The wonderful thing about school vacations is that you get to spend extra time with your child. The downside to this is that some students with special needs will backslide in their educational achievements without the daily reinforcement.
Creating a daily work time at home has several uses. The first is that it can help you give structure to the day. In addition to play time, relaxation time, book time, t.v. time, snack time, etc., you can also have work time. The second use is that it gives you a chance to practice “first, then,” statements with your child, which teaches them to put off instant gratification (the activity they really want) to do important work first (which they may not be so excited about). And, lastly, daily work time at home can be a quick reinforcer to make sure that your child doesn’t forget what they have worked so hard to achieve.
If you are a person that uses a daily schedule at home, you can place “work time” on your visual list for your child. If that is too general, you can place several mini activities on the schedule, such as counting time, puzzle time, writing time or whatever it is that you are working on. If you are more of a fly by the seat of your pants, let’s see how the day goes household, you can just verbally introduce work time when you are ready.
Both of these styles benefit from using the “first, then,” method. Introduce the activity and if the child fusses, state, “FIRST, we are going to do X activity, THEN you can do Y activity (the child’s preferred activity).” For more information on using this method, plus a choice board and stop/go visual, look here:
What knowledge are you going to reinforce? There are several ways to decide. If you know what your child’s weak areas are, go for those. If you aren’t sure, take a look at the IEP. Still not sure? Send a note to the teacher before break, asking them to choose 3-5 things to review over the break to prevent a backslide. You can also ask for activity suggestions.
It is very important to note that you will not be able to cover everything in every area. Trying to attempt this can backfire on you as the child may feel overwhelmed. Keep it light, quick and simple. Make sure you are going by what is on the IEP at the level of your child! Here are some examples but they are JUST EXAMPLES (remember, do what your child needs):
Occupational Therapy Tasks – do a puzzle, string some beads, push pegs into a peg board, feed a piggy bank some extra large coins, writing, glueing, moving small objects with large tweezers
Fussy child? Shorten the activity. Do 3-5 pieces and then stop. Or, offer an alternative that addresses the same skill.
Physical Therapy – walk a line on the floor (put down tape), jump on a trampoline if you have one, throw and catch a ball, roll a ball back and forth on the floor, kick a ball, climb a ladder at the park and then slide down.
Fussy child? Add music!
Speech – Read a familiar story to your child and pause for the last word, allowing your child to fill in the word; rhyming; songs; yes/no question cards (Look at this picture. Is it pizza? Yes or no?). Have a nonverbal child? Set up an area with pictures of common things that they may want and when they try to get you to give them the item, bring them to the pictures. See if they can point to what they want (hand over hand pointing counts!)
Fussy child? Sing!
Sensory – This category appeals to the five senses – seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. You can often combine this with Occupational Therapy (fine motor) tasks. Wonderful sensory activities to try at home include playdough (scented is great!), slime, flubber, blowing bubbles, and fingerpaint (edible, for those that will put it in their mouths – Cool Whip mixed with food coloring).
Fussy child? If your child doesn’t want to touch these things, put paint in a ziplock bag and let them squeeze it or tape the bag to a table and let them write with a finger. Use a craft stick or paintbrush instead of fingers. Think of objects that they can use to make contact with the substance instead of their hands. It counts!
How do you deliver content (teach stuff) as a parent at home? It depends on your child. As a teacher for fifteen years, I have learned that sometimes the best approach is to get into the lesson, deliver the content and get out. Rapidly. If your child has a short attention span, this is your best method. My son is currently going through a phase where he doesn’t want to do table work AT ALL. We will try working on the floor, working in a rocking recliner, working in the bathtub, outside, whatever it takes. Because what you are going to cover is a REVIEW, it doesn’t have to be in depth. Here are a few more things to remember:
- Have a plan, but don’t be afraid to alter it. If you want your child to do a puzzle and they are resisting, doing just a few pieces is better than doing nothing. If you decide that 2:00 is work time but they are happily engaged in another activity or they are resting, again, be flexible. Just DO SOMETHING.
- Use teachable moments. If a commercial comes on when watching television that uses rhyming and you are working on rhyming, jump right in! Point out that they are rhyming and initiate a simple rhyme game (ex: They are rhyming! We do that too! Hey, here are two words – cat, hat. Do they rhyme?) Guess what? If that was one of your goals and you can engage your child for a few minutes in this, you have covered it for the day! Too hard or child non-verbal? Give the answers. Listen while I say two words that rhyme! Cat, hat. They rhyme! Pig, school. Nope, those don’t rhyme!
- Love on your child. Our son does so much better if we take a few minutes to play with him and love on him before we initiate a work period. If your child likes affection, try kisses, hugs, backrubs, whatever you enjoy together, BEFORE, DURING and AFTER your work.
- Remember that sometimes your child will “forget” what they knew before. This is called the pendulum process. Two steps forward, one step back. EVERY child, typical or atypical, experiences this at times. Some days they have it, some days they don’t. If you are working on naming colors and yesterday your child said, “red,” and today, they have no idea that the color is red, just gently remind them. If they “forget,” for longer periods of time, say a week or more with gentle reminders, bring it up with the teacher upon return to school. Daily fluctuations are NORMAL. Don’t worry about it.
Enjoy your child’s school break!
