August 2010 - Session 2

Too hot! Taking kids to the park in 95 degree heat did not seem like a good idea. They opted for smoothies from Jamba Juice.

After Jamba Juice, they learned how to play "Bananagrams," and reviewed the basic rules. Then, to speed things along, we played a version call "Banana Cafe," which doesn't have as many special conditions.  It was helpful to see how they approached spelling and the strategy and organization of the game.  Each wanted to trade in their letters way too early and we strategized how else to handle it.  AH tried inventive ways of putting words together, but seem "stuck" on trying for specific words rather than using his available letters.  At the end each was successful in putting together fairly large crossword puzzles (these photos are from their first attempts).

Sophie joined again today and was reasonably well behaved, barking a little too much until she went quietly into her kennel in the office.

After we finished Banana Cafe, it was time for our first raffle.  Because we have a very small group at the moment, I opted to have them discuss what they had learned about each other as a way of earning a gift card.  It was interesting that the kids today both wanted the same reward, but there was only one of that kind (Target Gift Card).  So, we flipped a coin.  RD was disappointed that she lost the coin toss, but handled it, earning an extra "Hero" ticket for controlling herself.

We will start the LUNCH Points program next meeting, in September.  Sorry for the delay, but because there are a fair number of kids joining then, it just makes the logistics of the program work better.  We'll also start having parent meetings in September (we meet on the 7th and again on the 21st).  More about that to be announced next week.

Have a great rest of the summer.  We are currently expecting about 7 more kids to start in September, so the group will ramp up pretty quickly.

August 2010 - Session 1

We had our second meeting today.  Currently we are completing “end of summer group” reports for both kids and teens.  Some of them will likely join this group, most likely by early September.  We also have a couple of kids who are currently on vacation and should be back later this month.  But, for now, it’s enjoyable having a few kids, who are all new to the program, working together.

Today shopping occurred at Gelsons, this time for ingredients so we could return to the office and jointly make a “smoothy.”  The recipe that developed included mixed frozen berries, vanilla yogurt, and apple juice.  Judging by how quickly it disappeared, they enjoyed it.

The rest of the time was spent learning a bit more about animations get developed; the group watched one from the current kid/tween summer group, and learned how we can make Sophie sound like a leopard (dubbed sound effect).  They learned how the LUNCH Points raffle works and had an opportunity to select their own “secret behavior” that, when they receive a LUNCH Points certificate for that behavior from their parent, they earn bonus tickets for the raffle.  Click above at the top to view the tutorial.

That pretty well used up our time for today.  Most likely, next time we will spend some time at a nearby park.  We usually bring Frisbees, some other catching games, and take our snack with us so we can have it “picnic style.”  So far, the main areas that we are working on include conversations, perspective-taking and awareness of others, and reading social cues.  It may be the small numbers, but there simply are no (as in zero) significantly interfering behaviors to address at present.  Did I mention how polite they are?  I really hope this is contagious.  See you later in the month.