Successful Strategies for Transitions Information Session for Caregivers Implemented at Gerrard Resource Centre EarlyON Patricia Goodwin, RECE Third Year Direct Entry, Early Childhood Studies: Ryerson University
As my special project I was invited to create and implement an information session at a Family Support Centre. After observing and discussing with the caregivers at the centre, transitions appeared to be a challenging part of their days. I worked with the parents, my field educator, and the s taff of the FRP to develop strategies to pass on to the caregivers.
Materials:
poster board
various timers
transition cards
fidget toys
small board books
General Layout of Day
This information session will be implemented organically, through conversation with parents as the morning program goes on. The goal of the information session is to help caregivers in creating smoother transitions in their daily routine. It is important to acknowledge the uniqueness of each family, and that what works for one may not work for some. It is also important to ensure parents do not feel judged or spoken down to for what they may currently do in transitions in their day. The goal of this session is to collaborate with the families, and create a space to ask questions and feel comfortable discussing their family with the student.
Greeting families, ensuring set up is accessible to caregivers, make any necessary changes to set up
Introduce who I am, my experience and credentials if necessary (many of the families already know me from previous visits to the centre).
Ask caregivers ice breaker questions, why they use the FSP, what they like about it. Steer conversations towards what mornings are like in their household (if willing to share). Ask what strategies they use for transitions, which parts of the day they find the most challenging, etc.
Discuss with parents:Why do we use transition strategies? Discussion points:
Children’s need for sameness and predictability
Encourage independence and self help skills
Having difficulties with sequencing of events can impact transition abilities in children steps of an activity can impact one’s ability to transition
individuals with special needs are more likely to have restrictive patterns of behaviors that are hard to disrupt, thus creating difficulty at times of transitions.
Children who have experienced change (ie. moving to a new country) may have greater anxiety levels
The ongoing activity may be more reinforcing to the individual than the activity he/she is moving to, or a second activity may be more demanding or unattractive to the individual (Sterling-Turner & Jordan, 2007). (For example, going to the grocery store may be less enticing than finishing an episode of Paw Patrol
may not want to start one activity or may not want to end another.
attention a child receives during the transition process may be reinforcing or maintaining the difficult behavior (Any attention is attention to a child, even if negative)
Underline how these strategies will help parents when transitioning their children to school in the fall
Interactive: Show parents the timers, how they work, mention they are affordable and accessible (all resources used are from the dollar store)
Show parents various transition/fidget toys, discuss benefits of each toy (fine motor, cognitive, etc)
Acknowledge concerns from caregivers - keep in mind every family is unique
Offer parents take home wallet size strategies
Open up dialogue regarding screen time - does the family use a phone or ipad to reward the child?
Discuss reward strategies - Stickers, snacks, even screen time (if applicable) can be great ways to reward positive behaviors
Discuss “finished boxes”, children may want to finish their activity before leaving, and this is often not possible due to time constraints, therefore establishing a location where the child can return to their unfinished work can be a successful strategy in aiding them to move on. This may take some time to establish, especially for younger children.
Praise parents/caregivers for what they have done so far, sympathize with the challenges of parenting
Acknowledge that by attending the FSP the family is already doing their child a great service
Questions and Answers. Thank parents for participation.
Reinforcement of the main learning points (Remember how difficult transitions can be for a child, if taking anything from the conversational workshop “first/then” and transition toys. Both are easy to incorporate into day to day life and are non invasive to parenting strategies