Organizing- Part II

In an attempt to organize our schedules and not just our stuff, here are a few things that I've done:

Even Kent has admitted he appreciates our family calendar. He and I are much less likely to forget things when they're posted on this big calendar in our kitchen. Naturally, it's color coordinated (Kent, Laura, Kael, Kylee) so it's easy to determine who has something going on that day. I secretly REALLY look forward to making our calendar each month.

The following is not a great picture because it's in our hallway (very difficult to photograph!), but this whole system never fails to keep us on track. The kids like taking turns being "Weather Watcher" and "Calendar Person". Kael has a thermometer in his room that he can check every morning and this is SUPER helpful because we went through a phase when summer changed to fall, then to winter and Kael was still hanging onto those favorite flip-flops. We almost didn't trick-or-treat last year because he was adamant about doing so in his flip-flops. We now have a system where I have listed out all possible temperatures and each temperature corresponds with either Cold, Cool, Warm, or Hot. There are rules about what can be worn for each temperature. For example, on a "Cold" day you must wear a winter coat, hat and mittens. On a "Warm" or "Hot" day you are allowed to wear flip flops. Things like that. ASD kids really benefit from very specific rules. The amiguity of "it's kind of cold today, wear a jacket Kael" is tricky. Outlining what is expected from him makes it much easier for him to follow the rules.

It seems like an extra step to have a "Days of the Week" sign when we also have a calendar. But the simple act of moving the "Today is" sticker helps Kael remember things like, "Oh, it's Tuesday- I need to wear P.E. shoes". He is making serious strides towards independently getting himself ready and his backpack packed for school.

You'll also notice I adopted the magnet system from Kael's kindergarten teacher. (Again, sorry for the picture- it's really difficult to see. It's there on the far right starting with red on the bottom and purple on the top. Kael and Kylee each have a name sticker; they start their day on green and can move up or down depending on their behavior.) We used it a lot at the beginning of the school year but haven't needed to use it as much lately. A simple, "What choice should you make if you want your magnet to stay on purple?" usually leads the kids in the right direction. Once summer rolls around and there is lots of free time I anticipate we'll need to start using it again.