Sensory Friendly GiveAway for Back To School!

Soft Clothing and Hartley's Life with 3 Boys is doing a giveaway that is sensory friendly for back to school! There is a ton of stuff they are giving away to one winner. The catch is that it ends at midnight on September 1, 2010. So you are going to want to head over to the Soft Clothing :: Back To School Giveaway.

Here's the stash:

3 pack of Soft Sensory Tees in color/size of your choice
6 pairs of Soft Seamless Socks
"This is Gabriel Making Sense of School" by Hartley Steiner
Lands End Uniform Backpack
Classpack of Crayola Colored Pencils
Tactile Fidget
Desk Buddy Sensory Bar
6-Pack of Mead Spiral Wide Ruled Notebooks
4-BG Flash Drive
12-Pack of Crayola Washable Fine-Tip Markers
Peltor Junior Noise Protector Headphones
Classic Pencil Grip Pencil Sharpener
4-Pack of Sharpie Highlighter Pens
3-Pack of Pink Paper-Mate Rubber Erasers
2 Mead Classic Composition Books
Plastic Hinged School Tool Box
Max's Mud-Natural Sculpting Dough
Pocket Stixx Oral Motor Tubes

Soft Clothing :: Back To School Giveaway

While you are over there, check out what all Soft Clothing has to offer!


(product links are for examples only, may not be exact item in giveaway.)

On the 10th day of school...

Hard to believe that Benji has been in Kindergarten for 10 full days.  - Mom

School is different now that I am in kindergarten. We get all these papers and crayons and I just want to draw, but the teacher tells me I have to do what the paper says. Mom is concerned that the weakness in my right hand is back. She says she is noticing that I am not writing and drawing as good as I was when I was at pre-K.

My teacher sends home a sheet with my name in dotted lines for me to trace. I can do that pretty good. It's just when I do it on my own, it looks like scribble scrabble.

Mom has been working with me alot, we do flash cards at home with shapes and colors plus numbers and counting. The last couple days we've added letters and a couple words.

I am still very tired when I get out of school. I don't want mom to know so I get hyper and silly. Sometimes after school mom makes us play outside so "we get the wiggles out" or we can get in the pool. The pool reinvigorates me, ssshhh, don't tell mom. :)

Wordless Wednesday - Play Ball

This past Friday was the first ball game of Miracle Ball. I love this group! It shows what one person can do to make a difference. One parent saw the need for a special needs athletic group and did something about it. Now, kids that can't play on regular teams, can play with this group.

First Day of Big School

Today is the first day of Kindergarten for me. It's just going to be the boys in class today. I'm a little anxious because the only person I know in my class is a girl and she won't be there until tomorrow.

I wonder what we will do. Will the other kids like me?

Mom worries how I will do too. I heard her talking to dad about it. She's afraid I will have problems. I got really hot Friday evening and my blood sugar dropped. Mom and Dad caught it and were prepared, but with people that don't know me she is concerned about if they will pick up on the warning signs.

Then the whole sensory stuff. I don't like the big room called a gym. It hurts my ears. At least that's how it was when we had the "open house".

I want to have a good time. I really like going to school. I am just hoping that school likes me.

Last Day of Freedom! j/k

Today is the last day of my summer break. I go to school tomorrow.

Mom is keeping it relaxed today. I get to play my video games (Lego Batman on the PS2). I love playing video games!

If the pool is clean enough we will probably go swimming too. Swimming is so much fun, and it's a great way to keep cool! (Plus it helps with sensory stuff A LOT)

I am a little anxious. I will be going to a new school with a new teacher and with new friends.

Today though is all about fun!

Mom is keeping an eye on me though. We had our first Miracle Ball game Friday night and from the heat, my sugar dropped a bit. Mom had it under control with some Juicy Juice and a snack bar. Got me back to normal pretty quick all without causing a food issue.

The game was fun! We played two full innings. I got to run the bases twice! (There will be a picture on Wednesday) I also got to see some of my friends from my old school and enjoyed playing with them.

Plus!! My godmother came up to see us this past weekend! That's her with me and Bubba. She got to go to my game and stay for Bubba's birthday party. We were so happy to see her. I <3 you Gale!

Going to the Dogs...

While my brothers and sisters started school yesterday (Monday, August 2) me and mom had a day. I did my kindergarten testing first thing, spent some time at Nana's and Papa's and then... and then... I got to go to my first movie in a movie theater!

Back in May, my brothers got to go to see "How To Train Your Dragon" at the Movie Theater as a reward from their school. Me and mom were going to go but it did not work out. So mom promised me a movie next time one came out that I could see.

We got to the Roxy at 11:50am, got the ticket, then got in line to buy a drink and snack. (I wanted popcorn but, there was too much stuff on my no-no list)  By the time we got through the line, went potty and got into the theater, the trailers had already started. (There is one about Owl guardians that really looks interesting) Anyhow, then the movie begins. I must say, we watched Cats & Dogs not that long ago, but this was AWESOME. I recommend everybody go and see Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.

Being that I am five years old and that I do have sensory processing disorder, I was able to sit and watch the entire movie. (122 minutes) The only time I had to get up was when I had to run to the potty and I was quick, I didn't want to miss anything. We went right at noon, as said, and there may have been a total of ten people in the theater. Mom was impressed with me being able to stay focused.

I loved Diggs, he is a K-9 dog with problems. His antics are funny. He likes to act before thinking a lot.

Anyhow, I give this movie two thumbs up!

Gross Motor Excellence

Mom took me into physical therapy this morning for my yearly evaluation. I had a hard time concentrating. Mom thinks with all the back to school stuff and routine changing that I am over-stimulated. My pt agrees and is concerned.

The awesome news is that for 5 1/2 - 6 year old skills I have them pretty good. I need to work on throwing accurately and catching but I meet standards! WooHoo!

The down side... I am VERY moody, I am getting fixated on things instead of paying attention, I am sensory seeking (i.e. sucking thumb ALL the time, twirling hair ALL the time, rolling on the floor) and I am upset I don't have a schedule yet.

School starts for me full time Tuesday. Mom is concerned about my food allergies and how I will handle being in school. I really want to be in school. I tested with Ms. A and I really like her and her classroom. We just don't know if she will be my teacher or not. It's really hard not knowing.

Mom did find out this afternoon that there will be a transition meeting for my needs Friday morning. We are praying everything works out well. While my sensory stuff can get quite distracting, with the right help I can thrive in a regular educational environment.