Tips for the new school year-from Parenting special needs magazine

Parenting Special Needs Magazine, has a great series that they are posting for the month of August around tips to ensure success for the new school year approaching in September. I will include one full post  here, but I have also put the link for the shortcuts to there page, with all the blog tips to date. One is being posted every day, have a look and see what may be of interest to you and your family. There are some good tips. I like the one from the 11th, about 'turning off technology at bedtime' and the one I shared below about ways to build and connect with their friends. 

Friends are an important part of the school experience. Friends offer kids a respite from adult guided or solitary activities. They provide time to hang out and have fun with others who are going through similar life experiences, and to connect on a level that only peers can fulfill. However, some children need support with making and keeping friends. Parents, here’s how you can help your child foster friendships at school:

• Help Children Make a List of What Friends Like and What They Don’t Like: 
  Keep it consistent with the child’s chronological and developmental age level (i.e. taking turns or being supportive).
• Help Children with Conversational Skills:
  Show children how to start and maintain conversations; stay on topic; keep conversations short enough to include others; and encourage them to take an interest in others.
• Help Children Find a Mutual Interest:
  Shared interests bond children together.
• Help Children Manage Their Emotions:
  Children who learn to verbalize their feelings, and calmly problem-solve frustrations, will have a more positive reaction from peers.
• Involve the Teacher in Promoting Good Peer Matches:
  Which can be encouraged at school and fostered through get-togethers outside of school.
• Seek out Professional Expertise with Social Skills:
  Social skill groups, books, apps, and games can help children learn social skills at diverse levels of understanding.

Social Skills Support Should be tailored to the Specific Needs of Each Child.

Social Skills is a vast area of learning with rules that change based on contexts. There are many sub-categories which can be broken down further into smaller components. Children will have strengths in some areas and need assistance in others. Knowing the areas in which a child needs support will allow for targeted skill development. The skills they build now are the ones they will use over their lifetime.

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Here's the link to the daily posts: 

http://parentingspecialneeds.org/education/new-year/