Last week we touched on the idea that transferring skills from the virtual world is a multi-stage process. Now, in the next stage, we want to achieve transference to the child’s daily contexts at home / kindergarten / school to ensure improvement of function. We can accomplish this by: 1. Empowering and enhancing the child’s feeling of competence to increase self-esteem and willingness to try new experiences – breaking the avoidance cycle. We know that feelings of success in the virtual game … [Read more...]
Ask Sarit: How can I help my son stay organized at school?
Last year my son, who is starting 3rd grade this year, got into a bit of trouble with his teachers because he had difficulty organizing his notebook and often forgot the things he needed for school at home (like homework, permission forms and notes for the teacher). I want to avoid the ‘I’ll just do it for him’ approach I ended up taking last year and put more effort into helping him develop his own organizational skills, but in a way that will leave him with a can-do, positive attitude towards … [Read more...]
Part II- Ask Sarit: Hi, I’m looking for games that can help prepare my son for school. What games do you have that are good as preparation for school work?
Last week in the first part of my answer I talked about improving motor/balance skills to better prepare your son for the demands that starting grade school might present. Timocco currently has 16 games designed to improve a range of early learning abilities such as letter recognition, number recognition, mirror lettering, quantity perception, color identification, shape matching and whole-part perception. You can find these games by choosing 'early learning' in the skills filter, and while I'm … [Read more...]
Ask Sarit: I’m looking for games that can help prepare my son for school. What games do you have that are good preparation for school work?
School is fast-approaching and you're certainly not alone in taking these last few weeks of August to prepare for the year ahead. There are actually two separate skill sets you can work on to help your child get into 'school-mode'; the first, which I will focus on this week, are motor-related while the second are learning related and I will cover those more in depth next week. Motor abilities include skills such as balance, planning and spatial organization. Strengthening a child’s motor base … [Read more...]
Ask Sarit: How do I know if I’m choosing the right games?
My son was treated by an occupational therapist until recently. He is beginning first grade this coming September and our OT recommended using Timocco to continue practicing at home during summer vacation. I’m afraid I won’t be able to select the correct program for him and he will just play the games like any other computer game. How do you recommend finding the best fit for him? This is a great question and the fact that you’ve asked it tells me that you understand the importance of planning … [Read more...]
Ask Sarit: How can I prepare my kiddo for first grade?
Q: My son is starting first grade in September and alongside the excitement there are a few concerns. Until not a long ago he was treated by an occupational therapist due to difficulties with fine motor skills. He improved greatly, but still prefers playing computer games rather than doing workbooks or art books. What can I do with him during what's left of the summer holiday that will help him smoothly integrate into the first grade? Hi, Starting first grade is an exciting event. Lots … [Read more...]
Ask Sarit: How do I figure out which games are good for which child?
Hi, I started using Timocco not too long ago and it’s great that there are so many games, but how do I know which one to choose and what suits each child? Could you please help me with that? The online platform does indeed offer a wide array of games. When you're starting out, it can seem tricky to match the right game to each specific child. I’ll try to give you some pointers that can help you get started: First, on the main “Games” page, you can find two drop down menus called “Skills” and … [Read more...]
Ask Sarit: How do you fine tune range-of-motion settings while playing on a big screen?
"I work at a school for kids with motor difficulties where Timocco is connected to a large screen and I can’t seem to get the range of motion settings just right for each child. Can you help?" First, it’s important to understand that the camera and it’s positioning play a key role in tailoring Timocco to the child’s abilities. When a child plays in front of a big screen, there’s a natural tendency to move back so that they can see the whole screen. With a big screen set-up, the camera … [Read more...]
Ask Sarit: What’s the benefit of using Timocco at home?
One of the main challenges that therapists face is finding ways for the child to continue practicing the targeted skills at home. This is a major challenge for the parent as well. Parents have to attend weekly sessions, often instead of work, and the cost is usually very high. After all that, they then have to find time to help their child practice at home between their daily routines. This becomes more difficult if the child is not cooperative and too often parents don’t manage to keep up … [Read more...]
Ask Sarit: Can you use a big screen to play Timocco?
Often therapists ask us if they could play Timocco on a large screen, the answer is: Of course you can! Playing Timocco on a large screen enhances the participation of the players and allows the involvement of other participants that are in the room (family or other clients) which, overall, magnifies the enjoyment of the game. The platform works on a computer, on either a Mac and Windows operating system, and the computer can be connected to a television or a larger screen. Below is an … [Read more...]
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