Links

A friend on facebook shared this link awhile back. I looked at it but thought since it was called baby half off it would be all baby stuff and not suitable for my nearly 12 year old. I am so thankful I decided to go ahead and get on their email list. I have gotten several items for VERY GOOD prices. Everything from sunglasses, Cold Seat(this is to keep your childs car seat cool in summer), babylegs, sunscrean, etc. Of course a lot of times it is baby stuff but I have gotten great deals on things I was in need of for my big kid also. This site just highlights and sells one type item each day for at least 50% off.
Baby Half Off

Also this is a great resource. It is on online magazine called Complex Child which is free. Lots of good articles on different issues pertainting to our differently abled children.
Complex Child

Experiencing Life Differently, Space (part 2)

Here are a few more of the things we did during Junior's unit on space.

Can't have a visit to space without seeing the planets so we made a model of the planets. There are so many different model kits available and I picked up the one we used at Tuesday Morning.
Junior painted a different planet(or 2) each day and during this time he would learn different things about the planet he was painting.
It took a couple weeks to complete the planet model and then we hung all the planets from his toy bar. We also had some star lights(found them at Ikea) hanging from the toy bar along with some rope lights.
The planet model came with a poster of the sun which we taped to the back of his toy bar. We then covered it all with a space blanket and Junior had his own personal planetarium.
Junior's teacher brought him a model rocket so he had a ball putting that together and then we added it to his planetarium.
Every astronaut has to eat while in space so we had to make some food for the flight. Thanks to one of our blog readers for sharing this idea. Junior can't eat by mouth but it was still a great hands on way to teach him. Put 1 Tablespoon of instant pudding mix and 1/4 cup of milk in a freezer ziplock bag. Gently press out the air as you seal the bag. Then squish it around to mix. If your child is going to eat it just cut off a corner of the bag.

Another thing we did during one of our space visits is to go to the Nasa website so Junior could view a space shuttle lift off. He was very impressed and wanted to watch it several times.
This is he and my niece viewing the lift off on her itouch.
After viewing the shuttle launch we decided to launch our own rocket indoors. First we printed off a rocket pattern then we tied a string to one of Junior's lift bars(the back of a chair on either side of the room would work as well) slid a drinking straw over it and then tied the other end to the lift bar on the opposite side of the room. I then inflated a balloon, twisted the open end and clipped a clothes pin on it. We taped the balloon to the drinking straw and the rocket pattern to the balloon. Here is Junior's rocket ready for takeoff.
This is a few seconds of video from his first rocket launch. Junior was being a serious guy but loved this and we launched his rocket over and over and over again.

Experiencing Life Differently, Space (part 1)

A few months ago Junior did a unit in school on space. It was a bit of a challenge to make all the activities revolve around the theme but he loved it and had a great time taking trips to the planets.
In his reading we learned words that had to do with space and/or flight. For example: Jet, wind, moon, sky, etc. Reading was the one area we also continued his regular curriculum.

Math was much easier to fit into our space theme. Nasa has a fantastic website with lots of great materials for students of all ages and abilities. We used their 3...2...1... Liftoff! Educators Guide for many activities. This one called The Right Order was one Junior really enjoyed. It teaches about the order in which a space shuttle launch takes place and then has pictures to color and sequence. This activity has a large rocket shape as well as several small rocket shapes. We used these for addition and subtraction by adding a number to each rocket shape.
We printed off their rocket sheets and compared their sizes, counted them, and placed them in the correct order. Of course during this we also talked about the rockets, what they were for, what they carry, their names, etc.
Junior has been working quite a bit on addition and subtraction so the all time biggest hit with him was Meteorite Math. I did a post about it earlier so click the picture to read all about it.

In our next post I will share more about our space activities

Now for all my wonderful blog friends I need some ideas. We have decided that Junior's next school unit will be farms(with a little old west thrown in, his teacher brought him some great stuff which we want to work into our lessons). I want to include learning about growing things but also farm animals(Junior loves, loves, loves all things with animals, as long as the cats stay away, he is terrified of cats).Now how to visit a farm at home is the big challenge. We will be starting this unit in July so I am starting to gather ideas and materials now. I would love any ideas.

Color Mixing

Awhile back Junior was learning about mixing colors and I was trying to figure out a craft that would help him understand the concept.
This butterfly is super simple and not fancy but it really helped him understand what we were learning about.
We used a piece of finger paint paper, paints, and some black construction paper for the antenna(Junior also decided his needed a smiley face).
Junior finger painted a yellow wing on one side of the paper and a red wing on the other. Then we mixed the two in the center for an orange body for the butterfly. You could do many different colors mixes and also add glitter or other decorations for a much fancier butterfly. Also cutting it out after it is finished would make it look more like a butterfly.


Junior recently did a unit on space in his school so over the next couple weeks we will be sharing some of the activities he did as he visited outer space right here in our living room.
I also want to share some of our favorite totally wheelchair accessible places to visit during the summer. Are their places in your area that are a favorite for your child with limited mobility? Email me if you have some favorite spots you would like to share about, I would love to have you do a guest post.

Communication

I thought I would share a little more about Junior's communication for those who might find something helpful in their own situation.
Recently we have been really working on consistently using his symbol cards regardless of the time it takes. I have also made some small boards and laminated symbols right on them for the things he uses most often. This helps me get to what he needs more quickly.
I am finding that the more consistently we use the symbols the more Junior wants to communicate with me. I am trying to give him choices about everything that I can. Some things have to happen and he doesn't get a choice about them but other things he can at least be a part of the choice process. Everything from what he wants to wear to which chair he will sit in.
It is time consuming and not a portable system but it is working for Junior and thats what counts.
Here are just a few of his many boards.
This is the board I grab when he is upset
If he chooses the "pain" symbol I then show him this board. Both boards need to be added to in the future. One of his activity boards(the symbol that says sensory is for sensory painting)
His favorite outdoor activities
Favorite quiet time activities

I wanted to touch on something that has bothered me for awhile now. If you read this blog or Junior's personal blog then you know we are working on getting him an ipad for communication and other educational needs. Though it was not commented on, on my blogs I have personally been contacted by a blog reader about the legitimacy of Junior's need for an ipad. The point was basically that it is just the next big thing so that is why we are wanting to get him one. In other words we want one because it is cool but not because it would really help him. Let me first say that Junior's teacher was able to trial one for a month so we have seen Junior in action with it. Also before you judge go try one, check out the communication programs available and then just for fun check out the difference in cost between the ipad and the programs available on it and other communication devices(which are solely communication devices and don't have all the other educational programs available). Go to this amazing blog and watch the ipad in use as a communication device.
As for the ipad being the next big thing, is that such a bad thing. Giving a child a way to communicate using something that is not "special", but is instead something their friends will recognize.
Please do some research before judging our motives, it is all about giving Junior the best possible chance to be the best he can be.