EVALUATION OF INCIDENTAL TEACHING

In order to make sure that an incidental teaching plan has a good chance to help your child, you can ask several questions about the plan.

Are environments and activities selected to promote the use of incidental teaching?

Think about what your child's interests are and plan ahead. Planning includes setting things up and choosing activities that encourage your child to initiate. This provides opportunities for you to help your child work on specific skills. Remember, you want to have fun interacting with your child based upon his interests.

Is your child initiating?

If your child initiates frequently, then you will have many opportunities to use incidental teaching. However, it can be very difficult to use incidental teaching if your child does not frequently initiate interactions. A variety of things can be done to help your child initiate. Some of these techniques were introduced in the section on Creating Teaching Opportunities. It is important when using any technique to create situations where your child's interest is high. In these settings, your child is much more likely to initiate. If your child still does not initiate, you might consider using other methods of teaching. These may be parts of incidental teaching that are used alone rather than in sequence. For example, you might model language in a situation in which it would be appropriately used, even though your child did not initiate. If Karl is having trouble tying his shoes or opening the door, his mother might say, "Karl say 'Need help.'" and then help when he repeats, "Need help".

What was your child's response?

If your child responded correctly within a reasonable amount of time, then incidental teaching may have been used effectively. However, if your child did not respond correctly or required an unreasonable amount of time to respond, you may have suggested an elaboration that was too difficult. If your expect the child to do something that is too difficult, he might become frustrated and avoid teaching situations in the future. Incidental teaching should be fun!

Is it appropriate to use incidental teaching?

There are times when it is not appropriate to use incidental teaching. It would not be appropriate, for example, if your child were having a tantrum or engaging in constant repetitive behavior

Now that you have learned about Incidental Teaching, you can stop here or you can learn about helping your child PRIOR TO PRESCHOOL