Test Day

Helana had a reading test today.  I wrote down all of her words to see how many she can read.  I based it on what she can read without hesitation or sounding it out.  She can read 16 out of the 29 I quizzed her on.  A few she could read after she thought about it for a second, such as "are", "me", "Settles" and "my".  But she did hesitate, so I don't count it.  The words she had the most trouble with were, "you" and "come".  Understandable, I guess.

Some days she shows such progress, others, I wonder if she'll ever make it.  My biggest concern is her writing.  There are very few letters she can write on demand.  It's not from lack of trying.  And she cannot write any numbers but 1.  We do this everyday, but for some reason, she has a block against it.  I am going to speak about this with her OT next week. 

She does show a lot of promise where addition is concerned.  She not only has the interest, but she also seems to be comprehending the concept.  That's encouraging.

I've begun incorporating more sensory activities into Helana's day.  Since she is a sensory seeker, I try and find activities that will help her feel balanced so she doesn't feel the need to poke and smack on her baby brother.  Today, we made homemade play-dough. Just in case you, the reader, do not know how to make play-dough, I'll tell you how we did it.

It is very simple, actually.  Equal parts flour and salt.  Add enough water to reach desired play-doughy consistency.  We also added a tiny bit of red food coloring for color.

The resitance in stirring is a good form of sensory input for Helana.







So is the kneading, pounding, smashing and rolling of the play-dough.

We also used the dough to form letters, in lieu of writing.