Dealing with Changes in School Routines During the Holiday Season

Children in holiday costumes stand in a line.

Dealing with Changes in School Routines During the Holiday Season

For many households, the holiday season is a time filled with changes in routine, which can be stressful for both parents and kids. Changes in routine aren’t just limited to home this time of year. In schools, the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s is filled with interruptions, and it’s more than just a few days off here, or a long vacation there.

For children with special needs, those interruptions have the potential to have an impact on learning, behavior and progress. Here are some of the more common disruptions you might see this time of year and ways to troubleshoot them.

Disruption #1:

Changes in your child’s daily schedule.

Most teachers try hard to keep as close to a normal schedule as possible during the holiday season, but there are often assemblies, toy and food drives and rehearsals for holiday programs. Shorter weeks due to days off can also mean a class’s “specials” (such as art, physical education and music) have to be rescheduled to different days.

Troubleshooting Strategies:

Ask about planned schedule changes: Call, email or sit down with your child’s team to talk about schedule changes ahead of time. Write down the days, times and get a clear explanation of what each event entails.

More specifically, ask about the expectations of your child during each of these changes. Will he be participating in a new activity? Will he be in a larger group than usual? Is there a room change or transportation to a field trip site involved? How will this affect his related services?

Let everybody know you’d like to be informed of last minute schedule changes—even if it means receiving an early morning phone call.

Create a special events calendar: Put together a weekly calendar that shows what will be different on each day. Depending on how your child learns best, you may also want to add pictures of the event to the calendar. For example, if your child will be rehearsing for a holiday program, you may want to ask his teacher to take a picture of the stage or rehearsal room.

If possible, make multiple copies of the calendar—one to post at home, one for your child to carry with him and one for his classroom teacher to have handy. Cross off each day on the calendar when it has passed.

Disruption #2:

Interruptions to IEP services

It can be easy for direct instruction and related services to fall by the wayside during the holiday season. Sometimes, therapists and teachers don’t think it’s fair to pull kids away from special events. And sometimes it’s hard to juggle everybody’s schedule for small-group instruction or individual therapy. Making up time after vacation may sound like a good idea, but doubling up on services isn’t the answer. The services on your child’s IEP need to be provided consistently to help him make steady progress toward his goals.

Troubleshooting Strategies:

Discuss plans to work around holiday-related schedule changes: Contact your child’s therapists and case manager to ask if there’s a way to work on your child’s skills in the context of the holidays. For example, perhaps the speech therapist can work on communication goals by helping your child find ways to ask questions at an assembly. Or maybe your child’s direct math instruction for the day can use cookies from a holiday party as a way to teach fractions.

Consider temporarily moving services to before or after school. If you’re willing to bring your child to school a little bit early or have him stay a little later and the therapist is also willing, it can be a way to ensure your child’s getting the instruction he needs without missing holiday fun in the classroom.

Disruption #3:

Participation in holiday programs.

For parents of children with special needs, holiday programs and the rehearsals that come with them can be an interesting combination of awe-inspiring and awful. There are so many things to consider like will your child be overwhelmed by unfamiliar expectations? Will the teacher leading the program be familiar with your child’s needs? Is your child physically able to participate in the program? Is he going to be overexcited, uncomfortable or upset by the change in routine or being in close quarters with so many children, or, will he just be an unabashed stage hog who steals the show?

Troubleshooting Strategies:

You may not be able to predict whether the show will go off without any hitches for your child or if it will be full of glitches, but there are some proactive measures you can take.

Clarify how your child is going to participate: Some children don’t have the staying power to make it through an entire program, especially if some of it means sitting or standing on risers while other classes perform. Have a conversation with your child’s team about how his needs will affect his participation. Maybe he can sit off to the side until it’s his classes’ turn to rehearse or perform. Perhaps it would help to sit near a teacher or on the very end where other kids do not crowd him. Involve your child in the conversation if possible.

Confirm that supports are in place: Whatever the plan is, make sure there’s an adult who knows it and will help put it into place. That may mean a paraprofessional is right near your child to provide subtle verbal or visual cues. It could mean somebody is available to help your child physically navigate the performance space. Just make sure both you and your child know who that person is.

Practice what is going to happen and what your child can expect: School rehearsals will help your child learn where to stand and what to say and sing. But children with special needs may need to rehearse the less obvious things, too. Give your child some time to wear and get used to his costume or dressy clothes. Talk to him about appropriate ways to interact with the audience—for example, practicing a smile and a nod instead of a huge wave and a shout-out.

Have an “escape” plan. In some cases, despite the best-laid plans, things may not go well. Keep on eye on your child’s stress level. If he’s anxious and overwhelmed or teachers are calling you in frustration, it might be time to have him bow out. As nice as it would be to see your child participate, it’s not worth watching him struggle, lose progress or jeopardize the relationships he’s built with his teachers.

Finding ways to minimize the impact of routine changes during the holiday season may help ease the post-holiday transition, too, making it feel like the New Year without feeling like a new school year all over again.

Amanda Morin, is an early intervention specialist, education writer, special education advocate and mother of two children with special needs. Her latest book, The Everything Parent’s Guide to Special Education, aims to demystify the special education process and empower parents.

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This post originally appeared on our November/December 2014 Magazine

Dealing with Changes in School Routines During the Holiday Season

Disruption #1:

Disruption #2:

Disruption #3:

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