The kid I’m working with is a hardcore gestalt language processor*. I notice that they’re singing a song while the two of us work side by side on an art project. I can tell some of the lyrics are about characters from Mario, but many of the words are hard to understand. I think, “This … Read more
This post has an audio and video recorded version for those who prefer to learn by hearing rather than by reading. Scroll to the bottom for the video of me reading it. Recently, a parent asked this question in the comments of one of my posts: “Do you have any hints on how to get … Read more
I had a student recently who I wanted to give a fidget to. He already had a fidget for his classroom, but I had recently got a big bag of fidgets and found a particular one I thought he’d enjoy, that I would gift to him. I set up a little scavenger hunt for our … Read more
Someone recently told me, “Ugh, I know that the 3yos in my preschool class are supposed to be wiggly and playful and loud and silly. But I know that they’ll have higher expectations in the 4yos class next year. I’m always torn between letting them be themselves, and trying to prepare them for what will … Read more
Exerting power over a child just for the sake of exerting it is a threat to the child’s feelings of safety, and they know it. They’ve been living in this world for however many years, and they’ve learned it. They might not be able to say it in words, but they feel it innately. Children … Read more
I was going to take a selfie showing off my homemade bubble wands and it turns out that I’m incapable of blowing bubbles, keeping my eyes open, AND not looking mean or worried. Pipe cleaners/chenille sticks make great homemade bubble wands! I’ve found that they work best of all with any kind of bubble solution … Read more
This post is a transcript for this one, which has the video. Kelsie Hello, I’m Kelsie, I’m The Occuplaytional Therapist, and I’m here with Mr. The Occuplaytional Therapist. Josh You can call me Josh if you want. Kelsie You can, but he prefers that you call him Mr. The Occuplaytional Therapist. Josh Is that the … Read more
The long-awaited interview between myself and my husband! We cover topics including: -coming from differing parenting backgrounds -generational parenting styles, wanting to parent the same way your parents did or not -apologizing and repairing with your children -being a stay-at-home dad and its challenges -societal differences in gendered expectations of parents -non-traditional families -disagreeing with … Read more
This quote sums up everything I’ve ever tried to say about “behavior” and does it so perfectly succinctly in four sentences. What’s the best-case scenario? That instead of wanting to get revenge on children for the ways they act that inconvenience, bother, or annoy us, we start to soften. We start to see them empathetically. … Read more
“They’re actually not playing dangerously.” I tell this to my own body. My own nervous system. My own fight-or-flight response. Because of the way the noise feels. It pounds against my ears. It sends jolts down my skin. What I want to do is hide. What I want to do is cry. What I want … Read more