Posts
Friday, April 30, 2010
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Teaching safety skills
The best, most effective way of teaching safety skills is practice with lots and lots of praise. It may seem silly, but it is a reliable technique. Overdo the praise.
"Good job staying on the sidewalk with me, thank you for holding my hand. When we cross a street, we stop and ________ _________ ________. Good job! That is right, we look both ways. Hey, you are holding my hand again crossing the street, thank you so much. I love it when you stay on the sidewalk. I feel so much safer that way."
If your child has developmental delays, it may be important to also teach and remind the child what the actual words mean.
What is the sidewalk? Make a song, draw it on pictures, highlight it with chalk. This pays off later, when you and the child are both very clear on the expectations. It also gives you a chance to work on vocabulary building and generalization while making you aware of which part your child might be getting tripped up on.
Another bonus, the child has many successful experiences while you build up his/her prerequiste skills. For instance, a child who is misunderstanding a key word (ex: sidewalk) will be not fulling responding successfully to your expectations. If you dont break the skills down, neither one of you may figure out why the task is so frustrating.
Activities to practice at home, at school or in the community:
http://http//lessonplancentral.com/lessons/Health/Safety/index.htm
http://http//www.teachervision.fen.com/school-safety-month/teacher-resources/6661.html
http://http//www.fema.gov/kids/teacher.htm
Safety helmet information can be printed in Spanish and French:
http://http//www.bhsi.org/spanish.htm
To see local events, check out my Examiner.com site!
http://www.examiner.com/x-34685-Fort-Collins-Special-Education-Examiner
"Good job staying on the sidewalk with me, thank you for holding my hand. When we cross a street, we stop and ________ _________ ________. Good job! That is right, we look both ways. Hey, you are holding my hand again crossing the street, thank you so much. I love it when you stay on the sidewalk. I feel so much safer that way."
If your child has developmental delays, it may be important to also teach and remind the child what the actual words mean.
What is the sidewalk? Make a song, draw it on pictures, highlight it with chalk. This pays off later, when you and the child are both very clear on the expectations. It also gives you a chance to work on vocabulary building and generalization while making you aware of which part your child might be getting tripped up on.
Another bonus, the child has many successful experiences while you build up his/her prerequiste skills. For instance, a child who is misunderstanding a key word (ex: sidewalk) will be not fulling responding successfully to your expectations. If you dont break the skills down, neither one of you may figure out why the task is so frustrating.
Activities to practice at home, at school or in the community:
http://http//lessonplancentral.com/lessons/Health/Safety/index.htm
http://http//www.teachervision.fen.com/school-safety-month/teacher-resources/6661.html
http://http//www.fema.gov/kids/teacher.htm
Safety helmet information can be printed in Spanish and French:
http://http//www.bhsi.org/spanish.htm
To see local events, check out my Examiner.com site!
http://www.examiner.com/x-34685-Fort-Collins-Special-Education-Examiner
Monday, April 26, 2010
Fort Collins Rock Art and Gardens
As the days grow with sunshine, so do our desires to be outside. This is true no matter your age, if you love to walk or if you push wheels, it is time to feel the sun and smell the air. It is time to watch the green pop, or perhaps measure it, smell it, feel it, take photographs of it, and in some cases, taste it.
The time is ripe to spring into learning in the garden. Using arts-based learning blended with garden-based learning, rock painting lends itself to creativity, action-based learning, brain engagement, vocabulary building, experiential learning and multiple science lessons. All of this can be found in a rock, paint and anything growing.
Rock painting projects are also easily modified to accommodate any level of participation and offers a variety of potential further learnings. Rock painting can be expanded into cultural, holiday and social skills lessons also.
Do you remember the joy of simply painting rocks into little "rock pets"? Some children build entire "rock communities". The creativity a child puts into developing the entire character is astounding. A rock gets a face, a name, sometimes language and field trips, certainly a home.
Another rock painting activity that adds a creative flair to the earth science education is Rock Labels. Simply find a rock that has somewhat of a flat side to it. Decorate with paint as you would like. Then, with a paint pen, write the name of something growing in your yard, (Basil, Thyme, Daffodil). Place the decorated rock as a label for the plant.
Enjoy!
More Ideas (and pictures) for Garden Rock Painting activities:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/frugalfun/ht/Painted_Rocks.htm
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/103860025FcHacU
http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2009/06/summer-crafts-for-kids-rock-painting.html
To really get in the spirit, there are events to connect your rock painting activities to the local community.
http://www.fcgov.com/horticulture/newsletter.php?cmd=newsletter&id=576
http://www.examiner.com/x-6818-Fort-Collins-Green-Living-Examiner~y2010m4d5-Artists-and-collectors-Rethink-reuse-and-reinvent-yourself-at-the-ReVisions-art-show
http://www.rmcnargs.org/DesktopDefault.aspx
http://www.therockgardensite.com/
To read about the legend behind Whale Rock, see the following blog. It will also tell you how to make a visit to it.
http://lostfortcollins.com/2009/04/22/polly-brinkhoff-the-woman-behind-whale-rock/
The time is ripe to spring into learning in the garden. Using arts-based learning blended with garden-based learning, rock painting lends itself to creativity, action-based learning, brain engagement, vocabulary building, experiential learning and multiple science lessons. All of this can be found in a rock, paint and anything growing.
Rock painting projects are also easily modified to accommodate any level of participation and offers a variety of potential further learnings. Rock painting can be expanded into cultural, holiday and social skills lessons also.
Do you remember the joy of simply painting rocks into little "rock pets"? Some children build entire "rock communities". The creativity a child puts into developing the entire character is astounding. A rock gets a face, a name, sometimes language and field trips, certainly a home.
Another rock painting activity that adds a creative flair to the earth science education is Rock Labels. Simply find a rock that has somewhat of a flat side to it. Decorate with paint as you would like. Then, with a paint pen, write the name of something growing in your yard, (Basil, Thyme, Daffodil). Place the decorated rock as a label for the plant.
Enjoy!
More Ideas (and pictures) for Garden Rock Painting activities:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/frugalfun/ht/Painted_Rocks.htm
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/album/103860025FcHacU
http://www.creativejewishmom.com/2009/06/summer-crafts-for-kids-rock-painting.html
To really get in the spirit, there are events to connect your rock painting activities to the local community.
http://www.fcgov.com/horticulture/newsletter.php?cmd=newsletter&id=576
http://www.examiner.com/x-6818-Fort-Collins-Green-Living-Examiner~y2010m4d5-Artists-and-collectors-Rethink-reuse-and-reinvent-yourself-at-the-ReVisions-art-show
http://www.rmcnargs.org/DesktopDefault.aspx
http://www.therockgardensite.com/
To read about the legend behind Whale Rock, see the following blog. It will also tell you how to make a visit to it.
http://lostfortcollins.com/2009/04/22/polly-brinkhoff-the-woman-behind-whale-rock/
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