Special Education With Care
November Parent Newsletter
Happy Thanksgiving!
The leaves are starting to change colors, and the school year is in full swing! We are excited to share with you our November issue of the Special Education Newsletter! We've worked hard on gathering resources and hope that you find this issue meaningful and helpful in your special education journey with your student. As always, we welcome your feedback and suggestions on topics to cover in the future. Enjoy!
The November 2019 issue includes:
- What to Expect During Assessments
- Notetaking Strategies
- Ways to Help Your Child Develop Positive Math Attitudes
- ADHD and Reading Comprehension
- Eliminating Distractions in the Learning Environment
What to Expect With Special Education Assessments
After you consent to an assessment via the assessment plan, assessment team members will be contacting you to plan a time to meet to assess your child in the areas that are outlined in the Assessment Plan. Here are some important things to consider about the assessment process:
- Once the AP is consented to, the providers and assessors will be contacting you to assess your child. There will be multiple providers contacting you if there are multiple assessments to be completed.
- Please respond to assessors/providers in a timely manner to ensure the assessments get completed on time.
- Your child's Case Manager/Special Education Teacher will be overseeing the IEP meeting and development process and will be in charge of scheduling any IEP meetings.
- If you have any questions about the process at any time, please contact your child's Case Manager.
Notetaking Strategies
Have you ever struggled with helping your child take notes in order to better learn the content? The following article provides four great strategies to help your child take better notes. The strategies offered include Venn Diagrams, Bubble Maps, Combination Notes, and Marginalia. Click on the box below to access the article.
Bubble Map Example
Venn Diagram Example
Combination Notes Example
6 Ways to Help Kids Develop Positive Math Attitudes
Does your child struggle with math? Do they often get frustrated and their frustration affects their overall attitude toward Math? PBS for Parents has written a great article that provides suggestions for how parents can help their child develop positive attitudes about learning about math.
ADHD and Reading Comprehension
Here are some helpful reading comprehension strategies to help your child focus on reading:
- Provide your child with a fidget or material that will help them focus, but not distract them.
- Have your child listen to an audio book or book on tape, paired with following along with the text.
- Build on your child's imagination- get them interested in the text passage.
- Encourage your child to read aloud to maintain attention and improve comprehension skills.
- Have your child discuss what they read about with you.
- Have your child draw what they hear, while you read to them.
Eliminating Distractions
Sometimes the home environment can be full of distractions. This can make it difficult for your child to focus. Your child may want to play with their toys, engage in technology, and not want to focus on academics. Here are some helpful tools that can help eliminate distractions for your child:
- Set a designated learning area in the home that is quiet, positive and comfortable for your child.
- Provide academic based materials to support learning time.
- Use visual schedules and techniques- use a first, then chart to help your child focus on one task before moving to the other.
- Use a timer system to help your child gain structure focus on academics (example: 20 minutes of academics, then a 5 minute break).
- Use barriers such as a board or a divider to help with other household distractions.
- Provide breaks and consider using a token economy or reward system to increase focus.