Thursday Thirteen - Homework strategies

Thirteen Things about Homework Strategies N.B. Supper and or food are not a strong group motivator. N.B.B. ‘Electronics Time’ = 30 minutes play on the Gameboy/Ninendo DS/telly, are currently the only group motivators. This shall be a scientifically controlled experiment, a longitudinal study. We are currently experimenting:- 1. Ensure that all supplies are within easy reach together with duplicates. Add calming music, visual timers, fidgets, kooshes, ‘Take a Break’ PECs[*] to pre-empt meltdowns, four kinds of pencil grips, spill proof snacks for motivation, additional oral stimulants, tether bands for restless agitated legs, sequencing and tick down charts to aid task completion and reduce overwhelmedness. Restock Duct Tape Rolls to secure each child to carver chair. 2. Introduce LOST [*] = ‘Let Off Steam Time’ upon returning home. Now that they can play and also spend periods of time outside, this seems a therapeutic and fun option. Between play time and ‘electronics’ time at 5:30, they must complete their homework[1] and make their packed lunches[2]. 3. As above except electronics time is moved to any time after [1] and [2] are completed, ideally before supper at 7:00 p.m. 4. As above except electronics time is either moved to just before bedtime or eliminated completely as [1] and [2] are not completed and everyone is asleep. Note to self = no electronics time means no time to cook. Children go to bed on the edge of starvation. Balance risk of starvation against time and money saving benefits of a food free existence. 5. Move homework time to after supper . As they are so desperate to avoid bed, they may just be more willing to do homework instead. Note to self – stock up on midnight oil. 6. Seek an alternative to ‘everyone sitting around the same table.’ E.g. each child in different location to be simultaneously assisted and guided by the homework monitor, me. Consider purchasing roller skates for more efficient movement inter alia, and sum. 7. Seek an alternative alternative to ‘everyone sitting around the same table.’ E.g. Homework monitor with child A, one on one, whilst B and C spin their wheels or create mayhem. 8. Instigate positive reward system. One completed worksheet equates to one Goldfish Cracker. Take care not to disintegrate into ‘one word per cracker.’ If we descend to ‘one letter per Cracker,’ I shall snap, crackle and pop. Should the ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ clause be amended? 9. Consider converting the attic into a dedicated homework station, or in the alternative, a very good place to hide, for me. 10. Re-introduce "Kinesthetic" learning programmes and expand. 11. Petition Board of Governors to permit children to attend after school homework club. Send gift to each Governor prior to petition. Hire baby sitter and visit after school homework club to see how the professionals do it. Send gift to professionals prior to subtle infiltration of club. 12. Move homework time to first thing in the morning as they wake between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. and this is their most alert time of the day. They are also extremely hungry and willing to consume half a 12ounce box of cereal. Note to self:- quaff additional vat of coffee prior to 5 a.m. 13. Ask the teacher for a special dispensation, a permanent free pass to excuse us from homework otherwise, I shall be steamed rather than LOST[*]? This is where I am currently hiding, if you want me for anything that is to say.

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Blogswarm

Please Scroll down for Wordless Wednesday

I usually avoid religious references and I had previously never even heard of Godtube.

However, regardless of your religious sensibilities, this really is an inspiring video. Since I have been thoroughly neglectful of the current "Blogswarm" for "ADAPT" and "DUH City" I'm afraid this is my own, or rather, really someone else's, contribution.

A Big Thank You to "Susan" for keeping us updated and "Other Contributors."

My pal "Mary-LUE "advises that this video is in need of a warning.

This is the warning!

Photo Carnival - Nature

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Wordless Special Exposure Wednesday - express yourself!

Flagrant product promotion!

Many people have trouble finding, retrieving and verbalizing their worms, or rather words. Often children know the meaning of a great many words but lack the ability to express themselves. A smile tell you that they're happy and a tantrum explains the opposite, but the subtleties in-between are often lost.

Even with highly verbal children, if you ask them how they feel, the response is often less than illuminating.

Here is an easy way to circumnavigate that issue.





It might be quite a surprise!








As well as Magnetic!






And challenge those fine motor skills at the same time.

Available at Target, no expense has been spared. Look in the dollar bins.

HURRY = while stocks last.

This public service announcement has been brought to you today by.........
Mr. Nuffink, Mr. Surfin, Surfin USA and Miss. What are they like!



If you enjoy caption competitions and photographs, you may wish to nip along to"DJ Kirkby" over at "Chez Aspie" if you have a brilliant witty mind, or failing those qualifications you can always just zip along and lurk like me.



For more words, you may wish to meet up with "Nonna" "A Fashionable new trend" or the "Alien." "How much does it cost to change a light bulb."

Cheers dears

Tackle it Tuesday - Organize

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR RUBY TUESDAY / CATS ON TUESDAY

One of the chores that I hate most in the world, is one that I have been doing for approximately 20 years. It's making packed lunches for the children. There is such an air of hopelessness associated with the whole exercise. Nutritious, home-made organic food is either thrown in the bin at school or returned back home untouched and inedible after a day in the heat. Not eating between 7:30 in the morning and 3:00 in the afternoon, is not considered a hardship. Eating what I had provided, fell into the category of torture. Better and easier to starve.






I often thought it would be simpler to admit defeat and allow them to indulge in whatever the school provided. However the cost for three children as well as the choices available, have prevented me from taking this tempting step.



Instead I decided to alter my expectations.

I decided to compromise.




The first step was to come to terms with my children's limitations. At the current state of play I could pour chocolate sauce on everything and they still would refuse to eat. Better to choose food where there is at least the possibility of consumption.




Since we are also trying to teach independence and kick start their executive function, a PEC board of choices provided the visual stimulation to enable choice. The PECs corresponded to the three baskets of foodstuffs at their eye sight level.

The long term goal is to reduce stress, smooth over the bumpy bits and achieve task completion. Since it is only the beginning of the year, we have quite a bit of practicing to do. Every time they complete the exercise, it becomes easier. I fully anticipate that by the end of this school year, this is one less chore than I will have successfully delegated to my offspring, if not sooner.

If we continue to follow our current trajectory, I expect that I shall be choreless before I am very much older.

Then I shall spend my time in the 'help wanted' classified ads looking for gainful employment.




Cheers dears

Ruby Tuesday and Cats on Tuesday

Cats on Tuesday!

No dipsticks here! [*]

Please scroll down for Magic Marker Monday



We move relentlessly forward with the food campaign for the neophobic, the eater of 15 foods.

Currently my son enjoys a slime free diet, where slime equates to anything that could remotely be described as 'semi liquid.' In an attempt to push out the boundaries we offer ketchup, Thousand Island dressing and any other number of condiments for him to dip his Goldfish Crackers. We, on the other hand, truly enjoy guacamole, hummus and Salsa with warm pitta pocket strips.

The groans of agony from the end of the table increase in volume. I make direct inquiries:
“Is it the stink of your dips or the stink of our dips that’s upsetting you dear?”
“Evey fing is stink!”

Fair enough, I just needed a little clarification.

The family offer helpful suggestions;
“Why dontcha make em swim in dah blood one!”
“Howabout you try the mayonnaise, that doesn’t taste of anything anyways.”
“You know dey will slip down much more easily with a little grease. Look at your ribs! You need a little grease.”
“Here try a pretzel stick instead, then you won’t have to worry about your finger tips getting mucky.” He takes the proffered stick gingerly, a bit like a magic wand. He looks from stick to dip, from dip to stick and then back to us, a collective group of torturers.
“Wot I am doing wiv dis stick?”
“Stick it in the dip. Poke it. Put one end in the…..little bowl.”
“Stick is being too dangerous for me,” he wheedles, following a well furrowed path. I turn to his dad, “do you know, maybe we’re going about this the wrong way?”
“Tell me something we don’t already know.” I nip back into the house to snatch some tired old forgotten Brandy Snaps and some Maple syrup. “Here you go. How about we try something sweet instead?”
“Wot! Wot are doz fings? I am not be eating dah food wiv dah holes!” His outrage seems genuine enough.
“Curly pretzels have holes. You’ve eaten holes before!” I plead. My husband looks at me and blinks, but remains silent.

I sit back down. We don’t ignore him as such but we do not perseverate upon him. Well done us! Fortunately, like most parents, I am able to see without actually looking, through half shut lids and lashes. He dances a tentative waltz, a sniff, a poke, a little bat just to check that it’s not going to fight back, a tongue tickle, a shudder, another attempt, more of a lick, a wince and a shudder, and then finally a bite. The bite is followed by gagging and neck clutching, then mastication, a few escaped crumbs but approximately 55% of the mouthful is swallowed.

Yeah!

I say nothing with a face of stone. My face of stone turns to a Medusa head to warn his father to remain oblivious.

I wait for him because I want him to own it.

I wait until the third mouthful.

“Hey Mom!”
“Yes dear.”
“I am be….eated it.”
“Yeah for you! What a brave mouth. See you can eat sticks after all!”
“Er…..no…….I am not be eat sticks……..I am be eat holey snaps.”

[*] dipstick = foolish person, “slang” from "Only Fools and Horses."

Remember at this time of year Californians, that paper "STAR"s are not a true reflection of our little twinklers.

Magic Marker Monday

Apologies for the blurry picture, the camera was on the wrong setting. [I wonder who fiddled with that?]

Anyway, I just wanted to mention that both my sons are logical thinkers. Numbers and sequences of numbers help in just about every situation:- first we do this and then we do that. It is by no means fool proof but a concrete message is far more effective than a lot of surplus words. There is something about expectations in black and white, or rather blue and white in this case, that helps smooth over many of their worries and concerns.




Of course a visual timer as an accompaniment also helps them understand that the end is near in sight, which in turn reduces their anxiety, which in turn makes them more capable of concentrating on the task at hand.

A Recent Jolly Good Comment

Please scroll down for photohunters and SOOC

I meant to post this last week, but time ran away with me.

I still struggle to juggle, hence 'comment of the week award.'

Sad to say that Ricky has had to go as he was crashing everyone's computer. [some kind of bug] Hence this rather dull replacement. I shall try and spend some time removing Ricky's bugs from all my sites. Humble Apologies

<a href="http://whittereronautism.com/"><img src="http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q158/mmcewen/Recipes-1-1.jpg" /></a>

[Inspired by "Scribbit."]

This week it goes to "Jade" from "The Mixed up Thoughts of a Jaded soul" for her comment [on the old blog = when will she ever learn!] on the "Photo Friday" post which for some reason best known to someone that I do not know, accidentally became posted on Wednesday! Oopsie.

She says that the baby-rattle-whistle:-

'It could also be used as a spouse repellent! LOL blow it and shake it enough and they'll keep their distance! hehehe'

and somehow that just tickled my funny bone!

Poor spouse!







Meanwhile, you could always nip along to "Trixie" on her post "here" to make her feel truly ancient. Just say something in the comments box to the effect of 'many happy returns of the day oh ancient one,' she'll never know it was you.

Go on, you'd be doing her a favour, or possibly me?

SOOC 2 Who needs fins?

This is from "Melody" at "Slurping Life" and refers to 'Straight out of the Camera'

Scroll down for Saturday Photo hunters and awards




If swimming is really that tough!






Maybe you need some protection?








$1.99 end of season at Target!






Cheers dears

Saturday Photo Hunters - Wild

PhotoHunt


Brought to you via "TNChick."

Red Cardinal Climber on candle holder.

Too much Miracle Grow I suspect!

Comment of the Week Award

A blogless, but otherwise highly intelligent person, emailed me this week to point out that not only was I muddling one week with another, but additionally, I was muddling one blog with several others. I plead guilty on both counts. However, it did prompt another stunningly brilliant idea! Why not give the award on each blog? Far less confusing, well for me at least.


Hence this post is repeated on "alien" and "Sandwich" but with different awardees.

{Don't want you to have to wade through this more than once, just skip to the end.}

Another brilliant person "mit blog" castigated me [in the nicest possible way!] for my neglect of the "Hub," which once again I need to ‘fes up to,’ as we Americans are wont to say. I’m lucky if I mange to read through the first two or three postings in the list and since my intelligence quotient is at an all time low, I rarely comment either. Ooo the irony.

Since I am now on a confessional streak, I would also admit that I have spent time on the "photo blogs" for several reasons. Firstly I like "piccies." I am a very visual person.

Secondly, it is far easier to choose a "picture" and post it, than it is to write intelligently. Whilst I continue to take daily notes on our doings, it is hard work to channel that material into something worth reading. There again, if your enjoy reading schedules and lists who am I to criticize. Just think of it as my attempt at quality control.

The photo blogs also have the advantage of a thoroughly international flavour. This means that I can convince myself that instead of embalming my brain, I am really learning to be a linguist. This is sure to come in handy in the future when I travel round the world. I shall be able to say ‘post comment, email, URL, spam filter, preview and post,’ in every language in the world.

In my defense, all I can say is that I promise to try to do better soonishly.



I still struggle to juggle!

<a href="http://whittereronautism.com/"><img src="http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q158/mmcewen/Recipes-1-1.jpg" /></a>

[Inspired by "Scribbit."]

This week it goes to "Autism in a Word" at "RhemasHope" for her comment on the "Special Exposure /Wordless Wednesday" post where she made this comment:-

'This is so interesting to me. When I was a child I read the book “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” in one afternoon. I then decided to “go mute” as Maya Angelou had done. Like your son, it only lasted a few days. It was just too hard. (I think of my brief selective mutism often - now that I have a nonverbal child.)
I find your children amazing and inspiring (what a genius communication system!), and I am so glad they are “a bit more verbal” now. Gives me hope.'

Because 'hope' is what we're all about.

Cheers dears

Snorty Saturday

Please Scroll down for Saturday Photo Hunters




Smiley Saturday comes to us via "Lightening on Line."

This is a new one for me but I thought it would be a good exercise in practicing being optimistic since I am a natural, die in the woods, pessimist, if not to say cynic.

If you need a hint about how to do this, you can check out "Marita's" post over at "Stuff with Thing" on her post called, oddly enough "Smiley Saturday." It seems to be a weekly review. Can you tell I'm a newbie?

It's hard to encapsulate a whole week, especially when it was an extra short one with a 'service/ in staff training day' but I can think of a couple of things, well maybe just one, that made me laugh this week. Well earlier this morning actually, just after six a.m.

My son found another free new friend, and he told me about it with words, in the garden, shivering, and he shared 'her' which was not an accidental or random reference, and he used the word 'green' for the first time in 18 months, and he named 'her' 'Hike girl!' and he told me that she bites boy Praying Mantid's heads off!

That made me snort.

Photo Friday - ordinary

Surprise, surprise we can do very ordinary too.



Unless you take into account the photographer himself, who was supposed to be in bed, and the fact that it's merely a reflection in the glass window, then it's a bit more.....well.....less ordinary, at least around here.

If you enjoy photography as well as a giggle, you may wish to pop along to "DJ Kirky's" blog and have a go at her "caption contest" or even book mark it for next week?

Cheers dears

Thoughtful Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Things about redecorating a bedroom

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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1. Clear room of everything,
2. Clarify each detail of colour and co-ordination, a swatch board may help
3. contact contractors for anything big or affordable
4. obtain three estimate for each part of the project
5. replace flooring or steam clean
6. buy paint and other supplies
7. paint walls
8. paint the furniture
9. buy or make new bedding
10. buy or make new curtains
11. remove all debris after this evolution
12. weed contents of room
13. replace contents of room

And that, as they say, is all there is to it, assuming you have the financial wherewithal, which many do not. It’s an easy thirteen, or it is if you do it once a decade. Around here, once a decade is all we can manage for one reason and another.

Some "families" have a subtext to such proceedings which can be difficult to "translate." I’d like to share a snippet or two, some insight into a little of what my boys experience. Some "families" also experience some of these things. "Others" have a variation on a theme.

2. You would think with only two "children" to manage rather than "four" it would be a breeze. Half the responsibility, time and chores, but life isn’t like that here. This kind of evolution, where there is change and something different fundamentally upsets them. They become all discombobulated which means that they are more stressed and on edge than usual. This in turn means that many of their coping mechanisms come into sharp relief such has repetitive behavioiurs called stims, obsessive compulsive tendencies are rife as they try to calm themselves against the sea of strange.

3. Using the telephone to make arrangements is impossible whilst they are awake. Lifting the telephone receiver is a cue for them that my attention is elsewhere. Whilst is it s good children to learn that they are not the centre of the universe at all times, this has to be balanced against the substantial element of fear that I do not fully understand. These days however they have learned that my distraction is an invitation to get up to mischief, a factor that I would like to celebrate as a great advance on the fear factor from a few years ago. Celebrations must be limited due to the chaos that can follow in the wake of unsupervised children. Lucky us!

4. Strangers coming to the house is always a cause of great angst. A few years ago strangers were either feared or invisible. These days they are welcomed by both the boys following a serious spate of social stories where we practice what to do, and reinforce their behaviour through role play and modeling. It is time consuming but very effective.

5. Additionally, social stories have been updated to take account of people who wish to engage with the stranger, as a monologue on Pokemons’ many attributes isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

6. Strict rules must be enforced regarding sharing. The arbitrary rules about sharing one’s toys is not necessarily reciprocated by other adults and their tool boxes.

7. Children must be engaged and distracted during all periods of time involving ‘noise.’ Noise need not necessarily be loud, merely unfamiliar.

8. Strangers who remove things from the house are not burglars. Last time I checked no-one was buying tatty carpet and underlay on the black market.

9. Even if you are careful to buy non-toxic, environmentally friendly, fume free paints, the smell is still obnoxious. No amount of open windows can dispel the smell, only time will tell if you can escape from this homey hell.

10. Maintain as much of a semblance of a routine as is humanly possible throughout this tortuous period of change.

11. Removing familiar toys because they are old, no longer used and belong to your big sister in her absence is the equivalent of burying her in a coffin.

12. There is only so much that one parent can do alone at night, so know your limitations.

13. Lastly and most importantly, pay close attention to your chosen colour scheme. Wet red paint really does look like blood.

Please be kind enough to correct, add or subtract, as you see fit.






p.s. this is not meant as some kind of pity party, it didn't happen all at once but crept up on us gradually. Think of it more as a part explanation for my personal inefficiency quotient.

Well at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.