Are you a parent or a teacher facing challenges in establishing routines in your children? Do you find yourself shouting hoarse and seeing no results in your instructions? Children require more than words to motivate them towards taking instructions and being self-driven to daily chores. Enter the velcro visual schedule.
A visual schedule is a critical tool in helping you manage your students and the activities they ought to take. It makes life easy for the parent and the teacher in school. Velcro can be used to attach pictures, photographs, and magazine cuttings to a home or school schedule. It is then pasted strategically where the child can see it and be reminded of the following activity in their routine.
Items needed to make visual schedules
A visual schedule is easy to make because it requires a card, laminator and Velcro. You can involve the child in pasting the pictures and other activities to encourage them to participate in the activity.
Rules For Making Visual Schedule
First-Then Schedule
This is the primary visual schedule and includes images following each other in a logical pattern. On top of the activity picture, add the term ‘first’ followed by ‘then’. Be keen not to stroke first and then because your children may get confused or make the activity open to negotiation.
An efficient visual schedule observes the following items:
- Break the day into various activities to make it interesting for the child. It should include details such as break time and going for short calls or hand washing.
- Personalize an accompanying visual format according to the child’s unique needs and abilities.
- Creatively determine how to indicate transitions from one task to another.
Formats for Velcro visual schedules
- Picture schedules: Here, the teacher pastes activities using Velcro in the form of photos, pictures or icons illustrating the activity to be completed. Once an activity is accomplished, the child can remove the image from the schedule.
- Object schedules- objects are tangible and better represent of the activity to be completed. It is ideal for children who find pictures too abstract. The parent can place objects in a sequential row and remove them once an activity is completed. For instance, a mini-toy can represent playtime.
- Word schedules-this option is ideal for children who can read. Here, words are used to represent the activities. A parent can overlay text on pictures, gradually remove the photos, and remain with words alone. As you pull the images, you should increase the font size of the words to help the child get used to the change.
Presentation of visual schedules
- Pull-off schedules
Velcro effectively attaches photos, icons and picture cutouts to a schedule. Attaching and reattaching make it easy to focus on the activity to be completed.
- Check-off schedules
All the child’s activities are listed in pictures or text on a chart. Then, the child can tick complete activities as they run through the day. However, this schedule can distract a child because the completed tasks remain visible on the chart.
- Stationary schedules
Here, the child has to go to a designated table, desk or wall and transition to the next activity. While at the wall, the child checks the exercise and moves to perform it. The child moves the schedule from one activity to the next, allowing the child to check the next activity.
How to effectively use a visual schedule
It is critical to take your child through the visual schedule and:
- Ensure you have a standard phrase so everyone can your schedules.
- Prompt your child to walk to the visual schedule, confirm the next activity and on
- Prompt your child to follow the activities as pasted on the Velcro
- Prompt the child to go to the location of the first activity to create discipline and get started on the day’s activities.
Wrap up
A visual schedule is a timetable of activities and events arranged chronologically to help create a routine. Teachers, parents and other caretakers can use visual schedules to help children with disciplines. The program also shows the child that they can finish a task and move to the next most preferred activity. A Velcro visual schedule is an effective training tool for all children.
