Investigation - For many children with special needs there is no immediate diagnosis as soon as they start school but teachers will start to investigate problems that might start to occur in their learning and socialising in the classroom. Notes will be taken, observations made, changes put in place, talks with parents, carers, the SENCO (special needs co-ordinator) and then if thought necessary the next level of professionals - school special needs advisors and then on to school psychologists. This is not an automatic fix by any means and these processes can take years and investigations will continue to take place to help the learning of that child.
Interests - knowing what a child is interested in is an important way to help motivate children that find learning difficult. Giving a worksheet a car/dinosaur/handbag twist can make even the most reluctant child reach for one :) I also like to set homework that allows children to bring in their own likes and interests - I remember as a child how much I liked to write and draw about things that interested me so why wouldn't today's children? Unfortunately, for so many children these days the squeezing of the freedom in the curriculum does not allow them too much choice so it is important to tweak and fit it in where you can. I have been lucky designing activities and work packets for my special needs groups as this allows me to tailor many of these to the interests of the children involved. Many of the books used in our literacy sessions are chosen with that in mind.
Illuminated lettering - something I have always been interested in ever since I was a child looking through history books was illuminated letters.
http://beard5.deviantart.com/art/Illuminated-P-65486884
There was something very appealing in their simple but detailed style and when I became older I learnt calligraphy and decorated manuscripts as part of my art submission pieces.
My first piece of cross stitch when I was an adult was a gift to a friend's baby of a framed cross stitched illuminated letter of her first name. Unfortunately, I have no photos of any of my own work but if you want to find out more about the art of illumination a simple short illustrated guide can be found here by Amy Bruce: http://hrsbstaff.ednet.ns.ca/kmason/images/Illuminations1.pdf
Freebie for today is about Irregular verbs :)
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Thanks, Pempi, for another interesting post. I wonder how the process of investigation differs by country, even region?
ReplyDeleteYvonne
I think it differs greatly, Yvonne and I also think the amount of money invested by country, region, school, parents also makes a significant difference to the outcomes for those children!
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DeleteIt's AMAZING how much work our teachers put in to our children...so much behind the scenes work. I wish the curriculum allowed more leeway for the teachers to put more of their own creativity into their lesson plans.
ReplyDeleteTheCyborgMom
I also wish we could have more teaching freedom but unfortunately you always have to have one eye on the end of term tests that will "measure" how well a child has learnt and your success as a teacher!! As you can imagine it is a nightmare for those of us who are measured on the success of our children with special educational needs on a level playing field with their peers who do not have such learning difficulties!!!
ReplyDeleteI've been reading one of Temple Grandin's books and she really advocates using a child's interests and obsessions to engage them in learning. It just makes sense to use something they already like to teach them about the world. It shows the practical application of their lessons too. Particularly important for older children who think school is boring.
ReplyDeleteWhole heartedly agree, Jo - it is important not to lose children as they go through the education system.
DeleteI love illuminated letters as well and have seem some really nice cross stitch samplers that make use of them. :-)
ReplyDeleteI agree with finding a child's interests to help motivate them. I know from my own experience that I'm way more inclined to do something if it's interesting to me, and it's definitely the same for children.
Ooh - I like the idea of a cross stitch illuminated letter sampler :)
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