Jekyll and Hyde: A Halloween Adventure!

October 26, 2013

This past weekend, we had our annual Halloween outing to Jeykl & Hyde in Times Square. We used hopstop.com to determine the travel route to and from the restaurant back to our home base. While traveling as a group, we always give one or two members the opportunity to be the group leader and navigate the group for the day. Today our member, led us to the downtown train, when the directions stated we were supposed to be taking the uptown train. We were able to use this as a teachable moment and reviewed with the group the importance of reading the signs before entering the subway to make sure that it the right direction. We also reviewed with our members how to use the machine to refill our metro card. While at the restaurant we were entertained by the talented staff at Jeykl & Hyde and on going shows around the restaurant. It was a really great day and fun was had by all of our members! Happy early Halloween to all!

Having a Blast Bowling!

October 22, 2013

This past weekend our group headed to Bowlmar lanes in Times square for some bowling and lunch. We used hopstop.com to determine the best travel route and used google maps on our iphones to help guide us upon walking. As Times Square can be a busy area, it is important to execute safety at all times including staying together as a group, having an awareness of our personal space and our environment and dealing appropriately with strangers. While at the lanes, we had a great time together and practiced our reciprocal conversation skills regarding our favorite foods and classes at school. It is really great to observe some new friendships developing amongst the group members and we are looking forward to fostering these new relationships in the weeks to come.

 

 

 

Girls' Group- A beautiful fall afternoon

This past session, we continued to focus on our travel training skills, in particular better understanding the NYC grid system (streets & avenues) as well as increasing their knowledge of directions (N,E,S,W). The girls were able to use hostop.com in order to navigate this site more independently. While traveling to our destination, we encouraged the girls to follow their hopstop directions as well as a visual map in order to continue to increase their understanding of the directions. This was very helpful for them in order to visualize our walking route.  

 
We also worked on our independence cards (this is a card that the girls will keep in their wallet at all times and includes addresses and phone numbers for many places and people that they often visit). This card will be used to help increase their familiarity with these locations as well as their independence as they can now refer to these cards as needed.

Girls' Group

This past week our session focused on travel training skills including increasing the girls understanding of hopstop.com, public transporation, reading directions and street signs . We created a step by step instruction guide which our members could use in order to navigate hopstop.com more independently. We reviewed our acronoym Never, East, Soggy, Waffles while walking to the subway and were very impressed of the girls' confidence while traveling on the subway.  We enjoyed an after school treat and visited a pet store as both of our members are true animal lovers. While out in the streets of New York City, we are always surrounded by diverse people and can be faced wtih unexpected situations. We always use these moments as teachable lessons and reinforce the type of behavior that is expected while out in the community.

Saturday, October 5th

This past Saturday, we went on Scott’s Pizza tour and explored the area of Greenwich Village. We used hopstop.com to determine the travel route to meet the tour downtown on Spring street. We reviewed how to purchase a new metro-card and discussed the pattern of odd/even street numbers in order to find our destination. We started off the tour at a local Italian cheese shop and got to sample a delicious creamy taste While on the tour, we learned about the history of pizza in Little Italy and the development of pizza from a Neapolitan street food to a celebrated American staple. We then headed to Lombardi’s pizza, and got to check out the original pizza oven. Next, we headed over to Fiore’s on Bleeker street for a thin crust slice. We compared and contrasted our notes during and after each stop, and were surprised with the elements of each. It was a great time and a delicious tour! Alex was a wonderful photographer this week and captured many great moments. Teenz in The City have started a fabulous partnership with Scott and we look forward to planning another pizza tour in the future!

October 2, 2013

The girls' group spent this past session working on very important skills, such as reading a map to determine which direction is east versus west and north versus south. Having this visual aid helped the girls to start understanding New York City from a larger standpoint. For our outing destination, the girls selected Tasti D-Lite, where we enjoyed delicious yogurt together and sat outside.  For the rest of our session, we spent time in Madison Square Park taking in the sights and warm weather of the unexpected indian summer weather. We look forward to making our emergency phone number cards to keep in our wallets next week!