Elizabeth, next time we go to your Uncle’s house, you can’t ask him when you can leave. It isn’t good manners.

Elizabeth, when you are in church next time, remember that you shouldn’t ask what is for lunch after church in a loud voice

Ok, those are just 2 excerpts from probably 5 million teaching moments we have had with and for Elizabeth in her life.

We are continually teaching and growing skills. Due to her special needs, things need to be repeated and worked on many times before they are completely learned and integrated well.

I am sure you have all heard me say that we are all a work in progress. So there is absolutely nothing wrong with learning and growing. I know I still do and I am…well never mind, how old I am. Suffice it to say that we are all growing.

The thing about some of the teachable moments is that I would refer to “the next time” which is all well and good and really true. But the carry over would not be an option again for a while. Meaning I can tell her this or that for “next time” but by the time “next time” arrives the instructions fade from everyone’s thoughts.

Which brings us back to the same spot we were at before.

Now with summer and all the plans that go on. Parties, chance meetings of neighbors on a walk, time at the pool. It might be a good idea to start to talk about expectations.

Expectations, in my opinion, are the things that your would like to see happen each time. And along with what we expect. The expectations go both ways. Meaning we would tell Elizabeth, that after this or that happens, you can do ____________

This helps Elizabeth work with the knowledge that she will have her choice after certain things are accomplished.

Example: Elizabeth we are headed to the neighbors to drop off something. Our expectation is that you will please greet the neighbor, talk a bit and let us give them their plate. After we do that, you are able to make the choice to stay more or go home .

Shared expectations!

We do this now with Elizabeth for things we know are coming such as an appointment or meeting and with things that are run of the mill but still require teaching. Because after all, with our children with special needs, being tired, hungry, overwhelmed or sad can make doing these run of the mill things hard.

I offer this out, because summer allows more freedom to introduce this and work with it.

I know the journey is never straight for our kids but I wanted to share one that may help avoid some of the same talks again and again. It helped us.

I hope someone out there can use this now.

I wish everyone a peaceful week.

Michele Gianetti author of Elizabeth Believes In Herself

No more pencils, no more books…..

I think we all know the rest of this little rhyme.

But the fact is that summer is a time when learning really cannot be put away.

I can remember as a kid that we did NOTHING in the summer that was at all reminiscent of school and when we started the new school year, the teachers would begin working on concepts and things that we had learned at the END of the previous year. Kind of like a quick review and then on to the new stuff.

Well in the world we are living in, kids get “summer work” for some classes they will be taking the following year. And from personal experience in watching my children have this “summer work” They did not like it one little bit. Because they could do it anytime, they chose almost the night before the school year started. And because of this, the work seemed to hang over their heads…and hang…and hang.

The reason for the work was to prepare them for the next year.

And that leads me to the why of Summer work and learning.

For children everywhere, there is something called the summer slide.

The summer slide is a decline in reading ability and other academic skills that can occur over the summer months when school isn’t in session. So this is why keeping the learning going is important for all children.

But for those children with special needs, it is even more important. It is easier to keep the learning going in some form to combat the Summer Slide and to keep a bit of a learning schedule. Not to mention summer is a great time to work on IEP goals. Since the schedules of school, the routines of learning and the goals for their education all cease at the end of the year getting it all going again takes work, planning and adjustment.

So how do you do this summer learning?

–Read the IEP and review the goals– This will help you see what you can work on and what can help your child the most. One year for Elizabeth, we worked on life skills all summer. Hanging clothes, folding towels, speech classes and her printing her name for her papers. Those fit her need that summer and when she went to school that next year, we could adjust her IEP to reflect these gains.

–Make a plan for what you want to accomplish– We decided to make a time of each day for these goals. Speech was a certain time of the week with her therapist, but the follow up at home was what we DID schedule. We made sure we put it on the schedule as well as the other things we wanted to work on.

–Make a schedule for learning time– This is the tricky part because no one has control of each day. There are other children’s schedules to work with, and well, life. But making a schedule is key to success as it hold you to the learning and helps your child know what is coming.

-Be consistent but flexible– And this is so important. Flexibility is huge and it helps to teach this important life skill and also recognizes that life goes in ways in which we have no control. But keeping the schedule and doing the work helps our children know that they will be doing their learning and that it is important.

–Keep it fun– above all this is the most important thing because making the learning fun makes our children want to do it again. And making it fun, makes our children have good memories of their time learning .

I hope these tips help to keep the learning going this summer and to keep the summer slide away.

I wish everyone a peaceful week,

Michele Gianetti author of Elizabeth Believes in Herself.