Slowly does it!

The beauty of school holidays is that the extra free time offers up so many opportunities to engage with Nick. We can do an activity together, however, slow it right down and ensure that we have a shared experience.

We are attempting a brand new jigsaw puzzle that Nick chose during our last shopping trip to the supermarket.

As always, when engaging with Nick, I am very mindful of how I talk/share information. I don't want to tell him what to do; therefore I use declarative comments to encourage him to think about what is going on. I pause frequently to give him time to hear/process and react to any information.

Some examples of declarative language in the following clip:

"It looks quite difficult"
"Right, we have got all of the pieces"
"Oh, where to start, Nick!"

This next clip shows that Nick is referencing my face and body language in order to obtain information. I wonder if you can spot where I use my head and eyes to indicate where the puzzle piece belongs. Also note how quickly Nick picks up on that clue! :)

We finish the puzzle and Nick decides that he wants to pack it away. However, I am keen to chat about our experience and make the activity even more meaningful.

Some examples of declarative language used;

"I am just going to look at the picture for a minute, before we put it away"
"I like cars"
"I can see the colour... red!"

Now it is time to pack away. Nick's role is to pass me the pieces and it is my role to put them away. I can't resist throwing Nick a little curve ball by changing our regular pattern and throwing the pieces back to him.

There we have it ~ a little bit of mother and son time. No stress, no rush, no pressure. Slowly does it!