Videos

Many people have asked how we do things, so I thought I would put together a video. Today was not the best day for videoing but I am not sure when I will have another chance.

Normally I aim for a time where there are little to no distractions so I can focus on one child at a time and I find a quiet place so they do not keep getting distracted.
That however was not going to happen today. But this does give you a general idea of how we do things.
Keeping in mind that both Veronika and Gavyn are only 2 years old I think they are doing very well.
Yes they can get distracted, and yes sometimes they do not want to do something but, I keep them moving along. Sometimes we have to change things up, sing songs, or do whatever we need to so we can work for up to 30mins-1 hour at a time. Sometimes they get bored with what we are doing so we need to find something new, or sometimes we just need to take a little snack/drink break.

Gavyn has a harder time staying on task and focusing. I am not sure if it is just because that is his personality, or if it a boy thing. Whatever it is, we just work with it and work through it. We know he IS learning, and while it might not be at the pace of Veronika, he is still doing great and we are very proud of him. 

Crazy Busy

So, since my last post we have journeyed to another country, spent three weeks there, and gotten home and have been adjusting to having two 13 year old girls with Down syndrome at home. Our adoption is not complete. We still have two more trips to go, but thankfully they were able to fly home with us on a visitor's visa.
Since they are not adopted yet we are not able to share them with you at this time but by October of this year we should be able to!!

Finding our groove and figuring out when to do things has been interesting, but somehow we make it work.
Here are some of the things we worked on today with Veronika and Gavyn.

 crumpling paper to use as a flower

 using glue

 signing flower, and counting the flowers

 Working on her ABCs matching upper case and lower case letters

 For this, we did not work on recognizing the numbers or quantities, it was just about being able to put the pieces together

 Gavyn was very happy about making his four flowers

Working on reading. Since Veronika and Gavyn are not talking yet, I read the words while they point to the words as I say them. If they get a bit distracted and just want to bang the pointer, I will do hand over hand with them

Here is a video of Gavyn doing some of his signs. I should have asked him to sign cracker last since after that sign he was only focusing on wanting a cracker, lol

Veronika is babbling and saying bye bye now!!

Preschool Everywhere

This month we have had a chance to get out and about with our learning. 

With two year olds it can not just be all work and no play. A lot of the time, learning comes from play. 

We took a trip to the Children's Museum and Veronika and Gavyn had so much time playing and learning about water and how it works by moving the little white plastic plates that acted as a dams. 

Next we went to check out the dig pit. It was wonderful because instead of sand that fills your shoes, it was made out of recycled tires. They got to practice digging, scooping, and filling their buckets using different tools. 

 

We also got enough sun that we could go hang out at a local park. Gavyn and Veronika worked their muscles by hanging on the bars.  

 And walking up and down ramps

 And walking on a balance beam

We still found some time to work on some fine motor skills with coloring.

 Some cognitive skills with working on letters. I would show Veronika two letters and ask for  her to hand me the letter I asked for, or to point to the letter I wanted. This also worked on her listening skills. She did great! 

 Gavyn loves to look at books and took full advantage of some extra time before bed to look at some.

 

 Veronika enjoyed looking at this book and signing some of the words/pictures she saw. 

They are both working so hard, but we always make sure there is time for play and fun and just being little kids. They love to do flash cards and look at books so they make teaching them so easy. 

So proud of them!

Short One

Our house has been a bit crazy lately planning for our upcoming adoption of two 12 year old girls who have Down syndrome so we have not been able to post as often as I would like. So here are just a couple of things we have been doing lately.

Number Puzzles

 And color sorting! She has gotten so good with her colors that she will usually sign the color before she puts it down. I tried to make it a bit more challenging by putting the red, orange, yellow, and white close to each other but it didn't phase her a bit! She was able to sort the colors all on her own!.

 Matching blocks to the picture

 Mommy asked if she could copy a tower mommy made and she did!

Gavyn did great matching the blocks to the pictures!

 Gavyn worked with both hands to put the beads into the muffin tin cups

We read books ALL the time and one of their favorite books is "We're going on a Bear Hunt". Normally they act out almost the whole entire story while we are reading in the rocking chair, but today since they were sitting so close to each other they were a bit distracted. It was so cute thou, I just had to post it...

 Working on putting puzzles together. The goal was not match the letter to the picture in this case but to build the coordination of putting two pieces together. Up until now, all the pieces just fit inside a puzzle cut out, so actually having to put something together that can not just slide together meant they would have to work to figure out how to insert on piece into the other.

Snowed In

It has been a bit crazy lately, we have been snowed in for the last several days and while that would normally give us more time to work, it has meant everyone has been home, making it harder for Veronika and Gavyn to have the quiet they need to keep all the distractions out so they could focus on their work. 

 One thing we never have to try, is to get them to read books, they LOVE books!! And this is how we will find them several times throughout the day.

 Veronika trying to do the letters in sign language

 Matching colors

 Working on pointing and then giving me the card I have asked for. 

 Gavyn working on color sorting

 Matching letters

 Matching words

 Reading words and then doing the action- Gavyn's turn

now Veronika's turn

 Of course, what would be the point of being snowed in if you could not go out and play in it? Gavyn did not care for the snow at all.

Veronika on the other hand loved it!!

The rest of the time they have just spent playing just like any other little kids. 

They really enjoyed wearing their hats and playing with their baby dolls while having a pretzel picnic.