Do you dread asking how was school today? Some tips

As the new term starts it can take a while for learners who have dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism and other learning needs to get back into the routine of school. Some teaching professionals expect learners to return having remembered all the routines and expectations of behaviour the learner had in place before the holiday period. They can be unaware that it can take time to regain a level of competency that the learner achieved prior to the break and that some over-learning of tasks, processes or strategies will be needed. This expectation can result in less tolerance of challenges faced by learners such as: organisation, dressing, being on time, pencil grip, the order of a task, sitting still, and can this lack of tolerance and awareness can damage learners self esteem and confidence.

As a person who has dyspraxia and other learning needs I remember the exasperation – often as an audible sigh or shake of the head or sometimes a mocking comment – of a member of staff who couldn’t understand why “all of a sudden” I couldn’t do a task that I could do before. This equally applied to returning to the workplace too.

I am also a parent of 2 children who have additional needs and I felt heartbroken when hearing the list of things that didn’t go well at school today and saw the negative and cumulative effect on my children’s self-esteem and self-confidence. I began dreading asking the question “how was school today?” so sought to phrase questions to elicit the likelihood of a more positive response that gave my children a chance to re-frame the school experience (to focus on positive) to help all of us.

I wrote this blog for Urability and it offers a list of questions that support a positive response when asking “how was school?”

I offer these tips gained from experience from 3 perspectives (learner, professional, mum). It also contains a few example questions for highlighting the positive when doing homework.

Read the blog here https://www.urability.com/staying-positive-tips-for-school/

Please leave comments below and let me know how you get on. Alternatively, you can message me or Kerry@Diverse-Learners.co.uk

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