Sam Working Independently....One Step At A Time!

Yes, summer has finally reached Wisconsin however Sam's home program and schooling continue year round. While everyone else is celebrating the end of school, Sam and I celebrate moving some of our schooling outside. A change in environment can do wonders!! Sidewalk chalk can make math, a treasure hunt, and reading enjoyable again. Since Sam is with me 24/7 I often dream of Sam working independently on his school work. I dream of doing some housework on my own...quickly and without the constant repetition of each step we are working on. I think it's good to have dreams but with a child who is prone to stimming behavior and struggles with auditory processing...independent study will be a process in the making.

We have found some things Sam can do independently like build 100+ piece puzzles, build really cool structures with his trio block sets, play games on the Ipad, browse Ben's 4 wheeler and Bronco Builder magazines, play with play-doh, and before hip surgery play basketball and ride his bike. (STAY TUNED FOR WHAT I HOPE WILL BE AN EXCITING UPDATE ON SAM'S RETURN TO BIKING).

However, academically Sam usually requires one on one assistance. I think part of it is because he isn't as excited about his academics and he likes doing the easy thing...like not doing it. Even Ipad educational apps require one on one or he tends to just tap away until he gets the right answer...not really investing the time to think about it....unless of course Mom is sitting next to him requiring the thinking process to occur and you can imagine how popular that is.

Soooo I have to work with Sam's strengths to have any success. One of the best investments I have ever made for my homeschooling efforts is a triangular easel magnetic white board. I originally purchased it from one of my favorite stores The Learning Shop but I see it is manufactured by Copernicus Ed. It can be used on the table, floor, outside and in bed. Sam loves magnets and the white board is viewed by Sam more positively than paper or worksheets. I get my various magnets from The Learning Shop, I make some myself and I buy some from Ebay. To work on Sam's reading and comprehension I write sentences that he reads and then chooses the proper magnet indicated. This reading does not meet the resistance reading from a book does. Here is Sam working with me on this exercise.

Soooo...I decided to do a test run and see if he could do this activity independently. I am not a blogger or a parent that only shows the best of the best. I think we all learn from the process and I think it is important to show all aspects. I mean we all have to start somewhere. So here is Sam's first attempt on his own.

Not bad for a first attempt. You can see how things fall apart but I think we can expand on this.

Now another area that I had originally had Sam working on his own was writing with the TVTeacher.com videos. However in closer review I realized that Sam loves the videos but doesn't necessarily follow the instructions, she talks faster than Sam can process and write so I have begun to supervise the writing portions of the video. Here is what it looks like when he successfully listens to my auditory instructions. I do wish however that I could tell you he retains my instructions and can continue to write the letters on his own...but I haven't seen that yet.

Another area we have been working on is reinstating chores. Hmmmm....this was a challenge with the limited mobility due to hip surgery but here are some examples of what we came up with. Sam still loves to fold clothes with the Flip n Fold and he is still the best sock matcher in the greater Milwaukee area.

Sam also is the best of all 3 of my children in sorting and putting silverware away....

....while sitting of course!

I have also found him to be a wonderful glass putter away (yep that's a technical term)....while sitting of course!

My next idea was having him help me prepare the flower box on our deck. Either he's really intense about this or possibly he has found another way to stim. Shovel dirt, watch it drop, and repeat endlessly...or rake dirt one way and then back the other way and also repeat endlessly. Yep if it doesn't seem right it probably isn't and this chore thankfully...is a once a year chore. So I guess that stim won't be repeated for a while. Sorry Sam!

Another fun independent chore...playing ball with Buddy.

And they both look happy after this one!

Each day I'm encouraged by the steps Sam takes toward independence. Some days we seem to be moving ahead with gusto and then some days we just make it through and other days we take a few steps backward. But our progress is slow and steady and he and I work together through the good times and the bad. I never need to look very far for encouragement because if I stop to think for a just a moment about what Sam works through each and every day...the hip pain, the hearing issues, the processing issues, the fine and gross motor issues, the speech struggles and yet he continues on, he smiles, he laughs...he keeps on. What do I have to complain about??

The Kindness of Strangers!

A while back I told everyone about a geography project Danielle and I came up with for Sam while he recuperates and we asked that people send Sam a letter or card and tell him about yourself and where you live. We would then use a combination of a globe and Google Earth to find them and learn more about their area while having fun and teaching Sam great geography lessons. Sam also got a talking globe as a Christmas present from his Aunts which makes this project even more fun.

Soooo, I wasn't sure what to expect...

And then...

the letters and cards began to come in...

Port Washington, WI with letters from children and friends of Possibility Playground

Show Low, AZ with a beautiful magazine showing pictures of Arizona

a post card from New Orleans, LA

a Christmas card and note from Middleboro, MA

a letter from Ringgold, GA

a letter from Butler, MO

a card and brownies from Guam

a post card from Peoria, AZ

a Christmas card and letter from Glenview, IL

pictures and a letter from Clinton, TN

a Christmas card and letter from Lincolnshire, IL

a Christmas card and letter from Port Washington, WI

a card and letter from Dixon, MO

a card from St. Louis, MO

a card from Kildeer, IL

a letter from Houston, TX

a card and letter from Ingleside, IL

another card from Ingleside, IL

a card from Saukville, WI

a card from Fredonia, WI

a card and ornament from Orlando, FL

a postcard from New York City, NY

a card from Germantown, WI

a funny letter from 3 dogs in Lake Bluff, IL

a funny Christmas card and stickers from Port Washington, WI

a Christmas card and picture from Cedarburg, WI

a post card from Toronto, Canada

a Christmas card from the Mississippi Gulf Coast

a post card of Lambeau Field in Green Bay, WI

a card from Port Washington, WI

a card and gift from Mequon, WI

a letter from Ras Tanura, Saudia Arabia

a letter and pictures from Cambridge, WI

a letter from Mundelein, IL

a funny card from N.R.H. Texas

a letter, calendar and sticker book from New Zealand

a card from Port Washington, WI

a post card from the Philippines

a post card of Graceland from Orlando, FL

a letter from Mundelein, IL

a post card from New Orleans, LA

a Christmas card from Fort Lauderdale, FL

a letter from Saint Thomas, MO

a Christmas card from Rochelle, IL

a Christmas card and note from Vanndale, AR

a Christmas card and letter from Fort Worth, TX

a Christmas card and note from San Mateo, CA

...and they continue to come in.

WOW...Sam and I are both amazed and touched by this outpouring of kindness. Spending 6 to 8 weeks in a body brace is made so much easier when you can look forward to bringing in the mail each day and seeing all the cards and letters...and this doesn't include our family Christmas cards of which over 80+ cards came in.

I continue to be inspired by the notes and letters and the sheer kindness of people who are taking time to write to Sam, a boy they have never met and me, a woman who writes about her life and journey on a blog that was started on a whim. When I started this blog it was partly therapeutic and partly an attempt to test my writing skills to see if I could pursue a career in writing. I never anticipated the response I would have from family, friends and strangers from around the globe that would touch my heart and keep me going, writing and sharing my thoughts, feelings and journey on a regular basis. God bless all of you for inspiring me.

Sam loves the postcards and pictures and he is a wee bit addicted to the singing cards. I want to share how we work with each letter/card/postcard. As they come in each day I share the joy of opening and seeing where they are from with Sam. I read each card and note and then add them to our file. Each day we bring out a card/letter and we look and talk about the card, we look at the return address and find it through Google Earth, then we locate it again on our regular globe and apply a raised dot. We watch the videos on Brain Pop Jr. regarding reading maps and geography and work on the projects there. We also review some common globe terms: equator, north pole, south pole, compass, northern hemisphere, southern hemipshere, continent, country, state, city, capitol, ocean, river, lake, mountains, deserts, longitude and latitude. We look to see how far the letter has come by measuring with our globe tape (660 miles per inch) and we talk about if Sam has ever been there. I work with Sam to help him read the letter and then we look at the pictures included or find pictures of the area on Google Earth or Google. We also try to figure out the weather in the area and compare it to ours. We are just starting to send return notes to those that have provided a return address. Sam is just starting to learn how to type so I help him type at least a couple words on each reply and then Sam signs his name. Added to this each day are our math exercises, a little writing, word review and teaching new words, computer games, therapeutic exercises and the Ipad.

Now...honestly...if we get all that done, it's a really good day and Sam was feeling good and open to learning. There are some days when Sam's interest is not there and we move on to something else or we have an abbreviated school day. With Sam's current situation it is even harder to figure out where he is at and don't think for a minute that Sam wouldn't play up his situation. It's a balancing act to figure out what is a medical issue and what is Sam trying to work his way out of something. This week my goal has been to limit the TV unless he wants to watch Brain Pop videos and to get him re-engaged in puzzles and games, reading and talking...basically learning. We have had good days and bad due to the coughing issues he continues to have and his inability to tell me if he has pain. So much with Sam feels like a guessing game and I hope and pray I am guessing correctly.

My back has added a new dimension into this journey also. I have two ruptured discs in my lower back and I had hoped by this point in my life they had fused themselves since my back issues began when I was in my 20's. My attempting to move and re-position Sam which I equate to moving 106 lbs. of jello is slowly taking it's toll. My morning back ache doesn't always go away and the tinges of severe back pain have been more frequent. 3 weeks in...only 3 to 5 more to go. Argh!!!

Praying that the Lord decides that my back going out at this point would not be such a great idea or a new twist in our journey that needs to be taken. I guess I could use this as leverage to get Jeff to go to church...always looking at my options.

Each day it is fun to re-read a letter and learn about the area the person lives in...kinda makes me want to plan the next road trip. Ahhh...I should probably hold off on that for a while, you know...get Sam through this first...but it doesn't hurt to dream. I have enjoyed seeing and learning about parts of the world I may never get to, sorry Helen and Debra...I'm thinking Guam might be a stretch for a road trip and dreaming about those I may want to travel to some day. I am touched by the kind letters from people of every age, even a gentleman in his 80's sent Sam a card and note...it just makes you feel like there is still a lot of good people in this world.

If you haven't joined the effort, please send a card/letter or postcard to Sam Mayer at 679 Kara Road, Grafton WI 53024. If possible write or type in a larger font and tell Sam about yourself and where you live. He loves pictures and please include your return address.

Thank you all and I hope God blessed your Christmas and will continue to bless your families in the new year!!!!

All Play and No Work...I Don't Think So & The Amazing Ipad

If you read my last post you know Sam and I were chilling in Winneconne. With such a peaceful environment and no interruptions I just couldn't resist working on a few things with Sam. The first video shows a typical conversation between Sam and I. He's definitely talking more and getting better at staying on topic but active listening still eludes him.

You'll notice he begins the video with a beautiful 5 word sentence. However, we have worked with Sam on the "I want" sentence for a long time. It is a memorized block of information. As he goes further along you will see his spontaneous conversation drop to 1 to 3 words. He then attempts the word refrigerator which I don't get on the first try and ask him to repeat, he adds a few more syllables and points allowing me to figure out what he is saying. He then speaks something that we would normally think but not verbalize as he walks himself through getting the orange juice out of the refrigerator. This happens quite often with Sam as he replays the steps of what he needs to do out loud.

The bump on the head does not stop him from his mission. I was surprised he did not yell at the refrigerator and hit it for bumping him in the head, (yep, that happens alot). He will yell at and hit a chair, or a curb, or a wall that somehow jumps out in front of him and causes him some type of injury. I can remember when he tripped over Ben's shoe and went after the shoe and the owner with a vengeance. He did yell at the soda to stay, so I guess that made up for it.

Sam is not wearing his hearing aid in this sequence because it was hot and I was cleaning and changing the battery. He hears the siren and immediately decides it's a police car. He then switches the conversation to Daddy and pizza, Daddy at work, Daddy, McDonalds. Please understand Sam has an obsession with fast food restaurants that he likes to visit and have a bottle of water or diet soda, since he can't eat much at them. When you drive by he always tells you what restaurant he sees, usually can connect an appropriate food item and always tells you "Yummy". I am convinced that 90% of Sam's conversations center around food.

In Sam's next sentence he talks about his sister Danielle going to Erin's, no a movie. We then piece together that Danielle and Erin are going to a movie.

After this you will notice how Sam has to be stopped to listen, otherwise he will continue to talk at you. Do you want to even try to guess how often I hear the word "Mom" in a day, or how about in 5 minutes??

I ask Sam where he is which kind of throws him off, so he repeats what I say a common "Sam" reaction. He goes with house and then correctly tells me it's grandma's house so I introduce the word cottage to him. We then have a nice exchange about Aunt Wendy and the pool. He then trys to tell me that it's Wendy's turn to go on the slide but comes out with Yay Yay instead of Wendy, since that name isn't in his everyday vocabulary. Sam changes the conversation to a lifeguard which still keeps him in the pool conversation.

He then becomes distracted by a commercial, a common occurrence. Sam can sing 1-800-588-2300, E m p i r e, he will let you know when a Walmart commercial is on, he commonly sings the beginning songs to shows like ICarly, SpongeBob, 2 1/2 Men.

Sam also lives to knock on doors and have people tell him to "come in". Sam will say everyday that "It's good to be home". This started shortly after I began homeschooling him, I think it was God's way to provide daily encouragement for me. This is all pretty good for a child that was labelled non-verbal early on, made only noises and 1 speech sound and has a hearing impairment. We still have a long way to go but we are definitely making progress.

The next two videos show me working with Sam on various areas. Click on the links provided to view them, they just didn't seem to want to upload to blogger so we improvise. The first one begins with Sam's money identification skills. The white incline board you see is worth it's weight in gold to work with Sam. I bought it from the Learning Store. It is made by http://www.copernicused.com/, it is magnetic and a white board and Sam loves it. The magnets I am using are from my favorite magnet resource besides Ebay, http://www.dowlingmagnets.com/ they have everything magnetic.

Sam struggles a little with the next area which is phonics. Sam often confuses the letters d, b, p, q which as my older son informs me is all the same letter it just depends on which way you flip it. He will also say "was" when reading "saw", and yawns and repositions himself a lot when reading. These were all the same signs we saw with Ben when he was diagnosed Dyslexic or cross dominant. This could be yet another struggle Sam will face but in my life we only take it one day at a time so we are not going to dwell on that right now. Nah, I have enough to worry about already...right God???

The letter magnets are also from Dowling Magnets and the picture magnets are from the Learning Store. Sam then works on his reading and comprehension to match the appropriate magnet with each sentence.

From there we move on to the most amazing teaching tool I have purchased to date....the Ipad. Sam learned how to master the Ipad in about 5 minutes of use. Sam has fought me tooth and nail on math from Day 1. No way, no how, ain't doing it, not even trying until........the Kid Calc app. on the Ipad. Praise the Lord!!! You can decide what math facts to work on. Sam is shown doing addition and subtraction, numbers 1-5. I want to note that Sam was not at the top of his game while doing his math, but I think it is important to show Sam's good times and bad times. I don't try to catch the best of the best on video. I think it is important for people to see what it is really like to work with Sam. On this day he decided he liked the "bong" sound of the wrong answers. I knew what he was doing because I have worked with him on this app. I know he can do these but some times that "bong" sound is just calling his name. I love this app because it has built in intensity. It shows Sam a problem, he sees a manipulative to help him figure out and then he can choose from 4 answers. The problem is then reviewed and it reveals a portion of a picture. Sam continues on because he wants to see what the picture is and the next one and the next one. I have even caught him doing math without being asked...HALLELUJAH!!! Video link: http://s737.photobucket.com/albums/xx17/suelmayer/?action=view&current=2010-07-15091152.mp4

We use the free, yes that's right I said "F R E E" ABA flash cards to work on Sam's receptive language. He hears them and repeats them. There are a lot of flash card packs which include the following topics: zoo, eat, actions, alphabet, fruits & nuts, play, vehicles, vegetables, shapes, wear, instruments, sports, science, function and packs that ask questions about items. These packs show 3 items and then ask, "Find the item you would drive" when the child taps on the motorcycle, children cheer "YEAH, you did it" and it goes on to the next set. These cards are beautifully done, just the image, not a lot of background and words I haven't necessarily already covered with Sam. He's expanding his vocabulary.

Next you see him practicing his letter writing and spelling on iWriteWords. Love this app too! The sounds, the way it shows them how to make the letter and then the built in intensity of dropping the letters down the drain. Cool!

I had difficulty uploading videos to blogger so the two apps I just talked about got cut off. Here is the remainder of Sam working with his Ipad. Link for video: http://s737.photobucket.com/albums/xx17/suelmayer/?action=view&current=Sammy2trimmed.mp4

Sam then chooses Build a Word from Word World. This is a cute app that asks him to spell a word, push it together to form the item and then shake the Ipad for the next one.

Another favorite app is Keynote because I can take the PowerPoint presentations I made on my computer and load them on the Ipad making them fully portable. Can you feel the excitement??? This rocks. I don't have to re-enter everything again. I can also make new presentations on the go. Thank heavens, I got a degree in Marketing and Communications because so much of Sam's education relies on me to be creative, resourceful and innovative. Very much like a focus group, Sam lets me know when I've done a great presentation and when I need to head back to the drawing board and try again. I think he's a tougher critic than most!!

Sam works first on an Experience Book/stories about Sam and then works on the 300 list of the 1000 most commonly used words in the English language. In order to keep his attention we put photos of his family in between the words.

Sam's favorite games are Froggy Jump, DoodleJump, Labyrinth, Skee-ball, StuntCar, Dora, Diego Snow, Animatch and the ever favorite Monkey Divin.

Sam is so quick at Animatch that we had to go with another concentration game called Memory which uses both words and pictures. I love to use Doodle Buddy for quick scripting and written directions. No need to find the magnetic board or pen and worry about erasing. You can write on Doodle Buddy and erase with a shake of the Ipad. I also purchased Utalk teaching English. This app reviews many aspects of the English language and provides Sam with some great practice words, phrases, time and numbers. We tend to chuckle when we come across things like gent's bathroom instead of men's room and cheers. It has a lot of interactive games that Sam enjoys so it works for him. Another neat app to check out is Going Places which shows pictures and social stories for going to the hairdresser, mall, doctor, playground, grocery store and restaurant. It is FREE.

I will try to do another post showing Sam working on some of the other educational apps. and some new ones we are about to try.

Sam also likes to view all the photos we have loaded and he will practice his speech as he talks about them. Cool benefit I never even imagined. He can listen to music and watch movies from Netflix. We have loaded two of his favorite movies on the Ipad so he can view them without a Wifi connection. Sam loves "Like Mike" and "Wild Hogs". I can't even tell you how many DVD's I have purchased of those two that Sam has conveniently lost or wrecked. Now they are both on his Ipad for good. I just haven't shown him the video button but I'm sure he'll figure that out soon. Sam's Ipad has a protective case and because he likes it so much he takes very good care of it. In fact, we are going to be working on a behavioral issue since he seems a little territorial about the Ipad and he needs to share...especially with Mom.

I have my calendar on it, contacts and some of my own favorite games. The Ipad reduces Sam's stimming because he is more actively engaged, it removes the stimming in the car or when he is bored. It is a great incentive and motivator. Unlike some toys or electronics Sam really works on the Ipad apps, he doesn't jump from one to the next. He spends time on each one he goes on to... he is actively learning. The Ipad does not replace my teaching Sam one on one. We still need to generalize, show him, demonstrate in other ways so that his learning is not just keyed into the Ipad. I don't want him to know how to do math on an Ipad but not be able to count money, tell time, or realize that 2 apples plus 2 more apples is a total of 4 apples. On new apps or the math app I had to first sit with him, encourage, assist and let him see how to properly do the app. The cost of the Ipad seemed high to me but it is a computer with full computer capabilities along with wonderful portability. I...okay WE...LOVE THE IPAD!!!!