As we transition into fall, many fun activities start to happen. People enjoy picking apples and making their way out of corn mazes. The crisp smell of bond fires fills the air. Halloween is right around the corner. I do not know about you, but I love the fall season—especially Halloween. Something about the costumes and decorations makes this holiday fun and exciting. Receiving delicious candy also helps.
However, as a special education teacher for over 20 years, I know that this time of year can be challenging for students with varying needs. There can be a lot of overt stimulation because of parties, costumes, and families’ schedules change frequently. That is why I recommend special education teachers use Halloween and the fall season as an opportunity to reinforce—not shy away—the skills that your students are building.
Our Healthy Relationships Curriculum teaches students a variety of social skills topics including setting appropriate physical boundaries, building, and maintaining relationships, and even what to wear.
When students are invited to Halloween parties and fall get-togethers, these are opportunities where their social skills may be evaluated. Our program offers numerous resources to help you craft lessons that can fit into any situation. For example, you might want to teach students what appropriate attire is for various events. Our program will help you teach proper ways to inform students why they need to wear clothes that can get muddy at a corn maze, why warm clothes at a bonfire is necessary during cold evenings, and why the fun of wearing a custom should be limited to wearing it on Halloween.
When you purchase this program, you will receive access to more than 180 videos, lesson plans, role-playing and demonstrations, and an online portal that allows you to teach these concepts more concretely to those students and clients we work with daily. Because our team has spent decades teaching and working with students with various needs, we have been in your position and are poised to answer any questions you might have. I would encourage you to take a look at a sample lesson or reach out to request a free trial to learn how you can implement this program with your students.
Enjoy a safe, fun fall season filled with good times and memories!
Author: Jen Falkowski, MEd — Supervisor of Special Education
