Special Hearts

Well, if you are a Special Needs Child, color could mean the difference between understanding and not being able to read / process the symbols we call letters!  There are Dr’s out there that you can take your child to and spend LOTS of money.  But, if you don’t have the money to take you child to one of these Doctors, there are some different ways you can still help your child.
First, go to the dime store (or Office Supply Store) and buy a box of multi-color Dividers or multi-color Sheet Protectors.  Take one page of each of the colors out and cut the long side of the page (so that you can slip the colored page onto a workbook or book that your child is working on).  Now try out each color on the book and see which color is easiest for your child to read/decipher.
Another avenue to try is to go to Big Lots or the 99 cent store and buy colored sun glasses.  You can usually pick them up for a dollar a piece.  The usual colors that are tested are Blue, Green, Pink and Yellow.

So …you’ve figured out what color is best for your child.  Now what?  Well, there are several ways to incorporate your color into your teaching/living.  One way is to make sure your child wears their Special Color Glasses when doing school work.  Another way is to use the colored Sheet Protectors.  Place them on the page you are working on and have them read/write right on the Sheet Protector.
What has worked best for us is to stock up on Light Blue paper (that’s what our color is) and print everything out on Blue paper and card stock.  I’ve printed out all the Word Fans and Word Wheels on Light Blue Card Stock and put them into a plastic zip bag (with a corner cut off so it won’t fluff out when you shut it).

This may seem simple – and it is – but this simple little change takes a lot of the frustration out of learning time.

Lots of kids need to touch and feel things before their brains can “file” the information in a place that the child can go back and retrieve it when they ask their brain for it.   How in the world to we, as parents/teachers, accommodate this?  Here are some ideas:

• Puff Paint
• Sand Paper
• Corduroy Fabric
• Fake Fur (short length)
• Chenille Stems
• Molding Clay/ Play dough
• Flour on a Cookie Sheet
• Dry Beans

Need some examples of how to make these ideas work for you?  Well, let’s take it one at a time!

Puff Paint:  Print out a letter A the size of a paper (a huge A) and you take the Puff Paint and place dots all over the A.  You can dot the outline or fill in the whole thing.  What you want is to make it bumpy so your child can “feel” the letter A (or what ever letter you want) Mount on Card Stock paper.

Sand Paper:  Take this from someone who learned the hard way … don’t use good scissors to cut Sand Paper!!!  If your hubby has Tin Snips – use those!!  On the back side of the sand paper, trace out the letter you want to make.  Use Tin Snips (or heavy duty scissors) and cut out the letter. Mount on Card Stock paper. Make sure and use a fine sand paper … you want to let your child feel the letter, not end up in the ER!

Corduroy Fabric:  Turn the fabric over, trace out the letter you want to make and cut out. (you can use your good scissors with this!)  Mount on Card Stock paper.

Fake Fur: Turn the fabric over, trace out the letter you want to make and cut out.  Mount on Card Stock paper.  You want to use short fake fur – not the long ones.  Your goal is to give them something to feel while still experiencing the shape of the letter.

Chenille Stems:  Bend into the shape of the letters.  This is fun cause the kids the kids can create these for themselves.  Careful if you have perfectionists.  Make sure and start with the letter S or I to give them some “good job” comments before you start with the “well, that’s good, but let’s try moving this here to make the letter look more like the letter on the paper” comments.

Molding Clay/ Play Dough: Shape the clay or dough into the shape of letters.  You can print out one letter on one sheet of paper … one HUGE letter – so that the kids can see what their letter should be like.  Then when they are done, have them place their creation down on the paper and see how close they came to the actual letter.  Make it a game – not an assignment.

Flour on a Cookie Sheet: Start with about ¼ cup of flour on a cookie tray.  Spread out the flour so there is a thin amount across the sheet.  Give your child a guide to follow (print out what ever letter you want them to create on a sheet of paper so they have something to follow.  You know what every letter looks like – but they are still learning)
Disclaimer: do not try this with a rambunctious child.  Or if you REALLY have to, do this outside.  I am not responsible for the flour that you will be finding all over your house for the next year or so!! 

Dry Beans:  This one has several different variations.  First use like the Flour on the Cookie Sheet (see above).  Another idea: you can print out a huge letter on a page on card stock.  Have your child glue beans around the outline of the letter or you can have them fill it all in.  If you want to include visual training, you can have two different colors of beans and have them practice sequencing.

Have fun with all these!  If you have questions or additions to this list, make sure and leave me a comment!  I love to hear from you!