SUCCESS STEP 7: THE ONE HABIT YOU CAN’T DO WITHOUT
Ink It In!
If your reading plan is going to succeed (hopefully beyond your wildest dreams), you’re going to have to make that Teaching/Learning Time a HABIT. It has to have a place in your life that’s as habitual as brushing your teeth and savoring your morning coffee. Today’s blog will help you do that.
Love of Structure, Fear of Transition
We all know how dearly our children cling to a set routine and resist any change in that routine. Even transitioning from one activity to another, always a bear for our kids, smacks of a “change in routine” to them: “What do you mean, get in the car? I’m PLAYING now. This is my play time. This is my play time. This is my play time.”
So your immediate goal–if you haven’t already done it–is to put Teach Reading Time into that structure, and make that structure visual (I’ll explain that). Within a short time, your child will expect it.
If It’s Thursday, It Must Be Reading Time
To demonstrate: A few years ago I had a teenage student whose family was from Puerto Rico. This teen is nonverbal, and as she and her family were visiting relatives on an indescribably beautiful beach in Puerto Rico, she sat on that gorgeous beach signing, “Natalie! Natalie!” Why? Because in her world, it was time for her reading lesson, beach or no beach. Her mom sent me a video of her signing my name on that idyllic beach, and it blew me away.
So Get Your Game Plan On
I’m dead serious about this; it has to fit into your life, or it ain’t gonna get done. You and I know that. So let’s think this through. You need to identify a couple of things: the ideal times of day that your child will be receptive, and the ideal times of the day that will fit into the FAMILY’s schedule. You’re going to design two schedules: Monday-Friday, and Weekends.
I was delayed in writing this blog, and I’m SO glad, because a few hours ago, I got further ammunition for supporting this message. I attended an online webinar by Sue Buckley (Down Syndrome Education International) from the UK on their RLI (Reading and Language Intervention) program. A couple of typical questions fielded by Sue: “Can I just do a bit of this program?” Answer: NO. “Can I just do it some days?” Answer: NO. I love it. The answer is “no,” and here’s why: in and out just doesn’t work for our kids. Frequency and consistency are paramount. (See Success Step 1)
Make It Visual & Dangle a Carrot
Once you play around with those two schedules and tweak them until you find what works, you’re going to make that schedule visual for your child and post it on a wall/refrigerator/TV screen/whatever. If your child isn’t reading yet, you’re going to include picture cues; but in any case, you’re going to make it visual because that’s what works for our children with Down syndrome.
Until your child gets hooked on the success and (consequent) excitement of being able to read, it helps to dangle a carrot. Here’s an example of a Reading Schedule with dangling carrots. (Click the link, and you can print it out as a PDF.)
It’s all about getting the child on board: when it’s almost time for reading, you can point to this chart and show them the three things they’re going to do. “Hard to do” is always sandwiched between two “Pleasants” (dangling carrots) as in this example. Two bonuses to this plan: you’re teaching them some basic reading vocabulary, and teaching them the left-to-right progression, since the pictures are positioned first-next-last.
If It’s In Print, It Must Be The Law
That will be the message you’re giving your child if you make this schedule a poster/board/etc. Make it visual and make it big. Our children love learning visually (vs. learning by hearing), so give it to them on a silver platter!
Habits, habits, habits…they make our lives so much better when they’re good ones, and this one is fabulous!
Thumbs up, coffee’s on,
