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. Let me tell you a story about child-led learning, and about The Very Hungry Caterpillar. About one month ago, my coworker asked me … Read more
I grew up with a lot of technology. We had a home computer since before I was born and we had access to it pretty much whenever, as long as an adult didn’t need it right at that moment. I used to play simple clicking games when I was very young, like 3 and 4, … Read more
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
Child’s favorite activity: searching for something hidden somewhere in the room My goal for child: that they would not feel completely threatened by the concept of writing/drawing/touching a pencil, but begin to see ways in which it could be meaningful My plan: hide a lot of things around the room, make a checklist for those … Read more
I offer a fine motor area as one of the stations in my therapy gym, in the form of a whiteboard with something casually drawn on it that the kids can interact with or not. I did not originally anticipate the massive popularity of simple mazes with the 4-6 year olds! I drew SO MANY … Read more
Ultra-washable paint: 50% washable tempera paint 50% dish soap or bubble bath or old shampoo that you have left over after switching brands That’s it. Mix those two together. It will create an extremely washable paint. Because of the soap, it is also very runny. This is a good activity for toddlers or young children … Read more
When I introduced watercolors to my children for the first time (back when they were 3 and 2), I thought that the concept of dipping the paintbrush in the paint, wetting the paint, cleaning the brush after each go, etc, would be way above their level. (Spoiler alert: I was correct.) So instead I just … Read more
I have this one kid I work with who is an utter delight to witness inventing things. It’s a talent, seriously. Whereas I often work with kids who don’t necessarily know how to direct play or how to play freely in complex ways, this kid has got it on lock. Given access to the stations … Read more
[Image description: A picture of a table that is low to the ground, only about 1 foot high. On top of it are Plus Plus blocks, separated into piles according to color. Taped to the table is a piece of paper that reads: “If you need an idea of what to make, maybe… -a flower … Read more
When I get a kid on my caseload who has been forced, from too early, to trace and write — for whom it is HARD to trace and write, who quickly learns to HATE tracing and writing and learns that they are BAD AT tracing and writing — It snowballs from there. Sometimes compounded by … Read more