Santino arrived to the program in a timely fashion, as usual, but his mother explained that he was tired following a very active morning and the car ride to the program. She also requested that I continue to make every effort to have him remain hydrated, and drink water, if at all possible during the after session. Santino was brought to the classroom to put away his book bag, but he was initially not happy with this plan and threw a tray of coins on the floor. He was spoken to in a firm but gentle fashion and afforded hand-over-hand assistance to pick up the pieces and place them back in their rightful compartments on the tray. I attempted to work with the communication book, but Santino showed little interest. He did approximate this teacher's name after it was repeatedly spoken to him while showing him her picture and via pointing, gestures, and verbal promoting techniques. Santino did appear a bit tired but he was not interested in lying down to rest or being read a story. We worked on some pattern replication and visual-motor tasks before going outdoors for a brief time.
Santino's behavior perked up outdoors and he enjoyed the slide and jumping up and down the bridge, replicating this teacher's movements and giggling. He added mulch to the slide as he went down it, which increased his velocity, and he clearly loved the increased speed, landing on his feet each time. We practiced hand-washing two times during the hour, and Santino followed physical directives that were accompanied with verbal prompts to perform the steps involved; improvement was noted in the speed and accuracy of performance (Florida Standard SP.PK12.10.1b). While Santino did not want to drink from the fountain, a cup or his bottle, he did drink from the water faucet during hand-washing. Santino did not express interest in eating during my time with him; however he did enjoy playing with some mini marshmallows that were shown to him and enjoyed the textured taste when he put them to his mouth. Santino is interested exploring and examining objects with different feels and surfaces, so it was not surprising that he enjoyed working with the mini marshmallows, which we also counted aloud together while he experienced their smell, taste, and texture.