s/o Schooling and Sensory Stuff & What Works

[allisonintx]

We were talking in another thread about schooling children with sensory issues and sharing What Works, with regard to art, so I decided for a s/o because it deserves its own discussion, rather than to be buried in another one.

We have used many Montessori things over the course of our homeschooling.

One thing that worked well, with regard to the paper tearing problem was using 5X5" sheets of paper, rather than large ones, OR using very large sheets of paper, taped to the wall, floor or table.

[sprout]

yes, that works well for us too.

eliminates a ton of upset.

[ArmsOfLove]

I missed what the paper tearing problem is :scratch

play doh, silly putty, or hand massage can help. back rubs while listening can help. We recently put body brushes in the shower and everyone is using them and they are great :tu

[mamacat]

I hink that,to me,art is not a major requirement and can be about so many things that if paper tearing was a part of a curric. and there was an issue with it I would skip it.......

[TraceMama]

:cup

[mamacat]

Or is the paper tearing a part of therapy for sensory issues?

[allisonintx]

no, in another thread we were talking about children whigging out over a tear in a paper they were coloring, and ways to help avoid problems like that, since art and creation should be fun rather than stressful.

[mamacat]

Aha! :) I thought it was part of some new art curriculum I hadnt heard about or a sensory therapy of some kind. Is that reaction more of a sensory issue or just an age/ development issue? Ive had kids wig out before about drawings because of such things or a stray mark or something else got on their picture.....

[allisonintx]

right, all children do it at some time or another, but some children do it *all* the time...those are the ones we were talking about how to help :yes :mrgreen

[ncsweetpea]

play doh, silly putty, or hand massage can help. back rubs while listening can help. We recently put body brushes in the shower and everyone is using them and they are great :tu


Should I ask, "What is a body brush?" :scratch I'm thinking of those back washing thingys you see in cartoons...

[sweetpeasmommy]

no, in another thread we were talking about children whigging out over a tear in a paper they were coloring, and ways to help avoid problems like that, since art and creation should be fun rather than stressful.

That's my boy. ;)

Ive had kids wig out before about drawings because of such things or a stray mark or something else got on their picture.....

DS does this too.

These are some great ideas. We use a seating disc to help him sit. I have been sewing ankle/wrist weights all. day. long. to see if those would help. I would highly recommend spending the $12 to buy them rather than make them if you don't have a sewing machine. :)

Sensory brushes (http://www.amazon.com/Clippermill-Sensory-Brushes-6-Pack/dp/B001U1UFYE).

[KatieMae]

A slight alternative to Allison's suggestion of taping paper to a wall - we painted a huge, kid-height chalk board in our living room & it's the only way I can get Lucas to write more than five letters w/o balking at the work. (It's slightly easier than dealing w/ tape & paper, if you don't mind having a chalkboard in your house :giggle But it's easy enough to repaint later :tu)

When we do have table-work to do, we sit at our dining table & I put Lucas in a chair that has arms on it & pull it close to the table. He sits on his knees so he's at the proper height (which also puts some pressure on his lower legs & keeps him from needing to bounce a lot), and the chair arms keep him from wiggling around too much, or altogether leaving the table.

[ReedleBeetle]

Aha! :) I thought it was part of some new art curriculum I hadnt heard about or a sensory therapy of some kind. Is that reaction more of a sensory issue or just an age/ development issue? Ive had kids wig out before about drawings because of such things or a stray mark or something else got on their picture.....

I will say that I have given Isaac a book of paper and a trashcan and let him tear and rip his way through all of it he wanted. He did about half of it before he ran out of steam and seems to cure the ripping of paper he liked to do. :yes Something about knowing he could and was able to get it out of his system.


Isaac was struggling to learn his name (how to spell it) and Allison recommended we do some rice play, so we wound up cutting out the letters for his name, glueing rice to the letters and tracing them with his finger...feeling the rice. Then I mixed them up and he sorted them into the right order and we glued the heavy rice covered letters to a cardboard backer and traced again. We spent about 45 minutes on all of this and he has not forgotten how to spell it since. :rockon

[sweetpeasmommy]

We made letters with dimensional paint but you can also use glue to feel before writing them.

[ReedleBeetle]

Puffy paint?

[Eowyn]

Sandpaper works really well for these. I have a little one that really enjoys pouring large, comparatively heavy things like lima beans (I'd imagine marbles would be great, too)--the sounds and weight transferring can be soothing.