Friday, November 19, 2010

Em's New OT Group



Miss Em started a new OT group. It's really great. We meet once a week, for about an hour. There are five or six children. It is like a day of school condensed into this hour. We begin with a song to welcome everyone. The child is to take their photo from the ground and attach it to a board. Here they are learning to recognize their picture and follow simple procedure. Miss Em doesn't have a photo of herself yet but there is a picture of a baby , she takes it with some guidance and puts it on the board.  Next is music and dancing. no problem there. After that is circle time. Everyone sits for a story. Small issue here about actually sitting for the story. This week she decided to stand in front of the person reading for a better view. 


Next is craft time. I really thought this was going to be Miss Em's favorite part.  The children all sit at pint sized table and chairs. This was Em's first time sitting like this. She looked like such a big girl.  The first time we were there the craft was a tree with a nest in it. All pre-cut pieces of construction paper. Miss Em was "supposed" to glue them onto another piece of paper and add real leaves and acorns and of course the nest. All with help from me.  Well she decided this project was for the birds. The paper was tossed over her shoulder, the leaves were crumbled into minute pieces all over the floor and the acorns, she decided looked good enough to eat! So much for craft number one! This week I really had high hopes for craft time. We were painting!!! What kid doesn't like a good roll in paint!  She looked so cute in her little smock. 


As the children took their seats around the table I new that unfortunately this craft was about to become another fiasco. I just assumed they would be using brushes or little fingers to paint with but, no, no, no! They were using big beautiful APPLES cut in half. 
I cringed because I could see Miss Em already foaming at  the mouth. Em loves apples! She sat patiently as paper was passed to each child, and yellow and red dishes of paint were placed on the table. She waited for her turn to be handed an apple, and as all the other kids were preparing to dip that big apple in paint, my Sweetie delighted in eating her craft!!! Which immediately prompted the other kids to eat theirs too! And yes craft time turned into snack time. They had to hurry to bring out a dish of sliced apples that the kids could eat, but it was too late for Em. She had no interest in painting. 
I can't wait to see what they have planned next.

10 comments:

MyBulletinBoard said...

I'm with Em. Don't wreck her creativity with the dinky programs. These little classes are not all they're cracked up to be. "Education" is one of the big reasons I retired from teaching early. Conformity is not education. I gave up special education when I had a special kid. Listen to your heart; don't be afraid of it. Good luck, Liz

Tina said...

This is hilarious....I can imagine Saira in one of these classes, total disaster if you ask me. Glad to know I'm not alone when it comes to our children doing exactly what they want.

mandd3 said...

I'm with LizBeth! You can't keep Em down! I just love how she caused a riot at the OT school. Really, what were they thinking? Apples to paint with - maybe when their 5. Of course their going to want to eat them. Isn't OT mainly about teaching kids how to use objects appropriatly? Go get em girl!

Scrappy quilter said...

I'm with LizBeth as well. Em will do her own thing in her own time. She loves apples and knows exactly what they are for. I don't blame her one bit for eating that apple, I would have to. And like mandd3 said....Isn't OT mainly about teaching kids how to use objects appropriatly? We loved OT when both boys went. I have to tell you, not once did they use an apple to paint with!! Hugs

Rochelle said...

Oh my goodness you had me seriously laughing out loud on this one!
We painted with food today too, Alayna thought about eating it for a minute but we had already had pumpkin pie for a snack so the celery, peppers, lemons and corn on the cob weren't overly appetizing.
Can't wait to see what the next group holds.

Runningmama said...

Ha Ha! Afterall...apples are meant to be eaten...not used for painting...Em was just showing everyone what they were supposed to do with the apples, way to go Em!

Bulldogma said...

Too cute and funny! Em is smart! Heck, she knows what an apple is for! Maybe next time they should try actual stamps instead of wasting perfectly good apples?

FairyLover said...

Em sure knows what she's doing. I hope she never loses this creativity.

Kathi My Blog

MyBulletinBoard said...

I was just reading this to Hubs. It occurs to me that Em has real leadership potential. Notice how all the other kids followed her. She knows what to do with an apple. She led by example. Don't you dare let them give her a bad grade in this class. She's a doll!

Melissa said...

This totally cracked me up! And I'm with Em, apples are for eating!