What Happens at Home....

New to the Life is Therapy series? Here's a quick blurb to tell you what it's about:

Sometimes we parents can get bogged down in the notion that the teaching of our children must be done by professionals. Parents of children with special needs are particularly vulnerable to this idea since children with special needs often have to learn and develop quite differently than children with typical needs. This series centers around the idea that learning can and does occur most effectively through everyday life experiences at home and out in the community--for children with both typical and special needs.

Several of my Life is Therapy posts so far have focused on the many ways children can learn when they are out and about away from home. But life at home is great therapy too!

This last weekend, I was still too worn out from being sick and trying to work and just make it through life thought that Jack needed a quiet weekend at home to wind down from all the hustle and bustle of the holidays and trying new things. It was a rainy weekend and we barely left the house.

It turned in to a very musical weekend. Jack loves all his musical instruments. However, this weekend, the triangle held some special fascination for him.

So we....
talked about and identified the shape triangle

did a little speech therapy [Jack would say triangle in his way. I would say triangle with an emphasis on the part that wasn't very clear when he said it. I did not say it in a correcting way or ask him to repeat me. He would then repeat me and we did this back and forth as long as he wanted. Each time he was clearer in his pronunciation.]

had a science lesson [Jack experimented with different ways of holding both the triangle and the stick (or whatever it is called) so that it would make the best sound]

worked on fine motor skills [Jack dropped the wand a few times and had to pick it up. Also he had to learn to hold the wand tightly so he would not drop it while playing.]

worked on hand eye coordination [Jack has poor depth perception because of the difference in vision in his eyes so he had to figure out just where the triangle was in relation to the wand that had to strike the triangle]

and of course, playing the triangle is definitely sensory therapy as you feel the vibration from the triangle and hear the sound.

We may have just spent a day at home but a few minutes of playing the triangle provided lots of therapy that will take Jack much farther than our front door. What happens at home doesn't stay at home and it's easy to fit in "therapeutic/educational" boosts into your daily play!


Recent Life is Therapy Posts can be found at:

Learning from Others
Get Out There
Going to the Movies

For more Life is Therapy Posts, check out the left side bar.
So what have you been playing?
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