Therapy at the Center

Chloe began a new form of therapy last week. In the past, her early intervention program therapists always came to our house. But, with preschool looming in less than a year I thought it would be a good idea for her to begin a program in a group setting. Every Wednesday we will go to the PACE Southview Center and participate in a playgroup for one hour. It's a small group. Right now there are only two other little girls in there with her. I'm also in there with her and participate in every step. It seems like a good transition opportunity. (In addition, Chloe's vision therapist will still come to our house once a month.)

The first playgroup went pretty well, I think. They start out in the gross motor area. It's like a gym covered with a padded floor. And there are different climbing opportunities scattered all around. It's nice because they're all squishy. Chloe loved it. She ran all around investigating. There are also tricycles. She kept climbing onto the seat but her legs aren't long enough to reach the pedals of the smaller ones.

The transition from one activity to the next always involves a song and a special shoe box. Inside the shoe box is an object that symbolizes the next activity. When they began singing the "box" song the other little girls ran over to see what was inside. Chloe couldn't have cared less. She was busy exploring. The next activity was music. Eventually, I coerced her over to the music room. They sang songs, signed the words, and shook maracas. Chloe seemed to enjoy music time. I was struggling since I didn't know the words to any of the songs and probably looked/sounded hilarious trying to sing along but that's my job, right? :-)

Then there was some free exploration time followed by snack. And it's a good thing...because I'm not sure I could have otherwise coerced Chloe from her fun again. "Snack" is a magic word for her. We all washed hands and the kids sat at the table. Chloe was offered a choice. Goldfish or Graham Cracker. She chose Graham Cracker because she's familiar with the word "cracker" but doesn't know what a Goldfish is. She LOVED it. "Mmmrh CAkah," Chloe said, crumbs flying from her over-stuffed mouth. We all laughed. She was not shy about requesting more and barely shoved the last cracker in her mouth before ordering up seconds, thirds, and fourths.

Next was Play-Doh. Chloe touched it once and made a face like someone farted. She wasn't interested so she just explored the rest of the toys. Finally, it was time to go.

I think she really enjoyed playgroup. In fact, I felt kind of bad that she's been so sheltered and hasn't done anything like that before. I think it'll be good for her. The only difficult part right now is keeping toys out of her mouth. This kid wants to explore everything with her mouth! I put a bunch of toys in the "to be washed" bin. She's sneaky. It'll be interesting to see her learn the routine. I wonder if/when she'll run over to the box to see what's inside. Will she happily go to the next activity or will I have to do my best "this is going to be fun" song and dance every week? We'll see.....