  Research varies, but average amounts recommended are:
For children 3-5 years old- 11-13 hours (including a nap if they are still napping)
For children 5-12 years old- 10-11 hours per night.

It is imperative that children get their sleep in order to function at their highest level throughout the school day.  Lack of quality sleep, or lack of enough sleep, can lead to mood disturbances (we have all been on the receiving end of a temper tantrum from a tired child), behavioral problems, and cognitive problems.  All of these can affect school functioning.

So, what do you do to ensure that your child gets enough sleep?  Here are a few suggestions:
1- Maintain a bed time routine and schedule.  Be consistent with this schedule and bed time.  Most children are aware that they are tired, but don't want to go to bed at bedtime.  They will whine and beg for more time before having to go to bed.  Stand firm and the bedtime schedule will become easier.  Children learn when they are able to budge parents so if you are consistent, eventually your child will realize you mean business and bedtime will become easier.
2- Get their bedroom sleep-ready.  Turn down, or off, the lights.  Shut the blinds and decrease or eliminate noise.
3- Have your child start to calm down at least 45 minutes prior to bedtime.  Taking a child from running outside with friends, to bed, is going to prove to be an impossible task.  Calm your child before attempting bed time.
4- Stop all stimulating toys and activities at least 45 minutes prior to bedtime.  By stimulating I am referring to video games and some tv shows.  Older kids can lie in bed to read for a few minutes prior to falling asleep, if that helps.

Once a bedtime routine is set and your child is getting the sleep he/she needs, you should see a marked improvement in his/her moods, behaviors and in his/her school work.  Give it a try.

Summer home work

School is either out, or soon to be out, for kids.  Summer is a fun, relaxing time, meant to recharge everyone's batteries after the long, difficult school year.  It is important for kids, and adults, to take this time to have fun in the sun and socialize with friends and family.  Go to the pool or park; go on vacation to your favorite destination and just RELAX!  Have a great summer, everyone!
That said, we want to remind everyone that, although summer is supposed to be fun and relaxing, kids can loose almost 1/3 of their knowledge over summer break if not properly stimulated.  Older kids need to read every day.  Go to the library and let the kids pick out the books they want to read.  It does not matter if the book is a step below their reading level, as long as they enjoy it and read it.  Children who can not yet read may enjoy going to the library for story time (most offer these). Parents should read to younger children every day.  Preschoolers should be encouraged to practice their coloring and tracing, as well as cutting skills.  Don't be afraid to give a preschooler children's scissors to cut with (under direct supervision, of course).  Like I tell the parents of my preschool clients- I am not aware of any preschooler cutting off a finger with a pair of children's scissors.  Have the preschooler color with chalk on the driveway.  Allow him/her to help when you make dinner.  Older children can do the measuring when making dinner, or, if old enough, maybe they will make the family dinner (with supervision).  And, don't forget the math skills over the summer.

So, while summer is supposed to be a time of fun and relaxation, it is also important to spend a little time each day practicing what they learned this past year, so don't start next school year already behind.
Enjoy your summer!

Preschool expectations

Enough said!

PVC Pipe Crayon Adaptation

Super easy and super effective!  Create an adapted crayon holder for kids with a weak grasp with a PVC pipe T and some foam.  Or use it for utensils too!  The 1 inch diameter PVC pipe works well for young kids, increase the diameter for older kids or adults.  Foam pipe or wire insulation works well for the insert.  If the child can't quite maintain the grasp as he or she is trying to use it, simply put a velcro strip through the PVC pipe to go around the back of the child's hand.  It works wonders.  Get those kids doing some art!

Paint with foam

Here's a twist on painting- use foam.  Just mix finger paint with bath foam and you get foamy paint.  What great sensory play!  Not only does it feel different, it has a different smell.  So, give your kids some paper and foamy paint and let them go at it.

Have your kids write letters and numbers in the paint using their index finger.  Remember, the more senses you put into learning, the easier it is to learn. So, use this as a non-conventional way to teach letters and numbers.

Increase pencil grasp with this pen

A teacher I work with came to me the other day to get my opinion on this pen that she found at the local education store.  It's made to gain a more functional grasp in children and adults.  It has a flat edge where your idex finger rests and it positions nicely in your hand.  While not eliciting a true tripod grasp, it does allow for a functional fit for writing.  It is easy to use and glides smoothly over the paper.  Would I recommend it?  Yes, with clarification.  I have some children that, due to physical limitations, will never gain a true tripod grasp.  This may allow these children an alternative to a tripod grasp to help them function neatly and at a good pace during school   This tool may have break the "fisting" of pencils/crayons that some children have real difficulty breaking.  If these children consistently use this tool, they may just get out of the "fisting" habit.  And for adults with arthritis, or other such conditions that make it uncomfortable to achieve a tripod grasp, this tool could be the key to pain-free writing.

But, this tool is a pen and I do not recommend a pen for early writers.  First, pen can not be erased and we all know how many mistakes children make in the early stages.  Second, pens are more difficult to make a mark with since they must be held at a certain angle in order to create marks.    This tool may  help a child evolve his grasp into a tripod.  If only it was made as a pencil, or crayon.

Learning colors

I recently had a teacher ask me for suggestions to help a child learn his colors.  This child just wasn't grasping the idea of colors and, despite months of being taught his colors, could only name one.  The teacher was frustrated and wondered if I had any suggestions.  I assured her that she was not the first teacher to have this difficulty and told her that there are some children that have a particularly hard time with this concept.  Colors are difficult for some children to learn because color is an abstract idea. We point to the car and say it is blue.  The sky is blue,  his eyes are blue, and so on and so on.  A child is looking at the objects and thinking "how can they all be the same?"  So, be sure to teach colors using alike items.  Place 2 blocks in front of the child.  Say, "these are both blocks- one is blue (point to it) and one is red (point to it)".  Do this with a few items.  I recommend using 2 completely different colors- not red/orange. 
Once you have introduced the concept of colors, use the colors throughout your day.  One suggestion I gave the teacher was to put construction papers on the back of the chairs.  Give one child at a time a color to find and sit in that chair.  At first have the child with difficulty  choose between only 2 colors.  Practice one color at a time (so have him find red for a few days until he is consistently picking it).  Gradually increase the number of chairs/colors he picks from.
Another suggestion is to use gross motor to teach colors.  We have mentioned in many posts how the use of movement increases a child's ability to learn. So, glue colored papers on a wall and have the children throw balls or beanbags at a color.  Tape colored papers on the floor and have a child jump to a certain color. 
Remember to label items with their colors throughout your day.  Say, sit on the blue carpet; go to the red table; pick up the purple cup.  Saturate your day with colors and you should see the children grasping the idea in no time!

Good positioning for handwriting

It's the beginning of the school year and kids are starting the learning process.  Now is the time for teachers/ therapists to assess the children and their positioning at their desks/tables to ensure the best possible positioning for handwriting.  If the desk is too high, or too low, or if the child is not sitting well, handwriting suffers.  So, now is the time to assess your students' positioning to allow them to do the best work they can.  Here are some general rules for optimal positioning:

Desk height should be approximately 2 inches above the student's elbow level


   Feet should be flat on the floor when possible

1-      Smaller students may need a foot stool to stabilize their feet

2-      Smaller students may need higher chairs.

3-      Try to group children by size, if possible, when using multiple tables and make height of table appropriate for the group

The child should be positioned in a 90-90-90 position, or as close to this as possible.  A 90-90-90 position is one in which the hips, knees and ankles are in a 90* angle

The child should be positioning squarely in front of the desk and close enough for easy access.

The child should be sitting upright, not leaning one way or the other


Remember that children grow, so their positioning should be monitored throughout the year and adjusted as necessary.

Appropriate shoes for school

School has started, or is going to start in the next few days/weeks.  So, I am going to pass along some words from my Physical Therapist colleagues- Please have your child wear appropriate footwear to school!  Preschool and elementary children spend parts of every day on the playground or in a gym.  So, please put safe and functional foot wear on your child.  Appropriate foot wear includes sneakers (that fit- don't buy up a few sizes thinking to save money by wearing them longer- never works since kids ruin sneakers quickly) and tied, rubber-soled shoes.  While little girls in flip flops or dressy shoes may look cute, it is not safe for them to wear these types of shoes to school.  Dressy shoes are slippery and can cause your daughter to slip and fall, or to hang back and not run and play (This goes for boys and dressy shoes, as well).  The dangers of flip flops, for both boys and girls, are self-explanatory.  Although I think crocs are on the way out, there are still children wearing them to school  Some schools have rules banning these ill-fitting, non-supportive shoes and the PTs I work with agree that they are not good, supportive shoes for children to wear to school.  I feel that Crocs have there place- maybe to wear to swim practice or around the house, or on errands, but not at school.  If it's raining and you want your child to wear rain boots to school (or snow boots in winter), be sure to send in sneakers for him/her to change into. 
Part of your child's education is gross motor (in elementary and preschools) and you don't want to jeopardize this essential element of his education by allowing him/her to wear inappropriate footwear.  Gross motor allows that movement break that young children need  to fully function in the classroom.  Research has shown an increase in attention and brain function if gross motor breaks are worked into the school day.  So, allow your child to participate in the offered gross motor times so that he/she will function to the best of his/her ability in the classroom.

Motor Planning and Reading Fluency

Well, this was one interesting solution that a parent and I came up with for a struggling with reading fluency fifth-grader who happened to be an excellent baton twirler... tape a passage to read on the wall and have her do a repetitive, easy rhythmic pattern with her baton.  Try reading along to the cadence of the pattern.  It worked quite nicely for her.

Promising research articles have begun to show a correlation between the two.  Try encouraging your struggling reader to do it while walking on a treadmill, pushing himself back and forth on a scooter board, or rocking in a rocking chair.  Think out of the box on this one, but no bike riding, unless of course it's stationary!  Let us know any creative ways you find to help your struggling readers with movement!

Just how much sleep do children need?

So, after our last post, we've been asked, "just how much sleep do children need?"  Good question, and, while sleep needs do vary between individual children, there are suggested amounts of sleep recommended per age.
  For a child who is 3-6 years old, the recommended amount of sleep is 10-12 hours/day.  This amount can be broken up between night time sleep and naps (for those that still nap).
  For a child who is 7-12 years old, the recommended amount of sleep is 10-11 hours/day.  That means a bed time between 9-10.
  For a child who is 12-18 years old, the recommended amount of sleep is 8-9 hours/day.

In today's busy world, it gets difficult to ensure that your child gets the sleep he/she needs.  Between parents working,  sports schedules and homework, the nights get later and later.  But, it is essential that kids get the sleep they need for both their mental and physical well being.  To perform at their highest possible potential, kids need to recharge.  That means getting enough sleep.  So, it is the parents' job to do everything in their power to allow their children to get the rest that they need.

Back to school preparation

Ok, I know it seemed REALLY short and you are not quite ready for it to end, but, summer is almost over and the kids will soon be going back to school.  Usually by this time of summer I start to hear moms starting to say that it's time for the kids to get back to school because the kids are starting to drive their moms crazy. While summer is fun and unscheduled (for the most part), kids need structure and to know what to expect each day. About this time of the summer, siblings start to argue and fight more (too much together time) and parents get tired of entertaining the kids all day.  August seems to be the time for school prep.  Parents take their kids to the stores to shop for school supplies and clothes.  Kids get lists of all the things they will need for the year.  But, it's not just buying supplies that parents need to do to get their kids ready to go back to school- it's getting the kids themselves ready, too.

It's only a couple of weeks until the kids are back in school, and it is time to get their bodies adjusted again to the early to bed, early to rise routine of school.  Typically, parents allow their kids some slack in the bedtime and morning routines over the summer.  That's ok, but now it's time to get them ready to achieve in school.  Don't go cold turkey on the first day of school- start now to make  their bedtime earlier.  Wake your child up earlier in the morning, gradually getting close to the time he/she will need to get up for school.   It will take a couple of weeks to do this so start now.

Make an Ocean

Make an ocean!  Have your child paint a couple of pieces of paper and staple them together to make an ocean.  Then have your child draw fish and crabs and other ocean creatures.  Color or paint them, cut them out  and glue them on the water.  He/she will have his/her own ocean to hang up in his/her room.  Be creative and make all kinds of sea life.  You could look at ocean books to give your child some ideas.

Make books come to life

Kids love to hear stories, and most parents read books to their kids often.  So, have your books come to life.  Here, we read the story "Rainbow Fish" and then did a craft related to the book.  Older kids can cut out their fish and then cut out their fish "scales".  Younger kids can either rip the scales or simply glue them on the fish.  Find some really shiny scales (we used tin foil) to put on the fish.  If really ambitious, your child can make many rainbow fish to hang from his/her ceiling. 

Remember to work on school skills this summer

Yes, we know it is summer, and it is supposed to be time to rest and recharge.  It's a time of easy schedules and time for fun.  However, don't forget to continue working on those academic skills needed for school.  Remember to continue writing and reading.  For the younger children, continue to use those fine motor skills needed for school. Have your child do some cutting every day (or at least once a week).  Draw pictures with your child.  For a variation, take chalk outside to the driveway and draw.  Have the older child write a story about what they have been doing this summer.  They could write a letter to a far away relative.  Be creative so that your child wants to color or write.  Make a mud pile outside and have them use a stick to write, or draw, in it.  Sand is another great medium to write in.  Just be sure to devote a little of each day to some sort of academic/ fine motor activity so that your child does not lose any of his learned skills. 

Hand Dominance

A question that I am asked frequently by parents and teachers is when should kids be forced to choose a dominant hand for writing.  It seems as soon as children pick up their first crayon to scribble, parents begin to wonder whether he/she will be a righty or a lefty.  The older that child gets, the more anxious parents get about forcing a hand dominance.  I tell parents to let your child switch hands if that's what they do.  Some children pick up a crayon and only use one hand from the start.  Others switch hands up until kindergarten, or beyond.  My rule of thumb is this:  let them switch, as long as both are functional, until they either use one hand approximately 75% of the time, or until first grade, at which point it is time to pick (very rarely do children go this long).  Parents and teachers will begin to see a child that switches become much more accurate and sure with one hand over the other.  This will be the sign of which hand will be his/her dominant hand.  When the child begins to use one hand more than the other, and you can clearly see the difference in performance, you can start to reposition the crayon/pencil into that hand.  No worries if your child is 4 and you still don't see this.  Hand dominance has it's way of naturally occuring.

Teaching Young Left-Hand Writers

As the mother of a left-hand writer, I am aware of the difficulty faced when teaching a left-hand child to write, so I wanted to again address these difficulties and offer solutions.  First, lets compare the writing of left-handers and right-handers. Right-hand writers use their elbows as a pivot point to allow for smooth movement across the paper.  The fingers control the pencil while the forearm moves in an arc away from the center of the body.  As letters are written, they are visible to a right-hand writer since the hand moves away from the letters while moving across the paper.    Not so for the left-hand writer if the paper is positioned as a right-hand writer positions his/her paper.  The left-hand writer is not able to use the elbow as a pivot because the paper is slanted the wrong direction.  The entire forearm moves the pencil.  This makes finger coordination difficult if the paper is positioned as a right-hand writer.  The left-hand writer is unable to see the letters since the hand moves on top of them. 
This is especially difficult for the young learner who needs visual prompts to remember what he/she has already written.  Left-hand children who try to write like right-hand children tend to develop awkward grasps on their pencils to allow them to see the writing.  These grasps make smooth writing difficult.
It is very important to teach paper positioning and good grasps to children from the start.  Perhaps group left-hand children together to allow them to see other children position their paper and to allow them to imitate similar peers.  Teach the children to position the paper, pencil and hand to allow them to see the words.  Allow the child to be a part of finding the best position for him/her.  Then, ensure that the child uses a good grasp on his writing tools to prevent awkward grasps that may impact his/her writing as he/she ages.  It is important to teach good writing habits from the beginning, as it can be nearly impossible to change these habits down the road.