we have started it and the girls are enjoying it.  Sarah, who doesn't respond verbally to the question, "how was your day, what did you do?"  Is writing 10 or more phrases about her day when journaling!  For the first time in 15 years she is communicating what she did at school during the day to me.  I was amazed at all the content she was writing!  Here is the table for the girls and I will send progress when we have completed the section.

Thank you!

Hello

We have completed the second module of the Growing Brains program.  I have attached the table on page 3.  Specific changes in the girls I have noticed are as follows:  Sarah is 15 years old and has been using a 4 finger grasp on her pencil all her life and I am an O.T!  Sarah has started to use an adapted tripod grasp so that she has turned her wrist to enable her to use and develop a functional tripod grasp.  Sarah has shown an improvement in her posture that has shown when she is singing.  She usually has a slightly hunched posture that makes her sing down versus out.  She was instructed in how to hold herself and she could improve her posture for a short period but would always revert to her hunched posture.  Now Sarah is able to maintain an erect posture that I have noticed when she is singing and throughout the day.  Her muscle tone is still low.  It is hard for me to tell any differences in Sarah's ability to copy off the board and her spatial issues.  Sarah seems to have a better sense of time she is paying attention to the clock and calendar more and she seems to be more patient.  I wonder if it is due to her better understanding of  time.  I have noticed Sarah is better able to spell and is doing more journaling at school.  She was not able to string together consecutive expressive statements into a narrative writing piece prior to the last few months.  This new ability seems to be getting stronger as she continues to work on it at school. 

Isabelle seems to have an easier time copying off the board.  She continues to have better sequencing skills that I can see with her ability to understand and answer questions regarding place value.  She is now working on place values into millions and thousands used to confuse her.  Isabelle's sense of time has improved.  She is asking more about time like "How long does my Tae Kwon Do session last?"  She seems to be retaining information regarding times when she used to ask over and over and over the same questions when referring to time as it seemed to not stick with her due to not having a reference/meaning.  Isabelle's blending skills have improved her reading speed and fluency.

Were excited to start the next module after taking a short holiday break!

Here is the girl's results from section 3.  This was their all time favorite section.  The girls loved the vowel substitution using the toobaloos.  They became very quick and accurate & could easily keep up with the metronome.  They also loved the tracking the letter.  I stopped writing the 2 letters on the page they were using after about day 24.  At first Izzy was much faster then Sarah with the tracking then Sarah caught up and passed her in accuracy and speed.  I would count with them to get started and then they would continue.  Sarah was very poor at tracking the pencil at first.  She needed a lot of verbal and visual cues not to lose the target and she used to move her mouth with her eyes.  With practice she got better and I was able to let the girls do tracking the pencil to each other instead of me doing it with them.

  Best of all was the Simon Says and Math Memory!  At first I thought they would never get it.  Sarah would make mistakes like when I said "circle the", she would immediately point to the circle.  To stop her confusion & help her differentiate,  I would first name the shapes/figures in the row, then begin with the verbal instructions.  At first Sarah could only get about 2 right in each row and she was holding Izzy back a lot.  Then near the end Sarah was able to remember as much as Izzy and they were getting at least 2 out of 3 rows all correct with 5 instructions.  Each time one or the other would get 1 wrong on one row.  I was shocked at how well Sarah's working memory improved.  She used to be unable to execute an auditory direction like, " go up and get the toilet paper from the bathroom and bring it downstairs."  She would never be able to find anything either.  Now she can listen to a direction and complete it!  It is amazing!  I can't tell you how much it has improved her ability to help out, be involved and created a more functional independence in her!

Most amazing was Izzy's ability to do the Math Memory addition.  I truly thought that it was not for either of the girls when we began.  Sarah could only add the first 2 numbers in a column.  Izzy on the other hand took off with it.  She seemed to have a knack for it that I'm not sure where it came from.  This is a little girl who could not remember her addition facts in 2nd grade.  She could not pass the mad minutes.  She kept asking me to do it with her and although she would have to count it versus know the fact sometimes, she could complete the whole table with only needing me to repeat numbers a few times if she forgot.  She became faster and more efficient with practice and she really enjoyed it.

Izzy is reading better but still gets hung up on long and short vowel sounds.  Her fluency has improved and she is now reading at where she should for 3rd grade.  She was reading at below grade level at the beginning of the year.  She is not as fidgety.  She hasn't knocked over her drink at dinner in a long time!  I'm not sure if she is not as fidgety at school but I will ask at her conference.  She used to get 60% on her district math assessments last year and at the beginning of this year.  A few weeks ago her teacher told me that Izzy got a 91% on her district assessment.  She has had another since then and I'm not sure how she did, but what a difference!!!  Izzy has changed from a little girl who struggled through all parts of school to a little girl who loves school and has confidence and feels good about herself.  She continues to be an amazing writer.  Her writer's voice is well above her age level.  Her spelling continues to be below average and I believe she will need to use tools to help keep her on track. 

Maybe the next section will help improve her spelling :) 

The only error I found in this section was on page 29.  I think it should have said for the last set of directions :" Using the yellow crayon on the last set of pictures:"

We have really enjoyed this journey in learning.  I have found that my girls are striving as different learners and I am proud of their differences.  I am no longer afraid of 4th grade for Izzy.  I am rejoicing in Sarah's accomplishments as she continues to learn and grow as a 15 year old, especially when I have seen the tragedy of some children that I work with who have Autism and are not as functional as they were when in elementary as they get into middle and high school.  This makes me believe that changes in the brain during adolescence must have something to do with it.  I also believe you are never too old to learn.  Thank goodness Sarah is a lifelong learner like her mother and she loves to do our "exercises", as we call it.

Let me know when the next section is ready.  I would love to continue with the girls during summer, so know that I am not confined to the school year to complete the 150 day program. 

I am so happy to be involved in this trial for the program!