This is another one of my “big kid” room setups as I lean heavily this year into trying to continue to practice child-led play-based therapy, even with older children (9-15ish). It’s easier for me to figure out how to offer it for young kids, and it’s harder with the big kids, but it’s what I’m … Read more
We went to a new playground recently. Monkey bars are rarer here in the UK (at least in my rural area) than they were at playgrounds in the states. As far as I can tell, this might’ve been the first time in awhile that my son has encountered them, maybe the very first time he’s … Read more
My old typewriter has been an option in the room for a few weeks now, but writing feels like a threat to him. Even typing feels adult-dictated. Even typing on something fun. It always just sits there quietly, an option if he wants to. He ignores it one week, ignores it again the next. Another … Read more
I have an old typewriter in my room. I also have a large gym mat with a QWERTY keyboard created on it in tape. Both of these are for the same purpose: to provide play-based, child-led ways for children to learn the layout of a QWERTY keyboard. Typing is an incredible adaptation for young people … Read more
Some adults get alarmed when they hear children using language that sounds “violent” or involves themes of morality, such as “good guys” and “bad guys”. They may want to explain to the child that morality is more complicated than that — that people aren’t inherently “good” or “bad”, but that people make choices. Or they … Read more
Routines helped this lil guy make sense of an often nonsensical world around him. And especially on the first week of school, he needed some help making sense of everything. “Change diaper” was a routine he knew. Pull down pants, take diaper off, put new diaper on, pull up pants. That would have worked wonderfully … Read more
So last week I wrote about my mailbox project with four classes at the schools I work in — 4th grade, 3rd grade, 3rd grade, and 1st grade (or approximately age 9-10, 8-9, and 6-7). I’m going to break down what I wrote for each of the grades, and why. I am not a literacy … Read more
I shared this image, with the following caption, for the first time two years ago: Getting my therapy gym room ready for the new school year! I put up this sign this year… “In Action Room, we ALL respect ‘No’.” Grown-ups and kids. If a grown-up tells a child “No, we can’t do that,” then … Read more
Yesterday I finally finished writing 84 cards to all the children in four classes at one of the schools where I work. I’m expanding my mailbox program this year to give it a try. I got one fourth-grade, two third-grade, and one first-grade classes to do it with me! (For those who aren’t familiar with … Read more
“You can learn something new every day …if you listen”? I saw this in a kindergarten classroom and I thought about what it was saying. That doesn’t sound true to me. I mean, you can certainly learn something new every day, but I don’t know that “listening” necessarily has anything to do with it. You … Read more