School age advice sheets
Practical advice and ideas to help support the physical, occupational and communication development of a child
Introduction
All children and young people develop differently. There are some common problems that can be improved with some practical advice. This collection of advice sheets has been produced by the Children and Young People’s Therapy Service for Children and Young People in Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. They can be used by schools, parents and carers.
You can also ring the telephone advice line to speak to a therapist on 0303 033 3002
This number is open between 9am to midday, Monday to Thursday (except bank holidays).
You can also find a collection of Early Years advice sheets here.
Communication and speech
Expressive Language
Expressive language is the way we put words together into phrases and sentences to express meaning.
Social communication skills
Children can struggle with aspects of their social interaction skills at various points in their life and in particular social situations.
Speech Sound Development - School Age
Children often substitute more mature sounds for easier sounds when developing their pronunciation skills.
Stammering - Older children
Stammering is a communication difficulty, not just a specific speech problem.
Understanding spoken language
The ability to understand language involves the following skills: listening, remembering spoken information (auditory memory), understanding vocabulary and concepts, understanding the importance of word order in a sentence (grammar)
Vocabulary
Vocabulary is the bank of words children can understand and or use meaningfully. This includes naming words, action words, describing words, concepts, position words etc.
Motor skills
Active Childhood
Physical activity assists the development of healthy bones, muscles, joints and cardiovascular systems (i.e. heart and lungs).
Balance
Balance is our ability to maintain a stable posture while engaged in motor activity.
Bike Skills
You may need to work on other skill areas before trying to learn a bike such as: balance, core stability, motor planning and safety awareness.
Ball Skills
Ball skills can include but are not limited to: throwing & catching, dribbling, kicking and aiming for a target.
Core Stability
To have good control of movement, we need to be able to stabilise our joints.
Flexible (hypermobile) Joints
Hyper’ means more and ‘mobility’ means movement so children who are hypermobile have more movement in their joints than their peers.
Hand Gym for the Older Child
Sometimes it is difficult to make our arms move as quickly and precisely as we would like and therefore we need to warm the muscles up and loosen the joints in order to make our upper limbs work more effectively.
Motor Planning
Motor planning is our ability to have an idea of how we want to move, plan how we are going to achieve that movement and then execute that movement.
Motor Skills for the Older Child
Children develop gross and fine motor skills at different rates.
Pelvic Stability
Pelvic stability is the ability to tense the muscles around your hips and pelvis, in order to secure this part of your body in preparation for movement.
Shoulder stability
Shoulder stability is the ability to tense the muscles around the shoulder, in order to stabilise the joint for use.
Sensory and cognitive
Auditory Processing
Auditory processing is the ability to perceive and understand what is heard in the environment.
Bilateral Integration
Bilateral integration is the co-ordination of the right and the left sides of the body to complete a task.
Confidence and Self Esteem
Children with motor difficulties can be vulnerable due to the difficulty in attaining a level of physical competence that seems to come easily to others.
Handwriting
You have been directed to this fact sheet due to handwriting concerns for a child you are working with.
Organisational Strategies for School and Home
Many children can become overwhelmed by too much visual and/or auditory information. By controlling the classroom environment, you can maximise children’s ability to remain focused and organised.
Screen Time
As technology continues to progress, children have more and more access to different screens such as televisions, tablets, phones and computers at home and in their preschools and schools.
Sensory System Proprioception
Just as our eyes and ears send information about what we see and hear to the brain, parts of our muscles and joints sense the position of our body and send these messages to the brain as well.
Self care
Dressing Skills - School Age
Some children find dressing difficult due to movement or learning difficulties.
Fasteners - School Age
A child may have difficulties doing up buttons and zips for a variety of reasons such as poor bilateral coordination, postural instability, poor fine motor manipulation, reduced muscle tone or visual perceptual difficulties.
Letter and Number Reversals
Strategies to help children learn the direction of letters and numerals.
Maximising Attention
Some children have difficulty focusing at home and school, making it much harder for them to learn.
Scissor Skills - School Age
Scissors skills begin to develop in children around the age of 2 years.
Shoes and Socks - School Age
Children often have difficulty putting socks on correctly and end up with the heel on the top of their foot.
Sleep
Sufficient quantity and quality of sleep is essential for lots of processes including memory consolidation, physical growth and repair as well as helping children to regulate their emotions and behaviours.
Tying shoelaces
A child may have difficulty doing up shoelaces for a variety of reasons such as poor bilateral coordination, postural instability, poor fine motor manipulation, reduced muscle tone or visual perceptual difficulties.