Ways to Help Break Your Child's Training Wheels Habit
A while back I solicited for some responses for the best way to ween a youngster off of training wheels. Part of my motivation was my own frustration in teaching my oldest (now 8). I chronicled part of the struggle here (http://www.oaklandcountymoms.com/mommy-diary/658-whats-so-easy-about-riding-a-bike). I received so many different responses and it really helped when the time came this spring to turn my daughter loose without the benefit of two extra wheels. The responses helped me understand that it's not necessarily the method; it has a lot more to do with the personality type of the child. I'm going to list some of the responses and hopefully you can find a similar personality type from the responses and match them up for your best approach to kicking the training wheel habit.
"My son was easy. I lucked out. He's a pretty tough kid and he seemed really driven to shake the training wheels and I knew it wasn't going to be that difficult for him. I set him up on a long stretch of sidewalk (wearing jeans, some pads and, of course, a helmet). A few quick runs of him skidding or lightly crashing into the soft grass on the side of the sidewalk and he figured it out on his own." - Kelly L.
"My son avoided taking his training wheels off like the plague. I talked to him about it and he seemed genuinely scared that he was going to seriously injure himself. He's very shy. Those fears were real for him so I wasn't going to try to belittle him or say 'you're acting scared for no reason'. Instead, I coaxed him into it gently. We padded him up and took him to a soft, gently sloping grass hill at a park. After a couple of soft falls, he started getting a little frustrated. Instead of forcing him into anything, my husband and I told him 'great progress, we'll try again tomorrow'. We repeated this until he was ready. He definitely needed positive encouragement." - Rebecca C
Continue reading: Ways to Help Break Your Child's Training Wheels Habit
School's IN Diary: Week 4
Maybe it's not ideal in their eyes. Maybe they'd rather be swimming at a beach up north. But, you can't disagree that incorporating a school like setting into the summer schedule provides structure into each day. Kids love structure and routine, and having the daily school work with the different stations has kept my kids busy and in a nice routine. I noticed they handled themselves better when they knew what to expect. I was also happy to see the discipline they showed me this week.
Autism Diary Chapter VIII: Don't let summer slow progress
When I first took an activist's approach to improving my son's social skills and coordination in hopes of mainstreaming him in time for Kindergarten, I dove right into alternative therapies, OT and help from educators. I remember having feelings of "now what?" when pre-school and his school programs let out for the summer. I wanted (and needed) to keep the progress going at lightning speed to reverse some of the symptoms of his Asperger's.
Now it's a few years later and I realize that the doledrums of summer don't necessarily mean a halt to progress. If anything, my son's progress gets amped up even more over the long summer months. That's not because we stopped seeking treatment or stopped working with him. Summer is the perfect time to give ASD sufferers a break from the scholastic stresses and the break gives them more time to hone in on therapies that aren't as socially intensive as a school setting.
Continue reading: Autism Diary Chapter VIII: Don't let summer slow progress
How to heal a scraped knee
It's knee scraping season. A scraped knee might look like a minor injury, but it can be painful and may seem like major trauma to your child. With my daughter, it's like the end of the world:).
Here are a few simple tips to help your child's knee scrape injury:
Like other minor wounds, when treating a scraped knee, you should first stop any bleeding by applying pressure to the wound with a bandage or clean cloth. Next, rinse the wound with water and wash the area around the wound with soap and water. Try to remove any dirt, rocks, or other debris from the wound.
School's IN Diary: Week 3
I still can't believe that we're into week 3 already. With how fast this is going, I am totally expecting to wake up one morning and have it be the first day of the 2010-2011 school year.
This week was rough. The neighbors have not really worked out as the schedules have been crazy to try and sync with all the summer activities and vacations. Plus, it was a busy week with doctors appointments so we pulled a 6-day school week and spread it out through Saturday so we could fit it all in.
