Flashcards are tried and true

Educational flashcards engage active recall and instill confidence-based recognition. Just some of the K-5 language flashcards learning topics include foreign languages, sight-word recognition, sentence auditory memory, and sign language. Many items come in Spanish and English versions. Find innovative flashcard-learning techniques for science and mathematics, including multiplication flash cards.

Special tools for special education

Some students have difficulty learning language skills because they face auditory or information-processing challenges, including attention deficit disorder, autism, or aphasia. A stimulating array of special education visual tools are available to let special-ed students grasp the fundamentals of speech and language based on a curriculum consisting of structured listening tasks, using picture and photograph cards. The tools help special-ed students begin articulating letter sounds with alphabet flash cards, eventually advancing to phonological sounds, word pronunciation, and sentence cohesion. More advanced card and photograph cues involve:

• Inferencing and analogy
• Object-function identification
• Story prediction and creation

These articulation and language tools are also available as take-along books and CDs that kids can bring home for practice. This is a great resource for home supported learning.

Teaching aids and tools for special needs

Many teaching and school supplies let teachers create a stimulating learning environment for students. Tools are also available geared toward classrooms with special-ed students. They include handheld tally counters to reconcile student numbers at or after recess or assemblies, mouth hand-puppets to teach oral hygiene, and voice amplification phones that give students auditory feedback with their letter and phonics articulation practice. For speech and language therapists, portable tote bags are available for carrying learning tools between classrooms, as are speech and language screener booklets.

Fun tools and sensory help in the special-ed classroom

Games and educational toys are stimulating diversions for special-ed students, including board games, a variety of card games, and electronic spinners that combine visual and auditory stimulation when light and sound travel around a numbers wheel. Also available are stickers and diplomas for task and course completion as well as incentive posters for classroom behavior. Vibrating pillows, cushions, tactile squeeze balls, and desk-leg bouncy bands to let fidgety children bounce their feet quietly in class are just a few of the amazing variety of education tools available to teachers, school districts, and parents.