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May, 2011

  1. We’ve started!

    May 31, 2011 by Michelle

    Following on from my last post, I took some inspiration from the Montessori books I borrowed and assembled some Montessori 'inspired' activities for Boo. As she has been sick, we hadn't had a chance to venture to the shops to get exactly what we needed, so I made do with what I had in the house.

    We did three activities:

    1. Pouring rice from one container into another

    2. Putting coins into a piggy bank

    3. Matching lids to jars

    The first was incredibly messy – we ended up with rice everywhere! But it was a lot of fun and Boo spent ages on this activity and once she mastered it, I changed it up later with introducing a funnel to pour the rice into. After playing with this for a while, Boo then got herself a spoon and started transferring the rice from one container to another with the spoon, causing all sorts of mess but she did well :D I even got her to help clean up afterwards. Here is a picture of this activity:

    The tray was a plate from a party that we kept because it was bamboo and we couldn't bear to throw it out and the blue container came with our iron :)

    Putting the coins into the piggy bank kept her occupied for a while. She turned it into a counting game, but this activity did not hold her attention as long, though she did spend some time doing it which was a surprise!

    The last activity was not so much of a hit – might have something to do with the fact that she was as sick as a dog (but still in good spirits :D ) but it did keep her entertained for a short while.

    I can't wait until we move into our new place where there is much more space and I can set up a little area for her with all these activities easily accessible for her.

    Have a great week! We are!

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  2. Osteopath Update #1

    May 24, 2011 by Michelle

    As per my last post, we went to the osteopath on the weekend (the Healing Point).

    The Healing Point, Fremantle

    When we got there, the Osteopath (Anna) asked a series of questions to understand both the issues we wanted addressed and any other underlying issues that may be present. Quite a bit of time was spent on the pregnancy and the birth process e.g. how was my pregnancy overall, did I have any complicated issues, how long was labour, how was Boo delivered etc.

    Anna then explained that the osteopath session was to unblock and gently manipulate Boo's system – often there can be events which can cause parts of the body to be "tight" and therefore, affect the operation of other parts of the system. She proceeded to feel/manipulate Boo's body, starting from the head and working down to the tailbone.

    It was quite a long process – surprisingly so. We had a real challenge on our hands keeping Boo occupied and still enough to not disrupt the process.

    It is too early at this stage to say whether it has made any difference, but hopefully after another 2 or 3 treatments I'll have some news to report. One thing I am watching out for is Boo's sense of balance. She has always been very clumsy in her walking and the osteopath said that these sessions should help with that. 

    Fingers crossed!

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  3. Osetopath – here we come!

    May 20, 2011 by Michelle

    We're going to the Osteopath for Boo's first appointment. Whilst I don't forsee any great changes in her, I am excited to see what is involved and to understand a little more about it. From the mothers in my mother's group that went, it took around 2 to 3 sessions to see a marked improvement, so I'll keep you posted!

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  4. Montessori Philosophy

    May 19, 2011 by Michelle

    For those that don't know a little while ago we were thinking about enrolling Boo into a Montessori school. We visited 2 schools which we thought might be a good fit and enrolled her in the second school which I loved.

    But our decision to enrol her in a Montessori school was more driven by advice from other mothers and a general idea of the Montessori philosophy from the school information packs. So I though that I would research the Montessori philosophy in more detail to see whether we were truly comfortable with putting her in a montessori school.  Plus I was also hoping that the Montessori way might also help with Boo's speech development. 

    As this is an on-going journey, I'll post my thoughts and findings as I go :) If you have any experiences/thoughts about the Montessori philosophy please let me know as it is always good to get other people's views on these sort of matters.

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  5. Small steps…

    May 16, 2011 by Michelle

    For those of you that have been following, Little Boo's speech is currently the subject of much focus in our house. We have cut off all TV/electronic devices for the day (except the morning and evening for the news) so that Boo can concentrate on words and sounds that we utter, rather than be distracted by what is on the TV.

    This has worked wonders – in the past, Boo has had an obsession with the iphone and would scream for it when she got back from childcare. These days she doesn't ask for it (but when she does see it, she still wants to play with it!). When she has been very good, we may let her watch 3 elmo/wiggle video clips but that is about it.

    We have also been trying to put in place/implement what the speech therapist has recommended which is:

    - to talk to her in simple words (not complex sentences)

    - instead of asking questions, describing what we see

    - when she says a word, to try and expand that to two words e.g. she might say "dog" and I would then say "big dog".

    Though her pronounciation is still not the best, I do think that she is beginning to pick up more words and today, strung together a 3 word phrase: "mummy pick up" (she does have a number of 3 word phrases, but this was a new one). So in the space of a week, I think she has done well :)

    Boo will also see the osteopath in 2 weeks so will let you know how that goes!

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