Tips for Back To School!

It's that time of year again! Back to school! As you busily shop for school supplies, back to school clothes, lunchboxes, and backpacks in preparation for that first day, school staff are excitedly getting their classrooms unpacked, set up, and decorated again after the summer cleaning. They are reviewing class lists and attending a million staff meetings on all the new updates and changes for the school year to keep up with the ever changing requirements of the state. Some new teachers may not have access to the IEP online system right away, as technological glitches and new logins are being worked out. Therefore, he or she may not have even received or had a chance to read your child's IEP yet in it's entirety. School nurses are busy making sure all important medical info cards get into teachers' hands about their students prior to the first day. Therapists are working out their case loads and schedules to fit in all the therapy minutes of their students. Bus drivers are busy practicing their routes to try to be on time until all the kinks and bus stop changes can be worked out in those first few weeks back. As parents, you are busy worried how your child will adjust to the new school year and getting back into the school routine, all the while holding back your tears that your child is another grade level older. It's a crazy, busy, yet exciting time for all!

New teacher, new classroom, perhaps a new school... this exciting time of year can also be filled with changes that can be challenging and anxiety provoking for some children.

Here are some back to school tips for families you may find helpful:

Get IEP paperwork organized: You can order my IEP binder organizer download here so you can print and arrange into a binder to bring with you to meetings and parent-teacher conferences. This can help you easily refer to the IEP throughout the year to better understand it, making you look and hopefully feel organized and ready to make the most of the new school year!
Review the IEP: Review your child's current IEP goals and accommodations to discuss with the new teacher and/or how it will be implemented in the new school setting. Perhaps this conversation may spark the need to add additional necessary accommodations specific to your child's needs within the new setting. (Hopefully this conversation was already had at your child's transition meeting last Spring).
Email your child's teacher and therapists about any medical/safety concerns for your child (i.e.: food allergies, breathing treatments, runner behaviors, etc.) Although they should already receive this info from the school nurse prior to the first day, a reminder email disguised as a friendly hello can be helpful to cover your bases on this important safety info for your child!
Review the transportation plan in your child's IEP: If your child is a bus rider, be sure all necessary transportation accommodations are listed (i.e.: car seat, seat belt, buckle guard, preferred seating at the front of bus, hand walked from bus to school door, assistance for navigating bus stairs, bus aide, wheel chair accessible bus, air conditioned bus for medically fragile students, etc). Then be sure all of these are being fulfilled and communicated with the bus driver and substitute drivers throughout the year, via a friendly reminder at pick up. If your child has significant bus needs, you may want to request in writing to have the bus driver be invited to IEP meetings for the transportation discussion.
Meet with the teacher & visit the school with your child, prior to the first day: (i.e.: see where the classroom is, meet the teacher, tour the school, see where the bus will come, etc). This will help prepare your child to know what to expect, reducing any first day jitters for both of you!
Do a dress rehearsal day before the first day: This may include getting up early, dressed, and out the door on time. Visit the bus stop, drive to school, point out the door they will enter, where they will wait, etc. Parents may want to review the map for where the pick up/drop off lanes are if your child is a car rider.
Use photos to facilitate communication with your child about school: Ask the teacher to email photos of the school, classroom, and staff that will be working with your child. You can print these photos into a book to look at with your child before the first day. This may also be helpful to refer to throughout the school year to facilitate communication about the school day. This is especially helpful for non-verbal students, as they can point to the therapists they saw that day or the locations they visited (i.e.: art room, gym, music room, cafeteria, etc).
Utilize a social story: Social stories are a great teaching tool to describe a new situation for predictability, teach coping behaviors for it, and/or how to understand and respond in different social scenarios and routines. Many school social workers and special education teachers already have a collection of pre-made social stories they can share with you about going to school. They can quickly personalize it for your child, especially if social stories are listed in the accommodations section of your child's IEP. If it is not, you may want to add have this specifically listed in this section, as social stories can be very beneficial for all students! Be sure to email your child's social worker and/or special education teacher to inquire about social stories!
Utilize a visual task sequence strip: Does your child have trouble getting ready for school? Perhaps creating a visual task strip for morning routines to keep your child on task would be helpful. You can set a timer for each step to try and beat the clock to make it a game! Email me to inquire how to create and use these within the home setting to make morning routines easier!
Determine how you and staff will communicate: (i.e.: summary sheet of day, communication notebook, email, phone, etc). Here is an example below of a summary sheet I used as a teacher (credit: Board Maker). It was quick and easy to circle at the end of the day for parents, and also allowed for non-verbal students to communicate to parents about their day through pointing. If your child has a BIP (Behavior Intervention Plan), review the section that lists provisions for how the school will communicate behavior progress with the parent. (i.e.: behavior chart, daily/weekly emails, etc.)