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Q&A session 6 with the Director of The
Son-Rise Program®, Bryn N. Hogan.
Topic: The Son-Rise Program®
in the Classroom
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Q: Dear Bryn,
I attended The Son-Rise Program® Start-Up
at the end of September 1999 as a volunteer.
The child I am working with is now 6, and doing incredibly
well. I know that The Son-Rise Program advises parents
to keep their children out of school. However, I am
currently going through my pre-student teaching work
and would like some ideas on how I can implement aspects
of The Son-Rise Program®
into my own classroom.
Thanks
Kattie H.
A: Dear Kattie,
I am very excited that the family you have been volunteering
with is doing so well with their son, how special that
you could be a part of that and donate your time and
caring to help a little boy. Thank you for supporting
them in that way.
You ask a wonderful question! In most cases (although
not all) if a parent asks us which do we feel would
be more helpful, the school setting, or a home-based,
child-centered Son-Rise Program®
which could offer focused one-to-one support, with the
parents as the guide...we would advise that they do
the latter. At the same time, there are many parents
who choose not to take their children out of school
and still feel that the amount that they put The
Son-Rise Program® into practice -
after school - still offers powerful and sustaining
benefits to their family.
In your circumstance, you will be working in school
with children and I can offer suggestions on how to
make this environment as helpful to these children as
possible. Firstly, you could ask your school to provide
a room in which you could create a modified Son-Rise
Playroom (for more information please click the link
or see your manual from the program to create all aspects).
Numerous teachers have been able to arrange this with
their school system. In this way, you could perhaps
rotate taking different children into that space each
day, or week, and working with them using our approach.
You could also explore the possibilities with the head
teacher, of making the larger classroom less distracting
- simplifying the walls, sounds etc. to minimize distractions
and perhaps help the children to focus on you and what
you are offering. You could also, when you must do "group"
activities, create activities that focus more on socialization
and eye contact, rather than academics, as a way to
give the children an opportunity, with your help, to
connect with each other. For example: You could have
an eye contact contest: put them in pairs and see who
can look the longest! You could play games which involve
holding hands, sharing toys etc., vs. games that involve
learning letters or singing songs. In this way, you
could keep your focus, and therefore each child's focus,
on interacting with each other.
My husband and I have been running a Son-Rise
Program® for our daughter for two
and half years and it has been fantastic! One thing
we have done recently is to purchase numerous books
(you would probably have these available to you at school)
which have kindergarten games in them. We then modify
these games, making them more focused on interaction,
and then bring them to our daughter..and it is SO useful
to do this! You could take lesson plans and look at
them creatively and make them more interactive. For
example: We created a game where we wrote the letters
A-G on a large strip of paper and then put stickers
on different items in the room which began with these
letters. We then had our daughter try to find the items
that began with each letter, offering her our help -
asking her to look and we would help her to sound out
the words, offering her colorful stickers to put on
her face etc. when she was able to find the correct
word. We created the game so that each time we went
to a new letter, we would hold hands and look at each
other and do a dance about how great it was to learn
letters. In this way, we changed a purely academic activity
(i.e. What word starts with A?) and modified it to create
a socially interactive activity that ALSO teaches the
alphabet. You can do this too!
Good luck and thank you again for this excellent question!
Warm regards,
Bryn N. Hogan
I hope that as the weeks
progress, I will have ample opportunity to answer all
the questions from everyone who is wanting support.
For me, this is another rare and unique opportunity
to offer our support and guidance to those who want
help. Thank you all for making this exciting exchange
possible through your participation. Please know you
can contact us by telephone to speak to a staff member
if you have more questions. Call us at: (413) 229-2100
Q&A Session
6
Intro to Q&A Session
6
Husband's
Involvement
Asperger's
Syndrome and Milk
The Son-Rise Program®
in the Classroom
Autism and the Effects
on Siblings
Sensory
and Communication Challenges
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