Happy St. Patrick's Day Activities

With a holiday known for it's celebration of a particular color, I had to look to the symbols and other meanings to help explain St. Patrick's Day to my daughter. We talked about "green" as well, as I try not to leave out learning about colors simply because she cannot see them. (We can't see oxygen, but we must learn about it, right?!) Here are a few activities we did this week. Her favorite was the Rainbow Art!

ART - 3D Rainbow art

MATH - Counting gold coins

We used 3D coins with textured paper underneath to section off each part of the problem tactually.
 Each texture is different to represent each part of the number sentence!
3+2=5

The coins are then moved to the right of the equal sign to find the total sum!

Pot of Gold Math worksheet

Also try making different patterns using cutout with glitter glue gold coins, shamrocks and leprechauns!

IMAGINATION - Let's Dress Up!

Madilyn learned about leprechauns by being one! Here she is in her Leprechaun beard and hat.

I purchased Madilyn's hat at Michael's Craft Store, but here is a cute way to make your own paper leprechaun hat (via Pinterest).

BRAILLE - Braille name on shamrocks (mix up game)

madilyn

close up

COMMUNITY - Talk about the meanings of each leaf of the shamrock – faith, hope, love and luck

In a simpler wording, the Golden Rule states "Treat others as you would like to be treated." For many kids with birth defects that may make them look a little 'different' than others, or sound different, or learn differently, this is a VERY IMPORTANT lesson to learn!
This is also a perfect time to reinforce the importance of respect and manners. We read a chapter from "Winnie the Pooh's Book of Manners" each afternoon. Available via Bookshare's Read2Go App.

Audio Description of Books and Pictures

I used to steer away from buying books with a lot of images, thinking they were inaccessible to Madilyn. But after opening my mind and learning so much more about audio description (AD), I have realized that buying books with beautiful, detailed pictures is one of the best ways to assist in really explaining the world to her. How? By verbally describing the pictures to her. And by describing I don't just mean, "There is a picture of a red apple." I mean making the images come to life with beautiful words, full of color and action. I recently had the pleasure of hearing Mr. Joel Snyder of (Audio Description Associates, www.audiodescribe.com) describe audio description as "a type of poetry- a haiku, if you will." These words stuck with me as I visited the local bookstore and found "Children's Amazing Places Encyclopedia" on sale for only $10! First of all, I thought about how much Madilyn loves geography and learning all about the different places and cultures of the world. Then, I looked at the abundance of images throughout that I could describe to her as I saw them- sharing my own personal feelings and thoughts of each. Obviously, it made it's way through the checkout and is now on our bookshelf, waiting to be opened this week!

Many times, I've found it's not that the resources or supplies don't exist in teaching Madilyn, but it's that they are being used in a different manner. If I stop to think, "How can I solve this problem?"  and not, "Which existing product out there right now will do the job?", I come up with not only a great answer, but one that would help a child ahead or behind her current level. One that a child with 100% sight would gain just as much as Madilyn, whom doesn't have the least bit of an experience of what 'seeing' visually even feels like at this point in her life. This is the idea behind Sensory Sun Educational Technologies. I want to change the 'standard' from printed type and pictures to books and movies you can touch, hear, and even smell. I want the  product that needs to be 'adapted' to already be fully accessible, and work well! This is not a wish- this is my goal.

awaken your senses

#futuristic #strategic #belief

Homeschool Lesson Plans for Blind Child

I'll be posting some of my "adapted" lesson plans I've made for my blind daughter in the upcoming months. She is in Kindergarten, so the plans will focus mainly on fundamentals including the core curriculum for language and math, as well as expanded core curriculum ideas such as self-help and independence skills, orientation and mobility, and of course everything will include braille, textured graphics, hands-on activities, and more!

Please feel free to send us an email or post a comment for an objective you'd like to see an adapted lesson plan for your child! We'd be more than happy to help come up with some ideas for your next theme!