Up, Down, & All Around

Nine months ago when Sheridan started at his current school he couldn't navigate the play structure independently. He couldn't climb up or down the ladders/structure with the exception of climbing up and down the stairs using both hands for balance, and walking across the bridge. 

Now he's jumping, handling a lot of movement on the bridge, and climbing all over the place independently. This video shows Sheridan working with his Physical Therapist who sees him at school once a week for an hour each visit - the first 30 minutes is just the two of them, the second half is when the other children (most of them 1-2 years older than Sheridan) are out playing, too. His skill level can vary depending on the amount of activity around him, so this combined session is perfect for helping him generalize his skills. 

I love how the other children like to get involved... little PTs in the making!

Not only are these important skills for his gross motor development, they help to increase his safety at school and, let's face it, that boy would live outside if we let him. Now he has increased confidence and ability to do what he wants to do. So proud of him!

The Right Motivation

I'm slammed with work and deadlines and blah, blah, blah... so I'm taking a mental health break and posting a quick video.

You'll remember a while back when Sheridan showed off how he counts to 10. He's been counting to 20 for some time now, and just a few weeks ago he came home one day from school and out of the blue he's counting to 30. Now, it's an emerging skill these 21-30... so about half the time he skips around a bit. Turns out, his teacher said he must have picked up this skill from some of the older children in class who are working on more advanced math skills because she hasn't worked with Sheridan on this.

Yet another reason to love that Sheridan is fully included in a multi-age classroom.

Sheridan is super motivated lately by reading, letters (phonics, more specifically), and counting. So, I use that to my advantage to motivate him to complete tasks. Here, I use his love of All-Things-Counting to motivate some self-help skills. Most importantly, it's stinkin' cute!