Monthly Archives: March 2019

Increasing Participation in Daily Routines

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Establishing routines in your child’s life are crucial in that they help to create expectations and predictability. However, certain routines can often be difficult to follow when considering a parent’s work schedule and child’s behavior at particular times of the day. Children often feel as though they experience a loss of control when being asked to constantly “do this and that.” Parents-don’t panic! Try implementing these small tricks at home and school, which have been shown to increase your child’s participation and motivation to engage in routines!

How can routines help my child?

Routines are created to help your child understand what he/she should be expected to do throughout the day. Routines are important in a variety of settings, including the home and school. It is the parents’ and teachers’ duties to enforce these routines on a daily basis, which can include specific activities as well as consistent responses that reinforce participation. For example, if a child is expected to sit for circle time and he/she is having difficulties, it is crucial that the teacher responds in a consistent way in order for the child to understand that circle time is the next step and the child is expected to participate.

What if my child has difficulties following routines?

If your child is having difficulties following specific routines at home or school, creating a visual schedule of the specific steps in that routine can help to increase your child’s motivation and control of the situation. For example, if your child demonstrates resistance towards the morning routine, follow these simple steps to create a visual schedule:

  1. Take pictures of your child engaging in each step of the routine (e.g. waking up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, etc.)
  2. Place the pictures vertically on paper, numbering each step to help the child understand what needs to be done first/last.
  3. Allow the child to mark each step once completed. Ask your child how he/she wants to mark the steps (e.g. putting a sticker next to the completed step). Laminating the schedule is a fun way in which your child can “X” off the steps and then erase for the next day.
  4. Use this schedule every day for at least two weeks, which will allow for sufficient time to understand whether it is making an impact or not. It is important that all caregivers use the chart with your child in order to build consistency. 

How do these visual schedules actually help?

Visual schedules serve many purposes for children and caregivers. First, the pictures on the schedules allow children to see themselves in action, which adds an extra fun factor. Secondly, the schedule allows children to have increased control, in that they are able to mark off each completed step. Lastly, the schedule serves as reminders to the caregivers as to what the child has done and what he/she needs to further complete. It is also helpful for caregivers to add in an incentive if the child is able to complete all steps included in a routine (e.g. giving your child extra play time before leaving for school).

Questions or concerns?

If you have questions or concerns about your child’s routines, please contact us at info@playworkschicago.com or 773-332-9439.

Brittany Hill, MS, MSW, LCSW, DT
Assistant Director of Social Work Services
Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Photo Credit: Openclipart-Vectors via Pixabay

Reducing Screen Time in the Home

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Tablets, smartphones, computers, televisions, and more…our world today often seems to be dominated by screens. Yet, one of the most common warnings heard by parents everywhere is:

“Don’t let your child have too much screen time!”

This warning may instantly lead many parents to wonder, “How much is too much?” And once that is determined, “What can I do to set limits on screen time in my home?” Let’s take a look at these common thoughts and questions!

Why is too much screen time a bad thing?

Recent research has produced a variety of results on the potential negative outcomes for children who spend too much time each day watching or using screens. Dr. Cara Booker and colleagues discovered that children who use screens heavily tend to be less happy and suffer from more social/emotional problems than their peers. The content of what is behind many screens can often encourage feelings of discouragement and low self-esteem.  Children who spend a large amount of time “tuned-in” to a screen also tend to miss out on learning and practicing important social skills, such as maintaining conversation and managing social conflict. Additional studies report that children who spend more time watching and using screens also spend less time sleeping at night. Screens can cause physical stimulation within your child’s brain, causing excitement that makes it more difficult to calm down and get ready fro sleep. Too much screen time is also linked to a higher risk for obesity, one reason being that screen time while eating can distract a child’s body from understanding when it is full, which may lead to over-eating. Overall, children who are exposed to increased screen time tend to present with increased cognitive, language, and social/emotional delays.

How much is too much?

With significant potential harms noted, it is important to ask, how much screen time is too much? To answer this question, The American Academy of Pediatrics created age-based guidelines on screen time for children. The exact numbers, as well as additional useful tips on appropriate media usage for children, can be found on their website:The American Academy of Pediatrics Age-Based Guidelines.

Helpful Tip: The American Academy of Pediatrics also offers online tools for families to create a unique “Family Media Plan” or to use a “Media Time Calculator.” Find both tools here.

Remember, these guidelines are just that – a GUIDE – and every family will run into days where screen time exceeds the recommended amount. That is okay!You may find that during a particularly stressful day at home, or over a long weekend spent mostly in the car, your child’s screen time total adds up to much more than the number stated in these guidelines. As long as these “excess” days are limited, and not the norm, they will not have the same negative effects on your child.

Steps to Reducing Screen Time

Once you begin to notice that excessive screen time is the norm in your home, it is time to consider taking action! Here are seven steps to get you started:

  1. Eat all meals without a screen
  • Allow meals to be a time to interact with one another. Share a favorite story from the day, or something you hope to see happen that day!
  1. Set up “technology-free” zones
  • Choose one area of your home. This is a great opportunity to get your child’s input. If they contribute to creating the technology-free zone, they will be more likely to actually utilize the technology-free zone! *NOTE: Be sure all beds are zoned to be “TECH-FREE”
  1. Set a timer when using screens
  • Sand timers, kitchen timers, and digital alarm clocks all work well! Before screen time begins, have your child set the timer with you (to the pre-determined time allowed) and review what happens when the timer goes off.
  1. Schedule specific times each day to “un-plug”
  • As a family, decide on a period of time during the day when you will collectively “un-plug.” This means parents too! Together you will put all phones, tablets and computers away. Turn off the TV and tune into your environment instead. *NOTE: Timers can be used to track your un-plugged time too!
  1. Use parental controls
  • Most devices offer an option for parental controls. Using this setting will allow you to set time limits and make sure that your child is only exposed to parent-approved content.
  1. Model limited screen use
  • Your children learn from watching you! Practice limiting your own screen time so that your child will see it can be done (and hopefully see the benefits as well).
  1. Replace screen-time with a different engaging activity
  • Have a plan ready for what your child can do with the time he/she used to spend with a screen. Below are just a few of many options available for activities that can replace screen-time, and better promote your child’s health and development!

Examples of Alternative Activities

Questions or concerns?

If you have questions or concerns about your child’s development or the effects of screen time in your home, please contact us at info@playworkschicago.com or at (773) 332-9439.

Stephanie Wroblewski, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker

References:

Grant, Sheena. “Do Children Have Too Much Screen Time and Does It Matter How Much Time They Spend on IPads, Smartphones and Laptops?” East Anglian Daily Times, 17 Oct. 2015, www.eadt.co.uk/ea-life/do-children-have-too-much-screen-time-and-does-it-matter-how-much-time-they-spend-on-ipads-smartphones-and-laptops

The American Academy of Pediatrics Website, (Itasca, IL, USA). American Academy of Pediatrics Announces New Recommendations for Children’s Media Use. Retrieved from: https://www.aap.org

The American Academy of Pediatrics Website, (Itasca, IL, USA). Family Media Plan. Retrieved from: https://www.healthychildren.org

Photo credit: Photo by Hal Gatewood on Unsplash

More Than Words: Building Social Communication Skills

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Does your child have difficulty playing with other children? Do they prefer to play alone or demonstrate challenges in making friends? This blog will discuss what pragmatic (social) communication is, review the signs of a pragmatic language delay or disorder, and provide strategies for encouraging pragmatic language development in your child.

What is pragmatic language and why is it important?

Pragmatic language or social communication refers to the appropriate use of language in social situations. It is not only what we say, but also how we say it. This includes being able to understand and use nonverbal cues such as body language and facial expressions. Pragmatic language is comprised of various important skills for successful communication, including eye contact, turn-taking, initiating and maintaining conversation, and understanding and using humor, among others. Children may have difficulty with one or more of these skills. It is important to support the development of your child’s pragmatic language skills so that they can learn to express themselves, understand others, and build relationships with family and peers.

Signs of a pragmatic language delay or disorder:

  • Preferring to play alone for an extended period of time
  • Limited eye contact while talking and/or playing
  • Difficulty taking turns
  • Limited initiation of conversation or play
  • Difficulty maintaining a topic of conversation
  • Difficulty participating in pretend play activities
  • Difficulty understanding or expressing emotions
  • Difficulty understanding another’s point of view
  • Difficulty interpreting tone of voice or body language
  • Difficulty making inferences
  • Difficulty using appropriate greetings
  • Difficulty adapting language to different listeners (i.e. talking to a friend the same way as to an adult)
  • Difficulty adapting language based on environment (i.e. talking the same way on the playground as in the classroom)
  • Not providing background information when appropriate

Strategies for building pragmatic language skills:

  • Pretend play:Engage in pretend play activities with your child, such as playing house, pretending to bake cookies, or pretending to be a veterinarian. Pretend play facilitates growth in cooperative back and forth play, ability to act out social situations, and ability to understand another’s perspective.
  • Turn-taking games:Turn-taking is a fundamental skill of communication as it teaches the basic back-and-forth exchange of a conversation. Through turn-taking games children learn to wait when it is someone else’s turn and they learn how to identify when it is their turn. Turn-taking games could be as simple as rolling a ball back and forth or taking turns blowing bubbles. You could also play simple turn-taking board games with your child to support development of this skill.
  • Story time:When reading a book with your child, try to make it interactive. Based on their age and language skills you could ask them to describe the pictures and what they see. For older children you can ask questions such as, “How do you think he feels?” or “What do you think she will do?” Prompting your child to answer these types of questions will help your child to make inferences, learn to understand another person’s perspective, and have a better understanding of emotions.
  • Be a good role model: You are your child’s best teacher. Model appropriate social communication skills such as making appropriate eye contact, using appropriate greetings, asking on-topic follow up questions, etc. Help your child to use these social communication skills when talking to family, teachers, and peers.
  • Facilitating peer interactions:Children need practice in order to learn to share, take turns, and play cooperatively with others. Setting up play-dates that you can be present for is a great way to facilitate peer interactions and relationships. You can encourage your child to communicate with their peer by prompting them to initiate conversation and play ideas. In addition you can encourage them to maintain play and communication with their peer by prompting them to ask on topic questions and make on topic comments.

Questions or concerns?

If you have questions or concerns about your child’s pragmatic language skills, please contact us at info@playworkschicago.com or 773-332-9439.

Claire Kakenmaster, MS, CCC-SLP
Speech Language Pathologist

Photo Credit: Image by HaiRobe on Pixabay