My grandson has recently turned 9. He, like so many children, will be returning to school next week.

His parents have done a remarkable job at keeping COVID 19 fears to a minimum. Where they live has not required children his age to wear masks in public.

His school has just informed them that the students will be required to wear masks. This news has really impacted him. This once highly active and social child would rather stay home than see people with masks. Regardless of how your child is starting school the reality remains no one knows what school will look like from week to week.

If your child has not been wearing a mask up to this point I would strongly suggest you begin to give your child the support and opportunity to wear a face covering around you in a non-threatening environment.

Wear them in the house while you are playing a game, watching tv or hanging out. Talk about what it feels like and how they feel wearing one. Answer any questions they may have. When I first wore a mask I had a terrible time with my glasses fogging up. It took me a good few days to make the mask fit as I needed it to so that I could see properly.

Practice good ‘face mask hygiene’ and hand washing.

Acknowledge their feelings without judgement. Be Positive! If you believe they are unnecessary do not reinforce this belief. Your child needs your support, now, more than ever. Our jobs as parents is to support our children in the world they inhabit - not the world as we would like it to be.

​Have a question or concern - reach out today. We are all in this together.

The absolutely best way for all children to learn material and prepare for quizzes and assessments in school (or at home school) is to take a test.

Learning material by reading and rereading notes is not the most efficient way to study. Creating a test is a much more effective way to help anyone learn new material.

Putting the information in the form of a question requires a more advanced mode of thinking that includes the application and manipulation of information. In addition, taking a quiz at home mimics what the assessment will look like for school.

As most things with technology there are dozens of test making options available. However, you can easily create an assessment type scenario when helping your child review each evening. Which is really what you should try to do every day for just a few minutes.

Simply put the information you are looking at into the form of a question - be it fill in the blank or true or false.

Here are a few examples of how this works, just to get you started.

Study notes: In our solar system all the planets revolve around the sun. This is called an orbit. The earth’s orbit takes 365 days, which equals one year on earth. The further away from the sun the longer it takes a plant to complete one orbit. The closest planet to the sun is Mercury, next is Venus, then Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune (Pluto).
1. Which plant, Mercury, Venus or Earth takes the shortest time to complete one orbit around the sun?
2. True or False - The sun completes one orbit of the earth every day?
3. Uranus completes its orbit faster than what other planets?
4. How many days make up one year on Earth?
5. Put the planets in order from closest to the sun to furthest away.

Have a question or concern - Reach out today for a free 15 minute consult.

I have been reading a lot lately about getting your child organized for the start of this very unusual school year. Most of what I read is good information. Having a calendar, using a white board, setting up an at-home school room with supplies at the ready, an elaborate folder system, timers etc. are all wonderful suggestions.

The trouble with most everything we, as adults and educators, suggest is that they are things that work for us. Or, at the very least, what works the best for organized people and perhaps people who make organization systems. What works for me is not necessarily what works for you. Have you ever tried to empty someone else’s dishwasher and put things away? The most organized kitchen becomes a minefield of seemingly strange decision making!

In all this planning and suggesting I rarely see the one most important part of creating an effective organizational system for anyone in any setting. The key to an effective organizational system is to ASK THE PERSON WHO IS GOING TO USE IT WHAT THEY WANT OR WILL USE.

What you might think is if I ask my son/daughter what they want or will use, they don’t know - that’s the problem. Yes, that may be part of the problem, however, your beautiful system is what makes sense to you. A workable system has to be what makes sense, and is user friendly to the USER - namely your child.

Start with what your child thinks works for them. If they say they don’t know, help them brainstorm ideas by looking at what they like to do and how they organize that. You may need to play detective.  There is organization in everything; it is sometimes just very hard to see.

Time spent creating an accessible system, based on your child’s needs, is the place to start. Notice I said start. Organization takes work and adjustment. You have to remain involved in getting a workable system, designed by your child, to work efficiently.  Instead of a Trapper Keeper it may be a small spiral in the back pocket.

The simpler the better. Do not give up or worse give in and become the eternal organizer for your child. Time spent in creating a system together, modifying as necessary and supporting your child’s growth towards independence will be well rewarded.

Need to review what you have in place, or get ideas based on your child’s current needs?  Reach out today - message or call for a 15 minute free consultation.

In speaking with a new client the other day I was reminded that we sometimes get confused with ‘school speak’. Just like any industry we use language in a specific way. When it comes to IEP’s and 504’s it is important to be clear.

So to clarify the difference between an Accommodation and a Modification, here is the easiest way to remember. We accommodate the learner - access becomes easier. We modify the curriculum - what is learned can be changed.

We Accommodate The Learner. What does the learner, your student, need to make learning and the demonstration of that learning accessible? What needs to be learned is not changed. More time, a different mode of assessment, smaller workload (same amount of learned material), utilization of technology, etc. all are accommodations. A ramp, an elevator, a quiet work space all are accommodations. The list is virtually endless and never changes the learning outcome.

Accommodations are on both IEP’s and 504’s.

We Modify The Material. What we expect a child to learn, the pace of the learning including the depth of the learning all are modifications to the actual learning expectation. Sometimes modifications, because of the scope and depth of the change need to be presented in a different setting. Modifications can be minimal to so extreme that diplomas - the guarantee of learning - are not awarded.

Modifications to academics are only available on an IEP.

Changing what is learned - Modification. Providing support to a child so they can learn (what everyone else is learning) - Accommodation.

We accommodate and support the learner. We modify and change the material.

Have a question or concern - reach out - message or call for a 15 minute free consult.