Time flies when you are having fun, right?! Now it’s time to get down to business–SCHOOL TIME!
1. Meet your child’s teachers! Make sure your child knows how to get to her classroom(s) and can read/write/sign/say her teacher(s) name. Complete the Beginnings SC’s Back to School Introduction letter and pass that around, too.
2. Take your child and tour the school and meet the principal, and the cafeteria workers, the guidance counselor, etc. Make sure your child has met the school staff he/she will be seeing every day and knows their names. This helps with language and reduces the anxiety created by not knowing what is happening. It also gives your child a sense of control, which can boost self-confidence.
3. Make sure the services on the current IEP match your child’s schedule. Ask the case manager (usually the Special Education teacher that spends the most time with your child and is responsible for creating/editing the IEP) or teacher of the deaf/hard of hearing how your child’s accommodations from his IEP were distributed to all teachers.
4. Check to make sure the equipment, like a personal FM system, is ready to go on the first day. The school should be responsible for purchasing and maintaining the FM, but it would save some
5. Read this article for parents, written by a parent of a child with hearing loss. https://www.hearinglikeme.com/4-tips-for-going-back-to-school-with-hearing-loss/
6. Set up a place to do homework in your house and a place to leave his book bag when he is finished so mornings can go smoothly (at least the getting out the door part.)
7. Plan on sending “First Day of School Pics” to us! We love the smiling faces. You can post them on Facebook and tag @BeginningsSC and/or in our Facebook Group.