15th
I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Whole Body Listening Larry
Both books (At School, At Home) are very nice. And they’ve been co-authored by one of the directors at a terrific speech/language/social learning organization here in Oakland.
The books break down some basics of social communication into discrete details about what each part of the body should be doing when listening to someone else. (Eyes? On the other person. Mouth? Quiet, not humming, talking, or making sounds. Body? Facing the person you’re listening to.)
The curriculum intersects with a widening field, dubbed “social thinking” by Michelle Garcia Winner, that encourages those who don’t come by social awareness naturally to apply their brains to work their way through interactions with others.
For these individuals (including my kid), the “whole body listening” reminders will be useful well into the teenage years, possibly beyond.
But with language and an illustration style designed to engage preschool and kindergarten kids, it becomes easy for grade school kids—and their parents—to tune out and stop listening to what Larry has to offer (although he is marketed for use by kids as old as 9).
Because while many of the kids who could use this kind of support are designated as “special needs”, they often have sophisticated or age-advanced tastes in media.
Here are a few things my 7-year-old special needs child is into these days:
So Christa is making Flummox and Friends to help grade-school age kids build some of these same skills, but in a way that (hopefully) will get them laughing and coming back for more.
And she hopes to make it funny enough that parents might find themselves sitting down alongside their kids while they’re watching. Because the more lines from the show the parents can quote later, when the kid is in an actual social setting, the more the learning can sink in.
Have you donated to the Kickstarter campaign? Because: 24 days to go.
