We continue where we left off in the previous blog post, with the title: How can I help my child to communicate and learn from home? VICON Method But now we are going to enter a more practical part where we are going to introduce you some ideas and some basic principles, which we professionals take into account when we create a program, activities to achieve a specific skill, with its psychological, individualized basis and all this, will give us the correct guidelines to be successful with our specific child.
All proposals have to do with a game frame, and that means they have to see it as such, We can't force a situation, we can't always sit in a chair in front of a piece of paper... We have to change things up, we have to throw ourselves on the floor, in the bathroom, in the living room, under the blanket... All that is what a child understands as play, and By enriching him with that variety, we are making him an adaptable child., which adapts to the changing reality of our daily lives. So, let's put aside this adult perspective and think like a child when planning these activities. We have to think about how we would like them to be designed for us if we were a 3-year-old child.
Where do we start?
It first what we have to do to work from that game perspective and have fun. It's not just about releasing stress and anxiety, but because we're talking about motivation, or just a word that fills our mouths, we have to find it. We have to seek out that excitement, that emotion that children feel when they play, and I think we're all out of practice at that. So I think we have to do a good job of laying those foundations for real play again. entering with stress-releasing dynamics and that help to remove that component of seriousness that sometimes accompanies us when we want to help our children, that responsibility that weighs on us and ends up weighing on our children.
I also assure you that if we provoke all the gross motor skills games such as balance, imbalance, climbing, controlling our body, it will lead us to control our body against the vision of our language. That is, a Good gross motor skills facilitate language because in the end our language-emitting organ is the body.
So then We must start with gross psychomotor skills and we will finish, although the work is infinite by fine psychomotor skills. It also reaches other physiological layers and is even more closely related to orofacial control of all the organs responsible for language. Adding to this, all the sensory integration activities that reduce that anxiety and stress and reestablish the foundations of that excitement we try to foster from the very beginning of the activities.
Take note of these tips.
Try not to go too far from the everydayThis will mean we'll have more opportunities to generalize, looking for daily activities that we do with greater intensity and frequency, giving the child more opportunity to experiment and gain experience, and reaching the depth of learning we need to truly make an impact. Find routines, enrich them, and turn them into learning.
If you want success, look for, apart from natural activities, naturalistic activities, with what we have at hand because that will once again delay that generalization process and now more observant children will associate more, they will be able to categorize much earlier and establish those links that learning needs to be enhanced in all areas of the child.
When we talked about association, also It is usually called pairing and Finally, ultimately and most developed would be the groupingThat is, first I associate a pear with a pear, then I pair pear with pear, apple with apple, and duck with duck… Finally, to expand this attention and make it more concentrated, I group the pear, the apple, and the duck into the same task. These are the three processes where I demonstrate what I know and consolidate my learning. If we do these processes through 3D units, they will be much easier than when we introduce 2D units, that is, through photos.
You've probably heard of praxis. These are all the movements that the mouth, tongue, teeth, cheeks, throat... make to develop language naturally.. The first strategy To try to work on praxis without working on them, is to make our children occasionally eat the most solid food we can, such as: hard bread, we stain our mouths and lips with cheese and stand in front of a mirror to see who can remove it first, we massage all areas of the mouth with a toothbrush... all of this to get all the neurotransmitters that trigger language in the brain to work.
When talking about natural activities, we can't forget those that require autonomy. For example: dressing alone, washing dishes, washing my hands, showering alone, tidying up... If you're looking for communication and language, you have to make sure you have an autonomous child. That's a stimulated, developed child, but more broadly and subtly.
There is an essential topic in the development of children and it is generally the animalsAnimals play a major role in the method. They're also colorful, attractive, and their movements are quite different from those of humans. Try to use this resource because, given the wide variety of animals, we can generally find some favorites. We can use this resource to work on animal sounds and animal actions. In their environment, contact with animals also helps many children. Don't forget to be alert, there's sure to be an animal of your choice hidden somewhere..
Playing at talking. Having an external element like a phone, a glass, a microphone, etc. incredibly enhances the entire verbal process. It may only be a few vocalizations at first, but imitation games and turn-taking games begin, and with our model, we can reinforce that verbal turn-taking and elicit their first sounds. With a brush, a maraca, we can gradually establish this verbal game and be able to elicit their first sounds or mouth movements, almost as if by magic.
Another very interesting aspect is the doll theme, both in 3D and 2D. We can even make puppets with laminated photos of family members so we can play with them, establishing dialogues and everyday actions at home.
We are talking about the symbolic play. Developing symbolic play involves developing imagination and working on situations that aren't there, but rather, I have to imagine them inside my head. Aspects such as improvisation, creating a story, creating a dialogue about actions, creating a consequence effect, and creating a stimulus-response are natural processes, but not those that all children with communication difficulties develop naturally.
Final notes
Finally, we'll move on to the most complex work modality. We've previously talked about physical, tangible objects with volume and 2D, which are images in paper format. Now, let's leave it. The last work could be the book format.
Not all children have developed the ability to endure reading. Others even learn to look at a book, to become interested in it... But I assure you. If you acquire this skill, you will be able to have an incredible range of development in your little ones.
A strategy that I personally use a lot in session is make your books with, for example, photos of the family, of his favorite things, of himself doing things, of his loved ones doing other things, of his favorite foods, of his room or spaces in the house... You have an infinite resource, which you should not underestimate and which will possibly give him a much greater learning power and which transversally will bring him complex abstract skills, which he would not be able to develop otherwise.
We can never leave aside emotional work, and I'd almost dedicate a book just to that. When a child is more aware of their emotional state, they're better able to control it, manage it, and not let it get out of hand. But to do that, you have to give them tools and work on it when they're calm in these moments. For example, reading, being able to take photographs of things they don't like, things they love, emotions in their loved ones, their siblings, their grandparents... It's also very powerful material and helps us a lot with behavioral management, which we'll carry out for the rest of our lives with our little one.
As you can see we are doing work work work, so Try to make all activities very brief and focus on the outdoors., the movement will give rise to many breaks in stimulation spaces. Less is more, where it's often better to work on something very specific and very brief. This way, you ensure that learning takes place and is consolidated., and more importantly, you will be prepared for another new learning experience.
Don't be afraid to always help them, to give them visual, physical, and emotional support, and above all, to structure the steps that are effective for your child. We always help children from the beginning and little by little we withdraw the help, until they can do it alone.. And there comes another aspect that is super important, which is the child's rhythmWe can't endlessly compare our children with others, even if they also have difficulties. There are some areas in which they are very capable, others where they still need to improve, and others that perhaps haven't yet emerged. But if we don't take into account our child's pace, we will reach a process of frustration, and that will prevent us from working and making progress with our children. Try to do one, two, or three things at once in different ways, and take enough time for them to develop them, without rushing, without hurrying, allowing time for exposure and development.
And rewarding is very important, if not essential.Our children need that external motivation, always accompanied by some internal motivation: social approval, affection, a hug... until, little by little, those more natural motivations become as effective as chocolate, candy, or something much more material. But that's also a medium- and long-term task for our children, whose motivation to do things well isn't strong and powerful enough to sustain their learning.
We hope that all these tips will help you when using our tool at home, when using the VICON MethodAs always, we invite you to follow us on our social networks so that you don't miss any news, where you can also meet families in the same situation.