SENSORY-SMART HACKS FOR EDUCATION-AT-HOME

From My Sensational Family to Yours

By Rebecca Duvall Scott

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC OF 2020 HAS BEEN ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOKS. IN A FAST-PACED, HIGHTECH, PRODUCTION-DRIVEN WORLD, IT GRIDLOCKED EVERY PERSON AND SOCIETY FOR MONTHS AND THEN LEFT US FLOUNDERING TO FIND A NEW NORMAL WITH AN “EVERYTHING AT HOME” LIFE MODEL.

Many adults had to find a new groove as they transitioned work into dining rooms and bedrooms, and many children struggled to adjust to school in kitchens and living rooms. Whether families chose virtual nontraditional instruction (NTI) options or homeschooling, education at home has certainly been one of the most challenging efforts!

Sensory-smart strategies can make education-at-home experiences easier

Accommodations and environmental adaptations targeting sensory regulation can positively affect a myriad of negative thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in school-age (really any age) students. The greatest thing is that all of us have a sensory system through which we experience the world, so sensory knowledge can benefit every person. A person’s sensory system is part of their nervous system. It is responsible for how they gather information from their environment through their senses, organize it in their brain, and then output behavioral responses. Sensory systems can

easily get out of whack when subjected to internal and external stressors. Those behavioral responses you may see during school at home time (such as a child’s attention deficits, hyperactivity, lethargy, disorganization, tears, etc.) are clues they may need extra support.

When the sensory system is regulated, a person feels calm, able to cope with stressors, engaged, focused, and ready to do their best work. The best news is there are some simple sensory-smart hacks to regulate the nervous system and improve the education-at-home experience until students can return to in-person instruction (or back to their community and social programs if they are already seasoned homeschoolers)!

To ease the burden of school at home, give the following sensory-smart tips a try:

• Create a flexible routine

Feel out how your family works best from home and try to keep the same relative order of events each day. Establishing a flexible but reliable routine decreases anxiety and increases productivity.

• Fill up your students’ sensory buckets before they must sit and attend

Prior to work time, engage your kids in movement and sensory-rich activities—jumping on a trampoline, swinging on a swing set, stomping like a dinosaur, playing with slime, kinetic sand, or Play-Doh—there are a million options! Find what fills up your kid’s sensory system, and they can “eat” on it while they focus and cooperate during school!

• If you can, bring concepts off the page for struggling students

NTI is not one-size-fits-all, and there are many students who cannot learn well through a screen. Teachers may be open to letting you bring the lessons off the page/screen (like manipulating Legos for fraction work) and have you text them pictures for credit.

• Incorporate visual aids like a timer or to-do lists

Some kids feel anxious when transitions are sprung on them, like moving from listening to the teacher to doing work or jumping from subject to subject. When kids can see the layout, breaks, or finish line up ahead, they’re more apt to focus and apply themselves. Many teachers are happy to share lesson plans with parents.

• Do work in a calm, quiet space

Auditory and visual distractions can derail some kids. Set their school space up in a calm, quiet place and encourage other family members to be respectful of their need to listen and attend.

• Take frequent breaks if possible

In between subjects or virtual meetings, move the body!

Constantly go back to the idea of filling up their sensory

buckets so they don’t get low and result in edgy, cranky kids.

• Modify their seating and desk

Students may appreciate a bouncy exercise band on the front of their chairs to put their feet on, a tennis ball on two opposing chair legs so they can rock, a wiggle cushion, or some other alternative seating like an exercise ball or

T-stool. They also may benefit from having hand fidgets or a variety of texture strips to feel to keep their hands busy while their brain is processing new information.

• Give that mouth work to do other than talking

Chewing on straws, or “chewelry” you can buy online, or eating a variety of cold, crunchy, sour foods can stimulate the mouth and free up the brain to attend and focus.

A dose of perspective goes a long way as well

Doing school at home with your children may have already been your thing or at least a welcomed change, but let’s face it—most people were thrown for a loop when schools went to NTI. Teachers were not prepared for their classroom instruction to change, but they stepped up and made it work to continue student-learning. Parents were not prepared to have kids home all day and to become satellite teachers, but they, too, stepped up and are putting forth their best efforts to help their students reach their potential. Students, especially, were not prepared for their routines to change in such drastic ways, but they’re doing their best given the circumstances. Remembering to give grace to yourself and everyone involved frees up a lot of mental and emotional space to press on.

My favorite catchphrase is “adjust the expectations and plan for success.” Every day we adjust to find our footing and learn to work together in new ways. You do not have to know everything to be the teacher (or at-home facilitator) your child’s needs. You just have to show up and try your best, leaving “we can do this” footsteps for them to follow in. It is also good to focus on long-term goals, like who you want your children to be in 20 years, and work towards those rather than be consumed by the short-term chaos we feel. Most of all, focus on relationships first. There is assigned work, yes. There are deadlines, yes. But the deep truth is, when you look back at this time in 20 years, will it matter that your child did every single math equation, got through every spelling test, and could recite all the presidents in order? Or will their character, including their work ethic, compassion for their neighbors, and ability to think outside of the box and flex through difficult times outweigh the academics? We can learn academics in the good times and bad (and make up for missed learning when things finally get back to normal), but what truly matters is building loving, dependable relationships and having a myriad of life skills to carry into adulthood. If that is the primary focus of your school at home, academic success will follow.

Do you want to know more?

If you would like to learn more about sensory regulation and strategies that can be adapted to make your home (and school) more efficient and manageable, check out my memoir, complete with professional commentary by an occupational therapist, Sensational Kids, Sensational Families: Hope for Sensory Processing Differences for additional insights and tips.

Rebecca Duvall Scott is the author of bestseller and three-time Amazon Top 10 Hot New Release, Sensational Kids, Sensational Families: Hope for Sensory Processing Differences. This self-help memoir chronicles the research, interventions, and mindset shifts that helped her family through her son’s sensory processing disorder diagnosis and contains professional commentary by an occupational therapist. Website: www.SensationalKidsSensationalFamilies.com Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1948238276/