It's been a LONG Time!!!

It's been a VERY long time since I've posted but at least I can say I've been keeping up with RPM better than I've kept up with this blog!  These past three months have been madly chaotic even for us, but my sanity is such a small price to pay for the results I'm seeing (just kidding, my sanity and I parted ways long ago).
Aidan is blowing my mind, and has been from day one.  Being a parent with no prior teaching experience makes this a learning experience for me too, and he's had to be just as patient with me as I am with him. 
We started out with conversations about the seasons, his favorite TV show, etc. then moved on to lesson plans that I adapted from the books What Your Preschooler Needs to Know and What your Kindergartener Needs to Know.  This series is an excellent place to begin as it covers a broad range of topics and can give a totally lost parent some much needed framework. 
The first stage, "showing what to choose and how to choose" progressed very quickly.  At first he would choose at random or pick the same side all the time until I learned about tactile prompts.  A tactile prompt is when the teacher touches the student's hand with each response, saying the choice aloud as she does so.  This is not "giving away" the answer, but letting the student know where each choice is (which side each is on)  if s/he won't look.  This made all the difference in the world.  From that moment on he got almost every answer correct, even when I'd switch which side the correct answer was on.  We still use tactile prompts, but he is really beginning to look at the words that spell out the answers.  We are starting to use a letter chart to spell out words, starting with key words from his lessons.  He finds this very annoying and fascinating at the same time.  I've decided that, in this beginning stage we will spell out words from his favorite lesson plans, and this has piqued his interest a bit more.  Today we were reviewing some animals that he liked and, using a rolled letter chart, spelling out words.  I would show him a word, then ask him to find the letters on a rolled chart.  Because his pointing skills are limited and he's not that familiar with spelling I figured I'd be doing almost all hand over hand.  Imagine my surprise when he tapped the  letters "m" and "a" when we wrote the word "mammal", and "p" "t" and "i" in the word "reptile" independently when I asked him to show them to me!  I had to keep myself from crying because I didn't want him to get the wrong message!  Really, who knew?!
Ava is equally amazing....I was planning on getting her started a couple of months after Aidan but she was having none of that.  She saw that I was working with him one on one and one night took my RPM folder and wouldn't relinquish it until I worked with her!   She can write her name independently and loves to trace; because of her I created an alternate response mode which is offering the choices written in highlighter.  I then have her choose and if she chooses correctly I give her the word to trace.  If she choose incorrectly I repeat the question and we choose together before she gets to trace the word.  I plan on using the letter chart with her to assist with spelling and for reference, but I hope she will learn to communicate by writing.  My work with her isn't yet as consistent as it should be, but I'll be increasing our worktime in the near future.
Watch out world!!!

Chinchillas! Who Knew?

Last Friday we went to an Earth Day Celebration where they had a live animal demonstration by The Creature Teachers.  The kids had a blast interacting with the animals, and I decided that for today's RPM session I would create a lesson plan about the animals we saw.  For visuals I used pictures I had taken of the animals at the party. When we got to the chinchilla his face just lit up and he touched the picture.  Suddenly he was less fidgety and very attentive, choosing each answer correctly and very deliberately, and with a huge smile.  After I asked him the questions in the lesson, I asked him if the chinchilla was his favorite, which got another big smile!  His facial expression was priceless, and I wish I had it on film...the moment he realized he could share something as simple as "My favorite animal was the ______"  with another. 
Later, as he was setlling down for bed, I showed him another photo of the chinchilla on my cell phone.  He took the phone from me and looked at it for a minute, kissed it and handed it back!  *mwaah*  That kiss is for you, Aidan!
I shall try to think of these things when you are throwing furniture.....Love you! 

RPM......Finally

After months of delays (but also preparation), we are finally getting started on RPM!  A few weeks ago I started talking about it to Aidan, which made him very curious.  He kept bringing me the book I have on it and pointing to the picture of Soma on the back.  When I finally showed him some learning materials he looked very interested and sat right down.  Of course he still had to test the waters by throwing paper, pencils, etc to the floor, but I calmly persisted (which I confess isn't always my way) and when he realized my reaction wasn't going to be very entertaining he settled in......hmmm maybe I should try calm and persistant more often....
I'm keeping the initial sessions more calm and conversational to ease him into it, but I did manage a little bit of academics.  I began with talking about to him about his hands and how important they are to his ability to communicate, then we moved on to Jack's Big Music Show (his favorite show, he chose all the right answers!), alphabet, numbers, days of the week, and what foods are fruit.  He was more fidgety on the first day, basically showing me that he was able to choose but didn't much feel like it!
Today he was more interested and willing to work because he knew what to expect, and he floored me by answering most of the questions about fruit correctly (we got more detailed today and talked about how it grows from seeds, etc) and knowing several shapes.
  All the clips I've seen of kids communicating fluently using RPM and all that I've read about it could not have prepared me for what I felt seeing my son choose correct answers and confirm what we've known all along:  there is SO much going on in there, and there is a way to reach him, to educate him, and to enable him to show what he knows.  This is not to say that everything went perfectly and there's nothing to fine tune, there were some times when he didn't choose and wouldn't look and was generally uncooperative, but I'm quite frankly surprised at seeing such promising results this soon.  We have a long road ahead of us, but there's no better destination for the boy who  sat down across from me,  took my face in his hands, looked into my eyes and smiled when I told him that I wanted everyone to know how smart he is.

Still Plugging Along......No, Really!

Believe it or not, I haven't abandoned this blog and I'm not the worst procrastinator in the world (pretty bad at times though!).  Getting started on RPM has proven to be a more time consuming task than I first thought, combined with my other childrens' needs and Aidan going through a trying time everything is moving like molasses, but at least moving! 
Over the past several weeks Aidan has been dealing with a toothache (surgery is scheduled for 3/9), and resistance to his toilet training at school, which is getting a necessary boost.  Because of these things I think it might be wise to hold off a little longer on introducing another new and challenging thing. I'm thinking that maybe about two more weeks or so will be a good time to get started....
I've been talking to another mom who teaches her son using RPM, who has been a great help and inspiration to me, and this has really helped me to stay focused during this chaotic time.  I think I'd be way more off track without her helpful insights!
So, believe it or not, I am STILL plugging along,  SO eager to get started but a little stuck.....I think Ava is feeling it too....hang in there my little monsters :)
TTFN