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The gang's all here! The whole CD program was present to celebrate a great start to the school year! A beautiful day to be outside...from walking the track to flying a kite, the students (and staff!) enjoyed spending time with old and new friends and teachers! K-9 and K-22 particularly enjoyed the awesome park and sandbox!
Kerkstra Room 22 spent a warm spring day at the Windy City Thunderbolts stadium!! First, we soaked up the sun and watched the game. The students took a break to get a photo taken with "Boomer," the Windy City Thunderbolt mascot. What would a baseball game be without a hot dog for lunch?! When the game ended, the students were allowed to run around the bases!!! It was a terrific day at the ball park!!!! Well, the weather did not cooperate, but K-18 and K-7 still managed to make it a fun day! Plenty of animals to see at Brookfield Zoo! Peacocks, monkeys, lions, goats and reptiles were just a few of the creatures that made an appearance that day! Our favorite by far.....the dolphins! Ms Kris showed us a trick using the teeth of a comb and a credit card to make a noise that attracted the dolphins. WOW, did it work! Look how surprised Christian looks at how easily this dolphin came to the glass to greet him!!
A special shout out to all the SWCCCASE Speech Language Pathologists in honor of Better Speech and Hearing Month! Thank you all for all your hard work and diligence in helping our kiddos improve their communication skills! We appreciate all that you do! Kerkstra 22 headed to Nana's Cakery for their April Community Outing!!! Students were grinning ear to ear as they rolled, patted, cut, baked, frosted and decorated cookies. Sampling one of their sugar, chocolate chip or m&m cookies was a "tasty" way to fulfill the baking experience! The beautiful day wasn't complete without lunch at the park and playground fun! We have had a busy first few weeks in room B15! The educational team in our room includes Ms. McDermott, Ms. Dunneback, Mr. Talbot, and Ms. Williams. We have all enjoyed getting to know our students. Since the opening of our room on April 17, our students have been learning the new routine of the room. We have learned to use a new schedule system, to work in stations with no incentives (not even food!), and to ask for a break when we feel overwhelmed. All of our students have already made huge gains toward being able to function independently in our new classroom! We can't wait to see what the future holds!  Mr. Talbot is ready to work with the B15 students!
  CD Oakwood would like to spread the word about a program called 4Paws 4 ability!!! Elopement occurs when a child runs or wanders from a safe, supervised environment. A 2012 study found (via parent survey) that 49% of the study children with autism eloped after the age of 4 and of these, 53% were away from supervision long enough to be considered missing. Elopement can happen in the home, school, or community setting. 4 Paws was the first agency in the United States to begin placing task trained Autism Assistance Dogs and the first agency known to place these assistance dogs with tracking skills. 4 Paws Autism Assistance Dogs can be trained in a variety of tasks to assist a child. These include behavior disruption, to distract and disrupt repetitive behaviors or ‘meltdowns’, tethering to prevent and protect a child from wandering, and search and rescue tracking to locate a child who has eloped, as children with autism are inclined to do. To learn more about applying for a service dog, please visit their website at http://4pawsforability.org/autism-assistance-dog/ What happens when we sneezed and cough??? Germs spread!!! In March, CD students practiced "healthy habits" for a healthy classroom! We watched germ videos! Our favorite was "Germy Wormy"! We practiced washing our hands and face! We practiced sneezing and coughing in our sleeves! All of the kids enjoyed this unit!
Kerkstra classes 18 and 7 joined teams and ventured out in the snowy weather for a fun filled community outing! The day started with lunch at our favorite place...McDonalds! Yum, Yum! With full bellies, we headed over to Kid's Works children's museum in Frankfort. There was plenty to do from dress up and puppet shows to building and dinosaur digs! It was a fun filled day!
Kerkstra 22 celebrated 100 days of school! Students wore their creatively decorated T-shirts to school. The day was filled with 100 Day activities, games and lessons. Happy 100 Day!!!
 Did you know that individuals with autism can show equal or superior abilities in pitch processing, labeling of emotions in music, and musical preference when compared to typically developing peers? The most compelling evidence supporting the clinical benefits of music therapy lies in the areas of social-emotional responsiveness and communication, including increased compliance, reduced anxiety, increased speech output, decreased vocal stereotypy, receptive labeling, and increased interaction with peers. Preliminary findings also support the potential for music to assist in the learning of daily routines.
Oakwood CD incorporates music through out the school day through interactive videos, group (hands on) activities and free play. Music is medicine!
Kerkstra Room 22 joined the entire CD program in January, for a community outing at Oak Forest Bowl. Students kicked off the new semester by reviewing positive behaviors included within the 3 B's of CD (Be respectful, Be responsible and Be Safe!). A great time was had by all!!!
The Challengers Coed Baseball Program is taking registration now. "The Tinley Park Bobcat Challengers is a division for young athletes and their families who do not allow developmental disabilities prevent them from participating in the national pastime." Everything is entirely FREE and sponsored by the Tinley Park Bobcats. Players get a full uniform and play games once a week on the special Challengers Field, built just for players with special needs. There are teams for all ages, players range from 5-25 years old, and are from many neighboring communities.  CD Students will be participating in a community outing to Oak Forest Bowl on Tuesday, January 17th! Students will be reminded of the 3B's of CD throughout next week and practice these skills in many different ways! Check back for updates!  Be Responsible Be Respectful Be Safe The Kerkstra CD and Destiny programs came together for an afternoon of singing, dancing and crafting!!! The show included Kerkstra 18 singing the familiar tune, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"! Kerkstra 22 kicked up their heels with a festive rendition of "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree"!! Family and friends then enjoyed making winter crafts with their children. A good time was had by all, as we said farewell to 2016!!!! Brrrrr! Despite the bitter cold and snow, K-18 braved the weather to head over to the Dupage County Children's Museum. Oh what fun! There was so much to see and do! From blocks to bubbles, the K-18 clan enjoyed everything the museum had to offer! We worked up quite an appetite, ending our day with lunch at McDonalds...YUMMY!  This month our little honeybees have bee-n working on Bee-ing responsible!
After playtime, we practice cleaning up our toys and books! Our staff has made "clean up" fun by playing music (clean up song), and by handing out bit o' honey candy pieces! We could not bee any prouder of our sweet honeybees! |
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September 2017
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