Tips from Temple Grandin

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is one of the first individuals on the autism spectrum to document the insights she gained from her personal experience with autism.

She knows that children and adults with autism often have difficulty adjusting to changes, surprises, transitions and disappointments.  This is exacerbated during this time of uncertainty amid the global health crisis.

The Centres for Disease Control reveal that 1 in 54 schoolchildren are being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, so it has never been  more important to intervene early and help them earn life skills.

As such, she has a great deal of advice to help children on the autism spectrum cope with our new, ever-changing daily routine. "The best thing you can do as a parent is to get your son or daughter on a schedule, and put structure in all you lives, to keep their minds and bodies active throughout the day," Grandin said.

"That schedule will help an autistic child stay focused and on task."

Set a Schedule:

"Routines, schedules and figuring out what helps cope. First, you need to make a new routine.  You convey to your children that they are going to get up and get ready for school,just like we always have, even though we are doing it at home. "

A visual schedule or a written schedule can help keep children with ASD feel safe, supported and prepared for the day.

Lack of routine and structure leave them feeling anxious.

7 Tips for Teaching a Struggling Learner

TIPS FOR STRUGGLING LEARNERS

There are very specific teaching methods you can use to help your struggling learner succeed.

Online learning presents a different set of challenges but the fundamental, evidence-based strategies still apply in this forum.

1. Teach Through "Direct Instruction"

Direct Instruction is a proven method in which the student is taught exactly what he needs to learn. 

The information is presented very clearly through well-tested materials that rule out the possibility of misinterpretation and confusion.

The next is important step is to show the student exactly how to apply the information too.

2. Choose an Incremental Approach to Lessons

As teacher we are very familiar with the content of our subjects. We may take for granted that the child has some existing knowledge or some frame of reference to draw from when we teach. The life experiences of our students could be quite different from ours so we need to start lessons with the most basic skills and gradually move up to more advanced skills. 

Each lesson builds upon previously mastered material and gradually increases in difficulty.

Allow your student to learn one new piece of knowledge at a time in a well-though out, logical sequence.

3. Understand the Importance of Multisensory Learning

Multipsensory learning happens with sight, sound and touch are used to learning new information.

When a student can:

• see - e.g. photo, picture, mind map, video; 
• hear - e.g. audio track, rap, song, explanation, simplify language, repeat sentences, give children time to respond and read; 
• lastly touch - e.g. do, experience;

it is easier for them to retain the new information.

4. Teach Just One Concept at a Time

When you dump too much information into your student's mental "funnel", your student's memory can only attend to a certain amount of new information. 

Teaching one concept at a time respects the limitations of your child's short-term memory and allows concepts to be more easily stored in long-term memory.

That means more significant learning can occur.

5. Make Review a Priority

Consistent review is the key to getting information to 'stick'. 

Teaching something once or twice does not mean your student has actually mastered it. Mastery takes time and practice.

6. Keep Lessons Short but Frequent

Short, frequent lessons are much better than long, sporadic lessons. In a short lesson, your student's attention is less likely to wander, and you'll find that you can actually accomplish more. \

Start with 30 minutes per day for 5 days a week. You can adjust the length of the lessons up or down according to your individual student's attention span and specific needs

7. Recognise the Power of Encouraging Words

In the ups and downs of the daily grind the power of encouraging words is all up to you!

Taken from and adapted

https://blog.allaboutlearningpress.com/struggling-learner/ 

Lego Play

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Thank you to Jane Walker for this resource

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Eric Carle

An animated version of the story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75NQK-Sm1YY

The book read by the author / illustrator himself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXHScpo_Vv8

The Very Quiet Cricket – older students can compare the similarities and differences between the two stories.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdiGEjz5b0Q

Four book compilation of video readings (Eric Carle)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIn-xGU1pko

The official Eric Carle website with heaps of wonderful resources and information on the author for teachers or older students

https://eric-carle.com/

About the author/illustrator

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Eric-Carle

How the story came to be

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/eric-carle-creating-hungry-caterpillar-wanted-call-willi-worm/

Possible Learning Activities  –

Here is the link to the folder with the resources in the Twinkl folder for the activities listed below -

Links to the Very Hungry Caterpillar Resources (Twinkl)

Literacy

●      Looking / listening / talking / reading / writing

●      Retell - See - T-T-1231 (in Twinkl folder)

●      Topic related vocabulary – life cycle of a butterfly / days of the week / foods

Science

●      Life Cycle of a Butterfly  … 

              Investigation for older students -  Use of cocoon versus chrysalis - What’s the difference? Did the author make a mistake ?

Health – Healthy Eating

Maths

●       Sequencing  - see T-T-1220A

●      Time – Days of the Week

●      Number work – Addition  - worksheets / Counting the number of food items eaten all together

See - t-n-568  and T-N-572

●      Sorting – Categorisation   - Food groups / Fruit & other foods

●      Shapes 

Sensory - See - T-T-27412

Movement – crawl like a caterpillar / curl up into a cocoon/chrysalis / spread your wings like a butterfly.

Art & Craft – activities including creative food preparation

Exploring the author’s art technique (also see more on the official Eric Carle website)

https://notjustcute.com/2010/05/14/eric-carle-author-study-building-your-own-very-hungry-caterpillar/

A multitude of other arty ideas based on the book -

https://www.weareteachers.com/very-hungry-caterpillar-activities/

https://www.pre-kpages.com/activities-hungry-caterpillar/

Explore other books by Eric Carle - Which one was the first book published?

Challenge - Put them in the order they were published - first to last.

Reading: Story Book

Reading and Storytelling with Children

Story Book

The Importance of reading and storytelling with children explained ⇨ Key points

Reading and storytelling with your child promotes brain development and imagination, teaches your child about language and emotions, and strengthens your relationship.

You don’t always need to read books. Try looking at picture books, singing rhymes and songs, or telling stories from your culture.

Babies and young children often enjoy books, songs and stories with good rhyme, rhythm and repetition.

Anytime is a good time for a book or story! Try to share at least one book or story each day.

Follow the link:

https://raisingchildren.net.au/babies/play-learning/literacy-reading-stories/reading-storytelling

Free Subscription to:

AudioBooks:

• Epic
• Book Creator App
• Vooks - (went onto the site and they want your card details after the first free month trial)
• Teach your Monster to read - cute

Today's Resources:

Hand washing:

A video clip that shows the importance of washing hands to keep germs at bay.

https://www.facebook.com/10992405571/posts/10158545894725572/

Everyday Activities

These are some things you can plan and do everyday.
Visuals are a way we can share with our children what we are doing.
In this way they are prepared for the activity, anticipate what is next and adds an element of predictability to their day.
Using language like ... first we will do .... then we will do .... helps your child be involved in their learning and not just be a passive recipient of something happening to them.
Ownership and being part of the learning and teaching process is an important part of feeling empowered as a learner.