Journal

Step One- Today i did my first steps of completing my senior sem project by getting in contact with the mother of the girl i will be working during the duration of this course.

1st Journal- For my first experience with SM i went to her house to make brownies and just got to know the family. Some of the skills we worked on were following directions while we cooked, eye contact and socialization as we spoke and got to know one another. Some other skills we highlighted on were her fine motor skills, by the end of the day she seemed to have really warmed up to me and was a pleasure to work with.

2nd Journal- I drove to SM's house to pick her up to go to see the movie, Dolphin Tale. Some skills we worked for the way there were socializing with my friend Zoe that i had brought along and directions. When we got to the ticket booth we had informed she was going to have to pay for herself and tell the teller what she wanted, we also did this at the snack stand. After she got her food we asked her which movie theater we should be going into to work on her directions again. SM seemed to really enjoy the movie and the fact that i brought a friend to meet her.

3rd Journal- For our third encounter we went to the mud room, the mud room is like color me mine where you pick out something to paint. There we worked on her fine motors, she interacted with the sales women and decided on what colors and artwork to paint on her own. After a successful painting session we walked across the street and ate at Ruby's Diner where she told what she would like to eat/drink and talked to me and Zoe about school, life, etc.

4th Journal- Over the weekend i met up with Steph and we decided to take her dogs on a walk at the park where she told me how she got them and stuff about them. We brought a Frisbee with us so i got some physical activity into the day, she also showed me that there was a playground set and we also planned to go to the mall the next weekend to get some of her families Christmas presents.

5th Journal- For my most recent experience with Steph we went to the KOP mall to go shopping. We strategically planned where to park on the locations of the shops we needed to hit for the day. We began with shopping for her mother, then father and then onto the sisters. She worked on using her cash and making transactions with very little help along with the math skills involved. We even worked on writing out a check for one of the items her mother had given her. Overall the day was a success and i wished her and her family a very merry Christmas.

6th Journal- My last experience with Steph for this project I took her to a Pollyanna party she had with a couple of friends/classmates. She worked on socializing and becoming a part of a group. During the party one of the parents set out food and she worked on her food manners and asking politely. She's been such a pleasure to work with and ill definitely keep in touch with her!

Final Journal- My experience has been more than a pleasure, Steph has taught me to appreciate every little thing in life. No matter how bad of a day anyone has, these kids experience much more that we take for granted every day of our lives. Not only are these kids soldiers in their own way they are amazing friends, they're corky and funny and bring a smile to everyone's face. I believe this is why we should be involving these individuals into our community because they've already concurred alot and can continue to excel and help out in our society. I did a total of 22 and 1/3 hours of community service with Steph.