Example of an Introduction Sheet

This is to introduce my child _________________ to you.

1.    All of the people who live with us are:

2.    My child’s favorite subject in school is _____________________.

3.    The subject that he/she am best at is _______________________.

4.    The subject that he/she needs the most help with is _____________________.

5.    The activity that he/she is best at outside of school is ___________________.

6.    Struggles we’ve had during the past year:

7.    Successes we’ve had in the past year:

8.    What hurts his/her feelings the most:

9.    What makes him/her the happiest:

10.                  His/her favorite book:

11.                  He/she is motivated by:

12.                  He/she shuts down when:

13.                  Here is more information concerning my child’s academic success.

14.                  The people you may speak to about my child are/and numbers to reach them:

15.                  The best ways and times to get ahold of me are: 

Trisomy Thursday: Help Your Child Succeed

This is not just for parents of children with Down syndrome but for parents of all children, especially those who struggle in school.  This is also coming from the perspective of a teacher as well as a parent.
It's back-to-school time!  Exciting for many, hated by some, and dreaded by those who struggle to grasp the concepts being thrown out by the teacher.  As parents, we didn't ask for a child with a disability, but that's what we were blessed with.  It is our job to make sure our child is as successful in life as possible, not to enable their disability to control their lives.
Here are some suggestions to help your child be successful:

1. Communicate with the teacher.  Go to open house and meet your child's teachers (grade school through high school).  Give the teachers a sheet introducing your child and explain how your child best learns, what motivates him/her, what sets him/her off, and information on the disability of your child and how it affects his/her learning.  (I will include a second post today on an example introduction sheet).
2.  Don't use the disability as an excuse.  Children who are expected to do great things, do great things (sometimes with help and accommodations), but if they are never challenged to grow and experience working through frustration, they have a very difficult time handling situations later.
3.  Communicate with the teacher often.  Email, go in, or call once a month to see how things are going.  What needs to be coming home, what skills can be worked on at home to enhance what is going on at school, are there any behavior problems, social problems?  When teachers know that you are working as hard as you can at home, they are more willing to work with you.
4.  Teachers are not psychic.  If something is concerning you, please calmly discuss it with the teacher.  Teachers have classrooms full of kids with all variety of problems; upper grade teachers have 80 plus kids a day for 40 minutes at a time (many of whom need extra help of some kind).  Teachers have the best interest of your child at heart so work with them to achieve what's best for your child and listen to what the teacher is seeing in the classroom.
5.  Work with your child every day at home.  Children with special needs have to work with a concept close to 200 hundred times before they really know it.  A teacher can not do it all for every kid.  Parents are ultimately responsible for their child's success.  Read to them, practice math facts, sight words, spelling words, test questions, and talk through appropriate ideas for social and behavior problems.
6. Let your child do things himself/herself.  Don't do their work, let them organize themselves, and help them be responsible for themselves to the fullest extent they can be.

Your child is an amazing person.  Help your child reach his/her fullest potential!
Don't forget to friend PlainPrairie on Facebook or become a fan on the blog so you know when something new is posted!

*These are strictly my opinions and beliefs and do not reflect my school district or other teachers.

Tips for Cloth Diapering

As I was looking up cloth diapering, here are a few of the things I learned.

1. You can order everything from the old-fashioned cloth and diaper pin to one-size-fits-all plastic cover snap-in cloth pad-research what kind you want.  (I ordered Best Bottom diapers from nickisdiapers.com)
2. You need a special detergent, or you will get major stink problems.  Free-and-clear detergents aren't really free and clear.  You need one that really has no dyes, enzymes, brighteners, or scents.  There are cloth diaper detergent charts available on-line, and you can order the detergents on-line very easily.
3.  They have diaper sprayers that hook to your toilet line so you can wash poo off into the toilet.  (There is a video on youtube on how to make one much cheaper than buying the kits if you are a handy person)
4.  You can not use traditional diaper rash cream or the diapers will start to repel water.

Those are the most important tips I've picked up so far, and as I do this longer, I'll keep you posted with how it is going!  If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Beef Stuffed Sopaipillas

This recipe takes a little time but is very good.  To cut down on time for all of my meals, I brown six pounds of hamburger one weekend a month and freeze it in quart sized bags (approx. 1 lb in each bag).  I also dice onion in my dicer and freeze that once a month so that I have ready to use onion for recipes.  It saves LOTs of time to have part of the meal already to go.

Beef Sopaipillas

Fry Bread

2 c. all-purpose flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking powder

1/4 c. water

1/2 evaporated milk

oil for frying

Filling

1 lbs browned ground beef

3/4 c. onion

dash of salt

1/2 t. garlic

Sauce

1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup

1/2 c. chicken broth

1 can (4 oz.) chopped green chilis

1/2 t. garlic

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking powder. Stir in water  and milk with a fork until a ball forms. On a lightly floured surface, knead dough gently for around 2 minutes. Let stand for 10-15 minutes. Divide into four portions; pat each into a 6-1/2-in. circle.

In a large pan heat oil. Fry circles, one at a time, for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

In a large skillet, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the salt and garlic.

In a large saucepan, combine the soup, broth, chilies and garlic; Add cheese and cook until warm through.

Top fry bread with meat and cheese mixture!  You can also cut a slit in the fry bread and stuff the meat and cheese mixture inside, but we prefer to top it.

To save even more time, I sometimes double the cheese and meat mixtures. Then I freeze and label the leftovers so that all I have to do is make the bread on a night I'm needing something quickly.

Cloth Diapers

After months of debate and straddling the fence, I've taken the leap and started cloth diapering.  Before G was born, I had looked into cloth diapers but decided disposable diapers were worth the convenience.  After several months of emptying the Diaper Genie and seeing how much money and non-biodegradable waste was going into the dump, I started exploring cloth diapers again.
We have several friends who cloth diaper and love it so I started there asking as many questions as I could, and then I studied the surprising number of online cloth diaper choices and how to go about it (the number of kinds of cloth diapers is REALLY amazing).  I wavered back and forth for several months because disposable diapers are very convenient, and I work full time so I don't like wasting time on mundane tasks such as laundry.
Here are the things that finally made me take the leap:
-Our friends who cloth diaper LOVE it and would much rather use the cloth diapers than a disposable diaper.
-Once you pay for the cloth diapers, you can reuse them over and over for each kid.
-No more hauling diapers to town to the dumpster.
-Many people say it is easier to potty train with cloth diapers.
-Cloth diapers have made many improvements since the cloth diapers of our grandparents.

On Wednesday, I will post some of the tips I picked up from my research!

Diaper cover and insert

Back to Work

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything to my blog, and I’m very sorry.  I actually really miss writing almost everyday.  It’s the time of year I go back to school, and those of you who are teachers or have been around teachers know that as soon as August hits, it’s time to hit the school.  

The first part of August, I was just getting my room ready.  Unpacking boxes (I had to move rooms), putting up posters, running copies, and organizing for the year.  Then we had a week of inservice, and this past week was our first week with kiddos. 

Nothing says chaos better than the first few days of school especially when it’s hotter than blue blazes (no air conditioning in our building) and school releases at 1:00.  Each class is shortened so you barely have time to introduce a concept, kids are having trouble with lockers so they’re coming in at millions of different times, schedules are changing, everyone is learning the rules, and kids trying to figure out their schedules.  Teachers can spend every moment of their lives working grading, lesson planning, finding activities, figuring out technology, and worrying about this kid or that problem.

Any way, that is why I haven't been blogging lately.  I am going to try to do a little better in the coming weeks.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's blog on our switch to cloth diapers!!!! 

Trisomy Thursday-Great Baby Sitters

Having a child with Down syndrome gives every decision a new level for consideration.  Babysitting is one of those considerations.  I've had many people tell me how much kids with Ds like and need social interactions of kids their age and how they pick up skills from watching older kids.  On the other hand, kids get lost in the number kids in daycare and don't get as much attention and time.  
G can take up to an hour eating a bottle, and I want her working on the skills physical therapy and speech show us so I decided against the normal daycare setting.  We've been blessed with truly AMAZING sitters, and G is thriving (even the doctor's say so).  Our minister's wife watches her several days a week, and this school year, we have a girl from our church coming into our home so G can be with her own things several days a week.  Both ladies are patient, compassionate, God-loving women who work with G on her skills, read to her, sing to her, and play endlessly.  One of the ladies will be taking her to story hour once a week so G can see other kids.  I also plan on getting together with my friends who have kids so G can see what other kids are doing.