If your child has speech, language or communication needs, starting school or changing to a new classroom/teacher can feel especially stressful. Here are a few strategies that can ease this transition:
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Introduce school-related words. Words like cafeteria, auditorium, assembly, recess may be unfamiliar. Come up with a list of school-based words your child might encounter and talk to your child about what they mean. Pictures can help with understanding.
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Teach them to ask for help. Make sure your child has some useful phrases to ask for help: “I don’t understand”, “Can you repeat that?”, “I need some help”.
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Role-play some ways to talk to new friends. You can suggest some good phrases they might use to start conversations and make friends: “What’s your name?, Can I play with you? Do you like Roblox?”
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Build up essential vocabulary. The school relies on children knowing specific words to support their learning and follow instructions. Practicing time-related vocabulary (before/after, first/next/last, yesterday/today/tomorrow) and positional words (up/down, in front/behind, top/bottom) will help prepare them for a variety of school routines.
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Keep communicating. Stay in contact with the teacher and other adults in your child’s school. You may want to set up a simple communication notebook that helps you share news from home and school staff share updates with you.