In Part 1, Year-End Checkup, I focused on taking a moment to assess how your children did this year in school. Do any patterns jump out? Consider checking for any undetected vision issues. Remember, a child with “perfect” 20/20 eyesight may still have vision problems that interfere with learning.
Vision or health problems addressed, what’s next? With some easy exercises from my book and attention on your part, you can take advantage of summertime to turbo-charge your child’s school readiness. For example, suppose your child has problems following verbal instructions. Or difficulty saying or writing a sequence of actions, as they need to be able do on a school writing assignments. This specific brain skill can be developed with exercises, and here’s an easy example:
Activity: Making a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich
Skill: Learn to match language with mental image of activity
Materials: Ingredients and tableware to make a PB&J sandwich
Parent: Tell me how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. What’s the first thing I should do?
Child: Put the peanut butter on the bread.
Parent: Sets the jar of peanut butter on the package of bread. The child hasn’t given you enough information, i.e., to take out a slice of bread, open the jar, etc.
Child: Hey, that’s not what I said!
Parent: Oh, really? Please tell me again what I need to do. Again, follow his instructions literally.
You get the idea! Now, coach your child on how to use visualization to create a mental movie of taking the bread out of the package, unscrewing the peanut butter jar, picking up the knife, etc. And try again.
The next step with this exercise is to change roles. Play the game literally and follow it where it goes, even if it means peanut butter in unexpected places. It’s good fun.
Your child will learn to make mental movies, break down activities into tasks, communicate a sequence of activities, and maybe become independent at lunchtime! Extend this exercise to other activities.
Super fun writing exercise: blow a bubble-gum bubble
After your child has the basic idea, consider this fun follow-on exercise from the Teacher Wife Blog. Any writing assignment that starts with chewing gum and blowing bubbles is bound to be a blast!
Stay tuned for more effective ways to help your kids with school readiness this summer.
A pioneer in vision therapy and developmental optometry, Dr. Lynn Hellerstein is the founder of Hellerstein & Brenner Vision Center, PC. For more than 40 years, she has helped thousands of children and adults improve their vision and transform their lives — at home, in the classroom and on the sports field.
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