Summer is the time for growth if you plan well.
Old habits die hard and by that, I mean Elizabeth is 27 years old and I still see the calendar nearing June and think:
SUMMER!
Even though she is working and summer break in its true form does not exist. But as I said old habits die hard.
Currently, Spring is coming.
And IEP season is here. This means that new goals and new outcomes will be talked about and fine-tuned and then officially made part of the IEP.
Goals for the next year.
But what about Summer goals?
Yes! I said summer goals. The very free time in summer that we rejoice in can be seen as a great opportunity to work on goals for your child.
Now before everyone begins a mental silent protest. I do NOT mean all day or even several times a day.
I just mean some part of each day. Like making a bit of morning time dedicated to a skill to learn or maybe it is afternoon time that everyone reads together or does a page or two of work book if this applies to your child.
Maybe it is going for a walk and practicing jumping or skipping or even the skill of throwing maybe say some small rocks into a creek.
The opportunities are all around you with that bit of free time.
\Think about what times you can do things and tuck them in. But tuck them in regularly to make sure gains are made.
So yes, my little opinion is that SummerGoals need to be made.
If you don’t know what to pick or to work on. Take a moment now to think about your child and what it is that they struggle with or you that they need great support with.
And make a list.
Then take the list to your child’s therapist either your private one or the one at school and ask how or what you can do to help your child with these items.
Or maybe you know what you want to do and that is great too.
So, you have the plan, the goals and the guidance and you are one step away from being completely ready…
Do you have the tools needed for these goals… for what we can call your Summer Toolbox.
(Think container that holds the goals and the items to use in one place…no mess and no forgetting).
Find out what you need and see what you have already then decide what you might need to add. Once you do that you are really all set!
Here are some ways I see summer opportunities and what we did for Elizabeth in the past.
I think bubbles on the driveway- to work on the skills of blowing and breath work and how about you blow bubbles and your child can work on popping them. Still skills are used here.
Maybe if your speech therapist recommends some oral stim- we used those to help Elizabeth wake up her mouth each day.
Jaw exercises can be done after that. One year we used bite blocks and did just a bit each day.
If reading is a goal- we use this item that looked like a phone for her to hear herself speak so she can see if she is clear in her words. Pretty neat and not hard to do. AND we were working on site words at the time.
For fun we would have a dance party, put on music and hand Elizabeth one of the microphones to use to “sing” and move. It was fun and she was working without knowing.
If the mindset is there to see the days of summer have all these hidden moments to achieve a goal or do some “work” goals can be achieved or at least steps can be made to advance the progress.
Did we do this everyday like work- NO! NO WAY! The goal was not to make summer into a warmer version of school but also not let it just be empty days where skills can regress. In the Summer slide.
It was to enjoy the time, make memories but with a tweak of a mindset do some pretty cool learning and growth too.
Good luck with your mindset and the fun that summer can bring.