When Bubs was just a baby, I read a parenting book written by a mom raising a boy with ADHD. At the time, I didn’t know much about ADHD. I remember thinking how incredibly hard that must be—parenting a child who never slows down, who struggles to focus, who acts before thinking. I had no idea I was reading a glimpse of my own future. Bubs—our ...
Autism
Simple Sensory Strategies to Help Kids Focus and Calm Down
Have you ever watched a child spiral into a whirlwind of energy or meltdown, unable to focus or slow down? I’ve been there. Whether it’s sensory sensitivity, ADHD, or just an overwhelming day, sometimes kiddos need a little extra help to calm down and regulate their emotions. Through occupational therapy, I learned two simple strategies that ...
How Chores Can Help Reduce Child Anxiety
Growing up on a farm, work was a significant part of my life. Whether it was loading livestock into the trailer, preserving vegetables from the garden, or cutting thistles when the grass was waist-high, there was always something to be done. It took everyone working together to stay on top of it. However, I believe that working together has many ...
How to Teach a Child about Sadness
Teaching children about emotions is an important part of preschool and elementary learning; thus, it is a large part of the ABCJesusLovesMe Preschool Curriculum. While emotions, like joy and excitement, are fun to teach, covering a negative-feeling emotion like sadness can be intimidating. But by naming the emotion and talking about the feelings ...
How Visual Perception Activities Would Have Helped Her
I thought we were done with diagnoses. Isn't Autism, ADHD, and Executive Function Disorder enough? I guess God has other plans. Let me back up a little. Things began falling apart for Sweet Pea in the 2nd grade. Her reading level decreased, her test scores dropped, and her spelling was atrocious. But she continued to be at the ...
How to Teach Your Child to Receive a Gift
My kiddos loved to open presents when they were young. I cringed as each bow came off. Sounds crazy that I wouldn’t enjoy watching my young children open gifts. But in reality, I feared birthdays and Christmases wondering what shocking statements my children would make upon unwrapping a gift. This was especially true of Bubs and Little Man ...
Is Your Child Meeting Pragmatic Milestones?
I remember it like it was yesterday. Bubs was laying on the floor, playing with a friend's baby. He looked at me, circled his face with his finger, and said, "I don't know what this means." He knew that the baby was telling him something but didn't understand what her face was sharing. After talking about her eyes, mouth, and body language, he ...
Do You Understand Pragmatics?
Pragmatics. Depending on your education and experiences, pragmatics may or may not be a word that you are familiar with. Even with my education background, it wasn't until we were neck deep in Bubs' delays that I began to understand what pragmatics is and why it is so important. What is Pragmatics? Pragmatics is the study of language ...
Does Early Intervention Even Help?
Today I was reading through some past blog posts. What a journey it has been, especially with our oldest son after his dramatic start in life! I found this post from February 12, 2009, written when Bubs was 4.5 years old. Several people shared their opinions on our decision to place Bubs in Occupational Therapy. One of the negative comments ...
New: Visual Perception Curriculum
In January 2009, I was introduced to a developmental term on a personal level as an optometrist explained yet another severe delay my son was battling. Hearing it from an optometrist one would assume it concerned his visual acuity which refers to how clearly he saw things and whether or not he needed glasses to fix the visual ...