by Aubrey Schmalle OTR/L How important is it that my classroom is “sensory friendly” and digitally aware? Every year, there are many blog posts encouraging you to set-up a sensory friendly classroom. And some of you may be asking, why focus on this when the children in my classroom have so many different learning needs? …
Rethinking Sensory Diets for Teens
Sensory Diets are often recommended to help students maintain optimal regulation and attention in the school setting when children are in preschool and elementary school. As children age, their interests and social awareness evolve. This also means that sometimes, what started out as a solid and supportive plan initiated at a child’s PPT meeting becomes…
The Case for Gross Motor Centers for Preschool Classrooms
By Rachel Butler, COTA/L More and more research is being published that shows the benefits of movement for learning. As a result, elementary school teachers are incorporating movement breaks into their schedules and some middle schools are bringing back recess. Preschool children seem to be constantly moving, so why incorporate more movement into their classrooms? …
Letter Visualization Activity
Supplies Container with magnet/cut out letters (uppercase or lowercase) Two floor dots/ small mats/ trays/ paper plates Set up Set up two floor spots in classroom/ home at an appropriate space apart so that child can not see the letters on the second spot when standing at the fist spot Spread letters (more or less…
Letter Bead Sight Words
Supplies Letter bead (Beads in shape of letters, NOT painted or printed on bead) Yarn to thread beads onto Towel or scarf to cover lenght of yarn White board, black board, or paper Dryer erase marker, or appropriate writing implement Procedure 1. Adult sets up sight words on yarn, tying knots appropriatly to prevent movement…
Teaching that one child that keeps you up at night through movement
Photo: LA Johnson/NPR Everyone has that one child….. I recently spoke at a preschool teacher’s conference. I was excited to hear their questions about how to support children with sensory differences in the classroom. As I was listening to their questions and stories, I started seeing a pattern. Everyone has that ONE child that stands out…
Sometimes reading fluency is not just about decoding: How hidden vision deficits made me rethink my tutoring session.
As a special educator with 45 years experience and training in Orton-Gillingham, I have always believed in the value of using multi-sensory tools and strategies to teaching reading and math. The Orton-Gillingham approach to reading is a language based, multi- sensory, structured, sequential, cognitive and flexible program. Orton-Gillingham is a well known and respected reading…
Whole Body Listening in the Classroom
As a child in a busy classroom how many times do you hear: “Pay attention,” “Quiet down and listen up,” “I’m not going to tell you again; You should have been listening to the instructions,” “Didn’t you hear me?” Teachers use many different strategies to gain the attention of their students and get them to…
He’s not a ‘bad kid’, he has a sensory processing disorder
How our body and brain receives, interprets, organizes, and utilizes sensory information SHOULD be an automatic process that occurs accurately and efficiently, without effort or conscious choice. A sensory processing disorder (SPD) is an “invisible” challenge, characterized by a disorganized way that the nervous systems attempts to understand and make use of sensory information. Considering…
Lunchroom Noise, Does it Really Matter?
Common concerns over short lunch periods, appropriate seating, and the challenge of nutritional choices in school lunches are common. But have you considered the effect of the noise in the cafeteria on healthy food choices? Susan Gross, PhD, MPH of John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has, and her results (2014) may give us…
