School Preparation

Good afternoon!
I have mentioned this resource in a previous blog, but wanted to mention it again as it relates specifically to back to school preparation. The book entitled Social Skills Activities for Special Children (by Darlene Mannix) includes several school related concepts.

Today, I am not simply referring to cognitive based concepts (teaching cognitive skill), but rather, am referring to activities that teach/familiarize the child with classroom/school expectations, appropriate behavior in classrooms/cafeteria/bus, schedule of events in school, and purposes of various school related activities and persons.

As mentioned previously, activities in this book include applicable worksheets, pictures, lists, etc. Implementing some of these activities prior to the start of school is a great way to prepare your child. We should be cautious not to overwhelm the child with numerous activities from the book (although there are lots of good ones) as this may result in increased school related anxiety. This would go against our purpose here of trying to increase confidence and feelings of security related to school. I would simply pick a couple of the most pertinent activities (those that pertain to your child the most and/or those areas in which your child needs the most preparation). I would do only one of these activities at a time/per day. Again, make this as enjoyable as possible.

Some examples of the kinds of activities I am referring to in this book include Entering the Classroom, The Bus Driver, Special Teachers (library, computer lab, PE, music, etc), When the Teacher is Talking, Getting the Teacher's Attention, The School Counselor, among others.

Jessica

NOTE: Jessica Grooms is in no way responsible or involved in your ordering process of any materials recommended or listed here. Ordering materials is done independently by you.