Creating a Learning Environment at Home

We have to do school work at home, what’s next?

This may be the first time you are doing school work in the home setting or this amount or type. It may help for some students, especially those with challenging behavior or distractibility, to have a designated area in the home for school work. It may help for the area to be:

• Away from toys and other preferred objects and activities
• Have a physical barrier to reduce distractibility, such as a bookshelf, hanging sheet, or other furniture
• A small desk or table with a chair. For some learners we are still working on sitting in a chair and staying in that area at school as well

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“But my child doesn’t want to come to this area. How can I make this as fun as play time?”

Start using the “work” area as a place to play with a preferred toy or do a preferred activity, regardless of age. Your child can start to associate the work area where fun things can happen. Don’t rush it. If you “force” it, you may take two steps back. Do short visits there throughout the day for more practice at their “work” area.

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The TEACCH Autism Program also developed structured work system to teach the following:

1. What work needs to be done?
2. How much work needs to be done?
3. How do i know when I’m finished?
4. What do I do next?

https://autismclassroomresources.com/structured-work-systemswhat-are-they/

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Lauren Gerst and Natasha Vogt (BCBA) are Behavior Specialists with SCASD. We both have

worked as Autistic Support teachers at the elementary level and have been supporting teachers and students K-12 in the SCASD as behavior specialists. We are hoping to help families help their child with behavior and learning needs in the home setting during the remote learning time.

“If we make today awesome for somebody else, today will be awesome for everyone!” - Kid President

Home Behavior Support Newsletter - #1 Week of March 30, 2020

In times of uncertainty, everyone benefits from predictability!

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Setting up a Traditional Learning Area

Creating Schedules

Schedules

How to set up a routine/schedule?

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Parents and students are finding themselves with a lot more unstructured time than before. Visual schedules can be a great way to help create a routine or schedule for students. Visual schedules are a series of pictures, objects, sign language, or text that communicate a task or activity to students. Schedules can include morning routines, learning tasks, sensory activities, a “to-do” list, offer choices, etc. Schedules can be created in structured “chunks” of time, especially at first! Once an activity has been completed, the picture can be removed from the schedule or a checkmark can be placed overtop/beside the picture.

A great resource for schedules and activities for students to complete can be found at, The School Closure Toolkit.

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Examples below are from the toolkit mentioned above!

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Contact Information

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Natasha Vogt - nmc20@scasd.org

Lauren Gerst - lrg15@scasd.org

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