Our Science Experiment and Play Therapy
Saturday, September 13, 2008 by Amy
So, I got a pack of science cards for Riley that are intended for ages 5-7, thinking that I could pull a few out now and then and we could have fun with them. Well, we sat down together and she went through the whole deck in about 40 minutes. There goes that. So I'm trying to expand upon what interested her most. She was most interested in temperature, biomes, the water cycle, the food chain. We've had a water cycle experiment planned for days, but it had been raining. So we're doing it today. Here's a nice website that explains the water cycle: Earth Guide. And here's a cute song to remember the terms: Water Cycle Song. I also got a couple of posters at the school store, one for the water cycle and one for the food chain.
Here are the pictures of our process:
1.) Fill a clear bowl with a bit of water.
2.) Place an empty jar in the middle of the bowl.
3.) Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place a weight (like a rock!) over the jar and wait for it to rain in the jar!
We had an interesting play therapy session. In short, the therapist is going to look into intelligence testing for Riley. I just don't know what to think about all this. The facts of the situation are that Riley does not tell her teachers what she knows, and pretends not to know things that she knows. She does an abnormal amount of art in school, rather than "academic" work. The therapist's hypothesis is that the work is boring to her (because she is not challenged, and won't tell the teachers that she knows the work so that they can move her on to something new) and that she escapes the monotony by doing artwork. By the way, there is really no need for her to do so much artwork at school since she has a complete art center at home, and they only have the basic supplies at school. A lot of kids seem to do art work at school because they don't have those materials available at home. That's not the case with Riley. And most of the artwork that she does is not even good artwork (I'm so mean). It's clear that it's just busy work or filler work. Riley has said that she is afraid to tell her teachers that she already knows something, but Mom suggested that perhaps she is afraid of telling her teachers that she knows something because she is scared that they will give her something new that she doesn't know. When I suggested this to Riley, she started to cry, so I think it may be closer to what is really going on. I offered to teach her "the next thing" a bit so when the teachers give her something "new" it's not really all that new and she won't have to be scared of it. She was a little hesitant, so we'll see how that pans out.
The therapist did point out that once she is not in a Montessori classroom where she can escape things that she already knows or finds boring (ie, when she's in a "regular" school) she may have difficulties sitting at a table and having to do something that she already knows. The therapist said that it is very important that she is placed properly next year (whether Kindergarten or first grade) so that she is challenged constantly. I don't know what testing involves for her age. I told the therapist that I wasn't interested in a "teachable" test and she assured me that they have a battery of tests and activities to accurately evaluate children her age. I don't know, but I think that perhaps if we had a male psychologist test her then we would have fewer problems with her pretending she doesn't know stuff. Like a person who is not "teacher-ish" and thus not fool-able. Eh, I don't know. But I sure hope Avery isn't like this. I think I deserve one "normal" child!!
We are planning to look at Globe Charter School next week, hopefully on Monday. We were going to go last Wednesday, but totally forgot. Little Sweetheart is getting spayed on the 18th, so that will be fun. The girls are both really upset about it. They don't want her tummy to get cut. Yes, I could have not told them about it, but I thought it would be best to prepare them so that they will be gentle with her after her surgery. Oh, mental note, I need to buy a cat carrier...
We just checked on our science experiment and Riley was thrilled to see it raining into the jar. It is pretty cool. It's hard to tell in the picture, but about 1/2 inch of "rain" precipitated into the jar. I will definitely check out Borders and Barnes & Noble for a science experiment book for younger kids. She's really digging this experiment thing. Rudi's response to this while thing was somewhere along the lines of "Oh, no, not another kid interested in the weather!" Oh well...
So, Matthew's mother just came back from the hospital with their new baby (their fifth baby!). And all I hear is screaming coming from their house. Serious screaming. They have almost-two-year-old twins who really can scream. They scream better than Avery and I never thought I'd say that. She told me before that she knew the twins would not take well to the baby. But, wow, they just got home like an hour ago and all I'm hearing is screaming. That's why I stopped with two. Having five children under 6 is just about my worst nightmare!!
Here are the pictures of our process:
1.) Fill a clear bowl with a bit of water.
2.) Place an empty jar in the middle of the bowl.
3.) Cover tightly with plastic wrap and place a weight (like a rock!) over the jar and wait for it to rain in the jar!We had an interesting play therapy session. In short, the therapist is going to look into intelligence testing for Riley. I just don't know what to think about all this. The facts of the situation are that Riley does not tell her teachers what she knows, and pretends not to know things that she knows. She does an abnormal amount of art in school, rather than "academic" work. The therapist's hypothesis is that the work is boring to her (because she is not challenged, and won't tell the teachers that she knows the work so that they can move her on to something new) and that she escapes the monotony by doing artwork. By the way, there is really no need for her to do so much artwork at school since she has a complete art center at home, and they only have the basic supplies at school. A lot of kids seem to do art work at school because they don't have those materials available at home. That's not the case with Riley. And most of the artwork that she does is not even good artwork (I'm so mean). It's clear that it's just busy work or filler work. Riley has said that she is afraid to tell her teachers that she already knows something, but Mom suggested that perhaps she is afraid of telling her teachers that she knows something because she is scared that they will give her something new that she doesn't know. When I suggested this to Riley, she started to cry, so I think it may be closer to what is really going on. I offered to teach her "the next thing" a bit so when the teachers give her something "new" it's not really all that new and she won't have to be scared of it. She was a little hesitant, so we'll see how that pans out.
The therapist did point out that once she is not in a Montessori classroom where she can escape things that she already knows or finds boring (ie, when she's in a "regular" school) she may have difficulties sitting at a table and having to do something that she already knows. The therapist said that it is very important that she is placed properly next year (whether Kindergarten or first grade) so that she is challenged constantly. I don't know what testing involves for her age. I told the therapist that I wasn't interested in a "teachable" test and she assured me that they have a battery of tests and activities to accurately evaluate children her age. I don't know, but I think that perhaps if we had a male psychologist test her then we would have fewer problems with her pretending she doesn't know stuff. Like a person who is not "teacher-ish" and thus not fool-able. Eh, I don't know. But I sure hope Avery isn't like this. I think I deserve one "normal" child!!
We are planning to look at Globe Charter School next week, hopefully on Monday. We were going to go last Wednesday, but totally forgot. Little Sweetheart is getting spayed on the 18th, so that will be fun. The girls are both really upset about it. They don't want her tummy to get cut. Yes, I could have not told them about it, but I thought it would be best to prepare them so that they will be gentle with her after her surgery. Oh, mental note, I need to buy a cat carrier...
We just checked on our science experiment and Riley was thrilled to see it raining into the jar. It is pretty cool. It's hard to tell in the picture, but about 1/2 inch of "rain" precipitated into the jar. I will definitely check out Borders and Barnes & Noble for a science experiment book for younger kids. She's really digging this experiment thing. Rudi's response to this while thing was somewhere along the lines of "Oh, no, not another kid interested in the weather!" Oh well...
So, Matthew's mother just came back from the hospital with their new baby (their fifth baby!). And all I hear is screaming coming from their house. Serious screaming. They have almost-two-year-old twins who really can scream. They scream better than Avery and I never thought I'd say that. She told me before that she knew the twins would not take well to the baby. But, wow, they just got home like an hour ago and all I'm hearing is screaming. That's why I stopped with two. Having five children under 6 is just about my worst nightmare!!
