Tips and authors for parents to read.

Photo archive : 02/20/2022

Supplies: haunt the local resale shops. You can find almost anything when you look. Go in with an idea of what concept you want to work on. Stretch your imagination and see what you can find. Some in areas with alot of homeschoolers, will have actual manipulatives. From, board games to buttons, with a bit of an imagination it can work. If you are desperately short on cash, (think you are on food stamps and SSI) dried beans can be used to count and make pictures with. The dollar store has paper, pencils and crayons. Index cards are really good if there are no vision problems. 

Pro tip - washable mats provide a limit of spread with matterials and with practice, a specific space for working. They can be used at a table or on the floor. If they are large, they can be sat on to promote healthy personal space boundaries. They can be spread on the ground outside, for kiddos that have allergies or textural aversion. 

Reading suggestions and rational: find reasources from Maria Montessori and Caroline Pratt. They had different perspectives but the philosophies marry well when dealing with cognative delays, and for neurotypical kiddos.