SOCIAL PLAY: APRIL 25th

Today, we got into Sammie's world and encouraged him to engage in social play:

We played face to face when we:

• When playing with his truck, his puzzle, and his crayons, Daddy played face to face. Sammie still showed a tendency to play with his back to him or beside him, but he did continue to encourage it.  

We encouraged eye contact when we:

•  Played at the park. Mommy made sure that Sammie looked in her eyes before talking to him about crossing the street and "stopping". 
•  Mommy also used a song to encourage eye when changing his diaper. 
•  Daddy encouraged eye contact when using the pictures and encouraging Sammie to choose his drink option. 

We played "the same way" by:

• Playing with the crayons- Sammie wanted to stack them instead of colouring with them. We played along with him. 
• Mommy played the same way at the park, by following Sammie's lead on which activities to engage in.  
•  Mommy also did a short "copy me" session in the parlour. She spun when Sammie spun, ran when Sammie ran, and fell when Sammie fell. When he noticed what she was doing, he took her hand and wanted her to run with him and spin with him. 

We considered how to "make sense" of Sammie's world when he:

• Stacked the crayons together. Sometimes he stacked crayons on top of the pile, and sometimes on the bottom. He accepted us adding to the stack, but preferred when we handed him the crayon and let him do it himself. He was not overly interested in using the crayons to colour this morning, despite knowing that that is their purpose. 

Our reflections lead us to consider:

• Sammie doesn't need to play things the way they are necessarily intended to be played with. He likes to discover different uses for things, and makes them interesting to himself. He also displays an affinity for things to be either a) in order, or b) connected. He likes to observe how items work together. 

SOCIAL PLAY: TEMPLATE

Today, we got into Sammie's world and encouraged him to engage in social play:

We played face to face when we:

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We encouraged eye contact when we:

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We played "the same way" by:

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We considered how to "make sense" of Sammie's world when he:

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Our reflections lead us to consider:

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Sammie Update: Responsive Teaching Session 1

Today we had our first "Responsive Teaching" session with Bev, our Early Intervention Counsellor.

Our session, as usual, began with an update on Sammie's progress. This was a particularly interesting session as it had been several months since Bev had last seen Sammie and the progress he has made during this time has been notable, particularly in areas of social interaction with adults and his peer group.  Recently, Sammie has begun using 'touch' to connect with children around him and has begun to show an interest in playing 'with' others as opposed to alone. Sammie has developed a preference for specific people (particularly girls either a little bit younger or a little bit older than he is), and has begun exploring his personality in many different ways.

In terms of new skills, Sammie has recently developed a mild interest in arts and crafts, particularly colouring with markers. He is getting better at working with crayons as well.  He is still very "gross motor" focused, but seems to enjoy quiet activities and play a lot more than he did in the past. His interests have evolved beyond just 'trains', and now include puzzles, other toys like cars/trucks, and even his two dolls (Iggle Piggle and Upsydaisy).  He has started sitting still for longer periods of time, including during most of his meals, and is able to focus his attention long enough to watch an entire IMAX movie (Rocky Mountain Express).

The first section of Responsive Teaching is always focused on "social play" which "refers to the children's ability to play with their parents and other adults across many situations".  It is characterized by a "give and take in which children contribute as much to the play activity as their adult partners." In our discussions and assessments, we determined that Sammie's current level of social play sits about about a "moderate" (4 or 5 out of 10).  Ideally, we would like to see him operating at a 6 or above.  As such, Bev outlined certain goals and strategies for us to focus on to help improve our social play together.

(The following is taken from the Responsive Teaching Manual handouts)

Facts to remember about social play: 

1. Social play with parents is critical for promoting children's developmental growth. 
2. Cognitive learning is a two-person process, in which the impact parents have is related to how much they respond to their child.
3. Cognitive learning occurs whenever children are active and alert. 
4. By themselves, children can only learn information they discover accidentally.

The most important strategy that promotes social play involves "getting into the child's world". This involves three components: 

1. Establish a mutual physical relationship with your child (using eye contact and by interacting on the same level)
2. Interact by playing or communicating like your child by mimicking behaviours.
3. Consciously strive to understand the world as your child does. 

As each child is different, very specific strategies were outlined to help Sammie develop his social play skills. These involve:

1. Playing face to face as often as possible.
2. Establishing and encouraging eye contact.
3. Consider how to "make sense" of his world by observing and reflecting on his behaviours, all the while remembering that- as Sammie develops- the way the world looks while change on an ongoing basis. 
4. Playing the "same way" by offering more opportunities for play together, tuning into his interests an encouraging turn-taking and variations in his games.