Back to School
If only the holidays would last a bit longer, although, I think I can hear some parents who are ready for the end of the chaos that holiday time can bring!
I am sure that teachers will be getting excited to meet their new students and set up their classrooms for the year ahead.
Whatever you may be feeling, the reality is that as we near the middle of January, we need to start preparing for the beginning of another school year. Rather than anxiously waiting for that dreaded first day back, a little preparation will go a long way to reassuring your child (or students) and yourself that it will be ok.
If your child has experienced learning difficulties and has found school a challenging and stressful place, those challenges and the anxiety around this are likely to continue.
The first place that many families start is the booklist. This in itself can be overwhelming for a child who has just finished a year at school, and was struggling with literacy/numeracy at that level and unable to successfully finish that level of text books, to then have to face the complexity of the next year level book. Have an open discussion with your child around this and encourage them to look at the book, and identify just a few familiar concepts or skills that they may have. Reassure them that this book is for the whole year, not to be completed at once and will be modified to suit their learning needs. Make sure you have included some specific tools, such as our pencils and pencil cases (reminds them of the vowels), Practise books or the Naughty Words book. Organisation tools are also helpful, so maybe a visual planner and a diary that is easy to follow would be beneficial.
The book Lex and Me is a fantastic book to share with your child’s new teacher to ensure that they have some understanding about dyslexia and learning difficulties. While the new teacher will be very busy in the first few days, settling in all students, your child’s situation needs to be acknowledged on the first day. From the onset, it will make such a difference to your child’s feeling of belonging and feel valued in the classroom if the teacher can be proactive in planning so that your child’s learning ability and support needs are considered. Many classroom teachers are eager to know more about dyslexia and understand their learners’ needs, however their knowledge in this area is often very limited. Teachers and parents are encouraged to do the course Introduction to Literacy and Dyslexia.
A few hours is all you need to have a more clear understanding of how to best support dyslexic learners.
In most cases, children with learning difficulties are not really excited about returning to the school environment. Encourage them to think about getting back to friends, partaking in their favourite activities (sport, art, music, science etc.) and remind them of their successes.
