[nfbwatlk] Children Love Braille

[Noel Nightingale]

Kris:

I do not have any comments about charging for what you are currently
doing, but if you consider performing independent living instruction,
you should find out what DSB is currently paying its contracted IL
service providers.  You can call Kevin Nathan at 206-721-4422.  You can
bet that whatever DSB is paying is probably at the low end of the
market.

Noel

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbwatlk-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of kris Lawrence
Sent: Wednesday, August 09, 2006 10:22 PM
To: NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List
Subject: [nfbwatlk] Children Love Braille


Hi Everyone,

Well, believe it or not, I have been fairly busy since getting back from

National Convention. Starting on July 18, I have been going to Riley's 
Child Development Center and talking to the school age kids about 
blindness and Braille. While I use the basic Braille is Beautiful 
information and supplies, I have been putting my own twist on the 
sessions with these kids. They range from Kindergarten to 5th grade. So 
it is a bit of a challenge to keep everyone involved.

I started out with bringing a fellow chapter member, Marty Cartwright 
and her guide dog Kerstin, with me to the school. We talked about using 
a guide dog, rules and courtesy and answered a lot of fun questions. 
Since then, I have shown the "Jake and the Secret Code" movie, brought 
some twin vision books, written names in Braille, talked about blindness

in general and played a few games using the Braille Boxes. We will 
hopefully be working with slate and stylus next week and my goal is for 
them to understand the basic grade 1 Braille by the end of the summer. I

am surprised by their interest and how quickly some of the older kids 
are picking up writing Braille. I even gave the school their own supply 
of kernel books. The kids are reading them and asking questions.

Now, I am in a bit of a quandary. I was asked today how much I charge 
for these "lessons". While I won't get a paycheck, the "fee" will go 
towards Riley's tuition. I have been out of the loop for so long, I have

no clue. I do this because I like to educate the kids. I do this because

they are having a blast and hopefully they will not fall into believing 
some of those awful stereotypes. But has anyone else "charged" for this 
type of thing?

Thanks,
Kris
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