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I remember reading in a post that someone lets the child cross out boxes as they get completed. I picked up a booklet at dd's O.T. today about visual strategies. I had been thinking about giving her some kind of schedule and/or calendar to keep her on task. She does not read or write well, so I didn't want something with a lot of words. I think this kind of structure will be good for her. Does anyone use anything like this with HOD? DD will be in 1st grade. Just looking for ideas.

Pam,

I will share what we do. It is a visual schedule, I guess, although I don't use pictures.

I have a "chalk board" cut-out that I write the title to each box in the manual. Then I use "apple" cut-outs for the individual child's name if we do it separate like math or phonics. I laminate each cut-out and put magnets on the back to place on the fridge. When we are finished with a box we take the magnet down. That way my dc know how much "work" they have left to do. Just an idea!!

Robbin

I haven't used this for HOD, but as a daily schedule. For HOD, or school in general, you could find images on the web of something to represent each box or "activity set", like the cover of the book used, or a character in a storybook, or crayons for art, or just type some letters to represent phonics. You can keep the same symbol even when you switch books. Paste them in a row or column in a word processing document and resize them if needed to fit on one page. You can type the name of each activity next to the pictures for added reading support We put ours in a plastic sheet protector before hanging it up. You can mark on it with dry-erase markers too if you want to. HTH

i made a table.
The first column has the subjects(or box form HOD)and anything extra we do. The first row has the Day #. I laminated it. You could put it in a page protector. Ours is a little bit bigger than the size of my hand. We use a dry erase marker to mark the box when it is done. I think i need it as much as the kids

Jenn D.

Thanks for the ideas. They are all good ones. It did help. I'm starting to come up with ideas. I think dd will benefit from pictures, along with the subject word. Size will matter, too. DD has some visual problems, so she will like something larger. I will probably use a conservative piece of poster board and laminate it. I just haven't decided how I'm going to have her mark it. Since it won't be on the fridge, I can't use magnets. I was thinking velcro. Anyway, my 'lacking' creative wheels are turning I need to make this exciting for dd, since she will be coming home from K at school. I also like the idea of the post-it flags in the manual. That would help ME keep track of what was finished

My ds needed a schedule too, and I was thinking of making some kind of chart for him. Then I came across a pocket chart (on Amazon) that a teacher would use in their classroom for things like sentence strips, etc. I think it was around $20. So I bought that and then just wrote all of the subjects on index cards (or you could draw or cut out pictures to represent the subjects). Each night I put all of the subjects for the next day in order in the pocket chart. When he finishes a subject, he flips the card over and moves on to the next one. It's nice too because I add in "snack" and "lunch" so he can see when he gets a break. DS is SUCH a visual kid and this has helped him tremendously. It made the day go so much more smoothly when he could see the 'big plan' and then see his progress (because he's also a 'planner' ). The pocket chart is quite big, but we only leave it up during the week, hung on the knob of a cabinet in the dining room (where we do most of our schooling). For the weekend or if we're having company, I just take it down and stash it in the office to get it out of the way. It was a good investment for us!

I do have my dc put a small check in the corner of each box in the HOD manuals as they complete them. This has worked especially well for the older guides, as I can easily see what they've completed without asking them, since they are more independent. I give each child a copy of the order of the boxes they will do at the start of each year and a copy of the overall schedule for everyone (which no one refers to but me and my oldest , but they still all want it). They quickly learn the routine and only refer to their order of boxes then, and after awhile, even that is not necessary. For example, here is a copy of the schedule I gave everyone, and next 2 are copies of the order of boxes sheets for my middle ds doing BHFHG half-speed (he alternated between the 2):



This has really cut down on the "What do I do next?" questions, as well as kept each of us on track with the overall routine of the day, though the times are not exact. When they were younger, we used pictures to help them. With these few helps, we've been able to do 3 HOD programs at once and finish by lunch time. We love our homeschooling days! I think that you've gotten some great ideas here already, so by meshing the ideas you like, you should be on your way to happily using a visual schedule for your little sweetie.

In Christ,
Julie