This school year, T is going to co-op one day a week. He is taking three enrichment classes: Spanish, Art, and Music.
His schedule is:
Welcome 9:00am- 9:30am
Spanish 9:30am-10:20am
Art 10:20am-11:10am
Lunch 11:10am-11:40am
Music 11:40am-12:30pm
Yes, he eats lunch at co-op, which is packed in this nifty Cars lunchbox!
T absolutely loves co-op! I'm sure a lot of it is getting to be with the other children. Also, he really likes to wear his backpack! :)
For those of you who don't know me, I should introduce the main character of my story. His name is Talks-with-Hands.
Being big into scouting (Order of the Arrow, in particular), his Papa (aka, Daddy) named him; it's his Indian name. To simplify things (and to reduce the number of keystrokes necessary to type his name!), I've shortened it to "T."
Anyway, T does "talk" quite a bit with his hands...for two reasons, I think. The first reason, and probably the main reason, is that he has Down syndrome. He is not super verbal, and he uses "signs" oftentimes to communicate.
The second reason is that he used to watch the television show, Oobi, on Nick Jr. Oobi and his friends are real hand puppets ~ hands with eyes...and sometimes a hat, wig, scarf, etc., also. The "hands" have adorable personalities, and they "talk" to one another. T likes to make his hands "talk" to each other, too. Sometimes, his hand even sports a pair of eyes from his Mr. Potato Head set! :)
My sweet sister and her wonderful daughter came over this afternoon and surprised me with treats from Dunkin' Donuts for my birthday. We had such fun sitting around the kitchen table, eating our doughnuts, drinking our to-go cups of coffee, and laughing ourselves silly.
Family is a good thing! ~Love you guys. :)
Our schoolroom and connected bathroom have a jungle theme. Our son, Talks-with-Hands, is partial to monkeys, so it works out well. :)
Each year on T's first day back to (home) school, I give him a card and a gift...usually a stuffed monkey. This year was no different. I suppose it's become a sort of tradition maybe??
I carried the monkey idea bit further this year. T completed a week of monkey-themed activities. Hey, he even enjoyed some monkey-themed meals! For the activities, I primarily used the Letter M for Monkey unit from Confessions of a Homeschooler. For the meals, I actually came up with the ideas on my own...after looking at lots and lots of fabulous Muffin Tin Meals! (You all are sooo creative!)
Breakfast...
monkey shapes cut from French toast, holding banana slices, swinging from a fruit roll-up vine...and milk in a monkey cup.
Lunch...
a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a wrap (from Little Lovely, with monkey stickers added), and Cheez-It Scrabble Junior crackers....Yes, I know the J is missing; I searched through the entire new box of crackers, and no J.
...and a bottle of water with a wrap.
For dessert...
a cupcake. ~A little lame, isn't it? I didn't have any couldn't find the can of white icing (which I intended to tint green), and I had neither the inclination nor the time to make icing, so I opted for powdered sugar and sprinkles (and monkey face fruit snacks). T was happy. I guess that's what matters most. :)
Happy "Back to School"!
BTW, check out some other muffin tin meals....
I decided I need a blogspot. I don't know why...like I really need to be on the computer more than I already am! :P Anyway ~ Here goes....
