Fine Tuning Motor Skills

Fine Tuning Motor Skills



What Are Fine Motor Skills?
Fine Motor Skills including :

• Stationary : ability to maintain balance or equilibrium.
• Locomotion : ability to move, including walking, running etc.
• Object Manipulation : Including pincer grip abilities, ability to control fine movement (such as threading and opening zips)
• Grasping: ability to use the muscles of the hand and to control fingers.
• Visual-Motor Integration : eye and hand coordination. Controlling muscles based on visual perception. E.g. building blocks or threading

These skills are vital in a child's development. It is Fine motor function that will allow a child to grasp and explore objects, dress and feed themselves and later on develop good penmanship. They are also an intrinsic part of signed communication.
 
There are those that would argue, myself included, that Fine Motor function is one of the key skills required to function successfully within the classroom, home and later on in the workplace. It is Fine Motor function that can decide the difference between independent living and it is Fine Motor function that allows us to interact with objects around us in a meaningful way.
 
Fine Motor skills do not just happen. They must be practiced, refined and acquired.
 
I have been hunting for great, durable, and cheap Games and Therapy tools that we can add to our Fine Motor collection that address and help train each of the different aspects of fine motor skills, and this newsletter marks the launch of the just some of my discoveries.
 

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Lace and Thread
Threading is one of the more challenging Fine Motor Skills. It requires Pincer Grip, a vital yet difficult skill to acquire, Visual-Motor control and Fine Locomotion control (to get the thread into the holes).

We already have a great collection of books that involve threading. Run Away Train being my favorite (you can view the range on our site under : Fine Motor Control - Activity Books), however I wanted tools that a child could use independently, that also
sparked intrigue and imagination...I found them.

Lacing Fruit              $17.50
This is a beautiful set of 30 + wooden beads in the shape of fruit (inc Apples, pears, blue berries, watermelon, bananas, oranges, mangos and strawberries), within a plastic jar (with screw top lid and handle) plus 2 colored, soft, synthetic ropes approx 1 meter long (each).

Each fruit is approx 3 X 3 cm.
Jar is 10 X 15 cm

A novel take on threading, which is a great fine motor practice. Because these beads are different shapes and sizes this set provides a fun avenue for added dexterity improvement. PLUS being made of wood they are durable and tough enough to withstand the stresses of children year after year.

Paints are non toxic. Some beads are small enough to be a choking hazard for children under 3 years.

Lacing Tree                     $9.50
Both the tree and 5 fruits in this set are made from 5mm ply board and painted in non-toxic paints and meet the Australian safety standards for children from birth.

Two long threading ropes are also included in this wonderful, bright and captivating Fine Motor set. The Tree is 210 X 290 mm

Both items can be viewed and ordered from our website under Fine Motor Control - Games and Toys This is great game for 2 or more players that requires fine and gross motor control, pincer grip, hand eye co-ordination , and helps examine cause and effect.

To being the wall must be build, which utilises fine motor control and pincer grip. Players then take it in turn using a green trowel (again with pincer grip) to poke out 1 brick each turn until Humpty falls.
This jar set includes 12 wooden spinning tops in assorted colors, each beautifully painted under red, purple, blue, orange and yellow colour themes in non-toxic paints.

They are all exquisitely crafted and balanced and a great pincer grip strengthening tool.

Get all 12 for $32.85 or individually for $3 each

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Humpty Helps with Fine Motor Skills  $15.85

This is great game for 2 or more players that requires fine and gross motor control, pincer grip, hand eye co-ordination , and helps examine cause and effect.

To being the wall must be build, which utilises fine motor control and pincer grip. Players then take it in turn using a green trowel (again with pincer grip) to poke out 1 brick each turn until Humpty falls.

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Spinning Up Skills
This jar set includes 12 wooden spinning tops in assorted colors, each beautifully painted under red, purple, blue, orange and yellow colour themes in non-toxic paints.

They are all exquisitely crafted and balanced and a great pincer grip strengthening tool.

Get all 12 for $32.85 or individually for $3 each

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Tangled Up in Fine Motor Function
These Tangles are 18cm long and made of 18 interconnected 2cm plastic pieces. They can easily be clipped onto a belt buckle, school bag, backpack or purse, and always be by your side.

Great for kids to take to school. (Tangles are not recommended for children under 3 due to small parts)

A great fidget toy for children with Autism or Aspergers ! Also a great Fine Motor Skill Tool!     Full details on our site under : Fine Motor Control - Games and Toys

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Touch - the forgotten Fine Motor Function
This is a wonderful, tactile match-up board. The base board is made from pine, with smooth polished, curved edges. Each of the 10 circle spaces contain a different texture (red Velcro, grey wool carpet, retain, fine sandpaper, yellow tennis ball fur, white foam, black rubber, orange corrugated cardboard, white cotton fabric, and Hessian. The blue wooden circles include inserts that match the base board.

A fabulous resource for children with vision impairment, and also for sensory therapy (perhaps with children on the Autism spectrum). This game also helps to heighten fine motor functions associated with touch.

Full details on our site under : Fine Motor Control - Games and Toys

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Thanks for reading. I hope it helped

Lee BilbyBilby Publishing                    wwww.bilby.net

What's New? ~ Games and books that Educate and Stimulate

What's New?     ~ The Latest News In Special Needs Resources        6 May 2011 Auslan Games and Books Fine and Gross Motor Skills Numeracy Sensory Stimulation On the Road to Reading Putting Sentences Together : Early Reading and understanding English Grammar Sequencing through reading Comprehension : Games and Books that help understanding Understanding Others Games and Books that Educate and Stimulate Hello again and welcome to another edition of our Special Needs Resource Newsletter, where we try hard to keep you all up to date with the latest Autism, Aspergers, Behavioural Needs, Sign Language, Fine and Gross Motor Skills, Early Literacy and Numeracy Resources. As always I have some great new products to tell you all about. This editions focus is Games and Books. A new spectum in our range that has, up until now, not even had a catalogue. I am glad to announce that it now does and if you would like to recieve a copy just let us know. You can also download the catelogue now (2.4MB).Obviously I can not cover every Game and Book in this newsletter, but I will highlight my favourites for you under each category Auslan Games and Books

Obviously, having specialised in the area of Auslan resources for over 13 years our range is huge, but some new and noteworthy items include: Who's Who : Auslan Edition                  $29.95 This Auslan Edition of Who's Who includes 2 ( 30 X 28cm) playing boards, each with 24 unique faces. 4 People Cards and 2 copies of the book WHO? : Describing People in Auslan. A 16 page Auslan dictionary style book that includes sections on Describing Hair, Faces, Bodies, Colours and Clothing. Plus example sentences and the Auslan Alphabet. This game enhances communication skills in English and Auslan!.... Read more, or Order, online now New Baby Sign Flashcards for Beginners        $24.95 This large set of cards comes beautifully presented in a hinged aluminum tin. Each card is 145 X 205 mm, single sided and cello coated. Cards depict a large clear illustration of the sign, the English word, beautiful clipart illustration of the object and a description of how to perform the sign. Signs included : Ball, Doll, Boy, Girl, Clean, dirty, Eat, Drink, Hot, Cold, Dad, Mum, Happy, Sad, Awake, Sleep, Toilet, Bath, Hungry, Milk, Please, Thankyou, Yes, No, Gone, More, Careful, Hurt, Good, Finish, What, Where, Smelly.....Read more, or Order, online now Fine and Gross Motor Skills Activity Books - Books with moving Components Our range of activity books all have moving parts, such as a spinning wheel, a character that threads through the pages, or a flap that lifts. They are great to keep children captivated as well as excersising those fine motor skills....read more The Runaway Train, pictured right, for example, has a felt train that threads its way through the countryside (and the book) as the story progesses. Only $19.95 Read more, or Order online now Topple treeThis highly entertaining game for all ages sees players add branches of their colour to the tree in turn. If you can get four in a row you win, but if it topples you loose! So add those pieces carefully and exercise those fine motor skills as well! For 2 to 4 players, ages 4 and up  Read more, or Order online now Look at all the Fine Motor Skill Products online now Numeracy Two Faced Clocks We featured these just before Christmas, but I had to tell you about them again, as they are so fantastic...and so very cheap...Only $6.70! This large clock (26 cm diameter clock face), has movable arms that can easily be switched between the front and back faces. The front face has an outer circle (in red) that includes the minute numbers (5,10 and so on). The inner circle where the hands appear it divided into quarter with clear arrows (including the words) pointing to Quarter and Half Past and Quarter to and O'Clock....Read more, or Order Online Now Click to look at all Numeracy Books Click to look at all Numeracy Games On the Road to Reading Starting to read can be tricky, especially for children who are also confronting other developmental and sensory challenges. We have established a collectio of resources that help children grapple with Vocab Building, Plurals (especially difficult for Deaf children) and Early Reading (in a captivating and motivating way) How Do I teach this Kid to Read!                             $32.95 Reading is so much more than reciting words on a page! But for many young children learning to read, and comprehend the text, can be so difficult. Especially for children with Autism. This book presents simple instructional strategies that can be used to help develop early literacy skills in young children with autism. Award-winning author Kimberly Henry provides dozens of fine-tuned, easily adaptable activities that teachers and parents can implement separately or in infinite combinations. Included are units on phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency. Kim also lists numerous other resources you can use to supplement the lessons. Best of all, this book comes with a FREE CD of printable, visual tools This is a highly recommended tool for teachers and parents of not only children on the spectrum, but all children.....Read more, or Order Online Now Plurals $21.95 This great kit consists of 27 puzzle pairs that match the singular (e.g. goose) to the plural (geese). Irregular plurals can be tricky to learn, especially for Hearing Impaired students. This kit is ideal to help children grappling with plurals. You could use them one-on-one with a child in an intervention setting. In independent play; or as a board game....Read more, or Order Online Now Look at all Early Reading books Look at all Early Reading Games Putting sentences together Now that you build up a good vocab list, how do you put it into sentences? We have some great resources to help children understand grammar and enguage in early reading. Build A Sentence 2 : Parts of Speech Match Up $19.95 A parts of speech match up game and teacher tool kit. Contains 8 sets of 30 word play cards (240 word cards in total) and 2 colour coded playing boards. This wonderful resource helps children build sentences and begin to understand English grammar and identify parts of speech - including nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. A great tool to help develop language skills. Sentences are build on a colour coded board, using colour coded cards, that help children split sentences into their different parts. A very clever system that is fantastic for those starting out in reading, and especially beneficial for those struggling with English grammar (perhaps as English is a second language, or because a hearing Impairment or Deafness has limited exposure to English....Read more, or Order Online Now Animals : Their Homes and What they Eat $12.45 This is a fantastic game set. It includes 21 sets of cards, with three cards in each set. Each set includes an animal card, home card and food card; Each beautifully illustrated and clearly named in lower case type. For example parrot : tree hole : fruits and grains. Animals include duck, pigeon, rat, cow, hen/chicken, parrot, butterfly, rabbit, elephant, squirrel, camel, horse, goat, sheep, black bird, cat, donkey, dog, panda, monkey and bear. The game can be played by one player, or even a whole class and will not only work on this curriculum area; but also develop memory skills, improve vocabulary, enhance environmental awareness and encourage observation skills.... Read more, or Order Online Now Flip Up Fairy Tales Books only $12.95 each. Book and Audio Cd $17.95. Set discounts are also available Fairy Tales form a well-established, important part of our culture and childhood. Step into the magical world of Fairy Tales with these soft cover books (Also available packaged with Read-A-Long Audio CD's under Audio Books) This collection of books are delightfully illustrated and have fun lift-up flaps which add to the story and help maintain enthusiasm and make each story an interactive event. They also encourage prediction and discussion. Books are 21 X 21 cm and 24 pages, with at least one flip per double page. Books are sewn, not glued, making them incredibly durable ....Read More or Order Online Peek-A-Boo books The 'Peek-A-Boo' titles have a 'hole' on each page that reveals items from the next page. In the case of 'The Old Woman Who Swallowed A Fly', for example, the hole gradually gets bigger to reveal her ever growing stomach with each animal inside. 'Old Mac Donald' cleverly reveals a different animal on each page that has been 'hiding' on the farm. The 'Peek-A-Boo' titles are available as Big Books (43.5 X 43.5 cm) for $32.95, Soft Cover books (29 X 29cm) for $12.95 and as Board Books (16 X 16 cm), $12.95 The board books are perfect for little fingers and very strong. All varieties are very well made and durable!....Read More or Order Online Sequencing through reading We have a wonderful collection of Books and Games that help children learn and excersise Sequencing Skills....none of which I am going to tell you about today, sorry. You will have to go to the website and discover them for yourselves under : Autism > Sensory Stimulation Comprehension : Games and Books that help understanding These resources are about expanding understanding of the English language, especially the idiosicracies and finner details. We have a growing collection of these; but I would like to highlight the Herman series, as they are just so very wonderful. These books cover idions, Questions, and directions in a unique, clear, and easy to understand manner. They are award winners across countries and are very highly recommended. Plus, they are hardcover books, making them so durable for school and home use. Only $17.95 each...Read More or Order Online Understanding Others This collection focusses on multicultural and disability awareness and understanding...many of which I have told you all about before, so I will let you browes these online on our site : Educational Books > Cultural Awarenes Educational Books > Disability Awarenes

English, Auslan and School - my story

I was asked :

When you went to high school, how did the teachers manage to make the circulum available to you? Did you predominantly use Auslan or English? Did you go to school with a hearing support unit or wish you did?
I thought my answer may be of interest to you all :

I grew up oral/English only, ostracized from my deaf family, and told to NEVER tell anyone I couldn’t hear. Of course my parents were insane, and extreme, but I thought I would tell you a bit about my education, in a nut shell and why I wish I knew Auslan then.

In writing taught subjects, like maths, I was a star. I was even in the advanced maths group, sent out to the hall (5 of us), which ironically was even better for me and just helped me excel further.  But my English literacy was appalling. By grade 5 I could hardly read. Didn’t read my first novel till high school. Hated being told to ‘look it up in the dictionary’ – I did not even know the first letter!

I failed most subjects in high school…the irony of which being I would often explain and help other kids understand various stuff, orally, but I could not write it down legibly, and that would let me down every time.

There were however some fundamental, life changing moments

1. In grade 5 – My Ymer. Tough as old boots and can to our school from a juvenile detention centre, so his observation skills were well tuned.  He would keep me in at play times and give me one on one spelling and reading help.  I still remember him saying “I am Special” as a reminder that the I comes before the a in special….and hundreds of others LOL
2. Year 7, Mrs Bloomfield, who defied the school rules of alphabetical seeing orders and sat me in the front row – mostly because she could see I was having trouble seeing – but still life changing
3. Yr 7 – 11 –Posture Elocution and something else. Compulsory subject at my high school – as all good ladies should (ha) anyway it changed my speak for ever. It was 3 days a week, I think, and the difference was astounding. I learned about syllables in words I never new existed before, which not only changed my speech, but also my reading and spelling. Ironically, although clearly not the aim, I also learned to lip read in that class. . . oh and walk with a basket on my head
4. My year 9 English teacher, whose name I can not remember. I hated her. She always spoke with her lips together, in a whisper. She told me I could not do my VCE, because I did not have the English skills! I fought to the end, and thankfully my pompous parents were not going to have any daughter of theirs put at a lower social status etc…so VCE was on.
5. Year 10 – Brother Dunn Change my life in so very many ways. He knew straight away I could not hear, put me square in front of him and would lean forward on my desk when he spoke to the class, which was great for me and no one else new why. He also sat with me at lunch times and worked on all manner of things, so that I went from a failing student to an A student in that year.  Thanks Brother Dunn
6. Year 11 and 12 English (Mr Peters and Mr White). I will group these together, although it was 2 different teachers. Both exceptional to me. They would encourage me to do assignments as soon as they were handed in and let me hand in draft after draft…they encouraged and inspired (and tutored) me not only in English, but across all subjects.
7. Then there was my accounting teacher, I really do wish I could remember his name, because he was also the careers advisor.  My parents were encouraging me to become an o-pair (nanny – I do not know if that is spelt right). Anyway he sat me down and in a nut shell, said, aim higher. I excelled in computer programming and accounting even then, and he wanted me to aim for a double degree. Which I did, and got into at uni.

At this point I feel the need to finish saying, I got into uni…almost always sat confidently at the front, even if my friends did not join me, studied accounting, computer science, and corporate law, simultaneously. Did one year in an accelerated program at uni and went into my career(s) with confidence. I love to read (have read 10 novels of some size over the 2 week Christmas break alone). Am confident writing (more so with a spell checker and still discovering hidden letters and syllables in words); but changed by the acquaintance of 7 or so people.

Yes I wish I knew Auslan (a friend in late high school and uni taught me, but I only had her to sign too). I struggled so much to understand everthing my teachers were saying…too much, it was not fair. If not for those few teachers I very nearly would have failed high school and never read very well. That would have dramatically changed my life. I am not saying every minute of every day should have been signed…I am just saying if at least some of it was provided to me in a way that was easy for me to understand I would not have had the double struggle of a) understanding the words b)understanding and learning the content.

Sorry, did not mean this to be an novel….

Lee

Sign Planet Sign of the day

Hi everyone...notice the new Signplanet tool bar on the right?

Everytime you referesh it will show you a new sign in your native sign language (Auslan for Australians, BSL for those in the UK, NZSL for our New Zealand friends, and ASL for all those American signers out there)

If you type in word or phrase in the search box and hit GO you will find a new window opens with the sign, a video clip and a description of how to perform the sign....go on try it!

The PRINTABLES button will take you to a page full of premade handouts including games, mini dictionaries, songs aand more. There are hundreds to choose from on the site...so go on and search them too :)

If you would like to add this toolbar to your blog (use the html gadget tool), webpage, or desktop simply go to : http://signplanet.net/SPT/sptabout.asp   It's FREE! 

You can also get signs free on the go!

Go to m.signplanet.net on your mobile phone fr free access to the online dictionary and some great mobile phone games for free!

New online features include an emotions recognision game - especially for all our autistic friends.


What is SignPlanet.net ?

Where have you been ? SignPlanet is the evolution of a website called SignSwap - which was launched over 10 years ago. It was entirely free and saw over 1 million signs downloaded in the first year!

Because it was so popular, and consequently so expensive to run (it is entirely funded by us - no government funding involved) we had to look at dividing it into subscription and free content.

Today you will still find the entire dictionary sections available for free, including the search by category sections. PLUS a number of free online Sign Language courses. PLUS a great number of the 'ready to print' resources free too!

More about the Subscription feature.
You will also discover a world of resources at your fingertips through the subsription services. These include Text-To-Sign coversion.  We were the first, and remain the only people to ever write and provide this service in the world.

Simply type in the sentence you what to convert and select the size of images and font (you can even change the text under the sign - so that a sign name like "S" "dog" for Spot the dog will display "Spot" under the signs.  This feature is perfect for book translations like the example pictured below.

Anouther very popular tool is the Lable Creator, which lets you very quickly (in 5 clicks), create lables that you can put up around your home or school.


For more info visit the site at :
http://www.signplanet.net/