Search Results for: blog siblings can teach social skills

Typical Peer Program Teaches Skills and Acceptance

An elementary school in Indiana has started an interesting program. It’s called the Typical Peer Program. It puts a couple of students who do not have special needs into a classroom with students who have special needs. The “typical” peers model behavior, and everyone learns to accept others who are different from themselves. J.B. Stephens Elementary School, in Greenfield, Indiana, has started an innovative preschool program. It is called the Typical Peer Program. I have not heard of any other schools who are doing this. The program is specifically directed to helping children who have special needs. At the start … Continue reading →

Social Skills for Young Children

New home learning parents often struggle with the question, “But what about your child’s social skills?” Give this question a little thought, and you’ll realize that any child who lives in a family will learn appropriate social skills. Socializing is something that happens in a family context as well as a school context. If the family happens to have other children, this will be even easier: having siblings tends to introduce the need for cooperation, taking turns, and playing together! If you’re concerned about your young child’s social development, here are a few of the social activities that he or … Continue reading →

Teaching Please and Thank-You to the Toddler

I want my children to be well-mannered. I want them to know how to properly sit at a table and eat and drink correctly. I want my children to be polite as well as friendly and kind. When I was a little girl my family ate dinner together at the kitchen table. Mom and Dad taught us kids how to behave while we tried to or not to kill each other. My family’s lifestyle is different, though. We don’t typically eat dinner together. Jessie has her own table and chairs where she eats her dinner early. Chris and I eat … Continue reading →

Kids Teaching Kids

Little kids love to emulate their older siblings. It’s just a fact of nature that when a little person sees a big person do something, they want to do it too. They pick up on mannerisms and vocabulary words from their older siblings, they learn how to perform certain basic skills by watching and observing, and this natural tendency to copy-cat can come in handy in your homeschool. When two-year-old Timmy sees eight-year-old Jimmy reading, he’ll want to do it too. He’ll want to write his name, he’ll want to learn to count, and as he gets older, Jimmy will … Continue reading →

Siblings Can Teach Social Skills

Many children who have Asperger’s Syndrome struggle with social situations. While other kids naturally learn to discern between when someone is serious and when they are telling a joke, the differentiation can be difficult for children with Asperger’s syndrome. Often, social skills need to be specifically taught, and practiced, (just as a new math skill would be). One good way to do that is to get the siblings of the child who has Asperger’s syndrome involved. I was a senior in high school when my brother, (who has Asperger’s Syndrome), was a freshman. This gave me the unique ability to … Continue reading →

Enjoyment and Empathy—Good Social Adjustment

Many parents worry about whether or not their child is developing appropriately when it comes to social skills. This can be a hard one since all children are different and our kids may be very different from us, and/or very different from their siblings socially. Some like to play in big groups, others are happier playing alone or with one other friend. Overall, I think that if a child is showing signs of enjoyment—enjoying playing with other children at least some of the time, and empathy—caring how other people feel or if they get hurt or upset, then social skills … Continue reading →

When Your Child Doesn’t Want to go to Preschool

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Your child has been happily attending preschool for a while now. He or she always comes home with a smile and a story about something fun that happened that day. Now, suddenly, your child has started to resist going to preschool. What happened? Here is a quick checklist for parents who are baffled by their child’s declaration of “I don’t want to go to preschool!” Keep in mind that it is totally normal for a child to decided that he or she no longer wants to attend preschool. There are days when you don’t particularly want to go to work, … Continue reading →

How to Make Halloween Easier for Kids With Autism

Halloween is a holiday that might be difficult for children who have an autism spectrum disorder to cope with. Things get decorated in unexpected ways. Social skills can falter when a person is wearing a costume. Here are some tips to make Halloween easier for kids who have autism. Start preparing your child now! If your child is in a Special Education classroom, there is a good possibility that his or her teacher has been slowly getting the students used to the idea that Halloween is coming, and has been discussing some of the changes that will happen. Awesome teachers … Continue reading →

Help Your Child to Cope with Sibling’s Special Needs

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It is typical for a family that includes more than one child to see some sibling rivalry from time to time. What isn’t so typical is the amount of responsibility that kids who have a sibling that has special needs often feel is placed upon them. Here are a few tips to help your child cope with the special needs of his or her sibling. As the oldest kid, I spent time helping my younger siblings with homework, with tying their shoes, and with other day to day activities. This isn’t unheard of or unusual. The difference was that my … Continue reading →

Co Habitation

I read an article that said co habitation is becoming the norm. As a society we are so afraid of divorce that we don’t make the commitment in the first place thinking that if it doesn’t work out it will be easier if we are not married. Yes, in many ways not getting married makes it easier if you split up, but maybe it also makes it easier to split up. Where is the determination to make this marriage work? Our children suffer when their parents separate whether they were married or not, there is no difference to the child. … Continue reading →