Programs


2012 Spring Language/Developmental Groups

Posted By: Lisa Cooseman on Mar 12, 2012   Category: Programs, Resources  

When: Mondays or Tuesdays: March 26th-May 29th

Where: Leaps and Bounds

Leap and Learn Group
Tuesdays:March 27th through May 29th(9:30-11:00)

This group is for children 2 1/2 - 4 years old. It will provide structured activities designed to prepare kids for a preschool environment. This group will address the following areas:
-Pre-academic skills
-Language enrichment
-Classroom readiness
-Sensorimotor development
-Participation in structured activities

Chit Chat Group
Mondays: March 26th through May 28th (9:30-10:30)

This group is for children 18 months - 3 years. It is designed for kids that are not talking yet or need a boost in their vocabulary. A portion of this group will include parents participation, and will address the following areas:
-Social Language
-Increased Vocabulary
-Ideas to encourage speech/language development in the home

**An intake assessment will be required for children not already attending Leaps and Bounds to ensure all of the children will receive maximum benefit from their group.**

Please call today if you are interested in registering your child for any of the groups and/or for further information.


03/17/12: Spring Handwriting Groups

Posted By: Lisa Cooseman on Mar 5, 2012   Category: Programs, Resources  

Register now for our Spring Handwriting Groups

Where: Leaps and Bounds

Each group is led by an Occupational Therapist trained in teaching handwriting.

Pre-writing 4-5 years old
Wednesdays-March 28th - May 30 (4:30-5:30 pm)

This group is for children aged 4-5 years old. The handwriting group will focus on the foundational skills of handwriting. Sessions will include direct instruction in handwriting as well as postural skills, strength/dexter​​​​ity, visual processing, etc. Activities will be introduced to promote pre-writing and fine motor skills and begin the introduction to letter formation.

Upper and Lowercase Letters 5-6 years old
Wednesdays- March 28- May 30th (5:45-6:45pm)

This group is for children aged 5-6 years old. The handwriting group will focus on the foundational skills of handwriting. Sessions will include direct instruction in handwriting as well as postural skills, strength/dexter​​​​ity, visual processing, etc. Activities will be introduced to promote pre-writing and fine motor skills and begin the introduction to letter formation.

Upper and Lowercase Letters 4-6 years old
Saturdays- March 17th- May 19th (12:30-1:30pm)

This group is for children aged 4-6 years old. The handwriting group will focus on the foundational skills of handwriting. Sessions will include direct instruction in handwriting as well as postural skills, strength/dexter​​​​ity, visual processing, etc. Activities will be introduced to promote pre-writing and fine motor skills and begin the introduction to letter formation.

**An intake assessment will be required for children not already attending Leaps and Bounds to ensure all of the children will recieve maximum benefit from their group.**

Please call if you are interested in registering your child for any of the groups.


03/16/12: 2012 Spring Social Skills Groups

Posted By: Leaps & Bounds on Mar 5, 2012   Category: Programs, Resources  

Register now for our Spring Social Skills Groups

When: Fridays or Saturdays: March 16- May 29th

Where: Leaps and Bounds

Each group is led by an Occupational Therapist trained in teaching social skills.

Buddy Builders 3-6 years old
Saturdays - March 17th-May 19th(9:15-10:15 am)

This group is for children who are working on engaging and playing with their peers appropriately. The group will also be working on turn taking, sharing, coping strategies, and using words to communicate frustration.

Out & About 7-10 years old
Fridays - March 16th - May 18th (4:30-5:30)

This group will meet weekly, yet will alternate between meeting at Leaps and Bounds and meeting in the community. Sessions at Leaps and Bounds will focus on instruction and preparation for the community outings. Meetings in the community will put those skills learned into practice.

Out & About 11-15 years old
Fridays - March 16th - May 18th (5:45-6:45 pm)

This group will meet weekly, yet will alternate between meeting at Leaps and Bounds and meeting in the community. Sessions at Leaps and Bounds will focus on instruction and preparation for the community outings. Meetings in the community will put those skills learned into practice.

Life Skills Pre-teen/Teenagers
Saturdays- March 17th- May 19th (10:45-11:45 am)

This group is tailored to pre-teens/teenagers to address skills such as money management, cooking, budgeting, goal setting, etc. This group will work on helping teenagers understand these skills from a fun and interactive perspective.

Girlfriend Group 7-11 years old
Tuesday- March 27th- May 29th (6:00-7:00 pm)

This group was created to help girls 7-11 years old connect and establish positive friendships with each other. The group will foster self confidence, communication, conflict resolution, and other issues that directly affect young girls. This group will end on May 29th.

**An intake assessment will be required for children not already attending Leaps and Bounds to ensure all of the children will receive maximum benefit from their group.**

Please call if you are interested in registering your child for any of the groups.


Speech and Language

Speech and Language Therapy addresses concerns with a child’s ability to communicate with others. Speech is defined as a child’s ability to produce sounds for speaking. Language is the use and understanding of words for communication.

Therapists use a variety of therapeutic techniques to improve a child’s sound production, communication skills, language development, pragmatics, and oral motor skills. The Speech Language Pathologists at Leaps and Bounds use sensory-motor activities to enhance language development and to make therapy fun for kids. Our goal is to assist families to establish effective communication with their child. (more…)


Gross Motor Skills

Posted By: Leaps & Bounds on Jun 16, 2009   Category: Programs  

Gross motor skills are considered to be the skills that require the large muscles of the body. These are skills such as rolling, sitting, walking, climbing, running, jumping, skipping, riding a bicycle, and jumping rope. Many things are required for good gross motor skills. A child must not only have adequate muscle tone and strength, but he must have the body awareness to develop the appropriate coordination. (more…)


Fine Motor Skills

Posted By: Leaps & Bounds on Jun 16, 2009   Category: Programs  

Fine motor skills are skills completed using the small muscles of the body. This includes those in the hand, mouth, and eyes. Most often, fine motor skills refer to those activities completed with hands and fingers, such as stringing beads, buttoning, holding a pencil, and tying shoes. Fine motor skill development begins at an early age. As a child develops strength and body awareness, the fine motor control becomes more refined. A child must have good strength and stability in his postural muscles and shoulder muscles in order to have mature, refined fine motor control. Additionally, for good fine motor control, a child must have efficient sensory processing in the proprioceptive and tactile sensory systems. These systems enable a child to use his muscles efficiently to complete fine motor tasks. (more…)


Oral Motor & Feeding Skills

Posted By: Leaps & Bounds on Jun 16, 2009   Category: Programs  

Oral motor/feeding concerns can result from a variety of sources. At Leaps and Bounds, a child is assessed to determine if the child demonstrates sensory processing concerns that may impact his ability to eat a variety of textures or if the child is lacking the appropriate motor control for biting, chewing, and swallowing. It is also important to rule out any medical concerns that are inhibiting a child’s desire and willingness to eat a variety of foods. (more…)


Handwriting

Posted By: Leaps & Bounds on Jun 16, 2009   Category: Programs  

Handwriting requires the integration of many skills.  A child must be able to sit upright, pay attention, hold the pencil correctly, hold the paper with the non-dominant hand, understand the direction of letters and words, accurately form the letters and words, and use appropriate spacing.  This is only a portion of what is required for handwriting!  These skills can require the integration of all seven sensory systems.  However, the visual, vestibular, proprioceptive, and tactile systems are the primary systems involved in handwriting. (more…)


Sensory Processing

Posted By: Leaps & Bounds on Jun 16, 2009   Category: Programs  

We learn about our bodies and the world around us through the use of our senses. Everything we do requires the use of our seven sensory systems: tactile (touch), olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), auditory (sound), visual (sight), vestibular (movement & balance), and proprioceptive (body awareness & movement). Sensory processing is the ability of the nervous system to perceive sensory information, process it, and produce a response based on how the information is interpreted. This occurs in every body every moment of the day. The body is constantly bombarded with an array of sensory information. To participate effectively in daily life activities, we need our sensory systems to be integrated and “working together” to give us information about our body, how to use our body, how to interact with others, and how to interact with the world around us. The ability to efficiently process sensory information impacts all of our daily life activities. (more…)


Social Skills

Posted By: Leaps & Bounds on Jun 16, 2009   Category: Programs  

Good social interaction requires a variety of skills and abilities.  At Leaps and Bounds, both occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists facilitate social skill development.  Occupational therapists address social skills since it is part of a child’s job (his “occupation”).  At Leaps and Bounds, occupational therapists will assess a child to determine if his difficulty with social skills is a result of inefficient sensory processing.

(more…)