By Takrima Sadikot
It’s already that time of the year, where we must start thinking about preparing for the upcoming school year. To be honest, I am dreading the prep, but I find that having a game plan, even if it fails, makes me feel better. I am sharing here with you all the things that are running through my head as we prepare for school to start.
- Talk to my daughter about the next grade she will be in. This year will be a big change for us, since we are not only switching grades but also going to middle school. So, it’s a whole new campus and a brand-new teacher. One of the things I have already started doing is reminding my daughter of her new teacher’s name and her new school’s name. I am making it seem like 6th grade is the best thing ever, and we are hoping to do a walkthrough of the school before day one.
- Review her IEP, make a note of any changes that might have occurred over the summer, and prepare a list of all my daughter’s current likes and dislikes to share with her teacher and therapists.
- Ask the classroom teacher for a phone number where she can receive texts for school. I text my daughter’s teacher in the morning if something significant has occurred the morning of or the night before school. For example, if my daughter had a meltdown that morning, I would let her teacher know of the incident and tell her what we did to overcome the issue. I established this technique a couple of years ago and I also use this method of communication to let the school nurse know if we administered any medicine that morning.
- My daughter attends a public school and spends most of her day in their center-based resource (CBR) classroom. The CBR teacher requires a different set of items than those required in the Gen Ed classrooms. To ensure that we have the right supplies for school, I reach out to our CBR specialist before school starts and only order what is needed for her specific classroom. This helps us avoid extra expenses and prevents wastefulness.
If your kiddo is anything like mine, they likely wake up very early all summer but it’s impossible to wake them up on school days, especially the first day. One way that I have found around this is I have setup a large calendar in my daughter’s room with details of her week, such as school days, therapies, appointments, and fun activities. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4VJ484K?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1. She also loves colors, so we make each item on the list a different color to keep her engaged and entertained. I also found a couple of cute schedulers on Amazon that help us get through nightly and morning bathroom activities and can be somewhat customized to your needs. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DDTLV6BJ?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1.- Lately, my daughter has been requesting specific colors for the day. So, when possible, I find clothes that match her color criteria, and we set it up the night before with socks and undergarments all planned for, which makes it so much easier to get out of the door in the morning. Again, many of you might identify with this; my daughter can become upset very quickly, but she takes a while to settle back down. So, I find that if I can play to her interests it makes for a smoother day.
Since we all function differently and each of our kiddos is as unique as an individual snowflake, it’s likely that my strategies may not work for you. But I hope you find something useful here as you navigate your way through the next few weeks.
