From NICU to School - Useful strategies

Explore useful learning strategies

Many strategies listed on this page can be used with children of any age, although some of them are more appropriate for younger children. We suggest you use them selectively taking the child’s views into account.

• Fine motor coordination

  These are activities to build up strength, dexterity and control. For example:
  
  •    Playing with sand, water or making and playdoh. This can be very good for squeezing, pushing, pinching, rolling, and being creative.
  •    Using a pincer grip – games with clothes pegs, peg boards and patterns, sorting small objects, using the child’s imagination to make games out of these activities.
  •    Large and small mark making (using big arm movements and finer detail) with various materials and tools (paints, chalk, pens, large paper) creating scribbles, random or planned patterns, colouring and developing into the child’s drawings. 
  •    Helping your child to bake cakes or cook a simple meal will help develop their fine motor coordination skills.

  You can make manipulative play and activities fun: doing them together with an adult or socially with other children, using shared humour, and following the child’s interests and lead. Make sure the child’s efforts are valued and praised to further enhance the positive experience around these activities to help them to persevere. It is important to notice even small achievements.

  Find more information about coordination and motor skills.

• Visual perception, motor co-ordination and planning skills

  • Introduce and provide step by step pictures of how to do a task. For example, pictures in the correct order for a regular routine, such as getting ready for school.
  • Develop cue cards or other visual aids with the child for tasks that they find difficult. For example, place dots on the left of a page to indicate where to start on a new line, and directional prompts (such as up/down or left/right arrows) for specific letters and numbers that they may struggle with.
  • Help the child to think how to visually organise their toys, tasks, belongings or materials in a way that helps them with the task.
  • Give time and visual prompts if needed for the child to process spatial language (for example, top, bottom, in front, behind and so on).

  It is important to recognise the unpredictability and uncertainty that the child may feel when experiencing these difficulties, and the impact on their emotions and reactions. Providing positive feedback, reassurance and prompts might help when the child becomes stuck.

• Responding to sensory differences

  Children process sensory information via hearing, smell, taste, vision, movement, body position and touch. Difficulties can occur within one or more of these senses and can be related to being under-sensitive (where more stimulation is needed) or oversensitive (where less stimulation is needed). Some children can be under-sensitive in one sense and over-sensitive in another. Sensory processing skills can also change day to day – depending on the environment, tiredness, distractions and presence of other stressors.
  
  Observing and making a note of how the child reacts – their likes/ preferences, dislikes/ things they avoid, any distress they show – to each of these senses will help you to understand the child. You may have access to a sensory checklist to help you do this. Share information with key people involved with the child, at home or at school.
  
  In general, if the child is under-sensitive to a particular sense and seeks more stimulation, the focus should be on recognising that need and organising suitable activities to provide it. The focus will be different for each of the senses.

  • Example 1 - if the child is under-sensitive to movement, they may seek a lot of physical activity by running, spinning, crashing, hitting and bumping into things or people. Regular and planned activities could include rough and tumble play; jumping; using swings, trampoline, space hopper, ball pools and soft play areas; playing with weighted balls; pushing and carrying heavy objects; digging; using a weighted jacket or backpack; crawling through tight spaces/tunnels; firm rolling in a mat, blanket or sleeping bag; using a ‘move and sit’ cushion when doing table-top activities.
  • Example 2 – If the child is over-sensitive to sounds, they may react with distress or cover their ears to noises and particular environments which would not cause problems to other children. A planned approach could include: reducing the noise level and/or length of time they are exposed to it; providing a quiet area in school for certain times; giving the child a job/activity so that they are out of the classroom at a particularly noisy time; preparing and warning the child of predictable loud noises, such as the vacuum cleaner, washing machine, fire alarm practice; allowing the child to wear earplugs or headphones; allowing the child to have control over the source of a loud sound, for example to blow the whistle or press the play button on a music device such as a music player can help to gradually reduce their sensitivities.

  Always work with the child and their feelings about different activities or approaches, and note how they cope. Use what helps and adapt to new strategies as the child develops.

  Find more information about sensory differences.

• Auditory and receptive language skills (listening to and understanding language)

  • Reduce background noise whenever possible.
  • Simplify verbal and written instructions.
  • Give verbal information in short chunks.
  • Allow ‘processing time’ (e.g. count to 10 after you’ve asked the child to do something) and look for signs of understanding before giving the next piece of information.
  • Don’t change the instruction if you need to repeat it.
  • Accompany verbal instructions or information with visual clues like pictures, symbols or simple written words.
  • Visual cues can be used to support all aspects of daily life, such as understanding objects, verbs, books and daily routines.  
  • Provide information when and how activities will be done.
  • Encourage the child to tell you what they are going to be doing. Use prompts as above if needed.
  • Keep your voice friendly and warm.
  • Actively encourage the child to have the confidence to say when they do not understand or are unsure, and to ask what a word means (this is known as self-monitoring).
  • Check every so often that the child is ‘on track’, giving guidance and support if needed.
  • Encourage understanding and vocabulary through fun activities. For example, play, practical activities and language games, with lots of repetition and use in daily/ school life.

• Expressive language skills (use of words)

  • Name what the child is doing, seeing and feeling in the moment. Commenting tends to be much more helpful than asking them questions. This gives language linked to where their attention is focused and encourages the child to start using this language themselves.
    Value the child’s expressions of feelings, words and ideas, respond to and follow these and the child’s interests, and build from them.
  • Give the child time to express him/herself at their own pace – not rushing them or losing interest in what they are saying.
  • Repeat back or summarise key information to show that you have listened, and to check that you have understood the child’s meaning and model good use of words.
  • Encourage retelling of events, experiences and stories. Support this by offering verbal and visual prompts, such as photos and who, what, where, what happened, the end. This technique can also be used for problem-solving and can help with written work when a child needs to note events in a particular order.
  • Continue to value and develop spoken expression for the organisation of thoughts, ideas and information, using visual prompts if needed. Substitute spoken language for written recording tasks and use alternative recording such as scribing (where the child dictates their ideas to someone else to write down) or tape.

• Relationships, social interaction and social behavioural skills

  • Show interest and pay attention to things or activities that are important to the child.
    Be attentive and responsive to any interaction (non-verbal and verbal) that they initiate.
  • Provide a commentary on what they are doing and what you are doing. Have times of connecting and being together without a lot of instructions or questions.
  • Name emotions, feelings or situations– particularly positive feelings such as enjoyment, fun, pleasure, happy or relaxed, and feelings that often come before anger and more challenging behaviour such as disappointment, frustration, hurt, bounciness, uncertainty or confusion.
  • Show you understand their feelings or situation. For example, say aloud “Oh this is a bit tricky, I’m wondering what might help. Perhaps we could….”
  • Adapt the pace of conversation so that the child can follow and take part. Support and encourage the child’s brothers, sisters, friends and classmates to adapt their pace.
  • Provide social and emotional commentary to help the child understand what is happening, as well as learn and practice social skills.
  • Give the child clear, positively reinforced boundaries, routines and predictability.
  • Prepare for and support any changes.
  • Support and manage social situations and expectations, based on an understanding of your child’s underlying needs and demands on him/her in that situation – to help them have a positive social experience.

• Attention and concentration

  • Get the child’s attention before telling or showing them anything. For example, come down to their level, use their name or an agreed visual signal, such as a particular hand gesture or prompt card, and then wait for their attention to switch to you.
  • Reduce background noise and other distractions in the room whenever possible. Set up quiet, low-distraction areas for some focused work.
  • Remove distractions and unnecessary objects such as pencils and books from the child’s table or desk.
  • Provide a discrete ‘learning friend’ or fiddle object (for example, a piece of Blu-tac; a small bendy, rubber or textured toy/object or furry material) if this helps the child to pay attention when listening.
  • Present information in short chunks, for example, tell the child about something that’s going to happen in sequenced steps.
  • Reduce copying from the board or textbooks by providing a printed copy of key information.
  • Reduce the number of tasks on a page and present them in manageable chunks.
  • Provide a ‘window’ (a piece of paper or card with a rectangle cut out of it) that can frame small amounts of information to focus the child’s attention away from other distractions, or too much information on the page.
  • Pace the child’s work – give them shortened tasks they can complete before moving on to the next one.
  • When their attention wanders, give a positive or neutral task-related comment to help refocus the child’s attention.
  • Try to give the child natural opportunities to move around and switch attention when they need to sit still or stay focused for longer than they can currently manage.

• Working memory

  Find games and fun ways to practise and rehearse (try out and then practise). For example:

  • Post and name objects/pictures into a box, then see how many the child can remember. Start with a small number and increase as the child progresses.
  • Memory games such as ‘I went to market and bought a cake; a cake and a carton of juice…’ (You can vary this with different objects and categories, such as fruit, vegetables, farm animals, transport etc).
  • Sing and establish familiar songs and rhymes.
    Encourage fun with rhymes – make up or learn short poems; play with words, actions and rhymes.
  • Repeat and rehearse auditory information. Encourage the child to talk through what they are going to do.
  • Support auditory memory with visual cues/sequences (pictures, symbols, words) in key learning and daily tasks.

• Processing speed

  • Allow extra time – adapt your style to enable their thinking and contribution to be successful.
  • Support and encourage the child’s peers (friends, classmates and siblings) to give additional time, so that the child can be part of a conversation or an activity, for example.
  • Avoid emphasis on timed completion and comparison with others.
  • Help the child know their strengths and interests and give them plenty of opportunities to build on those and experience success.
  • Support the child to name things which are ‘hard’ or ‘a bit tricky’ or ‘frustrating’ for them and notice what helps them to get better or work around their difficulties.
  • Demonstrate and name whatever helps the child listen and respond.
  • Value effort, individual achievement and the progress they make.

• Organisation and planning

  • Introduce, build up and develop the child’s acceptance of using tools or aids. For example, prompts/reminder cards, stepped or sequenced schemas with linear and visual prompts (e.g. written, symbols, colour coding).
  • Prepare for new events and learning – introduce them by giving the child small chunks of information to process.
  • Develop new processes and learning through doing things together – make it a ‘we task’. The adult repeatedly does the task, and the child gradually gains the confidence to join in, doing part of the task and building up to doing it all.
  • Name the steps (known as self-talk) as you are doing them.
  • Encourage the child to check what they need to be doing by watching what others are doing.
  • Encourage the child to work with a partner, such as a friend or classmate.
  • Let the child know it is okay to ask a trusted person for help when stuck.
  • Help the child to learn and use some key phrases such as ‘I’m not sure what to do next’ or ‘I need to think’.
  • An adult can demonstrate the technique of self-asking questions (such as ‘what do I need to do next?’) or statements (‘now I need to stand up’) to support thinking through and problem-solving, which can gradually be taken on by the child.