I can't talk about extended programs troubleshooting without talking about the seriousness of maintaining pairing...
Pairing of the therapists and your child and of THERAPY and your child. If we think being in an extended program is hard on US...we ought to sit in the child's seat, if the program is boring, no fun and the people doing it have forgotten that they are suppose to have fun WITH us.
Remember that the essence of pairing ourselves with the children is that the FUN depends on us. Now, this next point is totally my opinion and I've heard professionals who seemed to disagree, but I don't think you can make math home work something to look forward to. I mean, maybe for some few people it is a thrill but not for most of us. My son has to work really hard on his school work. So it is really important that we, who work with him, are the SOMETHING he looks forward to. Here are some things to remember about pairing as the the program runs longer:
- Children mature. They won't necessarily be able to pair with the, shall we say, younger fun things you used to do (eg. you may have to replace peek-a -boo with hide and seek:)
- You have to work harder to be fun as children grow older. This is true with ALL children. In fact, you need to be "walking fun" as they mature.
- Don't take pairing for granted. Have your team chart their pairing as if it were data. As an example- here are the things I did to pair- tickled, played kick ball, wrestled. Charting pairing builds in accountibility. We all need that.
- Provide a list of pairing ideas for your team.You know your child best. He/she may have a new interest that requires another person.
- Even the most experienced therapist can forget to pair. In fact, if the child works particularly well with one therapist, they can BOTH forget to pair. Help them not to forget. Provide "prompts" for pairing (e.g.the ball and glove are out in view).
Don't blame your team if things have become routine and they are forgetting to pair. Just start providing some ideas and materials and every one will get back on track.
My heart is with you,
Katherine Lee