Bridging The Summer Gap

Summer Structure Please refer all ** marks to Disclosure statement at the bottom of my post, also feel free to visit my Disclosure Page page on the bar on the right hand side of my blog. Links may be included in this post. Summary: I have listed some ideas on how to keep your kiddo's skills fresh during the summer below. Also, I have included a bit about my family life for the week. To skip to the autism related topic "Visuals to Reinforce Good Behavior" & "How To Keep up on academics & structure during the summer". How To Keep up on academics & structure during the summer: Often times during the summer, it can be hard to "bridge the gap" of academics and structure, which is what this post is all about. Keeping a consistent schedule and brushing up on your kiddo's learning is important during summer break to prep them for the next school year. So, how do we do that? I have details on that below: For this summer, this list is what I plan to set in place and work on with my kiddos this summer: Creating & Maintaining a learning schedule: I recently picked up some work books for the kiddos for the grade they will be in next school year. I will be working with Maddex on the general curriculum of Kindergarten, and for Carter, reading and math. I found these workbooks at a local school store; however, you can also find them at **Walmart among other places such as **Barnes & Noble or online. I have displayed these in my vlog also if you would like to see an example. Planning some fun activities: These can be used as a motivator for the learning piece of the summer. Also, this will tie into the visual chart for behaviors in the next point. Posting a visual chart for reinforcing good behavior: This is listed below in the next section, I also have displayed an example of this on my vlog; I will expand on this in the next section. Keeping a Routine: Routine is always important to stay consistent as kiddos respond best to that. Having an awkward schedule that always changes may be confusing for your child and is not productive. However, these things happen, staying as routine and consistent as you can is key. Summer Programming: Skill building and socialization is important. In the summer, some of us autism parents do have lots of play dates for our kiddos, however, some of us do not. Children need to interact with their peers to work on their social skills, and incorporating in skill building is a good idea. Whether it's going to the library for a reading activity geared around a group of kiddos, or stopping in to a local autism center for ideas. If you are able to find a summer program (there are plenty throught the **YMCA and state), I encourage you to take advantage of that. If you are unsure where to start, you can reach out to your state agency's waiver program, usually they appoint a worker to you and can then provide resources. For example, Carter was referred to an autism center for 4 hours a week working with two personnel at the center for behaviors. He will also be attending summer school in July. If you have questions on summer programming, feel free to contact me via social media and I will respond as soon as I can. 😊 Self-care for myself: As I have mentioned in my post relating to self-care, keeping up on this is important. The better you take care of yourself, the more you can do for your kiddos. To read my post on self-care, 'Self care for the autism mommas', click here. The easiest way I find to coordinate all of this, as it can be overwhelming, is to make a list and go from there. Once I have my list, I can then get more information on each section, including dates / times of events and programming. Once I have all that information, I then can put together a schedule and create some visuals. The visuals are important as most young kiddos do not understand abstract thinking; if they can see what is going on for the day, they are less likely to be confused. (well, until the schedule becomes routine, anyway) Visuals to Reinforce Good Behavior: The chart I use, I refer to as a "chore chart", however, it is a behavior chart, I have just labeled it as something else. In this system, kiddos earn points for the expected good behavior. This process does work, but being consistent is very important. Make sure when you do introduce a visual like this, your rules & expectations are understood before going forward. Below are mine: Choose behaviors you want changed, for the better: I deem the most important behaviors more points as a motivator for my kiddos to work hard on changing them. For example, I will give 10 points to either kiddo if they "Use toilet always, no bed wetting or accidents". Sometimes these cannot be avoided, due to anxiety with one of my children, or a long line in the grocery store - mid-checkout, and one of them has to go and could not hold it. In that type of situation, if they did well with potty training the remainder of the day, I would still give points. List a reasonable reward for accruing points: I have learned using a toy as a prize is NOT a good idea. I use activities, more points for bigger activities. Taking a trip to the park for a picnic may be 20 points, while going to the pool may be 50 points. As I stated in Bridging the Gap, fun activities are great motivators. (and there are plenty of free ones for summer. If you need ideas, try searching online for 'kid-friendly no cost summer activities) Points can only be given, not removed: I tally up the points on the bottom of the chart, and they do not get removed for not following the rules & expectations. Make sure to mention this to your kiddo also. If they do not have the positive reinforcement and are not able to be held responsible for the points they do have, this whole process is then counter productive. You do not want your kiddo to dislike the chore chart. The goal is to make them want to follow your directions, not to force them. In time, they will understand they are responsible for their behavior, and they will not get anything, even negative points for not owning up to their behavior.  Change the chart as goals are met: Once your kiddo has met one of the goals on your chore chart consistently, such as potty training, it then can be removed. Replace these goals for behavior as necessary. One day, you will be able to fade away from the chore chart, and may not need it. Also, you may experience a tough time and need to reintroduce the chore chart later.  Schedule a time for tallying: It is important for your kiddo to see you tallying up their points. This way they can see what they have accomplished. Also, reading through all the goals and explaining if they have met the goal for the day with amount of points rewarded is necessary. This way, your kiddo understands how this chart works. If they did not meet a goal, you could mention when and why, along with what to do next time. Processing is just a part of everything with learning, and your kiddo may have lots of questions. That is okay, just make sure to follow your rules and keep your expectations reasonable. Give prizes only once a week: Once you have counted all the tallies for a whole 7 days, then the prize can be given if the amount of points are accrued. The prize points are subtracted from the points your kiddo has. Changing the prize is fun and adds variety, as your kiddo may get bored going to the pool every single week. (not in my house! But it could happen I guess..) At this point, the tallies are then cleared for the week and the new chart starts fresh. Don't give up: As this is a new process for yourself and your kiddo, do not get discouraged; this may take some time to get the hang of it, but I find it very beneficial and I hope you do as well. What's going on with us this week? As the end of June is approaching, we are preparing for Carter's summer school. Tuesday I plan to start working with the kids on academics - we will see how that goes; I am hoping I can work on their behaviors with school work as well. For myself, I am in the process of looking for legal counsel as I did hear back from the equal rights division on my FMLA complaint. I can't say much right now, but it looks like I may be able to get something out of this. That would be nice, I do not feel it was very fair the way my past employer treated me. Enough about that. I need to get back on track with my diet and exercise routine! Since I am now feeling better (we all are for the most part), I need to get back in to the gym. My trainer kicked my butt on Friday and I'm still feeling it. 😭  My best friend has vacation all week so I'm hoping we can get a mani / pedi together sometime. That is well deserved. The weather has been somewhat hot, 75 degrees, so I'll be taking the kids to the pool often. Andy had his annual golf outing at his work and his team won which is cool. Tonight he is making me steak 😍 Which is one of my favorites. Sadly, my trainer wants me to cut down on the gluten so I will be having mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes..and no, they do NOT taste the same at all! Along with almond milk instead of regular milk. We just got back from my mother's house, the kids enjoyed playing in her kiddie pool and running around. (they needed that) So they are pretty pooped. Should be an easy night. Since the kids were gone this weekend, I was able to deep clean their room. (and yes, I did find poop) I am still backed up on laundry but hey, I can't do it all in one day! Tomorrow there will be a lot of free kids events going on hosted by our Mayor, so we are going to make a whole day of that. I plan to take the kids to the library to meet the **If You Give A Mouse A Cookie mouse. If you have not read that book to your kiddo, I would recommend it. Just not before bed because the book is pretty funny and my kids always get riled up about it. Carter has a baseball game this week. I was able to get ahold of his dad, hopefully he will reconsider the disclosure form so I can finally feature the kids in my blog and vlog. That's about all we have going on. My closing thoughts Implementing a new process can be hard to start; be patient not only with your kiddo, but with yourself also. I find the chore chart to be very helpful, and I hope you do too. Setting up some structure during the summer is important, and it gives you a chance to pinpoint any behaviors or struggles that school may have missed or forgot to inform you about. I hope you enjoyed my post, don't forget to check out my YouTube channel to see my vlog on this post with those visuals. Follow me on social media to stay in the know how of my posts and vlogs. Thank you all for reading, I really appreciate your support! Have a great day 💓 **Disclosure: Reviews of products & referenced links are not sponsored by any affiliates and are solely the opinion of the Author; these are strictly opinions and honest advice, which should not be considered consumer or health guidelines. The Autism Soup and/or The Author are not responsible for any injuries or damage due to procedures listed above. Please consult with your doctor in regards to health concerns.