Child Development
Teaching Vocabulary to Students with Special Needs: 7 Effective Strategies
Some kids may be able to read a word aloud but still not understand what it really means. Others may learn a new word during Monday's class, answer a…
Topic
Child Development
29 articles on child development.
Child Development
How to Help Students With Dyslexia: A Teacher's Guide
Think about a student who can properly retell every tiny detail of a story you just read to her, yet becomes totally blank when asked to read the…
Child Development
Student Aggression in Special Education: Prevention & Support
A typical math lesson is moving along smoothly when a student suddenly knocks books and pencils onto the floor. A few minutes later, another student…
Child Development
Understanding Challenging Behaviours in Autism
Challenging behaviours can seem pretty loud. A student suddenly stops participating. They push their work away, put their head down, or walk away…
Special Education Classroom
Self-Contained vs Inclusion Classrooms: What’s the Difference?
Self-contained or inclusion? At first glance, it can sound like a relatively easy either-or decision. In real IEP meetings, however, it is rarely…
Special Education Classroom
What OTs Actually Do in Inclusive Classrooms
What “Inclusive Classrooms” Really Mean 'Inclusive classrooms' are classrooms where students with and without disabilities learn together and receive…
IEP Goals
90+ Physical Therapy Goal Examples for School-Based PTs
Sometimes, the IEP goal isn't about reading more words or solving more problems. Sometimes it is about getting to the reading group. Staying seated…
Special Education Classroom
Occupational Therapy Activities for Kids
OT activities have a funny way of appearing ordinary. When everyone else only sees a kid playing with bubbles, climbing, scribbling, or pretending to…
Special Education Classroom
Assistive Technology in Special Education: Examples, Classroom Uses, and IEP Support
Not every student who struggles with a particular subject is struggling with the skill itself. Sometimes the issue is the path between the child and…
Special Education Classroom
9 Essentials for a Special Education Classroom That Actually Functions Well
Your classroom can have great people, great intentions, and numerous resources, and still be ineffective. This happens when too much of the day…
Special Education Classroom
Managing Multiple Students With Different Goals at the Same Time
Having teaching blocks with multiple students and multiple goals can feel like controlled traffic management. After all, what do you do when every…
Special Education Classroom
What Do You Do When Students Only Respond to One Adult?
Have you ever had a student who performs with ease around one adult but falls apart the minute they step out? This isn’t uncommon. Strong…
IEP Data Collection
How to Balance Teaching and Data Collection in Real Time
Special education classrooms often exist on two parallel timelines. One is visible: the lesson, the prompts, the student working through a task. The…
Child Development
How to Help Students Return to Learning After a Meltdown
The meltdown ends. The room settles. The worksheet is still on the desk. What happens next is often the hardest instructional decision of the day…
Special Education Classroom
When a Student Refuses to Work: What It Means in Special Education
The refusal does not always look dramatic. It can appear as stillness. A blank page. A head lowered just long enough to signal withdrawal. In special…
Special Education Classroom
High-Impact Classroom Strategies for Special Education Teachers
IEP meetings capture milestones. Progress reports summarize growth. Quarterly updates chart movement. What they don’t capture is the unstable phase…
Child Development
Coping Skills in Special Education: How to Teach Skills That Generalize
Ask a student what helps when they feel overwhelmed, and many can answer fluently. Ask that same student to use the strategy when frustration is…
Special Education Classroom
Prompts vs. Cues and the Difference Between Gestural and Physical Support
A student pauses at the doorway, backpack still on, scanning the room as if something usually happens next. The morning routine has been taught for…
Child Development
Why “I’ll Enter the Data Later” Never Works
“I’ll enter the data later” isn’t procrastination. It’s a rational response to an irrational workflow. In special education settings, data rarely…
Child Development
How to Explain IEP Progress Clearly to Parents
There’s a specific moment every special educator knows. You’re in a meeting. You’ve explained the goal. You’ve shown the data. You’ve been careful…
Child Development
Why Students Ghost Their Accommodations
A student walks in with an IEP full of support, a team full of hope, and accommodations designed with care. On paper, it all seems great. Yet in the…
Child Development
Special Education Scheduling: How to Build Timetables That Work
Imagine it’s early September. Lockers are clicked, buses drop off students, and the day begins, but for a special education teacher, it feels like…
Child Development
How to Stay Ahead in SPED When Regulations, Tech & Student Needs Change
Special education is one of the few professions where people are judged on decisions they were never trained to make. No certification covers how to…
Special Education Classroom
The Inclusion Illusion: Why Students Are ‘In the Room’ but Not Included
A student seated in the front row can still be outside the lesson. That is an area of inclusion we do not really discuss enough. Because sometimes…
Special Education Classroom
Nurturing Play Skills in Special Education Classrooms
From play to progress, learn how play-based learning transforms special education classrooms.
Special Education Classroom
Teacher's Guide to Play-Based Curriculum for Special Needs Children
Teachers can maximize the learning potential of special needs children through interactive and fun educational approaches.
Child Development
How to Address ‘Selective Eating’ in Special Needs Children
Address the problem of selective eating in children to overcome nutritional concerns with practical solutions.
Special Education Classroom
Managing Playdough Eating: Strategies for Special Education Success
Special education teachers’ guide to creating inclusive classrooms by addressing play dough eating habits.
Special Education Classroom
What is the Role of Joint Attention in Child Development and IEPs?
Looking to optimize IEPs? Let’s discuss the role of joint attention in child development & strategies for fostering it.