For children with particular disabilities, the coronavirus poses a unique challenge; instructors discuss tools that can help them learn at home.
During the coronavirus epidemic, remote learning has become the order of the day for all types of education, posing significant obstacles for special education. On a good day, delivering various types of content in an equipped learning environment might pose challenges, now that most schools are closing, teachers who handle students with special needs must completely reimagine their tutoring methods.
One of the most critical worries for both teachers and guardians is trying to keep the students on pace to meet their highly developed education system objectives, which are unique to each student. To promote this learning at home, teachers must now interact much more together with all caregivers. In other circumstances, kids are used to having assistants in the classroom in addition to teachers. Caregivers have a lot of responsibilities to bear, but fortunately, some of the technology technologies that are now available can truly help.
FREE APPLICATIONS
1. My PlayHome
This is a free application that provides children with an online doll family of at most 15 members who come in different skin tones. This is the new family with whom they may interact, play, and exchange tales. These shared stories encourage students to speak up, provide a safe environment for social together with emotional learning, and impact crucial early language capabilities.
2. SoundingBoard
SoundingBoard is a free mobile AAC app that helps kids who cannot speak to communicate with each other. The software includes preloaded boards with symbols and recorded messages to fulfill the needs of this specific community. To generate a vocal message, students pick and select images on the board.
3. LetterSchool
LetterSchool encourages youngsters to utilize their sense of touch, and trace colorful animations to improve their early literacy and numeracy skills. Letter formation, sounds and names, spelling, and other primary abilities are all taught to children. This program, which comes with a free trial, is also essential for enhancing the kids’ motor skills and eye-hand coordination.
4.Tales2Go
Tales2Go, a free one-month trial audiobook service, assists pupils who have difficulties in reading while also boosting their listening capabilities. This app contains a large library of stories for people of all ages, as well as a large number of excellent storytellers who bring stories of many kinds to life.
5. Epic!
Just from the name, it is a fantastic digital library for assisting reluctant or struggling readers. It offers a large number of excellent children’s books and instructive videos, as well as a variety of fiction and nonfiction content from famous publishers. During this time, Epic is offering free access to education.
PAID APPS
Edoki Academy’s Busy Shapes is based on studies regarding brain development, and it starts with an explanation of causes and progresses to a problem-solving and tool-use activity. By using several puzzles in exploring and developing the playground, the game also helps toddlers strengthen their fine motor abilities.
Edoki Academy also has many math applications that use the chronological technique to teach Montessori arithmetic to pupils by changing numerous objects on the screen. It also aids in the development of motor skills.
Math Drills is a knowledge-based program that kids enjoy since it allows them to hold competitions against themselves to improve speed and accuracy. It covers math operations such as addition, multiplication, and division, as well as complex settings that allow teachers and students to customize surroundings and track test history.
Phonics Genius teaches youngsters how to identify, read, and spell out words using letter sounds in a fun and engaging way. In addition to the engaging activities for practicing abilities, the app contains several words curated by phonetic categories.
SentenceBuilder is a conversation simulator for primary school students that teaches them how to have conversations with their friends in a range of social situations.
Word Wizard comes with a talking alphabet which enables children to practice general word formation. The voice spells out any words the kid creates, allowing them to correct themselves, which assists teach children in a comfortable way. The program also has 184 in-built word lists, including the 1,000 most commonly used vision words, and helps letter identification, phonological awareness, and spelling. It even offers a comprehensive teacher activity guide and maintains track of children’s progress with precise monitoring.
My favorite resource of all time, one Anti-Coloring Book App series, is now available in app form. The bottom-most of the page is used for a query, and the youngster gets the answer in this series of online books. These questions are open and have no right or wrong responses that stimulate critical thinking, creativity, risk-taking, and problem-solving in children.
Speech recognition is another important technology that can be found on almost every digital gadget and allows pupils to communicate without worrying about typing, spelling, or grammatical errors. This software may be found in the settings menu on most devices, and it can help pupils improve their writing abilities and attain high levels of achievement.
Learning outside the classroom environment is a huge problem during the coronavirus pandemic, but it’s especially difficult for special needs pupils who are already struggling in school. As special needs students strive to adjust to this new environment, be mindful—and patient. Many children find change to be quite disturbing, and they will require time to acclimate to their new schedule. Regression in social and emotional habits is to be expected. At this point, simple tactics such as breathing exercises, building structure, and assisting kids in methodically working through challenges are critical.