Now that the summer is winding down and the amount of time we can spend outside will decrease, let's all spend the week outside with our children. Sensory crafts and games are a great outdoor activity because cleanup will be kept to a minimum. Some of my favorites include shaving cream art, play dough, water tables, finger paint, sand boxes, and rice tables. However, you are not limited to the sense of touch. Close your eyes and name everything you hear for one minute. Guess what is for snack only by it's taste or smell. Play I Spy during a walk around your neighborhood. These activities may seem trivial but are very useful in your child's development because you are helping them explore the world around them. So get out there and use those senses.

I am not going to be able to post to this blog as often as I used to (5 days a week). I will continue to post but more like 2 days a week because my other blog, Piece of Cake Decorating, is doing so well and taking up more of my time. I plan to be back on track with my posts by next week.

I can't believe school will be starting up again soon. For those of you who will be packing lunches, here is a great coupon find to save you some money this school year.

As a former teacher I am always looking for crafts to do with my son. Not only are they fun but they are so important to brain development and confidence building. Some days it is easy to come up with a craft. Maybe we will play with shaving cream or make our own play dough. Other days are not so easy. I just came across this free site with tons of crafts, especially for the summer months. All you need to do is give them your e-mail and you have free access to all of their crafts.

I wanted to share this find with you. This company runs just like NetFlix. However, instead of renting movies, you rent books. The best part is, you can take as long as you need to read the books because there is no time limit on the rental and it is free shipping for life! If you fall in love with the book and don't want to give it back, no problem, you always have the option to purchase the books. You can also cancel at anytime with no penalty. Click below for more information.

Last Thursday was JM's first session of speech therapy. He spent most of the time playing with the speech pathologist but of course there was an agenda behind everything she did. Her main focus at the moment is getting him to say his vowel sounds. To do this she is doing something called touch therapy. For each sound she has different touches or ques that will get JM to make the mouth movement necessary to say the sound. Luckily JM is very friendly because most children are hesitant to let someone touch their face. After only one visit, everything seems to be going very well.

On top of what he is doing during his therapy sessions, I am working with him at home. I was instructed by the pathologist to play with him as much as I can. During these play times I should command the toys to do actions. For example, I should say things like "drive car" and make the sound "vroom." This should prompt him to talk to his toys when he is playing on his own. I also need to accentuate my mouth movements when I talk to him. I have to say, these two adjustments have made a world of difference already. In the last week, JM has attempted about 3 new words a day and is finally starting to realize that it is easier to talk then grunt to get what he wants. For the first time yesterday he gave me a response to a question that did not require a yes or no answer. I asked him, "do you want water or milk?" and he said, "milk." It is unbelievable how something so simple can make you so proud when you are a parent. My baby feels like he is really growing up now. I'm so excited yet so sad.

This morning I came across this article on ADHD. It is very informative so I wanted to share it with you.

How to Recognize ADHD Symptoms at Every Age
Shared via AddThis

While reading this article I began to realize how frustrated I am with fellow teachers and the medical world for constantly diagnosing kids with disorders. It is starting to feel like we are trying to find all of these reasons why our child is not "normal."

Don't get me wrong. I do believe that there are children out there who legitimately have ADHD but I also believe that that there are children out there being misdiagnosed because their parents and teachers don't want to deal with the tantrums and all of the other frustrating aspects that go along with good old fashion discipline.

So while I am sharing this article with you, please remember that not all ADHD needs to be corrected with medication. I know families who want to fix everything with medicine and now their kids are walking around like little zombies and still don't know how to control their impulses. Sometimes all it takes is a little extra attention. A great and easy solution may be a behavior chart which you can read about in earlier posts.

The best way to teach any child, especially younger children, is through song. Not only does it make learning fun but the constant repetition helps your child to retain information. In my case, I use song to help my son with his speech development. When he tries to sing along, he is learning to make the mouth movements he has trouble making. I wish I had done this more when he was younger. If I had, he might not be so behind with his speech.

You may not realize it, but there are so many opportunities throughout the day to sing to your child. Here are just a few...

1. During play time
2. When washing hands
3. While cleaning the house
4. Taking a bath
5. Cooking
6. Eating

I think you get the point. Also, remember that you can sing about anything. Sometimes I just sing the names of the people in our family. We sing about so many different things that JM makes up his own songs now. This is a huge step for him because up until a few month ago he was not talking at all.

Most importantly, you don't have to be the next American Idol to sing to your child. They really don't care how you sound. I am probably the worst singer I know and it is hard for me to sing in front of anyone, even my husband. Not incorporating more music in my lessons when I was a teacher was probably one of my biggest down falls but by putting my inhibitions aside, I am able to help both of my children. So go for it, sing your heart out.