Santino was absent.

Santino was absent today.

Santino was absent today.

This afternoon, Santino worked on making complete sentences using nouns, verbs, and pronouns tiles. With prompts and assistance, Santino arranged the words in their proper sequence to create a meaningful sentence or request. Santino then went outside with me to water some plants and we reviewed what they need to live. I identified the parts of the plant as we watered. When we went back in the classroom, Santino was afforded hand-over-hand assistance on a cut-and-paste activity about plants. We used different cut-out shapes and he placed them in their corresponding parts on the paper. We also went around the room and selected different items that would lend itself to our plant drawing. Santino enjoyed adding the drops of glue onto the paper, given help to hold his hand steady and apply the proper force. He then chose his colors and shapes to make a design using the articles we had selected. Finally, Santino was shown four different parts (the flower, stem, leaves, and roots) and joined me as I identified and labeled each. We finished up the day on equipment outdoors and then going on a walking tour, exploring some different classrooms. Santino enjoys looking at the different decorations and swiveling in the chair, which also avails us with an opportunity to work on positional words and actions.

Santino helped arrange the items from his lunch on the table, per my request. When asked if he wanted to eat using a spoon or fork, he asked for a fork for the first time. His lunch was pureed potatoes and he finished it in its entirety without any difficulty using the fork. After his main meal, Santino requested his snack of Fruit Loops cereal. I saw that there was an opened and uneaten vanilla pudding on another table which I understand he had requested in his prior class but that he did not eat. We will continue to broaden his food repertoire as well as the people with whom he will eat.

Santino was absent today.

Santino was absent today.

This afternoon, Santino was in excellent spirits and receptive to attempting activities suggested. We worked on a numbers activity, connecting numbers in sequence, on which Santino did well on sequencing the numbers 1 -20 with minimal prompts. We also continued to work on strengthening his grip using sensory-motor manipulatives and activities which included hand-over-hand painting, writing, and the use of scissors. Santino continues to require practice in these tasks. He was afforded hand-over-hand and physical prompts to help him place his fingers correctly in the scissor’s loops in order to provide necessary stability and strength. I continue to work on skills involving fine motor, bilateral, and eye-hand coordination while addressing academic skills. Santino enjoyed watering plants with me this afternoon when we went outdoors. He especially enjoyed turning the water on me until I grabbed the hose from him; he found my reaction hysterical and laughed uproariously. As we were working, we discussed what plants need to live. He repeated four main parts of a plant after me when identifying them but was unable to do so independently when queried. We will work on this activity - labeling the parts of a plant - in tomorrow's class.

Santino sustained social greet with me upon initial sight and we had a nice exchange of engaged and prolonged eye contact. Today, Santino had alphabet pasta for lunch - much like Spaghetti-O's. I expected more resistance to eating it, but Santino consumed about one fourth of the portion. However, it should be noted here that this was largely dependent on my verbal prompts to "take a bite." With his other smoother pureed foods, Santino readily eats the entire contents of his thermos independently. However, I am very satisfied that he ate some of his lunch, as it was of a much different consistency than his usual fare, and I am seeing better acceptance of alternative food options this year with less resistance to trying new foods. I am also continuing to reinforce this progress with a lot of verbal praise, along with specifying the reason why I am acknowledging and rewarding his performance.

Santino was absent