I get the priviledge to work with a few kids in our church who need a smaller group, quieter, adapted curriculum to enable them to focus and therefore LEARN about God! The curriculum our church uses is through Orange. This month we have a 'Survivor' theme.
The focus: Courage is being brave enough to do what you should do, even when you are afraid. Our memory verse is: Ps 56:3.
When the kids get antsy, we move over into a partitioned off (with a moveable wall that I can wrap around us) area of the large group room. During our small group time we try to do something that uses our hands, works on following directions, making good choices, etc. Today we even used some of our beans from our sensory bin to make "coconuts" on the tree which was their idea!
I gave the kids a strip of brown construction paper and had them tear it into smaller strips that they could stack. All I had to do was put the glue on the paper and away they went. I cut out the leaves and gave them the scissors. Using a pencil, I drew the lines for them to cut on the leaves and make them look textured. There is usually one or two "helper kids" who can pick up and complete or continue to work on an activity when one of my sweets loses attention. This helps more than ANY adult could ever help. The kids see the other students modeling and then get back on track working together.
Since we have a big blow up tree on the big stage (that is SOOOO tempting to grab and run with) we made our own tree. We read the verse aloud several times while the kids built with these very cool blocks that are great for sensory feedback.
During that time, I wrote the verse on strips and cut the words apart. The kids lined them up in order. Those little smarties had that verse memorized in less than five minutes!
When we have time, we watch videos related to our lesson from the "parent cue" App on the iPad.
So no, this isn't speech therapy and yes this is my first post, but I know that God placed me at this place, at this time, with the knowledge He has given me over the years working in special education to minister to my little tribe. Today, I can't imagine being anywhere else.
You know what? It was scary to think about working in this role in my church. You know what else? By trusting in HIM when I am afraid, He will make it possible.
