What strategies would you use to help a child (4) to communicate with their peers directly (not through an adult)
also school have asked me to work on mark making in preparation for a topic on all about me - children will be asked to do a picture of themselves. How directive would you be with this?
I want to help this child all i can to prepare for school
also can i get pecs resources for free anywhere to make a communication book for her
hope you can actually make head or tail of this post - have beeen struggling to write request for statemnet all day and losing it now

are the pecs for areas of the room and activities she can access or for communication. Does she have much language? I can help with both as I have the resources but will cant post them. If you would like to pmme with what requirements are needed I can see what I can do.
killowengirl

Hello there dcn, sorry to hear you've had a tough day working on the statement request. Is the child going to school in September?

There are some communication fans oncomunication4all

Have you contacted your Early Years SENCO team to see if they can help you with the symbols or the statement request?

Regarding mark making, what sort of mark making do they engage with now? Do they talk about their marks and use a variety of materials?

Thanks killowengirl - have pm'd you
Thanks mundia
area senco is giving lots of support for writing request for stat assessment - just feels like a big piece of work on top of everything else that needs doing
Child is starting school in sept
mark making is very basic - 1 0r 2 lines on a piece of paper then says finished (although previously had drawn with lines and circles) very interested in wanting to write names although hasn't got the skill to make letter shapes. i've one observation of her scribbling on a piece of paper and saying "I drawn my mummy" but hasn't since
doesn't like to engage in messy play but did like flour and swishing her hands in it.
school are going to be covering all about me - including drawing ourselves in sept so wanted to give her some extra support around this over the summer - just don't know how directive to be as usually I don't offer any direction for mark making, preferring to allow children to show their own creativity

Hi again dcn

There are a couple of things you perhaps already do?
Some children prefer to mark make using non permanent materials so that they can be easily rubbed out.. chalk, whiteboards, paint brushes in water.
Do you ever draw yourself? We often model writing for children, but how often do we model drawing? This wouldn't be directing her but may give you an opening if she shows any interest in what you are doing.. she may ask questions or listen whilst you talk about what you are doing.
Have you thought about anything like write dance, or dance with ribbons, scarves etc, to encourage this large gross motor movements..is this something she already engages in?
She has enjoyed swishing her hands in flour, can you extend this to other materials eg sand, foam etc?

Obviously I don't know the child, but is being able to draw herself the most important development for her? (eg has it been recommended as an IEP target?)

Obviously I don't know the child, but is being able to draw herself the most important development for her? (eg has it been recommended as an IEP target?)
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no, not from my point of view - just it had been raised by reception teacher as one of the things i could support her with ready for school but i feel we are a way off this yet.
I'm interested to hear you suggest that she see's me draw - i think she would like this as she likes me to write names for her but I felt perhaps I shouldn't be doing this because it might put her off trying to draw because she couldn't make hers look like mine - does that make sense?
We tried foam yesterday, she really didn't want to get it on her hands and kept whispering "wash hands now". I supported her to stay for a litlle longer but it doesn't seem worthwhile to me if she's not engaged and enjoying it - or do you think little bursts like this will support her snesory development?
Have heard of write dance - can i do it with any music just to have a go with her?
Any ideas on what strategies you would use to encourage her to commmunicate directly with other children?

I work with SEN children and I am a huge advocate of messy play.

I would still do messy play activities with her and build it up in small stages. A little girl I work with enjoyed using dry materials e.g. paper shreddings, rice, lentils. I have also tried hair gel bags with her where you seal hair gel in a food bag with glitter. The advantage of this is she doesn't have to have direct contact with it. You can also use other ingredients e.g. jelly, paint etc. This gives the opportunity to for her to build her confidence so that she 'might' move on and try new experiences later on. We are now at a stage where she will prod and mark make in messy substances with a tool.

There is a fab book called Fun with Messy Play - Ideas for children with SEN which helped me enormously and gave me loads of ideas:

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/book/97818...with-Messy-Play

In it the author says that the specific areas she sees improvements in are:

relaxation of muscles
development of gross and fine motor skills
development of self help skills
development of social play, turn taking and sharing
development of concentration and observation skills
development of bonding
development of body awareness
development of communicatiion skills


Definately a good investment!