Firstly don’t worry. Our advisory teachers are available to help support your child to access the curriculum set by your school or college. Please get in contact, we are here to help.
Don’t be tempted to relax bedtime routines – a good night’s sleep is very important to support learning.
If possible create a suitable learning space. What might be distracting? Think about access to power sockets for equipment, lighting to avoid glare and if possible try to minimise background noise.
Have equipment to hand, for example, pencils, rulers, protractors and calculators.
If your child is accessing online learning, help them to check regularly for messages or updates from their teachers and if necessary help them to reply.
Set a timetable. This is easier if you can access live lessons but if not try to keep to your usual routines. You may wish to create a timetable together. This helps children and young people to recognise what is happening now and next and supports routine.
You can download templates free from sites such as Twinkl Weekly Timetable Template – Teaching Resources or our colleagues that support children with communication and interaction needs have created lots of resources for you to download to support creating visual timetables, using objects of reference and much more. You can access them here.
If a timetable is too complicated, create a to-do list – don’t add too much but ticking off tasks as they are completed can help.
Set a time limit for each activity– nobody can learn if they are cross or tired. Create some time and space in the day to discuss topics, successes and worries. You can access resources to support worries here.
Try to at your child’s pace. Most adults can multi-task but this is a skill we have learned over time. Children and young people with a sensory impairment may need tasks broken down into achievable steps. They are also much more likely to be fatigued and will need regular rest breaks.
If tasks seem to be taking longer than expected – think about things that might be creating a barrier – are they distracted? Are they being given too much to do? – Chat with their class teacher to see if they could, for example, do fewer questions.
Encourage independence – let your child have a go at the activity set. If they get stuck encourage them to ask for help – you can help them understand or help them to contact their teacher. Knowing that it is ok to ask for help or support is a good life skill to learn.
Don’t worry if you can’t help initially – the curriculum is complex! Show your child or young person that it is ok not to know everything – it can be fun working together to gain an understanding of something unfamiliar!
Take lots of physical breaks. These can support well-being and encourage a healthy lifestyle. Ideas for physical exercise with a visual impairment can be found here.
Finally, remember you are doing a good job – there are lots of learning opportunities in the home environment. You can read a book together and talk about what might happen next, you could discuss a topic on the news such as climate change and do some additional research, you could learn about matching by balling socks in the laundry basket or learn about angles and fractions by cutting a pizza – the choice is yours!
More resources
- Get help with broadband or extra data
- BBC Bitesize
- Tailfeather TV on Youtube – For early years (many of these resources are signed)
- The Home Education Team has lots of ideas to support learning. These include interactive sessions with, for example, Marine Aquarium in Plymouth.
- Maths and English teams have created resources to support curriculum learning that use resources you have at home.
- LOOK runs a weekly parent support group online every Friday – it’s a brilliant, supportive space for parents to air and share concerns and advice and generally let off steam at the end of the week. Register for your free place.