'Mommy, is that Lady Gaga?' When my youngest was a toddler, he LOVED Lady Gaga. I have no idea why or where it came from, but he did. He would ask me to put videos of her on my computer. So, when we were watching the Super Bowl one year, the year that Madonna did| A Day in our Shoes
IEP goals are the future. IEP Present Levels is where the child is now; goals are where we want them to be. But, learning how to write an IEP goal that is both measurable and effective, is something that both teachers and parents should learn. Teachers and IEP staff need to know this, since they| A Day in our Shoes
I am wildly passionate about kids being toilet trained if it is a possibility. I never dreamed I would be a passionate advocate for toilet training. But here I am. Lack of toileting skills is one functional IEP skill that really carries a serious stigma for our kids. It's very ostracizing for an older child| A Day in our Shoes
It's a familiar sight, dating back many decades. We thought we were just playing, and didn't realize we were learning letter recognition. When I was small, we had the wooden blocks with the alphabet on them. Some kids had the plastic alphabet letters with magnets so they'd stick to the fridge. Now, you can get| A Day in our Shoes
Work completion or task completion refers to the ability to finish a given assignment, project, or task to the best of one's ability, and to do so within the allotted time frame. It is an important skill in academic and professional settings, as well as in personal life, as it enables individuals to meet deadlines,| A Day in our Shoes
Remember this? Did you know that way back when...when Tupperware invented this toy, that you were using fine motor skills to play with it? And it was Tupperware! If you're a Gen X'er like me, you definitely remember this Tupperware toy. When I was young enough to play with this toy, IEPs didn't even exist.| A Day in our Shoes
The other day, my younger son and I were on my tablet. We were choosing team gear to purchase for his new AAU basketball team. I was looking at the website and he was on his phone, and he was describing things to me and asking me questions (what size do I wear? should I| A Day in our Shoes
Parents can certainly assist the IEP team with developing goals. One IEP area that I find parents and teachers struggle with is addressing the skill of writing. And by writing, I'm talking about content, not fine-motor handwriting skills. If your child struggles with handwriting, I would read this post on dysgraphia or ask for an| A Day in our Shoes
Much like the other posts I have on this site about anxiety, I want to start with the same warning. IEPs are not diagnosis-driven document. They are needs-driven. Your child's needs, determined through their IEP evaluations, will drive the IEP goals that the team creates. Not a diagnosis of anxiety. Still, there are some commonalities| A Day in our Shoes
Here you will find Executive Functioning IEP Goals, executive functioning IEP goals for ADHD, and some IEP Organizational Goals. This is one of the oldest articles on the site and is updated frequently. Since this post has evolved so much, I have broken down executive functioning into its subsets of skills. Back when I started| A Day in our Shoes
Telling time is an essential executive function that our kids need to live independently. Of course supports and accommodations can be put in place, but it will be very difficult for anyone to live on their own without the ability to tell time. Telling time is considered a math skill. Telling time IEP goals will| A Day in our Shoes
When a child has math skills and can apply them to everyday life, it can be something we take for granted. Many of us are familiar with the moaning and groaning while doing math and saying, 'But I'm never going to use this in my everyday life!' But, you might! My teen can now do| A Day in our Shoes
Remember when we were little, and we thought nickels were worth more than dimes, just because they were bigger? Ah, those were the days. As part of adulting, we need to teach our kids practical money skills or functional math skills which are a subset of functional math IEP goals. Few kids even see dimes| A Day in our Shoes
The other day, my 13-year-old sports fan and I had a short but confusing discussion. I knew he was looking at a sports-something on Instagram,| A Day in our Shoes
Student counseling is listed as a Related Service in IDEA. Actually, Parent Counseling and Training is too. But that's another post for another day. I| A Day in our Shoes
Inside: Take a deep dive into learning about AT Assistive Technology, and how it differs from AAC. And 15 IEP goals for assistive technology.| A Day in our Shoes
For almost 10 years, readers have been asking me questions about an IEP and autism. It's quite common in our message boards to have a| A Day in our Shoes
One concept or behavior that you may be exposed to as an IEP parent is elopement. Unfortunately, I am not talking about the fun kind| A Day in our Shoes
If your child has negative behaviors at school, they should receive an FBA and a Behavior Plan. Here are behavior goal ideas for your IEP.| A Day in our Shoes
I will never forget this one day when Kevin was a preschooler. We had an IEP meeting, and one of his proposed math IEP goals| A Day in our Shoes
Goals are all around us. We make goals all day, every day in our own head. It may be as simple as 'I want to| A Day in our Shoes
So, there's a reason why I am now just doing this post after the blog is more than 13 years old. I am philosophically opposed| A Day in our Shoes
For a long time, I purposely did not include lists like this on my site--lists of things like math word problem IEP goals. I refrained| A Day in our Shoes
IEP Goals for Handwriting | Handwriting issues can be much more than a fine motor planning issue. It could be dysgraphia, dyslexia, vision issues, or| A Day in our Shoes
Before I get started with this list of Life Skills Goals for an IEP, I want to make one thing clear. That is, remember, IEPs| A Day in our Shoes