Week of Nov 6th – 10th

At Cornerstone Prep, students receive individual, and group, daily occupational therapy intervention.  Activities are based on the student’s individual skills and needs. Here is a snapshot of therapy this week. Skills such as fine motor development, postural stability, visual perceptual and visual motor, and handwriting are addressed to promote success in activities of daily living.  

W & AC attend a weekly gymnastics class with Coach Dave at a local gymnasium. Many gross motor skills are targeted through various “events” and stations each week. Both gross and fine motor skills, motor planning/sequencing, and visual-motor skills are naturally addressed through activities. We are fortunate to work with such a great coach!

During reading this week we read a book that included sight words that the children have been learning. After reading the story, they had to read various sentences on a worksheet and match the sentence to the correct picture by glueing it to the worksheet. Then they double checked their work by looking back at the book for the correct sentences & pictures.

When the students master one level of sight words, we move on to the next level. Last week they worked so hard on reading activities and sight word games that they mastered the current level. Yay! Seeing them be successful makes us so happy! This week we introduced the next level of sight words and worked on identifying those words through a variety of games. One game we played was ‘fishing for sight words’. Using both hands they had to hold on to the fishing pole, pick up a fish and then read the word. Sometimes the fishing pole would pick up multiple fish. AC and W thought this was hilarious!

We have been working hard at Cornerstone Prep during our spelling lessons. It is best to work on spelling in a variety of ways with students. No one enjoys paper / pencil task all day long so we embed different activities in order to keep everyone engaged and motivated. In this picture, AC and W were given a notecard with a spelling word on it. Their job was to find the correct letter clothespin and place it under the letter on the notecard. This was a great activity that included spelling and fine motor skills.

We love days when academics and OT naturally occur! This morning we worked individually in small groups (math and OT), working on addition and handwriting skills. We came together to engage in dramatic play, where one student wrote a menu (handwriting skills, targeting spatial concepts and organization) and then had to purchase the food (math skills, addition). W and AC are so creative and really enjoy these imaginative play activities. Teachers love that the skills are addressed and reinforced through play!

During spelling, we used the Lycra tunnel for sensory input (proprioceptive and tactile input) to aid in regulatory and attentional skills, and then used moon sand and letter stamps to spell this week’s spelling words. W and AC love the Lycra tunnel, as it supports sensory integrative components, such as body awareness. AC states, “Can I stay in here forever?!” LOL! 

Kelly