Supporting Learning at Home

Try packing a school bag together. Use a few photos or a short list for the lunch, water bottle, and folder. Let your child choose what goes on the list or mark each item as it goes in. For a step like opening a lunch container, try a container your child can open more easily or decide together which part they’d like help with.

Printable routine cards and visual schedules include a two-step board that shows what’s happening now and what comes next.

Try it during a game or meal. Share something you notice, pause, and respond to what your child tells you through speech, signs, gestures, pictures, or a device. Use the language you’re most comfortable speaking together.

If your child uses augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), ask their school team to show you how to use the same board or device during one routine. With your child’s permission, try showing how to say “again” during a game. Give them space to respond in their own way.

Give Language to Get Language (video) from Stepping into AAC introduces how to show a learner what they can say with an AAC tool.

Pause and see what could make the task easier. If homework feels like too much after school, give your child time and ask whether they’d like a quieter space, a break, or help with one step. When things feel easier, ask what helped so you can try it again.

The Looking beyond behaviour handout (PDF) from HealthyMindsBC explains how stress can show up and offers ideas for responding.

Read or listen to something your child chooses. Try a recipe, book page, or short article. Ask what stood out and invite your child to tell, draw, or show you.

Talk through one idea before writing. For a list, message, or assignment, start by saying or sketching the idea together. Your child can write, type, or dictate it, then read or listen to it back.

SD72’s Kindergarten to Grade 3 family resources show what early reading and writing can look like, with provincial materials for English and French immersion.

Make a plan for one assignment. For a project due Friday, your child might choose a topic on Monday, collect two ideas on Tuesday, and draft on Wednesday. Ask what first step feels manageable and when they’d like you to check in.

The Organizing Time section of Rolling with ADHD (PDF) from BC Children’s Hospital shows teens how to use a calendar to make deadlines and plans visible.

Try one question while cooking or shopping. What would you need to double a recipe? Which grocery option fits your budget? Use objects, a sketch, or a calculator to explore the answer together.

LD@School’s Math learning with household items shows how familiar objects can help make numbers easier to see and compare.

For younger learners, the Learning Hub’s Penguin Addition Game (PDF) gives Kindergarten to Grade 2 students a printable way to practise counting and adding.

Want to listen to a handout or write with your voice? The 72LearningHub assistive technology guide shows how to try Immersive Reader in Word or Teams, Read Aloud in Microsoft Edge, and Dictate in Word.

Looking for books in an accessible format? Vancouver Island Regional Library’s CELA service explains how eligible library cardholders with print disabilities can get accessible books and other materials.