Photo Shoot

Playing “don’t take my picture"

Followed immediately by a prolonged photo shoot with requests for more and more pictures

Happy boys at the park... when my battery was about to die, we had 96 pictures.

Update #5: Autobiographical (Episodic) Memory

I haven't posted about these success boards for almost four years, but I've been printing the pictures and sharing them with my kiddo in binder format all that time.  Recently, we added some new topics so I figured it was time to revisit :)

These are the past posts (most of them, after the first, are brief):
Starting Idea
Board 1
Board 2
Board 3
Board 4

So, I was getting to the point now, with a ten year old, that the overarching topics weren't as exciting to him to contemplate... things like "moving with control" are more taken for granted in fourth grade (although I was able to add pictures of his new interest in gymnastics).  So, I printed a bunch of the latest pictures and we sat down together.  We brainstormed what the pictures showed and came up with three new topics and what they said about him!


Thinking for myself
I’m a person who:
- makes his own choices
- properly considers what other people think
- is confident in himself

Choosing his own hat (and other pictures, like how he did his own thing on a recent vacation)

Trying something new
I'm a person who:
- is OK with learning new things
- takes my time
- can handle a challenge

Going in a submarine in Hawaii

Learning programming from his dad (and other pictures like learning how to interact with a friend's infant twins and our new guide dog puppy)

Planning ahead
I'm a person who:
- can think about the future
- can wait and plan for something I want 
- can make choices that keep my big picture in mind

Just unwrapping his computer that he saved for years to purchase with his own money (and other pictures like playing chess and creating his new planner.)

So, I'm as in love with this tool as ever.  By just printing the pictures and providing the documentation, my kiddo can see his own growth and come to powerful self evaluations.  I do a little guiding, but not much, the visual facts presented are powerful.  Kids are often so good at seeing their errors and challenges, but this is a tool that lets them visually see progress and celebrate success and internalize positive self-evaluations!  Win! Win! Win!