This term we have been exploring the topic of
our community. Both mine and Lucy's class each week (or 2 weeks for some) explore a different place-
the doctors, dentist, hairdressers, opticians and spa. For the first week of
term we explored the hairdressers. For each topic we have planned a carousel of
activities for the children. The children have had great fun exploring and
discovering in these sessions.
What
are the learning opportunities in these sessions?
There are so many opportunities on offer during
these sessions. Whilst they are great fun and the sessions should be enjoyable,
it is important to remember why we
are doing the activities. These activities allow opportunities:
To
show an awareness of sensory stimuli/experiences
To
develop a sense of anticipation
To
provide opportunity to communicate preferences
There are many other opportunities on offer and
each of my pupils have their own personal targets which may be covered within
the session. For more able pupils, these may include self-help and independence
skills such as learning to assist in washing and drying their own hair.
Beginning the session
I begin all of my sessions with a song as a cue that we are about to start something. It’s a really simple song-
‘It’s time for learning here we go (clap hands),
It’s time for learning here we go (clap hands),
It’s time for learning,
It’s time for learning,
It’s time for learning here we go!’
(To the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It)
The
hairdressers
Washing
hair
For some pupils we were able to recline their wheelchairs
and remove the headrest (one person supported the child’s head while another
did the washing) and for others we used a waterproof bean bag with their head
resting over the end. We had a washing bowl of water in a tuff spot tray under
the wheelchair and gently poured the warm water over their hair. For some of
the children neither of these approaches were suitable so we used a water spray
bottle instead. We cued the children with ‘ready, steady...go’ to help develop
a sense of anticipation for the water being poured. There were mixed initial
reactions, some children stilled whereas others immediately giggled. Many more
children enjoyed having the shampoo massaged into their hair and there were one
or two who gave a helping hand rubbing it in. Over the course of the week it
was great to see that many of the children were showing anticipation of the
activities, giggling and vocalising happily as we said ‘ready, steady…go!’ Upon
having his chair reclined, one child began squealing excitedly, and then used
the word ‘go’ to indicate when he was ready for the water to be poured.
Drying
hair
We both towel dried and used a hairdryer to dry
the hair, taking into account preferences observed and developed over the week.
Due to the loud sound made by the hair dryer, some of our children found this
to be an overwhelming experience. It is important to recognise there is as much
value in a child’s negative reaction to an experience as there is for a
positive one. I always remind my support staff of this when they are writing up
any observations, not to omit any negative reactions; these reactions communicate
preference. I would also, where
appropriate, not be averse to try repeating an activity that a pupil may have
indicated a dislike towards previously. As with all of us, the things we like may
change over time. Most young children may not like flavours such as olives, dark
chocolate or coffee but as adults we may delight in such things. Repeat
experiences to see if their responses are consistent, in enjoyment or dislike,
and whether there has been any change over time. During this week, I had one
child who startled and stilled at the sound of the hairdryer on the first occasion.
She loves windy weather, so I was fairly sure that it was the sound that she
was unsure of. I used the dryer on the lowest speed and on the cool setting, warning
her before I turned it on and initially blowing it on her hand before her hair.
I did this in short bursts, turning it off, giving a verbal cue, blowing on her
hand, blowing on her head for about 5-10 seconds before turning it off, pausing
and repeating the process. By the end of the week there were little smiles
during this activity where there had previously been a startle. Experiences
like this are particularly meaningful as they are relevant to day to day life
and can make a small but meaningful difference. In the future, with this
experience continued at home, it may be that this child will tolerate her hair
being blown dry at home or during a visit to the salon.
Dying
hair (or spaghetti hair!) & using hair accessories.
We used some UV hair gels and hair chalks in a
tuff spot tray which has UV LED lights taped around the inside. I put cooked
spaghetti inside the tray and squirted blobs of the dye into it. As the
children handled the spaghetti they could quickly see the effects of their actions
as it began to glow luminous yellow, pink and green. For my more able pupils I
also had some ‘squeeze’ scissors (used with close supervision) to cut the
spaghetti hair. It may be a nice idea to hang the spaghetti through the holes
in a basket (plastic toy one would do) or drape over an A-frame to practice
cutting. This is a great opportunity to work on those fine motor skills. Some
children enjoyed having their own hair styled using the gels and we had some
interesting reactions as they looked in the mirror- particularly when we held
the lights up behind them and their hair appeared to glow! I do have one pupil
who particularly dislikes getting messy; activities like finger painting would
normally be a no go. However, with the UV light she was happy to get her hands
in and spread the UV hair gel, showing interest in the marks she has made as
the colours immediately stood out and fluoresced. Some pupils also enjoyed
decorating the hair of the supporting adults choosing their preferred colours
of dye and adding in their choice of hair accessories including fibre optic
hair clips. We had some fantastic, weird and wonderful styles over the week!
Finishing the session
As with the start of the session, I always cue the end of my sessions with a song. This song is sung to the tune of 'Mary had a Little Lamb'.
It is time to finish now,
Finish now,
Finish now,
It is time to finish now,
Put everything away.
We also celebrate any achievements during the session by choosing something each child has done particularly well or enjoyed during the session and sing it to the tune of 'here we go round the Mulberry bush' e.g. NAME did good ACTION today, good ACTION today, good ACTION today etc. I must confess that I pinched this fab idea from Amy Perkins' class at the amazing Chailey Heritage School which myself and Lucy were thoroughly 'wowed' at when we visited last year.
Last week and this week we have been feeling
very relaxed as we explored our topic of the Spa- we’ve been using face masks,
foot spas and enjoying hand and foot massages! We hope to have a professional
beauty therapist visit our classroom too. Blog post to follow shortly!
No comments:
Post a Comment