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Back to school tips

As many of you know I teach two classes for children with special needs.  One of them is for children with downs syndrone and the other is for children with autism.  One of the things that I have learned over the past few years is that the time the parents spend with these children preparing them to meet the new situations they will face is really the same thing all of us would do well to do as parents of typical children. 

Here is a link to a set of suggestions for getting ready to go back to school that is perfect for typical or special needs children.  I hope that you find them good reminders.  Also if you know anyone that has a child that would like to take part in our classes please refer them to us and we will see how we can fit them in our program.  These special classes are extremely beneficial to the students and those that help me with them.

Back to school tips

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Teamwork discussion

super-momTeamwork is our word of the month. There are times when we must work alone, but most of us enjoy having the help and company of a team to accomplish tasks. Teams make the tasks easier and more fun as general rule, unless of course someone on the team has an attitude of being better than the others or does not play full out.
A team is never about just one person – it is about the team and the power that comes from the concerted effort of a group of individuals. While teamwork can be used in different parts of our life, home, school, work and recreation, I believe our most important team is our family.
How do we approach tasks at home? Continue reading “Teamwork discussion”

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Confidence & body language

Our body language conveys the message of our thoughts and it can be read by almost everyone. We know how it works. Chin up, shoulders back, chest out, brisk walk, strong voice – all convey the confident attitude.
On the other side of the coin chin down, shoulders slumped, slow walk, dragging your feet, weak voice all convey an lack of confidence. The interesting thing here is that our physiology has an effect on our emotions and confidence. If we carry our body in the manner that demonstrates no confidence we will have less.
But you say I don’t feel confident. Then try this. Put your body in a confident position, smile and visualize yourself doing the task you are not so confident about. Then as you approach the task keep that smile, hold that body position, and allow your friends and parents to encourage you. You will be surprised at the results.

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Tolerance: Confronting our own prejudices

In every characteristic we discuss we always end up with the thought that we as parents and role models must model the behavior that we would like to see in our children.  But with tolerance we will begin with that concept.  Our very first step is to examine our own prejudices and stereotyping beliefs.  None of us have grown up without being affected by this.
Even if we are not aware of them, in some way our children see through all of that and can see these communicated attitudes. (usually quite unintentionally)   To begin with don’t try to determine your own prejudice, examine what you saw as a child in your parents.  What were some of your parents prejudices?  Now when we have that list, examine yourself – Do any of these remain with you today?
Take time to reflect on how you may be projecting them to your children.  Then take the steps of tempering them so that they do not become your children’s prejudice.

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Gift Wrap Project

Last night we took a group of students and parents to the Sheraton Hotel to do gift wrapping with the Jr. League.  For the second year in a row now we have wrapped gifts for the 234 foster children in our county so that they will have a holiday season that will bring some joy to their lives.
With 3 to 4 gifts contributed for each child by the citizens of AA County, it is quite a chore.  But with all that we have learned on the mat in our martial arts training about focus and discipline we were able to complete all the wrapping in just one hour.  Here are some photos from our evening.

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Acts of Kindness

We reached our goal of 1000 Acts of Kindness and surpassed it.  At the end of the day on last Saturday we had accumulated from our students, parents and friends.

1825 Acts of Kindness

Now the question is, Can we do more?   I believe that as a community we could become known as one of the kndenst communities in the nation.  It does us and our kids so much good to think about the act of being kind.  I am going to leave our form up for you to fill in your act of kindness.
Just think if you did one act per week that would be 52 acts of kindness in a year.  What if your family of 4 each did the same?  In one year you would accumulate 208 acts of kindness.  If you got 4 of your friends families to do the same that would be 1040 Acts in one year.  If they each got 4 friends families to do the same we now have an additional 3328 acts and the numbers keep growing.
Would you do an act of kindness each week? each day?  Lets do this together and have an impact on our community!