Ms. Margaret shared some fun ways to practice letters with me so I thought I would share with you!
Fun ways to practice letters:
Use dry or cooked noodles
Use beans
Parent draws letter and child traces over it with Elmers glue. Pour sand or glitter over the glue. Once it’s dry, practice proper letter formations
Use sticks or Q tips for “line” letters
Use small blocks
Rip cotton balls apart (good strengthening) and glue on largely written letters
Put shaving cream on window, shower door/wall or table top and practice any shapes or letters
Cut out letters out of old magazines (if you still have any lying around!)
Do letter “searches” in books
Use stickers to place on letters that parent has written out. Pinching and sticking is good for the small muscles of the hand.
Patty Shukla can be found on YouTube. The students know many of her songs. This is a new one I found last tonight by Ms. Shukla. Thought it would be nice to practice washing our hands.
Here is a list of our favorite Patty Shukla songs
Phonics song/Alphabet song/Letter Sound/Signing for babies
Please check out Ms. Margaret’s OT activity at the end of the shape activity
Make your own shape matching game
* Students can work on naming shapes * Practice cutting out shapes *Identify the colors of the shapes * Spelling shape words
Cut out a bunch of different shapes and make a picture.
OT this Week by Ms Margaret
I am revisiting one activity I recommended a few weeks ago because of how beneficial this position is for improving sensory, body awareness, strength, vision, attention and engagement. If your child has trouble sustaining this position for ball play, allow them an alternate activity while lying on their belly (play-doh, coloring or even an educational game on the iPad if they won’t do anything else). Aim for 5 minutes and try to complete a couple times every day over the next week.
TUMMY THROW
To provide touch pressure to body from floor
To increase back and neck extension strength
To develop arm strength
To develop good eye tracking (roll ball)
SPRAY BOTTLE GAMES
Equipment
Trigger-handled spray bottle
Bucket of water for refilling bottles
Targets-playground cement, beach ball with shaving cream, bubbles.
Activity
Line up your children (if siblings want to participate) and give each child one spray bottle. The children use the spray bottle to draw letters, shapes and numbers on the cement. If you child has difficulty drawing something specific, just work on the act of spraying water on the sidewalk.
Place a beach ball on top of the bucket, 5 feet for the children. Draw a happy face, number, or letter on the ball with shaving cream, and have the children take turns squirting the water at the beach ball until the cream is washed off.
Have the children spray a stream of water to pop bubbles blown by the parent.
Bissell, Julie, M.A., OTR, J. Fisher, M.A., OTR , C. Owens, OTR, P. Polcyn, OTR. Sensory Motor Handbook. A Guide for Implementing and Modifying Activities in the Classroom. Therapy Skill Builders Copyright 1998, Sensory Integration International.
The day has finally arrived when parents of our preschoolers – 5th graders can pick up their student’s favorite hoodie, winter coat, 2 pairs of shoes, assortment of little toys, broken pencils, secret diaries, fresh as a daisy lunch boxes or any other wonderful items left in their desk or locker!
(Hope we all have at least a little sense of humor left at this point!)
Teachers are bagging up student items this week and the pick up day for parents will be Tuesday, June 2 anytime from 9 am – 1 pm. We will have tables set up by grade level on the sidewalk outside the office, next to the parking lot. (We’ll be in the vestibule if weather is bad.) There will also be a table with items from the lost & found.
Here are the ground rules:
A parent, guardian or family member over the age of 18 with a photo id must pick up the items.
If your student has medications that need to be picked up, a parent or guardian must be present to sign for them. Any meds not picked up Tuesday will be disposed of.
Anyone coming to pick up items must be wearing a mask.
Social distancing of 6 ft must be observed while waiting your turn.
No one will be allowed to enter the building
Returning school materials
This will also be the time for students to return items to the building. There will be bins at each grade level station where items should be placed. Students should return:
Media Center books
Classroom reading books
Reading bags
Any other items borrowed from teachers or the building (Except Chromebooks. We’ll be collecting those later.)
Yearbook Update
Lifetouch is partially on shut down, so our Yearbooks have not been shipped yet. We expect to receive them sometime in late summer and will be sure to get them to everyone who paid. Thanks for your patience!
We miss you, so we hope all families will take advantage of the opportunity to bring a bag load of student goodies home for the summer. As we do with lost & found items at the end of each school year, any items not picked up on June 2 will be donated or discarded.
If you know you are unable to come on June 2, please contact Mrs. Waddell before Tuesday to work out other arrangements. Email at waddelk@dearbornschools.org or leave a voicemail at 313-827-6004. If we hear from you, we’ll hold on to items until the arranged alternative pickup time.
Hope everyone had a great weekend celebrating and enjoying the beautiful weather!
Today we are going to work on site words and rhyming words
You can make little books using rhyming words! Did you know that magnetic letters stick to cookie sheets. You can spell works or just practice your ABC’S
Don’t forget to practice printing letters or your first and last name.
I have found some very fun and creative ways to work on identifying numbers, counting objects and learning shapes
All you need is sidewalk chalk and anything you can find outside to count. Pine cones, rocks, leaves, sticks, toysYour child can help you cut out the triangles for the cones. If you don’t have pom poms you can use circles or anything else you may have around the house. Time to be creative!Everyone loves fruit snacks why not count them out!This is a great idea and you get to eat the blueberries when you are done!Painting shapes on rocks! If you don’t have rocks you can draw shapes on the sidewalk! I posted this before but its an easy and fun activity.
Activities are to be completed with parent supervision at all times for safety.
Deep pressure; “These sensations often help to organize a child who is overly sensitive to touch or who exhibits hyperactivity or distractibility in situations where tactile input causes irritation to the child. I have listed some activity suggestions.
Wrap your child up in a blanket like a “taco.” You could also use a yoga mat or towel for this activity. Give them big squeezes once he or she is wrapped up. Make a game out of this using language like “Ready, Set, Go,” “Go, Go, Go, Stop,” “Roll, Roll, Roll, Squish” for example. This can also be a turn taking opportunity between siblings or with you as the parent. Use simple language like “My turn,” “Your turn”, “His turn.”
Squish between two pillows like a “hamburger.” You can give additionally deep pressure by putting on “toppings” like ketchup, mustard, cheese, pickle and so on.
Have your child lay on the floor and roll a large ball (exercise balls work best) over most of their body.
Deep pressure massage using lotion as tolerated
Give bear hugs often
Vestibular and Proprioceptive Activities; Some children enjoy excessive doses of movement, while others may be very sensitive to any type of body movements, including car rides, swings, tilting head back in the bathtub, so cautiously observe your child during any of these activities and discontinue if your child appears to not enjoy the stimulation.
Rocking in a rocking chair
Jumping on a trampoline
Climbing outdoors or indoors on old furniture or stairway (with supervision)
Backyard swing
Hikes in the hills
Rolling over an exercise ball with assistance (on belly or on back)
Academics
Hand over hand practice of shapes or lines
Drawing letters and numbers in sand or shaving cream
Puzzles
Cut a slit in a plastic food container and practice putting coins in
Stacking blocks (if you do not have blocks, use anything in your pantry)
