PediatricDigest: america's worst mom and little critters 🐛🐭🐞

August 2025 Newsletter

Hi read,

Back-to-school season is here! This time of year can feel busy and a little overwhelming, so be kind to yourself as you and your child settle into new routines.

We've put together some helpful resources and tips to support your family through this transition and make the days a little smoother for everyone.

☀️ Recommended Resource-of-the-Month:

Lenore Skenazy was dubbed "America's Worst Mom"…I won't tell you why cause she wrote an excellent book called Free-Range Kids where she explains the whole store. She talks about the benefits of letting kids explore and learn on their own, and encourages parents to trust their children and let them experience natural consequences in safe ways. It has a lot of ideas to help your child gain more independence and confidence, and to help you let go of fear as a parent.

💚 OT Tip-of-the-Month for More Joy & Ease in Daily Life

A new school year means lots of changes and transitions. These moments can be hard for kids. Having a consistent routine and a simple schedule helps by showing your child what to expect. Try making daily routines together. Include times for getting ready, school, meals, and breaks. Use pictures or checklists to make it clear. When kids know what's coming, they often feel calmer and more confident. Writing out a schedule can also help YOU as the parent see if your child is too busy or rushed…and may help you build in more down time for rest and recharging together.

🌳 OKOT Story & Service Updates

There's nothing like finding and observing a living animal up close in nature to elicit children's attention and fascination. Sometimes I don't know HOW the kids find these tiny creatures! During our last week of camp in Wisconsin, we had a day where the kids found SO MANY critters! You can see just a few of them below. It was a joy to watch how they took great care to protect the small animals while seeing them up close, and was a great opportunity for teaching respect for nature and other living things, and fostered lots of interactions between the kids, too…plus LOTS of multi-sensory processing (grading pressure to not hurt the animals, and feeling the various textures). A perfect example of how nature provides so many opportunities for working on real-life skills.

OKOT Service Updates:

CALIFORNIA LOCATIONS

🌴 Fall Groups

Most of the 19 groups we're running in California are FULL! We have very few spots left so if you are interested for your child, APPLY HERE to grab one of these last spots. (Reminder: group enrollment is for the duration of a school year, so once these spots are taken, we have very little movement on our waitlists throughout the year.)

Remaining openings are:

Berkeley (3:30-5pm)

Monday at Tilden for 3-4 year olds - 2 spots left

Oakland (3:30-5pm)

Thursday at Joaquin Miller for 10-12 year olds - 1 spot left

San Francisco (all groups 3:45-5:15pm)

Monday at Presidio for 8-10 year olds - 1 spot left

Tuesday at McLaren Park for 7-9 year olds - 2 spots left

Wednesday at Presidio for 6-8 year olds - 1 spot left

Thursday at McLaren Park for 6-8 year olds - 2 spots left

Individual OT

We have a few mid-day spots left for individual 1:1 OT sessions in San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. Apply here for individual OT. Submitting an application will place your name on the waitlist for after-school spots, which are currently full.

WISCONSIN

🌲 Fall Groups

West side groups are FULL. There are 2 spots left at Token Creek County Park on Mondays at 4pm for 8-10 year olds! Apply here to grab one of these last spots.

Individual OT 🍃
We have 3 spots for individual sessions at 2:30pm on Tues, Wed, & Thurs on the west side near Hilldale. Apply here for one-on-one occupational therapy for your child.

If you have already applied, current applications are being reviewed and spots offered based on availability and needs of the child and group.

Cheers,

Laura & all of us at OKOT

P.S. Gabbi had a beautiful baby girl in July! She is out on maternity leave until November. :)