Schedule Templates for Preschool Special Education Classrooms

AutismadeLeave a comment

You can now enjoy a more structured day for your special needs preschooler with these printable schedule templates! An easy-to-use guide will help you create individualized, fun learning experiences tailored to your child’s specific needs and capabilities.

This quick rundown will provide you with a few tips and strategies to help you create the perfect routine for your little learner.

Here are some quick tips and printable resources for setting up and getting started!

1. START SIMPLE – Make visuals for just meaningful times of the day eg, morning work, break, lunch etc,  this will help your young learner to recognise and correspond each picture with each of the activities.

2. BUY A LAMINATOR – Your laminator will become your friend! If you want all your hard work to last, laminate all mounts and visuals because they are going to go through a tough time!

3. WALL MOUNT  – Mount on a wall, the schedule must be low enough for your student to access and take away finished symbols.

4. USE A FINISHED BOX – Attach a finished box at the end or side of the schedule to drop the finished visuals in before starting a new activity. 

5. TRY A FILE FOLDER – A portable schedule can be used in a file folder in the same way as a wall mounted one. I find these easier with older children to check into the activities and more efficient in busy classrooms. Pop their name on it and keep all their individual support visuals in one place. 

6. MODLE AND PRACTICE – Always model, practice and remind your busy student at the beginning of each activity to, “check in”, or “check your schedule“.   Make a plan to pull back on all prompting until they begin to use this system independently!

Ask yourself questions to find the right types of schedule to fit the learners needs.

  1. Are your students able to pull off visuals when finished or can they tick a box?
  2. Do they need visuals?
  3. Can they read or write out the schedule?
  4. Can they tell the time and follow the order of the day?

For more resources visit my TPT Store!

Editable Visual Schedules

Editable Schedules for Classroom Management

Reward Chart Systems for Behavior Management|schedule|Token Economy|First & Then

Daily Planner Binder – Back to School for Kindergarten & Special Education

Effective Visual Cards for Non-Verbal Kids

AutismadeLeave a comment

These printable cards help non-verbal children to communicate and regulate in Preschool, kindergarten and Special Education.

As a teacher our goal is to plan and make lessons accessible and these visual support cards are made to teach Functional communication skills to enable students with Special needs, be ready for the lessons you’ve planned.

These supports for social and emotional learning each have visual directions at the bottom of each card, which can help before unwanted behavior escalates by giving cue images for kids to know what alternative behaviors they can follow to regulate.

How to prepare

To prepare these cards, print out on cardstock, cut out and laminate for durability.

How to use

Add to Calm Down Corners. Have them handy on workstations and centers. Use “Wait” cards with a fidget box for students to use while they wait.

Visit my TPT Store for more great Classroom Behavior Management Tools

Visual Behavior Support Folder – Token Rewards Tools, schedules, First & Then,

Visual Supports: Token Reward System/First & Then – Strategies for Special Ed

Classroom Behavior Management Strategies: First, Next and Then Tools

Token Reward folder: Visual support tools with “first & then” Behavior Strategy

First, Next and Then table Schedule Templates with Visual Supports

First Then boards and Help cards: Autism visual supports

Visual Supports:”First, next, then” with Token Rewards Systems

Fun Activities and Resources for Back to School

AutismadeLeave a comment

Its that time of year again – the panic of building back to school lessons, fresh new resources and a shiny clean classroom! But a new class list of children in Special Education can mean new challenges and worries, so be prepared with hands on resources, learn as much as you can about each student and relax into teaching!

This interactive Daily Binder is full of visual strategies to help your students plan their day ahead and keep them focused throughout. Once laminated or placed in a pocket folder a dry wipe marker can be used for students to jot down their name, grade and class, followed by their teachers name, their friends name, things they like and things they don’t. There are pages with the days of the week for your student to practice and tick off what day it is and same for seasons. Handy pages for students to write out their daily schedule and tick off as they go though it. Working for cards and reward choice. What to remember when you feel angry, “first and then” when they get frustrated and what I need visuals for them to choose from.

About Me – Back to school activity sheets especially designed for new class members to fill in and share information about themselves.

Adapted books will enable your students to practice sequencing, curriculum tasks, stories and everyday activities. Instead of laminating and binding use them as cut and paste activities!

The ability to organise, sequence and prioritise helps us to plan daily activities and manage our time effectively. however, a lot of preschool/Special Education children may find communicating, organising, sequencing and prioritising difficult. This visual binder can support students with everyday basic needs.

FREE Back to School Download Activity sheet

Engaging Students: A Guide to Creating Interactive Adapted Books for kids

AutismadeLeave a comment

“Are you struggling to keep your special education students engaged in pre-reading material? Look no further! In this post, we will guide you through creating interactive adapted books that will effortlessly engage your students and make reading fun and exciting.”

Not only will these adapted books provide a fun and interactive pre-reading experience for your students, but they will also meet the specific needs and abilities of each individual student. By incorporating visual aids, manipulatives, and other interactive elements, these books will enhance comprehension and build a love for learning. Follow along as we break down the steps to creating your own adapted books.

Incorporating Interactive Elements for Enhanced Learning

An adapted book can be simplified for young learners and kids in Special Education to access. The main objectives of these type of adapted books is to comment on what they see on the page, identify the visual to answer the “I can see” question, learn story vocabulary and answer “who”questions about the animal characters in the story.

  • So attaching detachable visuals will enable the learner to answer questions.
  • Having a selection of visuals to choose from will establish a correspondence check for accuracy.
  • Using a comprehensive accompanied book with visuals will check understanding.
  • Vocabulary check cards can help with naming the corresponding characters, items or animals.
  • The Benefits of these Interactive Adapted Books
  1. Using interactive resources can help your young learners and non verbal students access popular stories and their characters, practice story sequencing skills, increasing motivation and interest, promote independence, and enhancing comprehension.
  2. Learners are able to practice receptive and expressive language skills, Vocabulary, sequencing and Math and Literacy.

Fun & Engaging Life Skills Activities for Special Education Classrooms

AutismadeLeave a comment

Discover how our functional life skills resources in special education can help your child master their emotions and thrive in everyday life. Our interactive books, worksheets and activities are designed to build essential emotional recognition and management skills for a brighter, more confident future.

Equip your special learners with the tools to understand and express their emotions with our collection of functional life skills

Check out these amazing interactive books that make learning about facial expressions and emotions a blast! Students use attachable visuals to answer questions and complete tasks, perfect for independent work or more focused activities. Dive into a world where emotions come alive!

Learning about one’s own feelings and emotions can be daunting, particularly for young people with special needs. Our comprehensive guide to recognizing emotions and developing functional life skills is tailored explicitly for learners in special education, providing invaluable tools and techniques to foster understanding and independence.

For more resources visit my Store