rebound from a bad day

Today I want to share something about bad days, days which follow major meltdowns or escalated behaviours where anyone involved is not equipped to deal with in a proactive manner. These days can be daunting to us, postponing progress on current goals by 3 to 6 days at least, and sometimes those goals get lost and we have to change up the pace. So today I decided that this doesn't work if I am going to be actively homeschooling and being therapeutic. The bad day was yesterday, it does not have to be today. I have found an awesome way to capitalize on special interests and rewarding the positive behaviours. We can look past the mistakes and meltdowns if we just create more positivity.

I recently found a sticker collection book at the drug store, licensed for Angry Birds (convenient!). Now for remarkable feats of good behaviour (unexpected and/or self-initiated mindfulness of others) 'D' gets a sticker in his album. He is the type to be very possessive over his belongings, and needed a collection. This seemed like a good start in both directions. Currently he is quietly examining this book and all of its empty squares numbered for further stickers. This is his first one, and he has the personality that will get more in there as soon as he realises what was the catalyst in himself, by then I hope to have enough in supply.

Another part of his day, his renewed interest in retro cartoons. So we sit together and chat about what is happening. An admirable trait he has is that he will converse but in doing so he gives questioning looks, hoping for a correction of his vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar. He wants to be understand of course. So these moments of togetherness and a subject ahead of us, gives plenty of opportunity to have these conversations where the material is concrete, there is a story being told, and we have images. Perfect for our fairy tale creative little 'D'.

1st Grade Math

Here, we have our introduction to first grade math. He would be in first grade come September, so I'm eager to see how he does with this over the summer. With academics he's usually on target with skills and age appropriateness, so if he goes beyond that, we will all be very impressed. Particularly if he retains his creativity and imaginative play.