Back to School Visual Aids

Back to school time is like an unofficial holiday...it fills the aisles of the local stores, there are TV advertisements for it everywhere, it consumes so many conversations, and on & on. And just like all the other holidays, my house has been converted to fit the theme! Not with decorations, but with new visual aids to help Ethan (and the family) prepare for our new adventure. Here are the Back To School Visual Supports that you will find around my house....

First, is something that we use EVERY DAY. It is Ethan's daily schedule...although Daddy likes it too. It lets them him know what the day's events will be so there are no surprises. If something were to change, Ethan does very well at handling that, too....as long as we keep that iPad picture on there. :0) For more info about this visual aid, read Daily Schedule.

These envelopes are full of other pictures that I can use as needed. If we get a new toy, I add a picture card. If we are going somewhere new, I either add a new picture card or use our card marked, "Special," and use a website or youtube video to further show Ethan our new activity. I did this when we went to Monkey Joes and The Children's Museum this summer.

This second one is a new one. I got the idea from online somewhere, but I LOVE IT!!!! Each day, I was writing what we needed to take with us for the day on a write on/ wipe off board. And every night, I would have to plan out what the next day was going to look like so I could get everything down on the board before Ethan woke up the next morning. Ethan LOVES lists (that's my boy!), but mostly he LOVES to cross things off the list! Finally, I got smart & typed up one sheet of paper for each day of the week. Then, you slide the paper into a protective sheet cover and use a dry erase marker to cross off or write on your list! It works great! Ethan loves it, and I can save myself some precious brain power! WOOHOO!

Here is what it looks like once Ethan has found & crossed off everything on our list. After Ethan goes to bed, I wipe off the marker, slide in the next day's page, and we are ready for the next morning!!!

 

And I couldn't resist but post a few pictures of Ethan on his first day of 4-year old preschool!

He loved his sign so much that he carried it all the way to school! Happy Back To School Everyone!!!!