We recently had a blast playing a hilarious game called Go Ape! It’s a game where you try to mimic a facial expression from a card and have your family guess what it is. Let me tell you, some of the faces we made were crazy!
Author: Christine
Christine Bellew loves teaching children, playing music and having fun. Her goal is to use playful teaching strategies to make doing hard things as fun as possible for parents and children of all abilities.
Christine and her husband Josh have three children that have provided loads of adventures. Their family has opened their home to serve as foster parents to children with special needs which adds to the adventure.
With a Master’s degree in Early Intervention, Christine started her career providing Early Intervention services as a Special Instructor and Service Coordinator.
Most recently Christine has branched out to teaching piano using creative teaching methods to serve children with a variety of learning needs. Music brings her and her students joy when she makes the learning fun and engaging.
Outside of work Christine enjoys watching Parks and Rec, doing puzzles and reorganizing her piano music.
Parenting is hard! Finding the balance between preparing for the worst and being the worst is hard. On bad days, it looks like being so afraid of your child acting like a monster you act like a monster instead. This is the story of my parenting tantrum.
Gross motor heavy work is hard to do during a bath, but fine motor heavy work is doable. After providing him with the following activities, his need for sensory input was satisfied by the work with his hands and exposure to texture.
Christine just did a break-out session on pre-handwriting at the 2019 Mississippi Early Childhood Association Imagine Conference in Jackson. If you’d like to refer back to it for reminders and web links, it is available to download.
Tweens and Teens need playtime too. We are never too old for play. Adolescents need playtime for stress relief, joy and health. Let me share with you the highlights of some really good articles on the why your tweens and teens need playtime too!
Remember that you, the parent, are your child’s best toy to encourage talking. Playing with you is the best way to increase interactions that lead to talking. When choosing toys, be sure to stick to the basics, include some “people toys” and help your child use her imagination.
Thankfully, I have a new generation of toy testers: my adorable nephew! He’s the perfect size for testing out all sorts of toys, and I think he’s starting to warm up to me.
Back to school and back to homework. Homework can be a huge source of conflict and strong feelings for some families. You may remember having those strong feelings in your own childhood when doing your homework. Maybe you did your homework without a hitch, and don’t understand how to help your child who is now having a hard time with the homework routine. Let’s talk about strategies to make homework time with your child less painful and more conducive to learning.
I found myself telling him to stop and keep his hands to himself all day long. He did NOT understand. He was a sweet boy that tried his hardest, but bless his heart, he would not stop touching everything and everybody.
The best part? We discovered a new use of the Measure Up Shovel–
Burying your siblings in the sand!
With National Play in the Sand Day coming every year on August 11th, it’s time to start planning your next beach adventure.
All Things Early Intervention 