High School Graduation day is here! What a day. probably one of the best days thus far. To see my son throw his black mortarboard graduation hat in the air and mouth, “I did it” was simply awesome.
I think back and marvel at how far we have come, how difficult it must have been to start school all those years ago with 200 other kids and have managed such a transition with a speech and language impairment.
I feel blessed, our journey was a positive one.
13 years of teachers, teacher’s aids and affiliates who were pure gold, nurturing, understanding educators who were clearly born to teach and had the wit to pursue the importance of inclusion.
It all began with a five-year-old, a handful of words, apprehension and some anxiety of the unknown. Parents, who like most, did everything they could to make the transition as easy as possible.
This is what worked for me.
Getting ready for school
Using pictures added to a now & next board to encourage activities to work on readiness for school skills, such as fine motor skills, handwriting, drawing etc.
School Preparation
With 5 weeks till our first day, I race around the school taking photos of all the amenities and sourcing pictures that will form a simple social story to clearly show what a day will look like.
School days
A weekly schedule was our go to every morning and every night for establishing what was on that day. Pictures were attached Monday- Friday, photos of sports uniform, library etc on the days they occurred. A picture of home on Saturday and Sunday.
Before and after school
A picture schedule was used to help transition from one activity to another for getting ready in the morning, afternoon routine and bedtime routines.
Morning and bedtime daily routine
All routines and schedules can be viewed here.
Till next time
Alison
