By: Mike Hipple, PRC-Saltillo Blogger
Wow, it is already time to start thinking about the fall. You know what that means, school is starting soon again. I first wrote this blog three years ago, but I thought that I would reshare this information again. Plus I have some new thoughts and ideas for you to use.
Thirteen years ago, I wrote a children's book about starting school for children who have a disability. I wrote this book and gave workshops on this topic, because I always had the hardest time starting a new school year. Transitions can be a challenge if they don't have a voice or don't have a huge vocabulary to tell adults and peers how they feel about the upcoming changes. I want to share with you 10 tips for your family to have a great start of the school year.
#10 Getting back to a normal schedule. I know I have been sleeping in, have you? Children and teenagers need to have 8 to 10 hours of good sleep. You might like to start going to bed 10 minutes earlier each week to help your child so they have a good night's sleep.
#9 Read, read, and read to them. You could read anything like the local newspaper, comic books, and blogs. Anything to get them started on reading for the school year.
#8 High expectations. Start wanting more from them! If they are at one word responses on their device go to two word sentences, notice that I said sentences not two words. I believe that we need to say sentences to them not one or two word answers, because in their mind they will start thinking in sentences. We have a lot of children who use one icon that represents a sentence. We can help them start using sentences by putting words that they know on their device.
#7 Get out their I.E. P. and read it to them on a level they can understand. After every goal give them examples that they understand. You can do this with anyone who is in school by talking to them at their understandable level. Like if they have a goal saying they will know their multiplication facts, you might like to say you are going to be working on a new math skill this year, I know that you like math. Be positive always.
#6 Talk up school everyday and with everybody. Talk about their teachers, their friends, and their therapists. Say things like I wonder “what their name” has been doing or I am so excited to see “their name.” Anything to get them excited about the new school year. Remember to stay positive always! Staying positive when you talk about the upcoming school year is important because you want to show them that school is a phenomenal place to go.
We are halfway through, it is time to have an ad for the United States Society of AAC. Don't worry PRC-Saltillo, I will make this quick. Families, we need you to join our national society of AAC. We want to hear from you!! check out the website, USSAAC.org.
#5 Make a game about going to school and play it at least once a week. It needs to be fun and enjoyable.
#4 Drive by the school and bus stop many times. On the way, you found their friend's house.
#3 Prepare and ask for a meeting with their school team to set the year off on the right foot. Tip: if you can bake, bring something tasty to the meeting.
#2 Make the weekend before school start a family fun weekend. Do their favorite activities and play the game that you made up about starting school a lot.
#1 Remember to have a lot of fun!! School years are so fun for typical kids and parents with the dances and community nights, why not have fun yourself and your children.
I love good giveaways, so I have four copies of my book and two memberships to USSAAC. All you need to do is write or have your child write a paragraph on your AAC journey. Have a great start of school everyone!
One last back-to-school suggestion: Have your child or students write a blog!! I am reading a great book called Blogs, Wikis, podcasts, and other powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson, this book came out in 2009 so some of the information is out of date. Mr. Richardson believes that all students should have a blog and I agree with him. The students who use a communication device need to work on their writing and what a fun way to work on this. I love to read PRC-Saltillo ambassadors who are beginning writers, because they are just starting out. It is okay for students to make writing mistakes, because they are learning how to write and post something on the internet. If you would search my name, you might find my blog that I started when I was a teenager called My World. I know that I made many, many, and many writing mistakes and I am okay with it. I hope someone can learn from my mistakes and it would help them. So please consider letting your child or students start a blog, because it will teach them how to be a writer and have fun! Happy writing and good luck with the school year!!!
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Communicators In Action - back to school, aac