Ep 19: Beat the Summer Slide - ☀️ A Practical Guide for Parents and Teachers 👩‍🏫

Worried about your child with special needs losing progress over summer break? Don't be! We're tackling the summer slide head-on in this episode. 💪 Discover practical strategies to keep learning fun and engaging, from adapting IEP goals to exciting activities, using tech tools, and even incorporating learning into family vacations. 🏖️ We'll discuss ESY pros and cons, summer camp tips, and creating a balanced schedule that works for YOUR child. 

Plus, snag FREE summer worksheets and schedule ideas from our Facebook group! Share your summer learning plans or successes in the Facebook group! What are YOUR plans? ⬇️
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Transcript

Audra Jensen: during those kind of off times, you can structure your learning at home as well, and still have some downtime that they require, but also providing that structure for them that is really important.

Welcome to the Misfit Behaviorists Podcast. Join your hosts, Audra Jensen and Caitlin Beltran, here to bring you evidence based strategies with a student centered focus. Let's get started.  

Caitlin Beltran: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Misfit Behaviorists podcast. I'm Caitlin and I'm joined by Audra and today we are talking about providing structure over those summer months when our students and children are not in school full time. So Audra what are we chatting about? 

Audra Jensen: So we talked about this the other day I think and would be nice to do a two part series because we have summer coming up and I know a lot of teachers and parents already are getting out for the summer or thinking about summer and having been a parent through those summer months they can be challenging and making sure that our students and our children have structure for the summer.

Because if you think about coming back as a teacher, you have a variety of different kids who have had different experiences over the summer. So maybe you have, for an example, kiddo number one, who's had no structure over the summer. hasn't been in school, didn't have ESY, maybe they didn't have services, therapy services, or whatever, for whatever reason.

They had those eight or ten weeks off, but today we have a lot of students who spend a lot of time on their iPads and screens. And so you have all that unstructured time, and then they come back into school year, and that can be a bumpy transition. And then on the flip side, you have some kids who have had a lot of nice structure over the summer.

Even if they didn't qualify for ESY, maybe they had structured home settings, or they had continued therapy, family may still continue to take vacations together, but maybe they structure them well, and they, they're engaged with them, building those memories, and then coming back to school, the transition is a little bit smoother.

So we were thinking about maybe I could talk about ways to structure for family settings, because I know we have a lot of listeners who are not only educators, but who are also parents, because a lot of us do get into this field because we have kids who have special needs, and so this might be a good time to talk about it.

And then next week, Caitlin's gonna talk about ESY and kind of the structure in a school setting over the summer. 

Caitlin Beltran: Perfect. I'm so glad we're talking about this because I think it's so relevant for our students and also us. I thrive on routine. I love to have a schedule, but then come summer, I'm like super excited to not have a schedule for three days, but then I do find myself feeling like a little too, you know, I don't feel myself. I really need that consistent structure. So I think it's important just for all of us to set that tone, whether it's in our classroom, if that's, if that helps you as well.

Audra Jensen: Right. And I had two different kids who have very different needs. So I had one who really needed that structure and he was, almost to a point being unmanageable in that unstructured time, not even unmanageable, he would just fixate so much on screens and games and stuff that getting him back out of that and into a kind of a real routine of life was really difficult.

And then I had a very typically developing little girl who could do anything. You could have no structure in the summer, and she was great. And, so it's just parents are going to have to figure out what works for their, their setting within their family unit and it may be different for one child and different for another child and within the same family. So that may happen too. 

Caitlin Beltran: For sure. So hopefully we'll share a bunch of tips and people can pick and choose what works for them. 

Audra Jensen: Exactly. And we've all kind of heard the term, the summer slide, you know, and that's, it's very common in, in educator lingo that we see that we have a lot of students that come back who have lost not just academic skills, but that ability to, learning in a social setting to engage with other people.

And we see that kind of loss of skills at the beginning of the school year. And it's a real challenge for a lot of us as educators. And so. Like I said, not everybody's going to qualify for ESY, so I thought I'd touch on some things that, maybe families can do to prevent or reduce that amount of summer slide that, that we have families or students coming in with.

Caitlin Beltran: Definitely. 

Audra Jensen: So, here's kind of some practical strategies that I thought That will keep learning fun and engaging all summer long. And the why is because we want to prevent that academic regression, but also boost specific skills, from the home setting you guys are working on, that's important, prevent kind of that withdrawal effect that we see of too much screen time at the beginning of a school year.

I've been a part of that many, many times, having students who have had, those eight weeks of just constant screen interactions and getting them off of that and back into a learning setting is really hard. And then also making that transition back into, like I said, that group setting and learning how to learn in a group.

And all of these little ideas that you can do at home helps that make it better for our teachers and, and it also makes learning not seem so boring. Some students are going to qualify for ESY services, which is extended school year. And Caitlin is going to talk about this more next week.

But those that do receive ESY, ESY really is that special education service that provides additional instruction and support during the summer months for students who qualify. Now, students really need to qualify due to a team decision and impact of, the making those IEP goals. It's determined on a team basis, whether the student qualifies or doesn't qualify and what that looks like is going to be very individualized.

So, I won't go into all that. I assume Kaitlan is going to talk about that next week. But for those that do get ESY, the pros of getting that is you get an additional semester. So, you have that additional like skill maintenance opportunities. You have that consistent routine that you're continuing on from the school year. ESY will look different no matter what.

I've never seen an ESY setting look exactly the same as a school year. Maybe they're out there, but it will look a little bit different, but it does give some level of consistency and routine to the, to those students. And then you're able to continue that progress that you've been working on, especially if they've had some nice progress, or maybe they're on the cusp of learning some really great skills.

That's a great time, those pivotal goals, being able to work on that during those, summer months. 

And then some of the cons would be, there might be a struggle in getting approved for those services. And maybe Caitlin will probably talk about some of that too, and how parents can navigate that. Just getting approved can be difficult. and my only advice in this point is, as parents, just make sure you understand your legal opportunities, that you have a right to find out more about, if you've been told no, Why?

And to really understand your legal rights in, requesting and receiving those services. the caliber of services might be different during the summer. So I would just caution that parents don't always expect ESY to look exactly like the school year. You're not going to have the same staffing necessarily.

You're not going to have the same students necessarily. It's going to look a little bit different. sometimes it's a crapshoot, sometimes it's amazing. So it just really, you know, it's a little bit different. 

Caitlin Beltran: Yeah, I think too, just thinking about, I love what you pointed out for parents to consider, make sure you understand that you do have a seat at the table, and that's a conversation for the team, not just the school.

That being said, I did work where I work now, it's a public school, so staff are not obligated to work it. Of course, most special ed staff do. It's a fun opportunity to make some extra money. It's, later hours. but when I worked at a private school, we were required. So that district, we had one week off in the beginning of the summer and two weeks off at the end.

Otherwise, same hour, same day, same staff. So that I think would be the only time that it is exactly the same, but I would imagine if that was your students needs, they would be in a setting like that. But thinking about also, is ESY the right fit for your child? If it has not been recommended by school, taking into account, you know, maybe they're want to have a conversation with you about your child could benefit from some more outside of district social opportunities or from some more downtime even. And we've had those learners too. 

Audra Jensen: And that's exactly what I was going to point out is that our son did qualify for ESY a couple of years in a row, and we, or maybe it was, it's enough time has passed, it was that we knew he could qualify, but they had their kind of their set reasons of saying no, we could have pushed it legally, and we chose not to because we thought he was really on the cusp of being able to learn better with his typically developing peers.

And so we went into what I'm going to talk about next was, looking into local community support systems and camps. And we found that that, you know, and if we had felt that ESY in that particular school district would have benefited him, we would have pushed that. But at the time we decided to go ahead and make the choice to go with the summer camps, which was the next thing I thought about. Maybe you're not getting ESY or any sort of schooling services, but you can look at local, summer camps.

And there are different types of camps in your area, whether they're academic or based on social skills, there's a lot of, vacation Bible schools are out there. Whatever is important to you, therapeutic. There's, lots of really great horse riding ones that we never did, but it would be really fun.

And so my tips for that would really just to be to focus on your learner's or your child's interests and really find camps that he or she would be interested in. So like the ones that we chose were ones that were math based and space based, and he's all, STEM kid. And so we found ones that he was interested in.

 And so that's one is to focus on their interest, and then to also assess the level of support in the camp. So, some of the camps are going to have, 16 year old kids running the camp, which may be great. And you may have a student who does really well in that type of setting. We needed ones that had a little bit more structure and more highly qualified teachers that were running it.

And so we chose camps that kind of had that structure. There was one in our area that was, an overnight camp that he qualified for a couple of years in a row. That was amazing. I mean, it was staffed wonderfully. And he was on our, our state assistance program for disabilities and so it was actually paid for through the state and they had one on one staffing ratio and they took them to all these amazing places and so he did that for a few years which was really great.

It was a sleepaway camp so it was nice for us too. So looking into your community and what opportunities you have, you might talk if you do have, it's DDA around here, it's different, In every state, but developmental disabilities association or whatever you have throughout your through your state, you can talk to your case manager there and find out what the local opportunities are, which ones are paid for by the state and which ones are do not have contracts with the state.

And so it takes a little bit of research. I know we're already into almost the summer. This is something you would want to start a little bit earlier, especially because they do fill up those ones, especially those that are paid for by the state. So just, it takes a little bit of research to figure out what's in your area.

And then the other thing is just connecting with a community of support for yourself. Both parents who are going through the same thing, but also getting to know the parents who are in those, those camps with you. And creating that tribe that you always need, just not only to somebody to bounce ideas off of, but just to commiserate and enjoy the summer. It's just more fun to do that with other people. 

Caitlin Beltran: Yes, for sure. I echo that 100%.  

Audra Jensen: So that would be number two. So talking about camps and then if you, you know, have extra time, which you will 'cause most of us will only choose a couple of those camps, especially if we're paying it for it by ourselves, which they can be expensive.

You'll probably choose to do a couple, we always choose, chose to do like two or three throughout the summer and we'd space them out. So that we, he'd go do one camp and then he'd have two weeks at home and we'd do things and then so on and so forth. So during those kind of off times, you can structure your learning at home as well, and still have some downtime that they require, but also providing that structure for them that is really important. It's still important, especially if you have kids on the spectrum, that you have that consistency and routine throughout the summer as well. So, create some sort of daily or weekly schedule. It doesn't have to be, you know, 8am, 8:05 or anything like we do at school, but having just a loose schedule of what we're doing day by day, what we're doing throughout the week. And I put together a really simple thing that we'll put in the freebies,a sample schedule what you might do throughout a day. And then I have eight suggestions throughout a week with each one having like, you know, um,like arts and craft week and something that you could do every day.

So I'll put that in the freebies, but just getting kind of those creative juices flowing. And the tips for that is creating, if you need it, a visual schedule for your students, for your kids who need that. Being flexible, being open to adjusting that schedule as their energy ebbs and flows, and their interest ebbs and flows throughout the summer.

And as you can to incorporate IEP goals or goals that are important to you at home. The creating those learning opportunities throughout, you know, activities as well. And then always prioritizing fun and looking at what we can, I mean, because it is summer. So most of, as long as they're able to do it, you want to spend time at the beach and at the pool and going on vacations and having some fun because that's really what summer it should be about. 

Caitlin Beltran: Absolutely. I remember I was doing home ABA therapy with a learner a couple of years back, and during the school year, we had a really great routine of, say, I went there from, I don't know, four to six o'clock, and we do homework, then we prep dinner, then, whatever, put his clothes away, and then whatever, and come summer, that routine was no longer relevant because there was no homework, and I'd go earlier in the day, so we had to revamp, and like what you're saying.

It was, Also summer and it was really nice out and his sister was home with him for once so we just switched the routine but we still kept the same goal so we would go on a nature walk and that's when we talk about objects we saw and he would jump on the trampoline and that's when we would do numbers because we'd count or something like that.

So we did tweak the goals in a totally different context, but we practiced the same skills and we still made it like we still use the same visual schedule. We still use the same token board so that a lot of elements were consistent for him. 

Audra Jensen: Oh, that's beautiful. And that's exactly what they need. Is it, I'd love that you tweaked what you were already doing, but made it for summer purposes.

And that's exactly what I have in mind. Yep. So the next thing I think about is we want to take family vacations. You know, We all want to go, whether it's visiting family in another state or going to see the Grand Canyon, whatever it is. We want to create those learning opportunities. We don't want our kids to be stuck in, the pigeonhole of a school classroom, and that's all they do.

Get them out there and enjoy and go for hiking. I mean, it's just, there's all sorts of opportunities. So my quick tips on creating those family vacations with your students with disabilities in mind, plan it with a purpose, align their interests and learning goals with what you're doing. You have, your little ones may be really interested in dinosaurs. So plan to go see some of those fossil museums that are out there, whatever it is.

Kind of plan with a purpose. And then have that interaction, interactive engagement. Ask open ended questions. If they're verbal, ask them to be the lead in situations, especially if you have planned that with a purpose and you're doing something that's interesting to them, let them be the lead, invite them to take pictures or videos, draw about what they see and so creating kind of those learning opportunities within the fun that you're having.

And then again, to follow their lead, to allow them to linger, to engage in conversations, even if they're boring to you, to follow their lead if they're satiated from whatever you're doing and to really allow them that choice and that voice that we've talked about recently, to give them that empowerment even over the summer.

Caitlin Beltran: Yeah, I love that. And I'm just thinking of, summer. We have all this time, but we don't always necessarily have more of a budget. So if you are on a budget and you're not looking to go on an overnight trip or a big vacation, check out your local Facebook groups, see what's available for either cheap or discount or 10 and under free or something like that.

My school does a field trip a couple years back, and it turns out there's like an insect museum a couple towns away from me. I mean, it's small, and it's a one afternoon kind of thing, but something that I just wouldn't have time to get to during the school year that, over the summer, could be like an easy community outing for a learner.

Audra Jensen: And they don't know that it's not the Grand Canyon. If you go to the ant museum, they're gonna think that's amazing anyway. We used to always go to The Tillamook, is on the coast near us, the Tillamook Cheese Factory, whatever. Costs nothing to go there, but you used to take them and you can go watch them do the cheeses and stuff and get ice cream.

And it was amazing, Drive two hours there, but you don't have to pay anything when you're there, So, look, I love that. Just looking at your local opportunities, especially for the free and reduced cost. Yeah. And the last thing in this area is summer is really the perfect time for toilet training, and I was thinking as I was coming up with these ideas that we really should do a whole episode, or maybe two or three or four, on toilet training.

So, we're not going to do that a lot now, but I'm telling you, summer really is a good time to do it. I mean, take the pants off and spend your time outside. That's my biggest thing is to go naked in the backyard. 

Caitlin Beltran: I tell every family who is close, thinking about, when should I start? And if it's anywhere past January, I'm like spring break.

And if it's anywhere past spring break, I'm like summer. Because you have more time. And I think it is a nice boost when the school can help you, but it's always such a great thing when school can continue the home routine. And even if you just have those three or four days set aside, and summer is the best time, maybe you have off Fridays, maybe you at least can take a day off easier on Monday.

And like you said, you're wearing so much less clothing. You're wearing flip flops. You're wearing things that can be pulled and kicked off easier. 

Audra Jensen: Yeah, yeah. So we definitely, we will do that soon. I think it will take probably a few episodes to tackle all of the issues with toilet training from little to bigger.

So we will do that soon.okay. So, and I thought five quick tips for engaging your learner during the summer months. And I'll make these really quick. Just being fun and playful with your learning. Consider games that are for, specifically for their interests. whether they're interested in math or not, doing math facts, games, sight words.

You can incorporate stuff from school year into what you're doing. Sensory activities are great for the summer. I mean, get the shaving cream out, put it on the rocks out back, and hosing it down. I mean, there's all sorts of great sensory opportunities you can do. Those of you, and I know a lot of you do, have trampolines in the backyard.

There's so much great stuff you can do with a trampoline with sensory opportunities, with, you know, shaving creams and, and,hoses and bouncy balls. And it's just, so think outside the box. And those opportunities are really good in helping a lot of our students need that regulation, that sensory regulation throughout the summer.

That's a really good thing to do. 

Caitlin Beltran: Yeah, and generalization. I can think of a lot of our guys who are great with that counting skill at the desk, but then we go outside and I draw it in chalk and it's like a whole new thing. So it's just another opportunity to find that generalized opportunity. 

Audra Jensen: Yes, that's a great point. And then the second one is to leverage technology. So while we know you're not going to be able to take no, you don't know, time on the iPad or the screens over the summer, we believe me, I'm a parent and they are a God send some of those months, but to, be cautious about what kind of apps you have them on, be aware of what they're playing and how they're playing, be just a mindful parent during those times.

Websites that are tailored to what they're interested in is helpful. And two, do consider maintaining time limits and supervision during this time so that when they transition back, like we talked about, it's a little bit easier for them. 

Caitlin Beltran: I like that a lot. I've been doing some research with my own son and I might just drop maybe this week or next week something in the Facebook group about like tips and tricks to set limits because there's like a lot of different ways.

Like you can do guided access on the iPad so that you're stuck in the one app or you can do, limits on certain apps, you can hide the app. So I've been learning a lot of those tricks as he's learning a lot of those tricks to counteract my tricks. so I will share what I've learned.

But also, I'm, we also just downloaded an app for, you can use it for chores, but also behavior mods. So it's called Joon, J O O N, not sponsored. I think I've heard of it, yep. It's very interactive. So if you have a kid that likes Pokemon or Minecraft or really anything nowadays, you get a little character.

So he's been opening it up even when it's not time to check in on his coins or anything. 

Audra Jensen: Oh, I love that. 

Caitlin Beltran: And he'll be like, that's time to feed my thing. And then he'll notice like, oh, I gotta clear my plate. So, oh, I love that. Stuff like that, I think summer is a great time to experiment with those things.

If you've been thinking about starting a chore chart or thinking about starting like a visual iPad schedule, because like you said, we don't love all the screen time, but might as well lean into some of it if it can help us with some of our goals. 

Audra Jensen: Yeah, yeah. I love that. We used to have, this isn't technology, there was.Very little technology back then, but we used to have,one of those flip charts, we have all the charts at school, but on the front side, it would have the chore and then on the backside would have the task analysis for it. And each one would have a certain amount. I can't remember if we're using fake or real money at the time, but, they would go and choose one, whatever they wanted, whatever it was worth.

And then it had the whole task analysis of, putting dishes away or whatever. And so they could choose those and that's how they earned money for whatever it was they wanted to buy. So lots of different ideas. Tip number three would be get creative with your projects, have creative projects like art and music, writing, building projects, connected to what they're learning, paint the rocks, whatever you want to do, just get creative and fun. Paint the fence with water. Just look around what, let's see, our weeds need to be pulled. 

Caitlin Beltran: Yeah, all of a sudden that's a project. 

Audra Jensen: So then tip number four, we already touched on is looking at those community resources, visit the local library. They do still exist out there. We've got a really nice one that was only built, a couple of years ago. But there are community resources out there like the local library.

And we have something that's called Kids Club here. You go in, you pay five bucks or whatever. It has a huge indoor play structure. swimming pools. This is the time also for swimming lessons, so museums, zoos, parks. We have an amazing local park here that in the drinking fountain they put pink lemonade in it.

Aww. So you go drink pink lemonade at the fountain. I hope there's a sign so you're not just whoa, that's pink lemonade. I'm pretty sure. I haven't actually been there, but yes, I think there is.okay. And then tip number five is, still continue to think about social skill development, don't neglect that over the summer, plan play dates, arrange opportunities for them to interact with peers, go to the park, group activities, volunteer up opportunities.

If you have older kids who can get into volunteering, that's a great time to do that as well. 

Caitlin Beltran: And so that for sure, because I think we've been talking about so many great things to do over this summer, assuming that they're all going to be fun. We know our learners or our own children, not everything that we, set out to be fun is fun.

Like sometimes kids don't want to socialize. Sometimes kids on the spectrum don't want to do group outings to a play space or a museum. So those are just really nice times that we can target those skills, because hopefully there's a little less stress, because that is like their target for the day instead of school and then tacking that on at the end.

Audra Jensen: So, if you're thinking about volunteer opportunities, you're thinking about character development and providing them opportunities to serve their community, and I think that's really important that we do that. We don't have a lot of opportunity to do that during the school year when they're in school, but you as a home and in your setting at home, look for opportunities to do that.

Give them a chance to serve others. I think that's really important. 

Caitlin Beltran: I love that. 

Audra Jensen: And then celebrate those small victories because they're going to be small. Sometimes their going to be bigger, but acknowledging that progress is really crucial for that motivation so that we have a summer that's full of really happy memories. And that's really the thing is to create a summer of happy memories both at home so that when we get them back at school that they are happy, well adjusted, well rested, and ready to start the new school year. 

Caitlin Beltran: Absolutely, and I think, some of those resources that we'll put in the Facebook group can help with this, like both the visual schedule, also like this fun themed worksheet, so bunch of cool freebies this week.

If you want to join that Misfit Behaviorist podcast, yeah, Misfit Behaviorist podcast Facebook group. and then again, join us next week. We're going to continue the conversation on extended school year or summer, I should say, but talk more specifically about ESY and hone in on a few practical, easy data collection strategies that you can do over summer school months.

Audra Jensen: Perfect. Thank you everybody. We will see you next time. 

Caitlin Beltran: Thanks. Bye.

Thanks for listening to the Misfit Behaviorists. And be sure to tune in next week for more tips and tricks. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss an episode.