 I am so excited to have the opportunity to work with the children, parents, and staff at Saint Patrick Catholic School as their occupational therapist! I will be doing kindergarten screenings for pencil grip, fine motor, handwriting, scissor skills, sensory motor and self-help on Wednesday, December 1st. Screenings requests for older children may be made by teachers or parents on a case by case basis.
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 My table of toy 'picks'! I met lots of new people yesterday at Bedford Falls Toy Store at the Park Road Shopping Center! I set up in the plush animal section with my "picks" for some great developmental toys. I'll be back at Bedford Falls in December doing the same thing. Thank you to Ann, Lyn, and the other staff for welcoming me into their great store!
I talk to parents every day who enroll their child for occupational therapy for the first time in order to give their kids a boost in pre-kindergarten skills. Often, the teachers recommend OT to help with pencil grasp, scissor skills, pre-handwriting, or attention / focus issues.
I know it is easy to think that these skills will get better, but if you are working with your child and not noticing progress, don't wait any longer to see an occupational therapist. All of the areas above can be so easy for an occupational therapist to improve...IF caught early. The longer a child uses, for instance, an inefficient grasp pattern the harder it is to change as it becomes more ingrained. Feel free to call the office and speak to Stephanie if you feel your child might benefit from some occupational therapy.  I will be leading a computer keyboarding enrichment class for Trinity Episcopal (TES) students in grades 3rd-5th. The class starts in January and runs for 8 weeks. I have been providing occupational therapy at Trinity so it will be fun to expand and see kids after school too.
Occupational therapists are great facilitators for keyboarding instruction since they are trained to set up a child for success by looking at ergonomics, needs of children in relation to sizes and set up of computer, and even modifications to put in place so that the child can have less barriers to learning. Each class we will start with lots of movement to get our bodies ready to learn! It should be fun and I am glad to have an opportunity to work with TES's enrichment program!  I am happy to annoucne that Learning Charms and Bedford Falls Toy Shop (Park Road Shopping Center) have partnered together.
Bedford Falls Toy Store is locally owned and has been in business since 1988. It is located in the Park Road Shopping Center and has a great selection of toys and books for kids of all ages. I will be doing a "Best Toys" talk at Bedford Falls on Thursday, November 18th from 11-12:30. I will have a selection of childhood developmental toys ("O.T. Picks") and games on display that parents can browse. I will also be available to answer questions or help you select a toy or game based on your childs' interests or needs. In addition, we will be putting together a fine motor and handwriting area so that parents can buy supplies for handwriting and fine motor development. Yea! |