Schedule Boards

Holy Smokes have you ever used a schedule board? They are the best! This is my schedule board that I used this year for about a hundred-million different things. It was so useful in so many ways. I know I know it's just a black poster with a bunch of numbers velcroed on but seriously this beauty rocks my world! Read more of this post to find 6 ways to use a schedule board in your therapy.

Here are a number of uses for this fabulous therapy tool

Evaluation Count Down. When evaluating a kiddo I usually put up a number for each subtest that we need to do. After each subtest they get to take the number off the schedule board and put it in the "all done" pile. It helps them feel a sense of accomplishment and know how much more is ahead.

Incentive to work! I use it all the time to help little munchkins who have short attention spans. It is a visual that helps them know that they have to get so many "things" done before they get a break. Example of use with animal artculation cards below. Make sure that the child knows what they get when they complete the work and provide that reinforcement immediately. This kid LOVES bubbles so I always use the bubbles. Please observe the fabulous butterfly bubble bottle that I got at some wedding four years ago and is now an essential part of my therapy. One of my professors once said that bubbles were like crack for kids. He was right!

Picture Schedule. I use this with a few of my autistic clients. Autistic children are very visual and really crave routine. The schedule board shows them what they can expect to do in a session and what happens at the end.

Sequencing. The numbers are great to help children organize sequences of events.

Sentence Pacing Board. If you are working toward a longer MLU and the child needs a more structured approach you can use the numbers to make a pacing board. Put out 4 numbers if you want the child to use a four word sentence. Put your hand on the numbers as you say the words (e.g. for the phrase "the ball went down" touch 1 for "the", 2 for "ball", 3 for "went", and 4 for "down"). To fade this cue out try clapping instead of pointing to the numbers and then just doing it with a melody and then without any cues at all.

Multisyllabic Words Pacing Board. For kids who struggle articulating multisylabic words try breaking them up into the number of syllables. (e.g.watermelon can be broken up into 4 parts wa-ter-me-lon)

The possibilities are ENDLESS!