SibShops Workshop in Needham

Do you have a child with special needs? Are you interested in getting support for his or her siblings? Needham Youth Services is excited to present “Sibshops,” a FREE workshop for siblings of children with special needs. “Sibshops” is a place for siblings to obtain peer support and education, in a recreational setting. This workshop is for siblings ages 8 to 11 years old, of children with special needs. This particular workshop will focus on siblings of children with Autism spectrum disorders, including Asperger’s and PDD. Priority is given to Needham residents, however, we currently expect to be able to accept non-Needham residents. The workshop will be held on Wednesday, February 19th, 9:30am to 12:30pm. To apply or for more information, please contact Adina Alpert, Clinical Intern at Needham Youth Services at 781-455-7500 extension 268 or by email at aalpert@needhamma.gov. An informational flyer and registration materials are attached. Please note the registration deadline has passed, but we are still taking applications.

The Importance of Play

I love my teens! Everyone hears about how much I love these years with them, being able to converse and share interests. But I won't deny that I miss playing with them. Although we still find time to play cards and board games, I miss the magical play that transforms a playground into a jungle, a couch into a life raft, or a Barbie dollhouse into Hogwarts! In these cold winter months, I want to remind us to put down the phones and iPads, turn off the televisions, leave the laundry baskets for a little while and play, play, play with our children.

A couple of great quotes from a Peter Gray article (in British spelling and all):

"The most important skills that children everywhere must learn in order to live happy, productive, moral lives are skills that cannot be taught in school. Such skills cannot be taught at all. They are learned and practised by children in play. These include the abilities to think creatively, to get along with other people and cooperate effectively, and to control their own impulses and emotions."

and

 "All young children are creative. In their play and self-directed exploration they create their own mental models of the world around them and also models of imaginary worlds. Adults whom we call geniuses are those who somehow retain and build upon that childlike capacity throughout their lives. Albert Einstein said his schooling almost destroyed his interest in mathematics and physics, but he recovered it when he left school. He referred to his innovative work as “combinatorial play”. He claimed that he developed his concept of relativity by imagining himself chasing a sunbeam and catching up with it, and then thinking about the consequences. We can’t teach creativity, but we can drive it out of people through schooling that centres not on children’s own questions but on questions dictated by an imposed curriculum that operates as if all questions have one right answer and everyone must learn the same things."

Link to the complete article: Give childhood back to children: if we want our offspring to have happy, productive and moral lives, we must allow more time for play, not less by Peter Gray

"The Bully Too Close to Home"

Beautiful snow floating softly outside, a second cup of coffee on Boxing Day, came across this blog post from Hands Free MAMA: The Bully Too Close to Home. It is beautifully written, please take the time to take a look~ Who among us wouldn't want to be able to say this about our child(ren)? "I was captivated by the utter joy on her[/his] face."

We Use Our Hands for Helping not Hurting

I-Care-Cat, the kindergarteners and first graders recently learned our second I-Care-Cat rule and talked about how to use our hand for helping and not hurting.  We read the book Andy and the Lions.  In the story Andy uses his hands to help the lion remove a thorn, to stop a crowd from hurting the lion, and to take his book back to the library.



Another good book on this topic is Hands Are Not for Hitting





I-Care Cat  hopes the students found a good place to hang their helping hands and caring hearts!

The Listening Walk by Paul Showers

Good Friends Listen to Each Other

We just finished our first round of I-Care-Cat lessons with our Kindergarteners and First Graders.  We talked about listening to each other with our "ears" (big, big ears), "eyes"(looking at the speaker), "month" (not interrupting), and whole bodies (neat feet and quiet hands when on the rug in the library).  We read the book "The Listening Walk" by Paul Showers, closed our eyes and listened to all the interesting sounds around us.  The most memorable comment....

Me: "So....what part of our bodies do we use to listen to each other?"
Student: [with much enthusiasm] "With our hearts!"

Sharing Resources from One of Our Own - Food Allergies

This is a blog recommended by one of our parents with information about food allergies.  Feel free to  check it out~
Blog @ AllergyHome.org

Disclaimer: I have not read every thing on it, nor am I promoting it necessarily...