Module 9: Special Learning Sessions
So far, we have been giving you suggestions for how to teach your child important “learning-to-learn” skills that can be taught in the natural environment, throughout the day. For children under the age of 2, continue your teaching in the natural environment. Try to teach skills, during daily routines, as we discussed in Modules 4 and 5. In this Module, we will talk about how to set up special sitting and learning sessions. These sessions are best with children who are past their third birthday. If your child is past his second birthday and you want to try these specific learning sessions, be sure to keep them very short and fun for the child.
Once your child becomes used to these learning sessions and begins to pay attention to you for longer periods of time, you should be able to teach some basic skills more easily and quickly than you can in the natural environment.
In the next section of this module, we are going to describe some general things you need to know, such as how long these sessions should be. We will also show you video examples of what these sitting and learning sessions look like. Finally, we will describe 5 basic skills that you could work on in your first learning sessions (Following simple instructions with objects, Following simple instructions without objects, Imitating actions with and without objects, Imitating sounds and words, and Matching).
Then, the next sections will get into the details, such as how to set up a place for your learning sections, how to teach simple instructions with objects, and how to teach imitation. Work your way through each of the sections in the order listed. When you reach the end of each section, you will find a link to the next.
Begin with Short (5 Minute) Learning Sessions
Children who are under the age of 3 can have a hard time paying attention and sitting still for a long time. They learn best with lots of small breaks in between the short lessons you will set up. You can start with learning sessions that are 3-5 minutes or even shorter. But you can have many sessions in one day. That way, your child will learn that this is fun and this will help him pay attention. Try to stop before your child becomes too tired, bored, or frustrated to do any good learning.
How long should your play breaks be? That depends on how much of a break your child needs, and how much time is needed for the play break activity. If your child can work for 3-5 minutes then you can give him about a 3-minute break. When you’re starting these special learning sessions, the goal is to help your child sit and listen. One way to do this is to make the sessions as fun as possible. You don’t have to say when you’re moving back and forth between work and break time, but you can praise him for “good sitting” or “great work” throughout.
Age Guidelines
The general age guideline that we are suggesting is to start with special learning sessions when the child is past his third birthday. But these age guidelines are not firm. You have to judge what your child is ready for. If you have a Behavior Analyst working with your child, you can ask them whether you should try these short sitting and learning sessions.
Monitor how your child reacts and how long he can sit and pay attention. Let that guide you. Remember that young children are just learning self-control. So when a young child has about the developmental level of a typical 2-year-old, you can expect the child to sit and pay attention to short lessons. These should last only a few minutes each. If he is developing like a typical 3-year-old, you can expect him to pay attention to you for longer periods of time. But if he is younger than 3, or acts like a child younger than 3, he may not be able to control himself and pay attention longer than a few minutes at a time.
Keep Learning Successful & Enjoyable
It’s very important to keep in mind that learning should be fun. Children learn better when they are in a good mood, awake and alert, and interested in what’s going on. You may be asking your child to learn things that are hard for him. Make sure that you are keeping your child interested and involved, and that the things you are teaching are not too hard. Try to avoid teaching things that are way beyond your child’s ability. Always start out giving your child all the help he needs to be successful. Use plenty of prompts and LOTS of reinforcement. As we keep saying, make learning fun and be patient. Even small gains can be very important.
Finding the best pace for teaching your child may take some time and a bit of trial and error. It’s best to start by requiring very little of your child. Don’t worry; no matter where you have to start, you will be able to increase the time gradually. Your child will also make more effort as he gets used to the learning sessions. This is because you will offer him really fun activity breaks that he will come to look forward to after finishing each small lesson. And, all through the lesson you will give him lots of praise, tickles, hugs and kisses, etc. Teach your child that first comes the lesson (which should also be fun) and then a lot of fun with no demands. Once your child understands this you can begin to very slowly increase the number of trials in each lesson before you give him his fun break. When we say “trial,” we mean one chance for the child to follow an instruction.
Be sure to use lots of rewards during these short lessons that your child really likes. And of course, you should try to keep the tasks interesting and fun. Always show lots of enthusiasm, and remember to keep your learning sessions short, so that your child doesn’t get bored or frustrated.
Make Sure the Last Trial is a Successful One
Try to end your learning sessions with success. Do this by giving your child one simple task you know he can do well, like a favorite puzzle or putting blocks in a bowl or cup. Then enthusiastically praise him and say, “Okay, let’s take a play break.” The reason to end on a successful note is that if you give your child a break when he is fussy or refuses to do something, you will probably have rewarded the non-cooperative behavior. It’s much better to reward him with a break right after he’s done something correctly and cooperatively. In the next section, we will talk more about principles of teaching and learning that you can use in your learning sessions. And remember, you can use the strategies you have learned to use in the natural environment during play breaks too.
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Some Video Examples
Now we are going to show you some video clips of a child who is working with a teacher during a learning session. In all of these clips, the teacher is trying to make the learning session fun for the child. It’s filled with treats and surprises. Each of the “teaching programs” works on a specific skill. In each of the following clips, you will see the teacher work quickly through one skill, reinforcing the child with a combination of praise, tickles and treats for his correct responses. Then they take a break to do something fun together.
Watch each of these clips and see if you notice that the teacher is giving the child only as much help as he needs to get it right. In the next clip, the child needs a lot of help at first. The teacher gently points to the cup, but also guides his arm. Then she reinforces him with praise, a piece of cookie, or a tickle. Then she pulls back a little and points to the cup, but from farther away, giving him less help. Finally, he does it right all by himself and gets a big treat – a break and some physical play. Even during the physical play, the teacher is modeling language (up!) and the teacher uses natural reinforcement by pulling him up, as he wants.
In the next two clips the teacher and child are working on imitation. In the first clip, the child wants both of the cars. The teacher says he can have them if he does really good work. Look how closely he is paying attention to her! In the second clip, the child has chosen the reinforcer he wants to work for: spinning tops! Watch how the teacher keeps the learning trials very short and tries to make them as much fun as possible.
In the next clip, the teacher is teaching the child to follow a new instruction; “walk around chair”. At first, he needs a lot of help with physical prompts, but by the end of the short teaching session, the teacher has faded her prompts and he can do it all by himself. Notice also that he’s having a lot of fun and receiving a lot of reinforcers, like tickles, praise, and a treat. Notice also that she rewards him even when he still needs a prompt.
In the rest of this module, we are going to talk about how to prepare for special learning sessions as well as how to teach five basic skills that your child needs to learn. Some of these skills will be broken up into 2 or 3 sections.
These five skills are:
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Here are the remaining sections of this module. We recommend completing them in the order they are listed.
Setting Up Your Learning Place
Following Simple Instructions with Objects
Imitation: An Important Learning-to-Learn Skill
Following Simple Instructions Without Objects
Module 9 Special Learning Sessions Quiz