at home reading tutoring part 25

Last Monday, SJ had his last reading tutoring session with Mrs. Banks.  We are going to continue over the summer.  Since today is Memorial Day (no school) and next Monday is the last week of school, we opted for this to his last session for the school year. 

He had an excellent session.  She said he worked very hard for her.  She started out the session with a story on Cinco de Mayo.  It was called "Una Fiesta!", which she told SJ meant the party in Spanish.  Although it had many pages, there was very little verbiage on each page.  "I like this kind of story," he told Mrs. Banks.  It was an informational story about parties that happen on Cinco de Mayo. There weren't any questions to answer, so that made SJ like the story even more!

Next, they read another story about Cinco de Mayo.  It was titled "Cinco de Mayo", which she told SJ meant the fifth of May.  He was also excited about this story.  He had done his library project on Mexico.  Again, there weren't any questions to answer, so SJ was very pleased.  In the story, it tells us the battle between the Mexicans and French armies occurred in 1862.  SJ wanted to do the math to find out how long ago this war was.  He calculated that it was 151 years ago.  Great math work, SJ!

Then, she had him fill in words for a Mad Lib style story.  These are his words.

 

name of someone in your class   Jacob

noun-item of clothing    pants

adverb    excitedly

noun    Fiesta

verb, past tense    danced

color    orange

different color    yellow

noun-a vegetable    lettuce

adjective    happy

verb    sing

adjective    glad

adjective    confused

noun    fireworks

verb, past tense    watched

verb, past tense    sang

noun    carnival

verb    whittle

noun, internal organ    stomach

a flavor    vanilla

adjective    mad

Here is his story with his words inserted into it.  It was entitled "The Mexican Fiesta".

My friend Jacob invited me to a Mexican fiesta.  "Do I have to wear pants?" I asked excitedly.
My friend said that it wasn't a requirement.  All I needed to bring was my fiesta!
I danced over the salsa bar.  This fiesta had orange and yellow lettuce chips and five kinds of salsa!  I tried mango salsa, black bean salsa, and a happy salsa that made my eyes sing.  Then I found the glad guacamole dip and tried some of that.  It was delicious!  I wanted to marry the fajita station!  There were stacks of hot soft tortillas.  I could have filled my tortillas with steaming beef, chicken, or shrimp, but I chose to make a vegetarian fajita.  First, I put grilled peppers and sauteed onions down the center of the tortilla.  Then I spread some black beans on top.  I added a confused amount of shredded fireworks, and then my friend dared me to include some jalapeno slices, so I did!  I rolled up the tortilla and watched into it.  Then I sang to the drink station!
The carnival had some Mexican soft drinks.  I tried one called tamarindo.  It is some kind of sweet but tart fruit.  Senora Ortega told me that it's the second most popular flavor of soft drink in Mexico.  Some other flavors are pineapple, fruit punch, and hibiscus.  Isn't that last one a flower?  I was afraid to whittle it!
I saved room in my stomach for dessert.  The dessert bar had flan with caramel poured over it.  It had sopapillas with a choice of honey or chocolate for drizzling.  It had vanilla churros.  I tasted some of everything.  My mouth was very happy, but my stomach complained.  It was too mad!
When is the next fiesta?  I hope I'm invited!

Next, she had SJ work on analogies.  She said he had some trouble with the analogies, but they were mainly words he didn't know.  For example:  fiesta: party :: siesta: ________.  His choices were nap, holiday, departure and party.  He didn't know what a siesta was, but was able to answer the analogy after Mrs. Banks explained what a siesta was. 

The last thing they did was a glyph on Cinco de Mayo.  SJ had to color the girls' hair black (he does not celebrate his birthday in the same month as Cinco de Mayo), the color of the girls' clothing green (he likes green best on the Mexican flag), the color of the boys' hair brown (he had never been to Mexico), the color of the boys' clothing green (if his school was having a Cinco de Mayo party, he would like to hit a pinata), to draw and color a maraca in the boy's left hand (he argued with Mrs. Banks that he could not explain why Cinco de Mayo was celebrated), to draw and color a guitar in the other boy's right hand (it is purple, because he cannot speak Spanish) and what to color the title (green-he down not like Mexican food at all).  See the finished glyph. 

spending time with the 5 year olds

A few days a week, I watch some of the neighborhood kids after school.  This has worked out well for the mom and for me.  It has been especially nice for the boys.  I am trying to teach them responsibility.  I have Bob and SJ rotate getting them from the bus stop.  I also encourage them to play with them and help me get them their snacks. 

On Thursday, it was Bob's turn to get them from the bus stop.  I was in my kitchen with SJ.  He was busy putting papers, markers, crayons and scissors on the island.  "What are you doing?" I asked him.  "I am going to teach the kids to make an origami Yoda," he said.  "Okay.  They will enjoy that," I told him. 

He had bought a book at the Book Fair "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda" by Tom Angleberger.  It is funny book where the main character uses the Yoda as a way to communicate.  At the back of the book are instructions to make the origami Yoda. 

The two five year olds came bouncing in my back door two minutes later.  I told them that SJ had a surprise for them and asked them to take a seat at the island.  They listened and waited.  SJ then started explaining to them how to make an origami Yoda. 

It was so sweet watching him make a model and assist them when they were having trouble making the folds.  When they were done making all the folds, he helped them staple their Yodas and told them to color them.  "Now, Yoda is normally green, but you can color him any color you want.  Be creative," he told them.

I could feel my eyes tearing up with pride at how patient and mature he was acting.  The kids' mom came a few minutes later and they were very excited to show her their creations.  I told SJ that he could show them how to do the origami Darth Vader next week (he bought that book too).  It is called "Darth Paper Strikes Back" by Tom Angleberger. 

Here are SJ's finished origami creations. 


Origami Yoda, Han Foldo, Darth Paper

after school speech part 54

On Monday, SJ was to have tutoring with Mrs. Banks.  Lucky for SJ (unlucky for Mrs. Banks), Mrs. Banks had to cancel his session since she was at jury duty.  SJ was over the moon when I gave him the news at the end of Monday's school day.

Tuesday was a normal day though.  He had his after school speech session.  I didn't get a chance to talk to his therapist last week due my lateness at pick up.  I did, however, talk to her on the phone.  She said he had a good session and is getting much better at controlling his tone of voice. 

She had gone over Identifying verbs with SJ.  I had worked on this worksheet with him the previous week for homework.  The ones he had difficulty with she reviewed.  He still had trouble with a few of them.  Some he was able to answer with prompts.  Others he just couldn't answer.  An example of the ones he could get with a prompt is the following. 

To act dishonestly when playing a game- cheat

One of the ones he couldn't get even with prompting is the one below. 

To throw trash on the ground or in the street-litter

 

She also went over Identifying Words from Definitions with him.  He had a very hard time with this activity.  Most of them, he couldn't get with prompts.  An example of one is the following.

 

To walk unevenly because one leg is injured-limp

 

She acted out limping (I did as well at home) and he just kept saying "That is how Grammy walks."  (My mom has bad knees and does look as if she is limping.)  He was able to remember a few from the week before such as a petal is one of the brightly colored, leaflike parts of a flower.  She is going to continue to work on this skill. 

 

She also had him practice forming compound nouns.  He needed to match words from column 1 and 2 and write the new word.  Then, he needed to write a short definition.  Knowing the definitions of the newly formed words was very challenging for him.  I had to give him assistance when we did these for homework.  She went over the words with him and he had trouble giving her the definitions without looking at his paper.  For example:  software-computer programs, spreadsheet-a sheet of information and homepage-your start up page.  We will continue to work on this skill as well. 

 

She suggested he use an online dictionary called "Word Central Dictionary for Kids" to help him with this skill.  For homework, she assigned him a worksheet on Identifying Verbs.  I am hoping he has an easier time with this homework after practicing with her. 

 

She also was doing knock, knock jokes with him.  Here is the one they worked on this week.

 

Knock, knock

Who's There?

Barbie

Barbie Who?

Barbie Q Chicken

He loves jokes, but he doesn't alway get the punch lines.  We will keep working on these too.  

mother's day 2013

Last Sunday was Mother's Day.  I was greeted with breakfast in bed by my wonderful husband.  When I finally made it downstairs, the boys had cards for me.  My husband also had a card and a present.  They got me flowers, Tazo English Breakfast tea for our Keurig and a spa day to be used in the future.  I was very excited about the presents. 

I spent most of the day doing nothing, which is hard for me.  I am always running around the house cleaning up something or after someone.  (Which is why I get backlogged and don't blog as often as I would like...sorry!)  We had lunch and then went to Bob's soccer game.

It was even colder than our Kennywood day.  I think the high was around 50, but it felt much colder with the wind at the park.  We sat bundled up under blankets while Bob's team got their second win of the season.  That was a nice additional Mother's Day treat.

After the game, we ordered Chinese food and picked it up on the way home.  My parents had come to the game and joined us for dinner.  We gave my mom her presents, which were art projects from the boys and hanging plants from my husband and I. 

My parents stayed for about 90 minutes after dinner.  After they left, we just relaxed for the remainder of the evening.  Overall, I would say that I had a pretty nice Mother's Day.  Hopefully, you had one too.

Monday morning when SJ was looking for his lunch box in his backpack he discovered another present for me.  "Oops," he said as he pulled out the presents he did for me in school.  He had made me a booklet and a planter that he decorated.  In the booklet, he had to answer some questions about me.  Some of the answers weren't accurate, but they were still funny.  See the attached booklet and photo of the planner.  Thank goodness the plant was still fine. 

Being a mother has been the most difficult but rewarding job I have ever done.  I am not sure if it would have been easier if SJ wasn't on the spectrum.  Maybe it would have, but honestly I wouldn't want to change who he is.  He is a blessing in every way.  Happy Mother's Day!

Front page

I am not 45 (much younger) and I love the "? meat" as my favorite food.  It is really mashed potatoes.

I thought he would have put cleaning and talking on the phone.

He was right on here.

We have lots of company at our house.  I wouldn't say we go to lots of parties.

I love these comments!

I love these too!

What he thinks I look like.  Sadly, not too far off.

 

Very nice job on the planter, SJ!

everything is better after a day at kennywood

Last Saturday was our school's Kennywood picnic day.  It was colder than the last few years, but that was fine with me.  When it is not very warm or has predicted rain showers, it is usually less crowded.  SJ does not do well with crowds.  We took sweatshirts and long pants for the boys.  Bob had his normal Saturday scrimmage until 1:00, so we left right after it was finished. 

We took Willie with us.  He is friends with both boys, but he is slightly closer to Bob.  (They have more in common-soccer and XBox.)  Bob was being very crabby on the way to the amusement park.  He is very afraid of roller coasters and was getting anxious on the way there.  Willie had told his mom that Bob would probably say his favorite ride was the car ride back home.  Wow, Willie really knows Bob.  That was the first thing he said when we arrived. 

After his verbal complaint, he started telling us how sore his ankle was feeling.  (Funny that his ankle was feeling fine at soccer.)  We ignored his complaints, since we knew he was just trying to get out of going.  When we got into the park, Willie and SJ wanted to ride the Sky Rocket.  It is the newest coaster at Kennywood.  Bob didn't want to ride (no surprise to me), so I waited with him at the exit.  After they were done, we continued through the park.

Willie rode everything that he could.  He isn't tall enough for The Thunderbolt.  (SJ and my husband rode that together later in the day.)  When we got to a coaster, Bob just waited at the exit while we had fun.  Fortunately, his waits were short since it had a sparse crowd.  They rode the swings, the Whip, the Kangaroo, Paratroopers, Music Express, Ghostwood Manor and the Autobahn. 

We also enjoyed many of the yummy treats that Kennywood has to offer.  We had funnel cake, fried Oreos (Willie's suggestion), Potato Patch fries, ice cream, lemonade and dinner in Parkside Cafe.  Willie had mac n cheese and Bob and SJ shared chicken tenders and fries.  We were stuffed at the end of the day. 

The boys also spent a lot of time at the Shooting Gallery.  They were great at that!  See the attached picture of the boys having fun. 

While SJ and my husband were riding the Thunderbolt, Bob, Willie and I watched the stunt show.  It was pretty entertaining.  Then, we decided it was time to play some games.  The first game they played was a bust.  They tried for a while, but no one won anything.  Then, we moved on to another game and the results were the same.  The third game was lucky for Willie and Bob.  They both won, but unfortunately SJ wasn't great at that game. 

 

We left the game area, but SJ was still upset.  He had been interested in making a spin art t-shirt, so I told him he could do that.  He was excited at first, but then was still wishing he had won a prize.  I quietly asked Bob and Willie to go back and try to win something for SJ.  They were good sports and Willie won him a stuffed animal quickly.  Thanks Willie! 

 

We had to wait for his shirt to dry, so the boys rode a few more rides.  When his shirt was done, we walked out to the car.  I asked Bob how his ankle was feeling.  He said, "Fine."  I asked him about his hand (another ailment he was complaining about).  He replied that it was fine too.  Then Willie said something funny.  "See Bob, everything is better after a day at Kennywood," he said.  "You are absolutely correct Willie," I said with a smile. 

 

We drove Willie home and I was glad that we had Willie to be a friend to both of our boys.  Maybe we will take him next year too.

at home reading tutoring part 24

This past Monday was SJ's weekly tutoring session.  I don't know what happened at school today, but he was in a great mood.  When we got home from school, I had Bob go retrieve the neighbor kids I watch and SJ jumped on his 3DS.  He happily played with the one kindergartner until Mrs. Banks arrived.  I was expecting the same whiny behavior we usually gets when she arrives.  Fortunately, the good mood continued and he happily came downstairs.  Mrs. Banks said the happy mood continued throughout the whole session and he was an extremely hard worker.  Yeah!

They started the session with a Reader's Theater called "Is Your Mama a Llama?" by Deborah Guarino.  SJ chose 5 characters to read (Narrator 1, Lloyd the llama, Dave the bat, Fred the swan and Clyde the seal).  Lloyd questions the characters to see who's mama is a llama.  In the end, it is his mama who is a llama.  SJ found the play quite entertaining. 

Next, they read a packet on the history of Mother's Day.  Mrs. Banks said that SJ did much better on this packet than he did on the one last week.  She said initially he wanted to guess at the answers, but she encouraged him to go back into the story and find the answers.  That is a great strategy for him to use.  He often forgets to do that in school, because he is too concerned with being the first one done.  I am glad she insisted he do that. 

Then they worked on a passage about Mother's Day.  SJ was excited that this passage mentioned a similar fact from the previous packet they worked on.  After he was finished reading it, he had to answer four questions about the passage.  Mrs. Banks said he did very well with this activity.

She had SJ work on an I Spy type activity next.  He had to look at the picture and answer questions about the picture.  She said he had some difficulty with it, but with her redirection he was able to answer the 15 questions correctly.  These were some of the questions. 

1. What holiday is it?  Mother's Day 
2. What time of the day is it?  morning
3. What do you think the children are making?  pancakes
4. What are you going to do on Mother's Day?  I will make lunch.

For question 2, SJ wanted to answer the specific time 7:15, but Mrs. Banks wanted him to focus on the part of the day.  She had him look for other clues in the story and he changed his answer to morning.  See the I Spy type picture below.

 

Mrs. Banks then had SJ fill in words for a Mad Lib style story.  Here are his words and the completed story. 

 

                                                           adjective                           fun

                                                           noun, job                           police officer

                                                           noun, plural                       houses

                                                           adjective                            happy

                                                           body part, plural                arms

                                                           verb                                   love

                                                           verb, past tense                  hated

                                                           your least favorite subject reading

                                                           your teacher's name           Mrs. Valentine

                                                           name of person in class     Jacob

                                                           color                                   pink

                                                           adjective                            glad

                                                           noun                                  garden

                                                           verb                                   respect

                                                           your name                         SJ

 

My dear fun mother,

 

I'm glad you're my mom.  You are a good police officer.  You always smell like houses.  Your smile is as happy as the sun.  I can see love in your arms!  When I love up, I want to be just like you.

Here is a poem that I hated.  I wrote it during reading class!  Don't worry, Mrs. Valentine didn't catch me.  My friend Jacob helped me write it. 

Roses are pink.

Peaches are glad.

My mom is great.

She deserves garden!

Respect a happy Mother's Day!

 

Love,

SJ

 

The last thing they worked on was a Mother's Day glyph.  SJ decided the color of the boy's hair (brown-I take wonderful care of our family), the color of the girl's hair (red-he likes to give me a card), the color of the boy's clothes (blue-he enjoys watching television with me), the color of the girl's clothes (pink-he helps me everyday), the color of the title (red-he gives himself a 3 on how well he is behaved), the color of the children's eyes (green-I am an excellent "cooker") and to circle the boy, since he is a boy.  See the completed glyph. 

at home reading tutoring part 23

On Monday, SJ had his weekly reading tutoring session with Mrs. Banks.  He was extremely adamant about not wanting to be tutored anymore.  He said repeatedly, "Mom, PSSA's are over.  I don't need tutored anymore.  Give me a break!"  He must think we were having him tutored just for the PSSA.  We weren't.  We are more concerned about his overall reading comprehension abilities. 

After some reminders of what the consequence would be if he didn't come downstairs, he started his way downstairs.  I told him that he would lose all electronics for two day if he wasn't in the chair by the time I counted backwards from five.  He was in the chair by two. 

Mrs. Banks said he was much more difficult in the second half of the session.  They began with a Reader's Theater.  It was called "The Classroom Mystery" by Colleen Messina.  She said SJ again didn't want to be the Narrator.  He felt the lines were too long for that character.  She said that is fine, but then he would have to read Ms. Frazzle.  Since he doesn't want to read a girl's part, he chose to read the Narrator, as well as Student 1, 2 and 4.  The play was about a teacher who was trying to get her students to act out a historical figure.  Instead, they decided to act out Ms. Frazzle, who is famous to them.

Next, SJ had to look at these pictures and answer the questions. These are the pictures. 

Here are some of the questions he had to answer.

1. The lizards went to Mario's grocery to buy the ingredients for their dinner.  Can you figure out what they made?  pizza
2. How many lizards sat at the table for dinner?  6
3. What holiday are the lizards celebrating?  Cinco De Mayo
4. How many tomatoes can you find in the picture? 7
5. In what country do the lizards live? Mexico, Arizona

At this point of the session, SJ began to be very difficult.  Mrs. Banks said he started fidgeting while they were working on a "What Is It?" activity.  He had to read the page and decide what animal it is by the clues that were given.  She thought he would have a tantrum when he didn't answer the correct animals.  Thankfully, he didn't have a tantrum over not knowing a bat or a walking stick.  He did complain when she asked him to draw an animal he knew.  He wanted to draw a dog, but she wanted him to draw another kind of animal.  She drew a bird and he eventually drew a worm.  He had to then answer some comprehension questions.  He had a lot of trouble with this. She reminded him that if he hadn't been fidgeting and paid attention he would have been able to answer the questions correctly. 

The real fit came next.  She asked him to read a very small passage.  It was story describing a straw.  SJ had to answer a few questions about the passage.  He simply didn't want to do it, so he threw himself on the ground.  She reminded him that she would not be leaving until his work was done.  After a few minutes, he pulled himself together.  He read the passage and answered the questions. 

She moved on to analogies.  SJ loves analogies.  Here are a few of them. 

1. comedian : tells jokes :: magician : performs magic tricks
2. run : flee :: take cover : hide
3. decoy : look alike :: disguise : costume

Next, they did a Mad Lib type story.  SJ had to come up with words, which she inserted into the story.  Here are his words and the completed story. 

adjective-funny

adjective-happy

noun-temple

adjective-mysterious

adjective-bold

noun-Egypt

verb-past tense-wrote

adverb-hardly

color-yellow

adverb-easily

verb-search

noun-body part- brain

noun-body part-heart

verb-past tense-erased

adjective-glad

adjective-mad

adverb-normally

adverb-expertly

adjective-sad

noun-magnify glass

verb-past tense-ate

adjective-confused

 

It was just another day.  Mac led a funny life.  Nothing happy ever happened to him.  He told all his friends that it would always be that way.  What was that sitting on Mac's kitchen table?  It was the size of a temple.  It was wrapped in mysterious bold paper with a yellow Egypt on top.  Mac wrote hardly toward the table.  His gaze never left the box.  Who had left a gift there?  Mac saw a small yellow tag on the box.  He lifted it easily and read it.  "Surprise!" it said.  He lifted the box and gave it a search.  He heard a few faint bumps, yet the box felt empty.  "What is as light as air but can bump the six walls of a box?" Mac asked.  He sat the box on the table.  He scratched his brain.  He rubbed his heart.  He erased at the mystery box.  He did not know who gave him this glad gift.  He did not know why anyone would do something as mad as this.  The only way to find out was to open the box.  Mac reached for the box.  He normally tore the paper off.  He expertly lifted the lid.  Out of the box floated a sad magnify glass!  A note was attached to the ribbon that dangled from it.  Mac read it and ate.  The gift had come from his friend Bree!  He could no longer say that nothing ever happened to him.  Today he had received a confused surprise.  The mystery was solved!

The last thing they worked on was a Mystery May Glyph.  He decided on the color of the detective's hat (blue-he has lost something before, but he found it), the color of the detective's jacket (black-he thinks mystery books are okay), color of the word "Mystery" (orange-he knows a real detective), color of magnifying glass handle (purple-he enjoys watching mystery cartoons), color of the magnifying glass lens (yellow-he likes to solve puzzles), color of the word "It's a" (silver-he would require a notebook and pencil if he was a detective) and what to draw under the word mystery (a 3DS-something he lost in the past but he found it).  Here is his completed glyph.

hanging out with friends for the weekend

It was a full friends' weekend this past weekend.  On Friday, my husband was asked to go over to our friends' house to help him with some home improvements.  He told my husband to bring the boys with him since they are friends with his son.  I was invited as well, but I had errands to run.

When I completed my errands, I went over to our friends' house too.  The boys were outside playing.  I went inside and hung out with my friends (the wives) and the girls were inside as well.  The boys played outside until it got dark.  When the sun set, they turned into video game zombies.  Around 10 p.m., SJ was ready to go home.  We stayed 30 more minutes and SJ and I went home.  He is only good for so much social time.  Bob and my husband stayed until around 11:30. 

The next day we had beautiful weather.  Bob had soccer practice in the early afternoon.  SJ stayed at home with my husband.  He was supposed to be helping my husband with spring gardening, but I wasn't too shocked to find out he didn't help at all.  He was too busy enjoying the weather and playing as an 11 year old should. 

When Bob and I returned, they continued to play outside.  My husband and I decided it would be nice to have a fire that evening.  We invited some friends over to join us.  The boys played until it got dark.  We sat around the fire and roasted marshmallows.  You forget how great a roasted marshmallow is until you eat one.  Then, you have to eat five more. 

SJ wasn't eating them, but he did roast about 4.  He would roast them until they were black.  He would carefully take them off and place them on the table.  We found his charcoal treats later that evening when we were cleaning up. 

Our friends stayed until around 11.  The boys were exhausted from staying up late two days in a row.  They slept in for them (9:30 a.m.) and we had a relaxing Sunday.  It was raining, so they turned back into video game zombies.  In spite of the rainy Sunday, it was a great weekend.