Trampolines? Yay or nay?

The kids' first time on a trampoline at a neighbor's house.

Some of the best memories of my childhood was jumping on my friends' trampolines in their backyards. We didn't have one ourselves (we had a large pool instead), but many of my friends had trampolines and we would spend hours jumping on them. My parents had a strict rule of no flips, but since I couldn't do one anyway, it didn't really matter to me. It was still just a lot of fun chasing each other around the bouncy mat and jumping as high as we could. I only once ever jumped off the trampoline unexpectedly, and I survived it.

Just this week, the AAP issued a warning about the dangers of trampolines. Lots of kids get injured on them, with or without the safety nets. But, how dangerous are they really? We were planning on getting one for the kids for Christmas (with a safety net of course)... should we forgo that plan or should we just exercise caution?

According to the report, most of the injuries are "normal" kid injuries like contusions (fancy word for bruise), fractures (broken bones), and cuts. There are some neck and head injuries, which are the most serious, but only account for about 10% of the visits. The question is, should we limit an activity that offers cardiovascular exercise in a fun and inviting way in the interest of protecting kids?

I am all for kids' safety. I make my kids wear helmets and knee pads on their scooters and bikes. I watch them diligently on playground equipment. Most parents that have seen me at the playground comment that I am very strict with them. I hate whenever they get hurt. But, at a certain point, ya gotta let kids be kids. Kids get hurt. They fall, they break arms, they get stitches, and all kids have bruises. The only way to prevent kids from getting hurt is by wrapping them in bubble wrap, keeping them sitting still, and handing them a controller. Oh wait... that might have its own negative consequences, not to mention they become obese from lack of activity. Now, I am not against video or computer games or even television. Like everything, I think it has its place and is part of a great childhood. However, I think it would be sad to take away other fun activities because they could get hurt.

Think of all of the activities where kids get hurt. Should we not let kids do monkey bars because they could fall? What about climbing to the top of a great big slide? That fall would be dangerous. What about riding scooters? They could tip over. Don't even get me started on skateboards (it definitely wasn't safe when I strapped myself to it, with no helmet, and had my brother push me down our steep driveway onto our street). For that matter, running. Have you ever seen a kid run down a hill? What about tumble down the hill while running. Or hiking. They might trip and fall and break their arm. Benjamin broke his arm when he was four by tripping over his sister's baby swing while walking slowly through our house. Maybe I shouldn't let him walk. Then there is the most dangerous of all activities and is one of the leading killers of young kids: driving.

Yes, I understand that I am being extreme and that walking doesn't hold the same dangers as a trampoline. I get that. But, in a nation where the obesity rate in children is climbing, where do we draw the line? I wonder what the rates of head and neck injuries in bike riding are. Or climbing on the playground.

With all of that being said, we are still considering getting a trampoline for Christmas. We will have a safety net because I don't want my kids to fall out unexpectedly. We will have padding to cover the springs. We will have basic safety rules like no pushing each other and no doing flips. We will not allow 500 children to jump at the same time, and will not allow bigger kids to jump with smaller kids. We will exercise caution, but I am not going to limit a cardiovascular activity that my kids are able to do and that they love. Like all activities that involve falls and potential injuries, we will watch them diligently.

Sources:
http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/Pages/AAP-Advises-Against-Recreational-Trampoline-Use.aspx

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-57518849-10391704/pediatricians-warn-against-trampoline-use-at-home-citing-injury-risks/

Tell Me a Story!

Ben when he was a baby, "reading" his book.

Today, while in the car with Ben, I was trying to think of a way to include him in a conversation. He normally prefers to sit in the backseat and not participate, but I am trying to push him to be more involved. I then remembered a game that my mom used to play with us in the car when we were kids and decided to give it a try. I call it "Tell Me a Story."

I am sure most adults have played this game at some point in time. It starts with the adult starting the story. You say one or two sentences to set the scene and then it is the child's turn to add to it. They add a sentence or two and then it is the next person's turn. You continue until you decide that the story is finished. It's a super easy game and was one of my favorite things to do in the car when I was a kid. Today, I decided to try it with Ben. Here is our story:

Me: "Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Ben who likes to climb trees."

Ben: "Ben and his little sister and their mother went to the store. The end."

Me: "Ummm... no. It's not done yet. When they got to the store, something happened."

Ben: "They looked at trucks and found a fantastical pick-up truck."

Me: "The pick-up truck was magical. It grew really big... big enough for Ben and his sister to sit in! They got inside it."

Ben: "Then it turned into a magical fire engine! Then they took it! The bad guy people! Ben and his sister chased them and got it back!"

Me: "After they got back the fire truck, they heard a fire alarm!"

Ben: "The magical fire engine put out the pretend fire. It wasn't a real fire."

Me: "They saved people from the pretend fire."

Ben: "They saved Daddy and Mommy and Andrew. The end."

Not too bad for our first attempt at creating a story. Plus, it got Ben involved, using his imagination and speech. He also had to pay attention and use auditory processing skills to know what to add to the story. Yes, he decided to try and end the story after one sentence. Yes, he casually ignored the climbing tree plot that I tried to introduce. Yes, he defaulted to trucks and fire fighting (his obsessions) in order to complete the story. But, he was able to use his imagination to add to it. It wasn't just a retelling of something that happened in the past. I think that's great progress for a 5 minute car ride that would normally be spent with me asking easy questions with him giving me 1 or 2 word answers to just appease me. This is definitely going to be a new tactic in my arsenal.

I am also going to use this activity to help with creative writing. We are just beginning our writing program for this school year and I am constantly looking for writing prompts to help him develop. He has a difficult time retelling anything without prompts and usually has a difficult time coming up with stories on his own. This will be a great in between step that will help him to develop those skills.

He did it!!

Ok... so a while back, I posted about how as a parent of special needs kids, I am fortunate enough to get to celebrate the little things that most people take for granted. This is one of those things...

Today, Benjamin wanted to play bubbles outside with his sister. Usually, that means that we get out our super duper bubble blower and they pop them, or he watches his sister blow bubbles. When he tries, he quickly gets frustrated and gives up. His motor skills make it very difficult to blow hard enough and directly enough to actually get the bubbles to form.

Today, however, he was determined. He wanted to blow bubbles. So, we worked on the dipping and wiping first and then I showed him again how to blow. He immediately did what he did before and blew incorrectly. I told him to watch my mouth closely and try it again. He did, and guess what?!???!? He blew bubbles!!!! You have no idea how excited both of us were. He did it! After years of trying and not succeeding, he finally was able to do it!! He blew bubbles over and over again with various levels of success. But, the thing is that he is finally able to do it! Hooray for Benjamin!!!

Fall Crafts for Kids!!!

I LOVE fall. It is my absolute favorite season, especially since moving to NC. The leaves turn beautiful colors, the weather is wonderful, and there are lots of opportunities to do fun activities. In fact,  I have chosen a lot of "fall" colors for the decor in my house. With that in mind, I decided that I would like to have the kids make some artwork that could be displayed on my walls. I had thought about doing this often, but didn't know exactly what I wanted to do and wanted to make sure that they looked nice. I didn't just want random finger paintings or scribbles up everywhere, and all three of my kids are not at a point artistically where their artwork looks like more than that without specific instruction. My boys are also at an age where they now realize that not every scribble is beautiful artwork and they get frustrated by their fine motor limitations. They don't usually feel successful at art. So, I came up with an easy art project for them to do that not only teaches them about color mixing and painting with acrylics on canvases, but creates a piece of artwork that can be displayed in my home.

Supplies:

• One canvas per child. 
• I purchased these at Michaels with a 40% off coupon. Tip: it is actually a much better deal to purchase a package of 7 with a coupon than to purchase 6 of them in 2 packs. If you are planning on doing more than one project with canvases, the multi pack is the way to go. I think I paid a total of $12 for 7 canvases. I know we will be doing a Christmas painting using canvases, so that worked out great for me!
• Fall colored acrylic paint.
• We used green, orange, red, sparkle gold, and sparkle green. My kids especially like the sparkle paint.
• Sponge paint brushes. 
• Super duper cheap at home depot and my kids prefer to paint with them over regular paint brushes. They are a little smoother and more forgiving.
• Sponge cutouts of leaves.
• I took regular kitchen sponges (the cheap ones) and traced leaf patterns. I then cut them out with heavy duty scissors to create leaf stamps.
• Paper plates to use as a palette.
• Clear spray sealer.

Directions:

• Teach the kids about mixing paint while you mix red and green together to create the ideal brown color for the trunk. Depending on the age of your child will depend on how much they can help with this. Since I was making a lot of brown, I decided to keep it controlled and do the work by myself. However, even my 4 year old mixes colors together on a smaller scale.
• Using sponge paintbrushes, have the child paint their tree trunk.

• Put the non-sparkly fall colored paint on their paper plate palette and have them stamp using the leaf cutouts. It works better if the sponges aren't completely saturated with paint, leaving some of the white canvas to peak through. It's ok if the leaves are on top of each other and if the colors mix together. It helps to add to the tree look.

• Use the sparkle paint last and repeat the previous step to create a layered look. If you do the sparkle paint first, it will not be noticeable under the other paint colors.
• When dry, spray with sealer.

Family Projects

Our first unit in social studies this year is about families. As a supplement to the basic curriculum, I thought it would be great for Ben and Kate to make books all about their families. They kids loved telling the stories about their family members and loved reading the completed books over and over again. They turned out so cute! It's definitely one of those projects that is going to go in my "save" folder for the year.

To make books:

• Fold a sheet of regular construction paper in half horizontally.
• Fold multiple sheets of white paper in half and put them inside. Make sure that there are enough pages for every family member. Remember that the sheets of paper will be folded in half to get the right number of pages.
• Staple the folded ends together and voila! Inexpensive books! I am definitely going to be using them a whole lot more this year.

The Project:

• First, print out small pictures (we used 2x3 size) of each family member.
• Cut them out and paste one picture per book page. 
• Either have the child dictate or write about each family member on each page (depending on their ability). Since Kate is just in preschool and Benjamin cannot write well, they pretty much dictated their stories. I required more on Benjamin's pages and required him to write one word on each page. Kate only had to write the title and her name, but spent the rest of the time decorating the pages once finished.
• Share with family!!

Am I Forgetting Something??

Sorry for the disappearance recently from my blog. I have been super busy with a last minute Disneycruise vacation (I know... poor me...), stomach bug that hit everyone in the house (actually poor me), 2 groups of out of town visitors, and the start of the new school year. Top that off with the cold now circulating through my house and you get the idea of how crazy I have been recently.

School is off to a TREMENDOUS start! Benjamin is totally rocking the homeschool thing. Decreasing the amount of out of the house activities has really helped him to get focused and complete his schooling in record time. I have also implemented a positive rewards chart system for his schooling. Everyday, I write the activities that we are supposed to complete in a chart. He chooses the order he wants to complete them in and then we cross them off when we are done. When he has completed his chart for the entire day, he gets a sticker on his sticker chart. When that chart is filled up (ours has 27 spaces), then he gets to get a prize. He is completely motivated and finishes all of his work in about 2 hours a day!!! I am SHOCKED that he can get everything done this quickly.

Ben on the first day of school at his new desk in our schoolroom.

Since he gets all of his work done so quickly, it makes me think that I might be forgetting something. I mean... we are doing math, extra math, vocabulary, handwriting, phonics, reading, social studies, and science along with thematic unit work. We have done 1-2 small art projects a week. I haven't started our writing for the year yet and have been using computer programs for spelling and Spanish. He has social skills tutoring, piano, Bible study, AWANA and gymnastics outside of our house. We are doing a special geography project once a month. We are making good progress in all of his curriculum. It seems like a well-rounded curriculum and once I write it all down, it seems like he is doing a lot. But, we are finishing quickly.  Is this a common homeschooling phenomenon or am I forgetting something?

Fortunate Decisions

I am always amazed at how the decisions I have made in my life have prepared me for the life I have been handed. I truly believe that things happen for a reason and that God will help you to make the decisions to equip you for the future.

Since I was a small child, I wanted to be a scientist. I loved all kinds of science and was that geeky kid who played with their microscope, telescope and chemistry set. Middle school came and I was introduced to marine biology. This was truly where I found my passion. I had a great teacher in 8th grade who took an interest in the shy, science loving 13-year old version of me and my love for marine biology sky-rocketed. I took honors and AP biology in high school. Those were my absolute favorite classes. I think everyone thought that I would do something that had to do with biology.

When college came, I had to make my first real adult financial decision. My mom worked at a university close to home and because she did, my tuition there would be free. However, it was nowhere near the beach and did not have a marine biology program. I could go to a different school and major in my desired field, but I would have to come up with a way to pay for it. Since I wanted to be a research marine biologist and live on a boat months out of a year, I would likely not be making a ton of money to pay back the astronomical debt that a masters in marine biology would provide. Also, as I reached my late teen years, I knew that I would eventually like a family. I grew up in a house where my mom was fortunate to stay home with us. I wanted that for my future kids. I wanted to be that mom who was always there. My dream of being a marine biologist didn't really fit within that. Slowly, the reality of the world started to change my dream.

I started thinking of all of the teachers who took an interest in me and realized that that's what I wanted to do. The school that my mom worked at had a fantastic teaching program. I loved working with kids. Most importantly, being a teacher would allow me the schedule and education that I would need to raise my children. I declared my major and started working hard toward learning how to teach.

Fast forward a few years and I found myself with two very fragile 26 week preemies in the NICU. Their identical triplet brother had just passed away. The entire experience was beyond overwhelming, but I was very glad that I had a better than average understanding of science when talking with the many doctors and specialists that worked with my sons. Because of my base knowledge, I was quickly able to learn what I needed and wanted to know about their situation. There were times that doctors would ask me if I worked in the medical field because I seemed knowledgeable. My answer was always, "No, but I have two premature little boys and I will learn everything I can to help them and understand what is going on."

They became older and it was apparent that there were some delays. Once again, I found myself incredibly prepared for that reality. I had taken classes in child development and psychology (including basic neuroscience) for my teaching degree. I could understand the different parts of development and I was good at creating "lesson plans" for my children. They became my full-time job and I became their teacher.

Now, my boys are school-aged... and the decision to pursue a teaching degree is once again being rewarded. I am homeschooling one and the other is still getting extra help from me in off-school times. I am able to work with them and adapt my teaching style to their needs. I have also found that Benjamin has a love for science. I am able to enthusiastically teach him using science and keep him motivated and interested. I am hoping to pass on that passion to him.

There are friends from my past who ask me why I gave up marine biology and think that I should have pursued it. But, in all actuality, the decision I made was truly being preparing me for the life that was coming.