Follow the link to see the Calgary Herald’s photo gallery of the ribbon cutting ceremony at McKenzie Towne!  http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/photos/Providence+School+opens+McKenzie+Towne/6117286/story.html

With many schools having open houses starting this month parents are starting to think about kindergarten and grade one!  Some school readiness skills can be easily practiced at home to prepare your child for the big jump!

Many kids, especially boys are not particularly motivated by fine motor activities, which play a large part of the kindergarten/grade one day.  Fine motor activities however, can be very fun!

Getting kids involved in cooking/baking activities encourages fine motor skills by working on controlled scooping, pouring, stirring and kneading.  Utensil use such as a plastic knife, preschool scissors, cookie cutters and pitchers are all good tools for developing fine motor skills. 

Playing with playdough using a variety of playdough tools like rollers, cutters, tweezers and tongs are also great ways to work on hand skills.

Buying large coloring sheets from the grocery store and putting them up on the wall or an easel is a great and motivating way to work on tracing, coloring and refining pencil grasps.

Paper and pencil tasks can also be done in many different positions, not necessarily sitting at a desk!  Try lying on the floor propped up on elbows or attaching painting or coloring sheets on to the wall or easel.

1. Don’t always have the child correct the sound they mispronounced.  Instead, repeat the word making the sound they mispronounced louder and longer than the others in the word.
2. Read books with the target sound in them (e.g. Good night moon for  the “g” sound).
3. Read books and change the names of the characters to include sounds they frequently mispronounce. 
4. Create special word lists of 5 mispronounced words and have the child only correct those words. 
5. Practice the target sound for short periods of time (i.e. 5 min) throughout the day (e.g. say the sound as you are cleaning up).

The Alberta Edition of Safe and Secure: Six Steps to Creating a Good Life for People with Disabilities is available, free of charge, at all London Drugs pharmacies.  It is an excellent resource and guidebook for creating the future that you want for your child with a disability.