Home > For Parents & Families > Transition Issues > School Transitions > To Kindergarten & Elementary School
To Kindergarten & Elementary School
Roles of the Medical Home in Transition
- Continue to teach the child about his/her own special health care needs and medications.
- Continue to encourage self-care.
- Consider adding to the child's IEP (Individualized Education Program) goals/504 plan self-management of his own disorder.
- Communicate to the school principal and school nurse any changes in the child's health status and/or needs.
- Always ask the child, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
- Encourage the child's participation in hobbies, extracurricular activities, leisure activities and inclusion in community groups such as girl/boy scouts.
- Begin teaching the child about self-advocacy: how and who to ask for help.
- As age and cognition allow, encourage the child to start interacting directly with all of her care providers, including doctors, nurses, therapists and teachers.
- Instruct the parents in the following strategies (end of this document) for dealing with school issues.
Common Family Concerns
- Change in environment;
- Trusting their medically fragile child to school personnel;
- Separation concerns;
- Adjusting to a new peer group;
- New role as "student";
- New authority figures; and
- New expectations and responsibilities.
Common Teacher Concerns
- Dealing with medically fragile child;
- What extra procedures needed to care for child in classroom;
- How much time away from other students;
- What classroom modifications need to be made;
- Special equipment storage, how to use etc;
- Ability to follow directions;
- Academic skills;
- Ability to work independently;
- Who will the teacher have for support, school nurse, principal?
- Who will teach the teacher and who else will be taught to care for the child?
- Ability to work in a group;
- Behavior concerns; and
- Communication skills.
Suggested Strategies
- Inform a new school, well in advance of the first day, of your child's conditions and needs.
- Visit the new school before the school year begins.
- Meet with the school nurse to formulate a health plan.
- Learn important locations in the new setting like bathrooms, classroom, lunch room, and main office.
- Visit the new classroom with your child.
- Meet the new teacher and establish preferred means of communication, i.e., phone call, appointment, email, etc.
- Introduce your child to other people she will be in contact with such as the office secretary, lunch workers, custodian, etc.
- Teach your child routines needed for the new location, such as where to wait for a ride home, where to go if the ride is late, or how to alert his teacher if something is wrong.
- Address transportation, health, and cost issues in Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings.
- Learn about school rules and your rights and responsibilities.
Meet with the New School Team*
Points to be Addressed in the School Plan (IEP/504/Health Care Plan)
- Individual accommodations to assure your child can access the general curriculum, such as books on tape, adjusting reading level to appropriate group, etc.;
- Safety/mobility issues when scheduling classes, including accessing classroom 'trailers';
- Matching realistic curriculum requirements to student's particular abilities such as P.E. or computer keyboarding;
- Social skills; communication; functional math and reading; self-help and self-advocacy skills;
- Health issues, such as possible adjustment of medications for school hours and homework time;
- Introducing idea of pre-vocational skills; and
- Transition plan should be in place by age 14 for those students receiving special education.
Parent Involvement
Resources
Information & Support
For Parents and Patients
Transition Tips for Parents of School Aged Children with Disabilities
(
488 KB)
This pamphlet developed by Shriners Hospital for Children, also called Stepping Up, provides information for parents on teaching
a child to take care of personal needs; helping a child become more involved with her own health care; helping a child stay
physically and emotionally healthy; helping a child become more independent; helping a child succeed in school; and resources
and websites.
Utah Parent Center
A statewide non-profit organization, founded in 1984, to provide training, information, referral and assistance to parents
of children and youth with ALL disabilities, including physical, mental, hearing, vision, learning, behavioral and emotional.
Staff consists primarily of parents of children and youth with disabilities. The Center provides information on support and
advocacy for families of children with special health care needs.
Technical Assistance Alliance for Parent Centers
Funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), the Alliance provides technical
assistance for state Parent Centers - Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) and Community Parent Resource Centers
(CPRCs). Provides links to local Parent Centers.
Utah State Office of Education
Provides information about Utah schools, the school board, rules, regulations, and more.
State Education Contacts and Information
From the U.S. Department of Education, links to each state's education agency.
Authors
| Contributing Authors: | Robin Pratt, 12/2005 Barbara Ward RN BS, 12/2005 Gina Pola-Money, 12/2005 Cheralyn Creer, 12/2005 Karen Ekker RN, 12/2005 Carolyn Green RN, 12/2005 Lynne Larsen-Miller, 12/2005 Elaine Pollock, 12/2005 Kathryn Post, 12/2005 Helen Post, 12/2005 Lisa Samson-Fang MD, 12/2005 |
| Reviewing Author: | Alfred Romeo RN, PhD, 11/2008 |
| Content Last Updated: | 11/2008 |