Firefly Center

Ideas (and reasons!) for building an at-home obstacle course with our OT, Cassie. Check out our other videos on YouTube! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTLKOTb2Vyo

Fantastic at home obstacle course. On your marks...

We are reimagining Firefly Center for the age of COVID. Our clinic will look a little different, but we will still be providing the quality OT services you have come to know and expect. We are adapting because that’s what OTs do and we are looking forward to providing services to our kids and families at the clinic, in the great outdoors, and through tele health. Stay tuned and reach out any time for more info. We plan to reopen on July 1.

Staying sane and healthy-- and keeping our kids healthy and sane.

Take heart, parents and families-- things are rough right now-- we are sending you courage and strength.

Sharing from a friend’s page-- on Coping: Advice from a psychologist: After having thirty-one sessions this week with patients where the singular focus was COVID-19 and how to cope, I decided to consolidate my advice and make a list that I hope is helpful to all. I can't control a lot of what is going on right now, but I can contribute this....Continue reading

our dear families... some words of wisdom and encouragement.

Julia Martin replied to a comment. Julia Martin March 19 at 7:58 AM This was shared with me and I think it makes some great points so am sharing it here. Breathe and go easy on yourselves and your kids.... Dear parents with school aged children You might be inclined to create a minute by minute schedule for your kids. You have high hopes of hours of learning, including online activities, science experiments, and book reports. You’ll limit technology until everything is done! But here’s the thing... Our kids are just as scared as we are right now. Our kids not only can hear everything that is going on around them, but they feel our constant tension and anxiety. They have never experienced anything like this before. Although the idea of being off of school for 4 weeks sounds awesome, they are probably picturing a fun time like summer break, not the reality of being trapped at home and not seeing their friends. Over the coming weeks, you will see an increase in behavior issues with your kids. Whether it’s anxiety, or anger, or protest that they can’t do things normally - it will happen. You’ll see more meltdowns, tantrums, and oppositional behavior in the coming weeks. This is normal and expected under these circumstances. What kids need right now is to feel comforted and loved. To feel like it’s all going to be ok. And that might mean that you tear up your perfect schedule and love on your kids a bit more. Play outside and go on walks. Bake cookies and paint pictures. Play board games and watch movies. Do a science experiment together or find virtual field trips of the zoo. Start a book and read together as a family. Snuggle under warm blankets and do nothing. Don’t worry about them regressing in school. Every single kid is in this boat and they all will be ok. When we are back in the classroom, we will all course correct and meet them where they are. Teachers are experts at this! Don’t pick fights with your kids because they don’t want to do math. Don’t scream at your kids for not following the schedule. Don’t mandate 2 hours of learning time if they are resisting it. If I can leave you with one thing, it’s this: at the end of all of this, your kids’ mental health will be more important than their academic skills. And how they felt during this time will stay with them long after the memory of what they did during those 4 weeks is long gone. So keep that in mind, every single day. Stay safe. X Brilliantly written by Erin Atwell DeMartini

Holy cow! It's virtual field trips for kids.

Ideas from Scholastic on remote schooling and engagement (includes info for different ages and grades)!