Manipulatives for Special Needs

Being the parent to a Special Needs child is one of the hardest things, well, ever. Each child is different- even those with the same diagnosis vary from one end to the other.

As you know, Knuckles is Special Needs- they're just not sure what 'need' she has, yet. She has been diagnosed with Fine and Gross Motor skill delays and deficiencies, Phonological disorder/various other Speech and Language delays, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, various equilibrium/balance/coordination (inc. bi-lateral) deficiencies, deferred reading delay diagnosis (they suspect but can't test her, yet) and several developmental and cognitive delays and deficiencies- and that's just to start...

Sometimes, it can be SO frustrating to live with a child with issues- let alone teach one!!! It took me a year to teach her the alphabet. She is still having trouble with numbers over 6. It's so. incredibly. slow. to get her to retain information. But, I have learned that she is a tactile learner- she needs to have objects in her hands that go with what we are learning to make any connection at all.

For example, I bought her the Melissa and Doug Deluxe Wood Lacing Sneaker from Amazon (when it was on sale for $4.99 :}) for Christmas. By Sunday night she had taught herself how to tie! Now, I haven't tested her new skill on an actual shoe on her foot (I don't want to discourage her) but at least I know she can do it! She has been working on it for over a year!!

I do a LOT of research for this blog and on one of my searches I fell into Free Homeschool Printables. I spent some time 'perusing' the site and came across this AMAZING addition printable by Confessions of a Homeschooler.

It is PERFECT for Knuckles!!! The addition cards are placed on the big white block and you use and manipulative to put in the colored squares. Then you push the manipulatives down into the blue square and count them for the sum!!! Genius! (Don't worry- she includes instructions that explain it much better then I do!)

We are starting our money unit (we are on pennies) so I use pennies for the manipulatives. This works to teach addition, that pennies are worth $.01 (a 7 is 7 one's = $.07 is 7 $.01's) AND how to count pennies! This has turned out to be SUCH a great tool for us!

I laminated the game boards, addition cards and the sum #'s because of Mugsy. She likes to get 'grabby' with our work so this will give the pieces a longer life. As an added bonus, the lamination means they can write on it with dry-erase markers. My kids LOVE to do this!! They write out the equation and draw their own manipulatives! This is good for BOTH of them! (Princess has some motor skill delays, too. Her handwriting is HORRIBLE!) This is also a GREAT addition to curriculum for non-special needs children!! It's perfect for the kids that needs extra practice or a tactile learner! I imagine it's great for a visual learner, too, because they can SEE what makes 7 + 7 = 14.

The game has a ton of pieces (I only printed the game boards in color) so I store everything (except the game boards) in a coupon organizer from The Dollar Tree (LOVE that place!) Now, all the pieces are organized and easy to find!

I want to send some MAD LOVE to Erica from Confessions of a Homeschooler!


(this is my 'love' going out to her) :)

While the picture of the game board is for a lefty, she actually put a mirror image of it in the download- because most people are right-handed. I e-mailed her and asked if she still had a copy of the lefty board because Knuckles is a lefty. Well, she didn't have it- but she TOOK THE TIME TO MAKE ME ONE!!!!

Then I lost it.

So she resent it! :) I am SOOOOOO grateful that she took the time to help me! Being the parent of a Special Needs child is really tough and every little thing that makes it easier is appreciated more then words can express!

So, check this out! It's a great resource!

Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net