Transitions and Schedules
A presentation to my
peer Parents in the Salt Lake
~ By Kamaile Harris
About the Author: Kamaile has 19 years experience working with People
of all ages in Mental/Behavioral Healthcare and Independent Living. She has
been a Psychiatric Technician, Rehabilitation Technician and Childcare Worker.
Kamaile has served as 12 Step Co-dependency, Drug and Alcohol Counselor and
currently works for Small Business as Social Media Director. Most recently
Kamaile has worked with the Children’s Center of Utah, a facility which
provides Counseling and Treatment for Families and Children.
Kamaile is of Native Hawaiian descent and she takes personal responsibility of their tried and true ways of life. Which are but not limited to 1) Voyaging in Life to create opportunity of experience, compassion and change; 2) Building interpersonal relationships by having open lines of communication, forgiveness and education and ; 3) Empowering others to determine their own path to true happiness and effective use of the Material World.
Objective:
This presentation will teach the listener how to get the benefits of Trusting
Relationships, Open Mentality towards Change by giving Parents tools to
dialogue communication with Children of a young age and Provide Children with
appropriate Social Skills to utilize while alone in decision making. Parents
will learn concepts of Transitions and Schedules through:
1) Teaching skills.
2) Demonstrating abilities,
application of skills in activity.
3) Practice, evaluation and mastery.
4) Relative application in Life.
Statement:
The transitions and schedules of daily life are always changing which gives Parents
an opportunity to prepare their children in Activities of Daily Living to be
prepared for the outside World. When appropriately executed, these points in
daily living will give children effective tools to use in social development,
empower them with a sense of responsibility and caring for their World and
builds a strong relationship platform for Families.
Transitions are
necessary in life to learn patience, execution of change and develop motivation
to manage obstacles. Schedules are
important to maintain logical and effective use of skills/tools to make living
a full life easier.
1.
Establish what tasks are going to take place.
2.
Create a feasible schedule with enough time
allotted for the patience required to teach small children.
3.
Practice.
4.
Do not be intimidated by outside influence on
schedules but empower yourself to create deadlines and tasks within realistic
timeframes.
5.
When you work with Children, Smile and have enthusiasm ~
Schedules:
Heal ~ This is the time to put your past issues behind you
and create a platform for change.
Have effective dialogue:
1.
Give information: “This is what We are going to
do today”
2.
Have patience: “Good try! Do you want Me to show
you again?”
3.
Make opportunities for your Child to apply
learning: “What’s next?” “Did We do everything We had scheduled?”
Transitions:
Teach ~ This is where We prepare our children to have an
open heart and mind to information. Create visual objects so your Child can
view their progress. *Compassion is a necessary additive in Love. Be effected
by emotion.
Dialogue:
“This is what We are going to do today?”
“This is where We are going to start?”
“Do you remember how to do it?”
“Let’s look at the schedule again and see if we’re on track”
Looking ahead:
Empower ~ This is when We allow Children to do for
themselves and maintain openness by using encouragement toward independence.
*When working with children you should always smile. They are learning from
your example how to approach issues in the real World around them. Use words like
“remember?” or “like yesterday” to redirect a Child whom has forgotten the
routine.
Release ~ This is where We trust that the education and care
We have given our Children by allowing them to make decisions on their own.
*Know the difference between effort and deviant behavior. Use phrases like “Are
you ok?” and “Can I help you?” to maintain the openness your Child would need
to return to you for answers and advice. Do not be afraid to tell your child
you do not know and be willing to help them find the answers.
Relationship
building tools:
Diffuse ~ Be effected by emotion. Give praise, hugs and
celebrate accomplishments. Let consequences be natural so the Teaching
relationship between you and your Child is Open.
Redirect ~ Give your Child a perspective of their ensuing
control of the World by teaching them to observe the effect they have on the People
around them. Ensure your Child that We can learn from mistakes. Give praise,
hugs and celebrate accomplishments.
Recreate ~ Teach your Child the perspective of reusing knowledge,
experience and compassion to make necessary changes to our efforts by creating
new opportunities to solve problems. Everyday problems can be solved easily
when we:
1.
Establish the true problem.
2.
Think of creative ways to handle the problem at
hand.
3.
Experiment with ideas.
4.
Allow your Child to make changes they see
necessary. Agree as a Team (Parent and Child) what decisions will be made.
Discuss effectiveness and determine need for further change.
Effective
communication:
“I’m sorry. What did you mean?”
“Do you have anything you want to talk about?”
“What do you think?”
“Instead of doing ____ let’s try _____, what do you think?”
Empower:
Empowerment is giving the authority to have control and power
over change. When We teach our Children to utilize communication, evaluation &
problem solving, We create an open teaching relationship but also We empower our
Children to navigate the larger World at hand. This concept of learning is
appropriate for Parents to teach their children of all ages and by correlation encourages
Parents to maintain these simple Social Skills.
*Give your Child the opportunity:
1.
To ask questions.
2.
To give their input and ideas.
3.
To see you recover from mistakes.
4.
To have an open line of communication with you.
Activity:
How to make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich:
This activity will be set up in three stations. Two or three
Parents will run each station while keeping in mind the tools they just learned
through this presentation. Two to three Children will take each step at a time
together.
1 Orientation;
A)
Tell Kids what We will do.
B)
Ask if they have any experience.
C)
Give Instructions Step-by-step.
2 Practice;
A) Allow the Child to master each
step. *Check off sheets are useful.
B) Allow the Child to make mistakes
by trying again.
3 Final project;
A)
Evaluate use of each step and recognize their
mastery.
B)
Give the Child full attention when they have
ideas and utilize them so they can evaluate effectiveness of their own decision
making skills.
C)
Repeat as needed.
1
Step by step instructions in a handout.
2
Bread, peanut butter and jelly.
3
Plates, cups, butter knives, paper towels and
cleaner.
4
Tables and chairs.
5
Drinks.
Closing Statements
We, as Parents, are Our Child’s first Teacher and I hope
this has given you a perspective of how We can enable their ability to learn
and execute change on their own. By having open dialogue and soft heart with
our Children We build a strong relationship with them. By empowering them to
learn on their own they are learning ultimate trust in themselves and us as
their caretaker.
By creating opportunities for Children to evaluate their
performance, We give them a perspective of a constant and changing World. You
and your Child are the first effort at Team Playing and We prepare them for
Social Interactions by teaching them first how to operate within a Family. By
putting the Family in this position of openness, teaching and education; We create
the necessary environment and build the appropriate tools for whatever
transitions and schedules one might face in Life.
In the article “Benefits of creating Empowerment in the Workplace”
it states the following benefits of empowerment related to the business World:
(Ask Parents how this can relate to the Home vs. Work)
1.
Workplace Satisfaction ~ Enjoy Work
2.
Management Trust and Communication ~ Open lines
of Communication with Superiors
3.
Good Words Spread ~ Dialogue is relatable and
effective
4.
Generation X in Action ~ Responsibility for
creating change
Related hand-out to Teach Parents application of Transition/Schedule
Skills in the Workplace:
http://woman.thenest.com/benefits-creating-empowerment-workplace-6263.html
