Literacy Kits

This is a great literacy ECC resource from two TVIs that I work with. Lisa Pruner, TVI preschool & Catherine Summ, TVI school age created these literacy kits.

Are you looking for creative new ways to work on Expanded Core
Curriculum (ECC) skills at home with your child? These kits, which are appropriate for early elementary school children, each include a story (in both print and Braille) to be read together, a list of story-related questions to discuss with your child, a list of suggested follow-up activities, and props and materials necessary to
carry out the activities. Each kit also includes a journal for sharing your
child’s experience with the kits in either print or Braille.

Check out these awesome literacy kits:

*Toni’s Topsy-Turvy Telephone Day by Laura Ljungkvist. Toni tries to
invite a few friends to a party, but when her phone message isn’t clear,
things get confusing very quickly. This kit includes a variety of
telephones to explore, as well as suggestions for ways to improve phone
skills, both for pleasure and for safety/911 skills.*


- *Madeline Says Merci: The Always-Be-Polite Book by John Bemelmans
Marciano. This delightful book emphasizes the importance of good manners in
a pleasant, kid-friendly story. Kit includes note cards, paper, tactile
stickers,etc… for writing thank-you notes.*


Froggy Gets Dressed by Jonathan London. The classic story of Froggy
and his struggles getting dressed appropriately to go outside. Kit includes
articles of clothing which use many different types of fasteners, as well as
related questions and activities.


- *Easy As Apple Pie: A Harry and Emily Adventure by Karen Gray Ruelle.
An easy to read chapter book about a brother and sister making apple pie
with Grandpa. Suggested activities include sorting apples, going on an
apple picking trip, and, of course, making apple pie. Kit includes a recipe
for apple pie, measuring tools, rolling pins, Play- Doh, talking timer, and
pie plates.


*Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday by Judith Viorst.
Alexander (the same one who had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day)
can’t seem to save any money in this sweet, funny story. Kit includes
several types of wallets/change purses, Metro Cards and old bus tokens, a
talking calculator, and lots of change for counting and sorting.

Do it at home: Make a literacy kit for your child! Start small with just a few items that accurately represent topics in the story. This can be adapted for children of all abilities. These are also great for children who are MIVI/DB! Remember, your kits don't have to be pretty looking. They should be functional and easy to replace in case something gets broken. Good luck!

Fun labels

I found this resource at the back section of Parents magazine. The resource is called "Stuck on You" and they are a company that makes a variety of fun labels. I like them because they make labels for clothes (the tagless T has become an enemy to my students...). They are super cute (and have iron on labels!). I like them a lot. I only have one caution: watch out for contrast issues. Remember your childs' visual needs when placing an order. You don't want to pick something that doesn't have good contrast and/or visual clutter.
Check out the site: https://www.stuckonyou.biz/usa/index.asp
Do it at home: Look at your child's clothing and ask yourself: do they have a system for matching their clothes? If your child is of the age and the skill to be selecting and matching their clothes, then they should be doing it! If they can't, think about developing a system or getting some labels. If all else fails, remember that everything matches jeans! (You can also email me for some tips!)

Literacy

This is the first of many posts on literacy for children with vision impairments. Literacy is
often a topic that presents struggles for parents because making things accesible can be a challenge. However, it doesn't have to be! There are lots of resources for bringing literacy to children with vision impairments.
This is an excerpt about accessible books & a list of resources that a preschool TVI put together. I loved it & wanted to share! Here's the article (written by Y. Locke, TVI):
Online resources for electronic books come in a variety of formats. Electronic books are books that are accessed through the computer and can be produduced through the computer and can be produced in large print, Braille and/or audio format. Some of these resources are free, and some purchase of individual books. Check with your local library to find out about their electronic book resources. Some resources to check out:
-Accessible Book Collection, www.accessiblebookcollection.org
-Book Share, www.bookshare.org
-One More Story, www.onemorestory.com
-Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired, www.tsbvi.edu/braille/braillebooks.htm
-Tumble Books, www.tumblebooks.com
Do it at home: Check out some of the websites from this post. Take a moment and ask yourself, is literacy a part of my child's life? Think about your answer and then take action. Need help getting a start on literacy? Contact your TVI (or keep reading my blog for more ideas!)

Let's Get Cooking!

I love this article from TSBVI. It's a great cooking curriculum with easy to read ideas for parents. Why is this article so great? Because it is written for parents! It's broken down by age and provides the "how to" for each age group. As usual, sometimes the age grouping doesn't apply to each child. So if you have a child with multiple impairments, look through each age group and find ideas that work for your child.
Keep in mind this little idea: These articles have two purposes. One, to provide helpful information. Two, these ideas should spark your brains with ideas on how you can modify ideas to fit your child's needs.
Here's the info: www.tsbvi/Education/hey-whats-cooking.htm (if the link is not good, go to www.tsbvi.edu. Type "cooking" into the search box. The name of the article is "Hey! What's Cooking!).
Do it at home: Find one thing from the article that you think you can do and DO it!

Need help incorporating the ECC into everyday? Here's some help!

I have a resource for parents & families that struggle with incorporating the ECC into everyday life. It's called the Everyday Experiences Calendar and it's made from APH. The calendar has an activity that is easy to do everyday . The activities are from the ECC. I love this calendar because it takes the planning hassle out of the way. Do it for a few weeks and it will help you tune into how to incorporate the ECC into your day.
The calendar is designed for early childhood to about age 8. I also think it's pretty useful for children who are MIVI/DB. You could also use this as a base just to get you started with ideas.

There are two versions of the calendar. One is a big binder that allows yaou to write down and has lots of ideas, etc. The other is a small, more traditional sized calendar that you can post on a wall. I prefer the smaller one because it is just not as bulky but both are awesome.

Here's the link to APH to buy (I would talk to your TVI and see if they can get you one before you look into doingn it personally.):

www.shopaph.org Type in "calendar" into the search box, scroll down and you will find it.

Do it at home: Next time you do laundry, bring along your child. If they are small, put them in the empty laundry basket (make sure to label that the basket is 'empty') and then pull out the warm laundry (towel loads are the best loads) and cover your child (as they tolerate it). Now describe what you are doing. It's a great sensory activity and it teaches the concept in real time. This appropriate for preschool age/early kinder & MIVI/DB.

Teaching functional tactual skills--a great article to read!

I have one of the best articles for teaching functional tactual skills. It's kind of a lengthy read but it is packed with super awesome information. It's one of my faves to hand out when I work with education teams especially occupational therapists. The article is Feelin' Groovy: Functional Tactual Skills. If you have an OT who needs a little "vision impairment education", I highly recommend this article. I also love this article because I think it has great insight for working with children who are MIVI/DB.
Question: do you know what "functional tactual skills" are? Although there are many ways of describing this, the most user friendly way to describe it are these are skills that are part of daily living skills. For example, cleaning a table, folding clothes, etc. are functional skills. Tactual means touch. Students with vision impairments can be and mostly are tactual learners even if they have some usable vision.
Here's the link. It's from the Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired See/Hear Newsletter (a gem of info can be found here!!)
http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/summer98/groovy.htm
Try it at home: think of 3 things at home that your child interacts with. Then ask yourself, what do these items tell my child? How does your child take in their information? There will be lots of posts later on object symbols and tactual learning. This is jus to get your brains thinking...