My students need paint, aprons, paint cups and carrier, sponges, dough, Learn to Count dough mats, sand, sand rollers, Sift and Find Number Shells, and an upright vacuum for classroom use and learning.
"If they can't learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn." - Ivar Lovaas. My students need to learn prerequisite academic and fine motor skills to be successful learners, so we are changing the way we teach.
We have grit.
We don't quit.
When the work is hard, my students work harder. They are proud of the gains they make because they work so hard to achieve them. Most children enter school with the prerequisite skills needed for the classroom. My students have deficits in fine motor skills. This makes manipulating pencils and scissors a significant challenge.
My Project
My students need hands-on activities to develop fine motor and academic skills. Molding sand will help them develop the fine motor skills they need and strengthen the muscles in their hands. They will use the Sift and Find Number Shells to find and identify numbers while meeting their sensory needs. My enthusiastic kids will use the paint supplies to make the most beautiful art while learning the skills needed for handwriting. My students will use the dough to learn basic math skills with Learn to Count! dough mats. I teach these academic skills every day, but these hard working students need multiple opportunities to learn the skills with different materials so they can generalize what they have learned. And the vacuum will teach them the life skill of cleaning up the messes they make. They will learn the motor skills needed to move the vacuum while developing the visual spatial awareness needed to move it in a pattern along the floor.
Your donation to this project will provide my students with the materials to develop and generalize the essential skills they need to be successful both academically and in every day life.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Arnold and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.