Preschool Bulletin
Week of April 20th-24th, 2015
This week’s theme is:
Rainbows: Monday – Red, Tuesday – Orange, Wednesday – Yellow, Thursday – Green, Friday – Blue!
We will read Duck and Goose Colors! by Tad Hills and make rainbow arts and crafts. See the schedule above to wear a different color every day!
Important Announcements:
-Marking Period 3 ended Friday, April 17th.
-Bus Safety Drills Tuesday, April 21st.
-Report Cards will be sent home Friday, April 24th.
-Please let me know if you are interested in scheduling a home visit for the month of April or May.
-Walk with our class at the Walk-A-Thon for Autism on Sunday, May 17th. Sign up at
ABA Term of the Week
MANDING
What is a mand?
A mand is a request. It may be for an item (e.g., toy, food, other object), attention, a break, information, etc. Manding is requesting.
How can I practice manding at home?
Natural Environment Training (NET), Incidental Teaching, and Naturally Occurring Opportunities
Natural environment training (NET) is another critical component of effective ABA instruction. It differs from Discrete Trial Instruction (DTI) in that NET capitalizes on child-initiated learning opportunities while trials of DTI instruction are teacher-led. A strategy within NET is incidental teaching with the steps outlined below:
- Child’s Initiation: Child initiates communication attempt (e.g., a point, reach, grab, vocalization, word, etc.).
- Elaboration: Adult/instructor elaborates on communication attempt to increase the quality of the attempt (consistent with your child’s current programing or manding repertoire).
For example, 1) A child points to a cabinet and the adult prompts the child to walk to his PECS book to select the appropriate icon. 2) A child says, “Juice” and the adult models, “I want juice.”
- Child’s Response: The child emits the higher quality response.
- Reinforcement: The adult reinforces the request by granting access to the item/activity.
*Remember – Reinforcement is only effective if you provide reinforcement for the desired responseonly. If you provide reinforcement for lower quality responses, these will be the responses that will continue!
Please let me know if you have any questions – I am always willing to share more information!
Thank you! – Miss Jen