Neurodevelopment Activities

We had the evaluation done and now we have the plan. This week was the first time we have implemented the activities that they gave us to do. It took us a little bit to gather some of the items we needed. It is a 7 day/week plan and the goal is to accomplish everything. We KNEW this would be taxing on us all especially in the beginning. They gave us a list of activities, how many times a day each activity needs to be done and the duration that we engage in the activity.



There are also four auditory activities that cannot be done within 10 minutes of each other, so going in I definitely had to make a preliminary schedule to make sure we were doing everything throughout the day. This week was trying out that made schedule and making adjustments. I created our own tracking sheet with estimated times to help keep us on schedule.


I am already finding activities that can overlap, so that will save us time. I know they will also go faster when I don't have to refer to the sheet or to the videos to remind me/us what to do. Sunday was a trial weekend day and that was crazy. We couldn't really go by the times because of church so we were cramming the rest of the day. Monday was crazy as a first week day trying to figure out what could be done at the same time and where it was best to do the activities. There were a few times that we couldn't do the scheduled activity because someone was napping. Some activities can be done on the move while in the car, etc. So, again, it is just getting comfortable with them and implementing them.

It has been mentioned by more than one that we not "force" school and activities on the kids.  Our Learning is FAR from that. All of my kids are VERY kinesthetic and the whole purpose of homeschooling them is to NOT put them behind a desk. To allow for movement and learning throughout their day with activities. BUT there IS some sitting time. Rookie would be entering kindergarten this coming Fall had we enrolled him and I saw first hand what he would have been exposed to...a lot of listening and implementing what was instructed while sitting at his table. Gone are the days of public half-day kinder. Yet, our "school" was done by lunch time and included lapdesks on the floor, standing exercises, songs, writing, fine motor games, cutting, painting, and lots of outside play, etc. I know you all have seen the images from our two weeks so far. I also know that "summer" doesn't mean we stop learning. With three kids, free time chaos was NOT going to work in this house. It was only going to cause MORE work for me and, honestly, less quality time together. So, this was the perfect time to give them more organized play.

Now, when we were ONLY taking on school stuff, the schedule was DOABLE and very flexible. But now we have a 12-18 month commitment with Rookie's Neurodevelopment program. I am truly excited about this and how this is going to help him, but it is definitely going to test our patience and time management. This program is now the non-negotiable part of our day and school will have to come last. It is true that we may not be able to get everything on our chart done every day, BUT the goal is to check off every box. I DO want to have time for some "school", though. The boys loved the songs and memory verses, games, etc and the activities on Rookie's INP are not going to be that fun learning all the time, though he does love the time he gets to listen to mozart and audio books. Hopefully we can make it all as fun as possible so that he continues to comply.