Our Monday

Today was another busy day. This time it was my turn to head off to the doctors office. He is hoping to get me in this week for another ultrasound. With gestational diabetes the concern is having a big baby, as I have had some history with bigger babies (Joel was 10 pounds) they want to check the baby’s size. He is looking at inducing me on the 11th or 12th of Feb. unless the baby is really big and then he might move the date up. Usually, I would want to go naturally or as close to my due date as possible but this time having things scheduled would be a plus. Of course, baby could decide to come a little early and surprise us all.

When I got home it was time to hit the books. I knew that the ‘activities in a bag’ would be challenging for Joel, not executing them correctly but just getting them done. He was very excited about it and worked diligently at it for awhile, when he became tired I decided it would be better to leave the activity unfinished then to push him and have him have a negative experience. This is going to be the hardest thing for me knowing when to push and when to step back. Joel will shut down and curl up in a ball if pushed too hard, or if he finds the activity too challenging.

What made it hard was watching Hannah do the same task with ease. Joel’s hands struggled to do the same tasks. The good thing is he did it, maybe not all but he tried it. Tomorrow is a new day. Remember my word PATIENCE, I need to be patient with his progress.

After school was done for the day I let Joel erase everything on the dry erase board, and then colour on it and erase it again. Joel has no idea that this is a form of therapy. He has better control over his arms when they are pulled in tight to his body. He has weakness through the shoulders and upper arms so reaching out in front of himself is a challenge. I am always trying to find things for him to do where he has to reach out in front, he is such a smart guy he usually finds away to pull the activity to him but even moving closer to the board he still had to reach up. : D

I have been working on grammar with the bigger kids. I had picked these books up a few years back and decided to pull them out. I am going to spend the next few weeks reviewing nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. They are fun and even my biggest kid cracked a smile. I have downloaded some worksheets on the parts of speech from Home-School-Haven.

Joshua was having a good time reviewing the book on nouns. I am a lover of books and I think it is fantastic when you can find fun enjoyable books that reinforce what your teaching. I’d highly recommend them I think they may be out of print but the library should have them!