Today we started with the o-octopus pictures pocket. Becca really seemed to enjoy coloring today. We reviewed the o pictures. We also looked up octopus on the Internet, discussed features, and wrote facts on our octopus for ongoing discussion. Today we practiced cutting with scissors. We also colored a Cinderella picture focusing on target areas with different colors. We are working towards getting the color in more controlled, smaller areas. Becca worked with wooden letters for a thick-string lacing activity. It was a lot of work to string the letters. We named each letter, said its sound, and said some words that go with each letter. Becca then worked very hard using her motor and problem solving skills to pull all of the letters back off. Becca did her second m-a-t card today. She put the t in the middle and self corrected by moving it to the final spot when she went to put the "a" on. However, she ended up putting the "a" in the first spot. I absolutely don't have the expectation that she'll spell the words correctly, however I'm really seeing that she is thinking during the process. She works hard to get the letters straight in the squares. When she is moving letters, she is thinking about what she's seen before and what she knows about the sounds.
We also completed a matching activity in which she had to find the two identical pictures on the line of 5 or 6 pictures that match. She needed a lot of verbal instruction and focus to find them, and she did on 3 of 5 of them.
Becca watched a children's video about numbers and counting during her snack. I counted items and repeated lines in the video and encouraged Becca to as well. I have heard her rote count 1-10, but counting of active items has been very limited and inconsistent in our activities.
We were treated to a story from a 3rd grade student today. She read us a Cookie Monster shapes book. Becca enjoyed it so much, she asked to hear it again. We also enjoyed the "Mickey's Birthday" book again and a non-fiction book "Little Elephants". Becca and I used our arms like a trunk and made elephant sounds. We also read an emergent reader "Hansel and Gretel" to add to her collection and reviewed "See the Animals".
Behavioral report: Becca had a very strong morning. She was attentive for long periods for the first half of the morning. She was engaged with the letter block lacing activity for about 25 minutes. Around 10:45, she started to become less tolerant for work activities. She would randomly yell (yes, yell) out "I want to go home". This was even during more favored activities and was very sporadic. She did use her hands today instead of words at one point. I was looking down and writing her name on a paper and she hit me in the face to yell that she wanted to go home. It wasn't as if she had tried to get my attention and was ignored, she had't said anything before that. I clearly saw this as an attempt just to get my attention and she forgot to use her words, not an attempt to inflict pain. I just reminded her to use her words and that it's not nice to hit.
Potty status: I took her without her request at 9:00 and she went. She asked to go again about 11:00 and received treasure box! She got a monster finger puppet and watched the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song as a treat. I confirmed with Becca's mom this morning, that yes, it is good to allow Becca to hold herself and see if she will ask to use the bathroom.