Will my child be able to sit straight? Will he manage with the school assignments? Is his fine motor skills sufficiently developed? These are all questions that occupy quite a few parents and we have the solution.
Your child started the last year in compulsory kindergarten, next year he will enter the school and start the first grade. This transition can be challenging and even not easy for some children, so what do we do?
Shahar (pseudonym) does not cooperate with Emma when they sit down to work on workbooks at home. Shahar got up from the chair, arguing and not ready to open the booklet, but in the garden she actually does open it and doesn't complain. Emma is worried about what will happen in first grade when she will have to do homework.
Dor's (pseudonym) kindergartner recommended occupational therapy because he can't hold his pencil well. She noticed that he switches hands, starts coloring with the right and transfers to the left and has a hard time with delicate tasks.
Maayan (pseudonym) does everything slowly and always finishes last. She can't eat enough that her friends have already gone out to the yard. In tasks in the kindergarten, she always finishes last or does not finish. Emma says that Maayan takes a lot of time to get organized before going out.
Rumi (pseudonym) must have everything perfect. Even when others compliment her that she drew beautifully or successfully completed a task, she says that she did not do well. She often gets upset, tears up the page, cries that she didn't succeed. Emma says she looks like her.
All these children came to group therapy in occupational therapy for compulsory kindergarten age with an emphasis on fine motor skills and graphomotor skills at the Nitzan Haifa therapy center. In the group, they read a story in continuations and curiously waited from session to session for the continuation of the story and through it they practiced experiential tasks that require eye-hand contact and establishing actions that require greater precision, such as threading small beads, cutting, coloring and drawing. The children did not feel that they were "learning" but enjoyed doing and experiencing the story. The group has strength in that it contributes to the child's sense of ability by adapting activities to the child's abilities, encouragement regarding the process and not just the product, ability to see other children with other or similar difficulties. In addition, in the group there is an opportunity to practice the performance in a natural environment with the peer group and to practice rhythm in the performance, tasks that require cooperation.
The children were in a small group that contained 4-6 participants and felt enveloped when they were accompanied by 2 occupational clinics who mediated and helped the children in the appropriate dose. At the end of each meeting, the parents received an explanation of what was done and what should be done at home, they gave "homework" to continue practicing at home, so that the children could continue the practice and progress.
Shahar, who did not cooperate with Emma in the workbooks, discovered that studying is fun. Before that she linked learning and boredom and the group changed her mind. The occupational clinics were able to bypass the resistance and encourage action in diverse ways, with great encouragement, in providing roles and displaying its products. Shahar finished the group with a sense of satisfaction and pleasure. Maayan, who performs activities slowly, was motivated by other children and she became aware of her performance rate and improved it. A generation that has difficulty holding a pencil and changes hands, indirectly practiced holding a pencil such as playing with tweezers, using clips and different colors. For Romi, working in a small group while encouraging and providing proper mediation by the occupational clinics, allowed her to feel safe to experiment more, the focus was not on her and she felt there was no pressure on her to be perfect. In addition, her mother was guided to show a personal model that not everything goes well for her either.
Some of the children arrived at the Nitzan Haifa treatment center and after a matching conversation, they were assigned to a group and for some of the children, the group treatment is the "icing on the cake" after they have finished individual treatment. Every child who comes to the group goes through a preliminary individual meeting so that the staff and caregivers can get to know him and determine his goals.
Even now, a new intimate group is being opened for compulsory kindergarten age, which meets once a week for 12 meetings (3 months).
If you would like to hear more details, please contact us and we will be happy to help, advise and meet