Back -To-School Tips for Your Grandchild with Disabilities.

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Jerri

 

Raising grandchildren with disabilities creates a special kind of challenge.  There are many resources out there to lend a helping hand.  One that I found helpful when Emily was growing up (Our youngest daughter has Down syndrome).  is the Parent Training and Information Centers.  There is at least one in each state.  These training and information centers help parents, grandparents, and guardians understand educational rights for children with disabilities.   To find the “PTI” in your state go to http://www.parentcenternetwork.org/parentcenterlisting.html .   Colorado’s Parent Center, Peak Parent Center, was invaluable to us.  Below, you will find an article from Peak’s Fall 2001 newsletter SPEAKout, that provides 7 important back-to-school tips that are applicable for grandparents as well.

7 Back-To-School Tips: Start the Year Off Right

Well, it’s that time again…stores are stocked with back-to-school items, kids are complaining they are bored, and parents are starting to think about the new school year. It is a busy and exciting time to consider possibilities. Here are seven tried and true tips that will help insure the coming school year will be filled with success!

1. Build Alliances

The old saying, “There is strength in numbers,” is still true today. If challenges arise during the school year, it is helpful to know you have others you can turn to. Now is the time to nurture alliances with teachers, support staff, parents, students and others who impact you and your child. Call or send a thank you note to those who provided “bright spots” during the previous year. Mention how you appreciated their involvement and how you look forward to their future support. Contact others you would like to include among your supporters in the coming year and let them know the important impact they can have in your lives. Be sure to offer your support to others in return.

2. Review Your Child’s IEP

Many times Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are written in the spring. Your child’s new teacher this fall may have no idea which learning goals are priorities for the coming year. Before school starts, read through the IEP to refresh your own memory. Talk over the learning goals with your child, especially those old enough to advocate for themselves. Then make sure each classroom teacher working with your child has a copy and understands the IEP’s intent. An IEP’s strength lies in the parents’ and teachers’ understanding of it and active participation in implementing it.

3. Create a “What Works” Portfolio

All parents should consider creating a “What Works” portfolio. It can be used to smooth your child’s transition each new school year. The portfolio should contain positive descriptions of your child. Include a profile describing your child’s strengths, interests, favorite activities, and learning priorities for the year. Include tips about physical assistance or communication with your child if these are needs. Describe behavioral supports that work or ways to structure situations to avoid behavior challenges. Make a list of tasks, roles, and responsibilities for a teacher’s assistant, if applicable. Describe classroom arrangements that help support your child (i.e., seating and positioning needs, noise-level tolerance, climate comfort levels, etc.). Include samples of your child’s work and describe any accommodations or modifications that were made to the original assignment. Share the names of students who are friends with your child and give tips on facilitating connections with other students. Finally, include a photo or brief video showing your child participating with other students and being supported successfully in the classroom. Check out PEAK’s article, “Creating a What Works Portfolio” here.

4. Request a Meeting

Call your child’s teacher and request a meeting to share insights and information about your child. This is your chance to begin developing a positive relationship with your child’s teacher and to establish yourself as an active team member in your child’s education. This is a great time to review your child’s IEP and “What Works” portfolio. Most teachers will appreciate your involvement and the knowledge you can share about how your child learns best. Consider this initial meeting as a “marketing’ opportunity for your child. End the meeting with plans for on-going communication with the teacher. Will you make contact daily, weekly, or only “as needed?” Will you communicate using notes, telephone, email, or in person? Establishing this routine reinforces your involvement.
5. Visit the Classroom

Making a presentation to your child’s classmates can be a great way to begin developing positive connections between other students and your child. Be sure to present your child as the “star” of the presentation. Consider starting with a story that is fun, educational, and sparks discussion. There are many books that speak about differences or disability in a positive way. Some examples for elementary-age children include A Bad Case of Stripes, Different Just Like Me, and Special People, Special Ways. Explain how your family views your child’s disability and what makes your child unique. Answer their questions honestly and address any fears. (Can he play with me? Will I hurt her? How do I talk to him? etc.) Kids are natural helpers so let them know what they can do to be a friend and support to your child. Finally, remind them that we are all more alike than different.

6. Stay Involved

After laying the groundwork, you can help ensure your child’s success by being involved at school throughout the year. Consider joining the PTA or Building Accountability Committee, volunteering in the classroom, helping in the lunchroom or library, or assisting with special events. The more active you are, the more impact you can have on your child’s school, the people who work there, and the education your child is receiving.

7. Continue Your Own Education

Because you are your child’s most important ally, it is essential that you develop the skills to help your child create a rich and meaningful life. Maybe you would like to learn more about your child’s developmental and educational needs, how to write and implement a good IEP, or how to advocate for your child. PEAK Parent Center offers a variety of resources to assist parents to increase their knowledge and skills: consider attending our annual Conference on Inclusive Education.  www.peakparent.org - Back-To-School Special 2011 SPEAKout Newsletter

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6 Fun Grandkid Friendly Science Activity Recipes

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Jerri

Admit it.  Unless you have OCD, everyone likes to get a little dirty now and then!  I find that the messier the activity is, the more fun the grandgirls have, the longer they play it, and the more they ask to do it again!.   I always make sure that it’s a good mental health day for me and then we go for it. 

Here are some of the girls favorite messy things to do.  These are great activities to use talk about textures, how things feel, etc. 

 Ooey Gooey Science Recipes

  1. Oobleck -  Mix 2 parts cornstarch and 1 part water.  This makes a very unusual texture that the girls love.  Even though the entire dining room turns white, it is easy to clean as it dries.  No other tools are necessary just Oobleck and little hands.
  2. Homemade Silly Putty -  Mix 1 part Elmer’s white glue and 1 part liquid starch together.  Save the Sunday comics to make impressions of favorite cartoon characters.
  3. Slime - Start with an 8 ounce bottle of Elmer’s glue squirt it into a glass bowl.  Fill the empty glue bottle with warm water and shake, pour the water into the bowl with the glue and mix.  Then dissolve 1 teaspoon of Borax powered laundry soap (found in the laundry isle at the grocery store) into ½ cup of warm water.  Add slowly to the glue mixture until it is the consistency that you want.  You can add a couple drops of food coloring.  
  4. Finger Prints - Use Elmer’s white glue to make hand and fingerprint impressions.  Spread a thin layer of glue on finger tips and palms, let dry.  You can use a hair dryer on “air” or a room fan to speed up the drying process.  Then carefully peel the glue off.  A quick web search turns this into a great science activity about the forensics of finger prints. 
  5. Paper Mache – Stir together 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Cook on medium heat while continuously stirring until the mixture starts to thicken and becomes translucent. Let cool to room temperature. Dip strips of newspaper or tissue paper in the mixture and then layer onto balloons or forms made out of foil.  This is a great multi-day activity.  After the figure dries, then comes the painting!
  6. Indoor Snow Sculpting – Mix 1 part Elmer’s glue and 1 part shaving cream (not gel).  Spread on black or other dark colored paper.

My daughter Emily never liked getting her hands sticky or messy.  If your little one doesn’t like to get sticky but they still want to participate, just use plastic disposable gloves.  You can tape around the wrists and fingers to make them fit.

Posted in Arts and Craft Projects for Kids and Grand Kids, Learning Games | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Fun Lists to Make with Kids While You Wait

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Jerri

My blogs Things to do While You Wait in Line and 10 Things to do with Grandkids While Waiting at Restaurants have been my most popular by far.  I have received many requests for more ideas of things to do while you wait with kids in line, in restaurants, in doctor’s offices, etc.  So here are more ideas!   This list consist of topics, themes, items that you can make “lists” of with your grandkids.  Keep a small notebook and pen in your purse and you will be ready for any unoccupied waiting time.  The list starts with easier themes that will work for toddlers and preschoolers and then progresses to more complex topics for schoolagers and preteens.

Let’s make a list of:

  • Colors
  • Numbers
  • Shapes
  • Disney characters
  • Dolls
  • Animals
  • Fruits and vegetables
  • Weather
  • Storms
  • Restaurants
  • Deserts
  • Candy bars
  • Cars
  • Trucks
  • TV shows
  • Relatives
  • Friends
  • Magazines
  • Video games
  • Professions
  • Super heroes
  • Sports
  • Teams
  • Sports equipment
  • Makeup
  • Clothing items
  • First aid supplies
  • Diseases
  • Chemicals
  • Gross food
  • Trees
  • Monsters
  • States
  • Cities
  • Countries
  • Oceans
  • Lakes
  • Rivers
  • Movies
  •  Movies that start with a particular letter
  • Cartoon characters

The sky is the limit!  In a hurry or with limited space, you can just say or write the list.  For longer waits, have each child make their own list with the little ones drawing the items instead of writing them.  Have an older child act as the scribe for younger children.  You can make it into a competition between individual kid, teams or a group challenge to see how many you can come up with all together.  Try to make each list longer than the last one.   Making longer and longer lists each time encourages creative thinking skills and gets imagination flowing!

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More Fun Things to do With Grand Kids When It’s Hot!

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Jerri

Summer time creates an opportunity to change things up by taking many art projects and other activities outside. This not only creates an interesting new dimension but also makes clean-up a breeze!

Things to do with water colors:
  Paint rocks
  Paint the sidewalk
  Decorate the outside of windows and patio doors
  You can even paint the cat if he will sit still long enough
  Paint the old plastic white patio furniture
  Paint the mail box

Backyard camping:
  Make a fort or tent with old blankets and sheets or set up at real tent
  Sleep outside in the fort either overnight or just for nap time
  Decorate the front yard of the fort with sun snowflakes. Cut sun shapes out and hang on strings from trees and on the fence
  Make S’mores on the grill
  Make a fake campfire with construction paper flames and several flashlights standing on end.

Remember when you are facing heat and kids: Make sure to have fresh cool water available to drink, use sunscreen, stay in the shade as much as possible, and after playing in the water leave wet bathing suits or clothes on.

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10 Things to do to Calm a Crying Baby

Posted on July 26, 2011 by Jerri

A Father was in court today in our city for killing his crying 3 month old son.   Hearing this makes my heart ache.  Babies cry.  Helping parents, grandparents, boyfriends, everyone understand this and to know what to do can help keep babies safe.  

Imagine this…  You wake up in the morning alone in a different country.  You don’t know where you are, you don’t know how you got there, and you can’t communicate with anyone because they speak a different language.  What would you do?  How would you feel?  Scared, terrified, lonely?

This is what it is like for a newborn.  The baby has been in a wonderful warm safe cocoon and then in an instant (or after 27 hours of labor) everything has changed.  No wonder babies cry until they turn purple.

 So, what can you do?

  1. Ask yourself; is it time for a feeding?  Does the baby need to be burped?
  2. Check for wet or dirty diaper; tight or twisted clothing

If there seems to be no apparent reason, use these steps to simulate the womb:

3. Wrap the baby very tightly in a small receiving blanket

4. Dim or turn off the lights

5. Rock or sway with the baby in a rhythmic motion

6. Lightly give love pats

7. Sing, hum, softly talk to the baby

8. Make loud swishing noises or use a recording of womb sounds

9. Put the baby in the stroller and go for a walk.

10. Remain calm, understand that it might just be time for the baby to cry for a while.  If you get tense, the baby will sense this.

If you have tried all of this and the baby is still crying, and you are okay with that and holding and rocking him will at least make you feel like you are doing something, then hold away!  If you feel tense, angry or guilty (I should know what to do! Why won’t he stop crying?) Then put the baby in his or her crib, turn out the light, shut the door and let him cry.  Peek at him every 5 to 10 minutes. 

Make sure that anyone that you leave the baby with understands what to do when he cries.

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What can I do when my granddaughters who are sisters fight!

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Jerri

Today, instead of writing about fund things to do with your grandkids, I need suggestions from you.

I had all three girls yesterday for the full day.  Jordyn, 5, has been in daycare but will start kindergarten in about 5 weeks and I wanted her to have some summer fun before she starts.  It was a hot day and our projects for the day; (1) make cake balls; (2) decorate balloons with stickers; and (3) make no-sew tutus for the 2 little girls were done by 10:00am!

8 year old and 5 yearold sisters who fight all the time

How can 2 sisters who love each other so much fight like cats and dogs!

Then, the squabbling started.  Ashley is 8 and Jordyn is 5 and they seem to be in a constant state of competition.  I have tried everything that I know and nothing seems to work.

 Please share ideas and strategies that  you have tried!

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Free Learning Activities for Toddlers

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Jerri

As I wrote in my first blog grandparents spend on average $975 per year on each grandchild.  If you have been to Toys”R”Us lately you can see why.  Creative minds have imagined all kinds of wonderful toys and game for our little ones.  However, there are so many free learning activities for toddlers using regular household items.  The advantages of using things from around the house are numerous; you save money, you save space, you are modeling creativity and imagination, and you are teaching them about the world they live in. 

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1.  Use muffin tins and small toys or kitchen items to sort by color, by item, ex. all of the small stuffed animals in one tin and all cars or balls in another.

2.  Sort the laundry – by color, clothing item, or by person. 

3.  Gamma Beth Payne from Colorado Springs tapes brightly colored pieces of paper and foam at the end of her hallway and little Quinn runs down the hall to touch the colors she has named.  By adding more than one color per trip, you work on memory and ordering. Ex touch the red one and then the blue one

4.  Pick a toy from the toy box and look all over the house for items that rhyme with its name.  Saying the name of each object that you see along the way increases vocabulary as well.

5.  Use dry beans or small elbow macaroni noodles with different sizes of spoons, scoops and measuring cups.

6.  Play basket ball using large plastic bowls and small balls.  Count the balls as they land in the bowls.  Using bowls of different sizes works on hand-eye coordination. (But most importantly, it’s fun!)

7.  Dump a sock drawer on the floor and count socks.  Count out loud; hold up the number of fingers that corresponds to the number of socks in the pile.  For toddlers use numbers up to 5.

8.  Line up a series of trucks, dolls, or plastic glasses etc.  Talk the position of each; 1st, 2nd third, etc.

9.  Stack 3 rolls of toilet paper on top of each other.  Talk about the location of each.  Ex, Point to the one on top, on the bottom and in the middle.

You can mix and match the items used in these activities or use other items that you have around the house.  These free learning activities for toddlers using household items will save you money, shake up your routine and create fun memories for you and your grandchild.

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Fourth of July Craft Activities for Grandkids

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Jerri

It’s the Friday before the Fourth of July.  I was thinking about taking the girls to the party store to get some decorations for our annual BBQ.  I got to thinking about the traffic, the heat, the lines and of course the expense; I changed my mind.  Instead, we went on line to find fun Fourth of July craft activities for decorations and games that we could make ourselves.  There were so many amazing ideas.  I have shared a few here that the girls were most excited about. 

1.  Make a red, white, and blue Patriot Pinwheel (Only for kids over three or with constant supervision.)

2. Find many great 4th of July coloring pages at Hellokids.com.

3.   Decorate stuffed animals and dolls to match this cute 4th of July Teddy Bear.

4.  Decorate stuffed animas Part 2 – Patriotic Parade – The activity above, was a winner! Each girl decorated several dolls and stuffed animals. The plan is to decorate the wagon and their bikes as well and have a little after dinner parade around the block!

5.  For those kids who love to do word puzzles, check out these 4th of July word search puzzles.

6.  Make your own fireworks. This site has some great firework coloring pages. Another idea is to use white Elmer’s glue to make the shapes of fireworks and then sprinkle with glitter.

7.  Make and decorate place cards for the BBQ table. These patriot oragami place cards are a fun and challenging activity for older children.

9. Make Firework Flowers out of coffee filters. Even I had fun making these!

10. These Star Garlands come from a fellow grandma blogger – Grandma Lizzie’s House.

I hope you have as much fun as I did making these Fourth of July craft activities with your grandkids!  Any of these ideas can be interchanged with other holiday themes as well.  My grandgirls and I wish you and your family a fun, safe 4th of July weekend!

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10 Things to do with Grandkids While Waiting at Restaurants

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Jerri

Have you ever found yourself at a restaurant for a quick meal that turned into hours?  When Ashley was about 2 ½, we were at Applebee’s for a birthday celebration.   We waited for our drinks.  We waited to give our orders. We waited for our salads, I’m sure you get the picture!  

Ashley was very hungry.  The placemat had been colored, twice. We had talked about our day and decided what we would do when we got home.  We imagined what it might look like in the kitchen with so many busy people running around to make Ashley’s macaroni and cheese just right.  Our food finally arrived.  The melt-down had been avoided!  Check out the list below and you will be ready for the next time you find yourself waiting!

10 Things to do with Grandkids While Waiting at Restaurants:

  1. Use the crayons and placemat to play tic-tac-toe or connect the dots.
  2. Place coins and other items from pockets and purses under the placemat to make rubbings with the crayons.
  3. Keep a menu; look for all the pictures that are red, blue, etc. 
  4. Say nursery rhymes, see how many the group can remember.
  5. Softly tap a song with your finger on the table to see if anyone can guess the tune.
  6. See how many times you can fold the placemat to make it as small as it can get.
  7. Say a word without making a sound. See who can guess what you said.
  8. Keep a deck of cards in your purse.  Play Go Fish, Old Maid or Slap Jacks. For younger kids, use part of the deck to play Memory.
  9. Count things: men, women, children, babies, men in blue shirts, people wearing glasses, etc.
  10. Play with the sugar packets, count them, sort them, stack them, and for very long waits, open them, pour them into a glass of water, stir with the straw.  Pretend to take sips and guess what it tastes like.  (This is Ashley’s favorite.)

We save the last one for rare occasions.  It came in very handy once at a Wedding Reception.  I hope this list will be helpful.  Let me know what you do with your grandkids while waiting at restaurants.

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10 Things to do with Teenage Grandkids

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Jerri

Some people are baby people some people are teenage people. I am a baby person. I loved being a parent to my children when they were growing up and I love grandparenting Ashley, Jordyn and Makenzie. It is so easy to think of activities and games to play. I usually don’t have to do much of the talking either. But I know I will struggle when they grow up and “turn into” teenagers.

I believe that it is harder than ever to be a teen in today’s world. Having a grammy or grampy to spend time with can be a comfort and an escape from the daily pressures teenagers face. I know that providing a space of unconditional love is the first step. Below you will find activities that I have found to be great starting points.

Activities for grandparent time with teenagers:
1. Don’t try too hard to get him to talk. That should not be the end goal. Just get involved in an activity, talk about what you are doing and let the conversation flow.
2. Instead of asking, “What do you want to do?” ask “What was your favorite thing we did together when you were little?” and then do it even if you then have to have a water fight in the back yard.
3. Ask her to help with a project; like making a small scrapbook of family photos for an elderly relative.
4. Go to a movie. You don’t have to talk while you are there and you have something to talk about when you leave.
5. Have him teach you how to play his favorite video game.
6. Listen to her choice of music.
7. Make his favorite childhood meal together.
8. Watch Real World on MTV together. I learned a lot about teenage culture while watching this with my kids.
9. Let her bring a friend with her to visit you. This can provide a buffer and be a lot of fun.
10. Don’t feel guilty if nothing you tried has worked.

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