View source for Helping Children Who Are Blind:Which activities should I do first?

{{bctrail|segments=3|chaptitle=Chapter 2: Getting Started}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Which activities should I do first?}}
{{SideSupplement|bookabbreviation=hcwab|pagealt=is from <br>pages 12 to 13 of|chapterpdf=http://hesperian.org/wp-content/uploads/pdf/en_hcwb_2000/en_hcwb_2000_02.pdf|bookurl=Helping Children Who Are Blind|booktitle=Helping Children Who Are Blind}}
{{chaptertoc|In this chapter:|
<ul class{{=}}"noprint">
<li>[[Helping Children Who Are Blind:Chapter 2: Getting Started|Chapter 2: Getting Started]]</li>
<li>[[Helping Children Who Are Blind:Chapter 2: Getting Started#How can this book help?|How can this book help?]]</li>
<li>[[Helping Children Who Are Blind:Which activities should I do first?|Which activities should I do first?]]</li>
<li>[[Helping Children Who Are Blind:How can I fit these activities into my family’s daily life?|How can I fit these activities into my family’s daily life?]]</li>
</ul>
}}
Parents often think they need special training to plan early assistance activities for their child. But this is not so. As a parent, you know more about your child than anyone else. To decide what activities to do first, start by asking yourself questions like these:

'''Are there things my child cannot do that other children her age are doing?'''
<div class{{=}}speechbub style="position:relative; width:380px; height:290px;  float:left; margin-right:20px;">
[[Image:HCWB_Ch2_Page_12-1.png|center|380px|alt=a man thinking while he watches a small girl crawling.]]
<div style="position:absolute; left:185px; top:27px;width:125px;">Almost all children Amina’s age are walking. I want to help her learn.</div></div>
<br>
If so, your child probably needs special help learning these skills.  Choosing activities that build these skills can help a child catch up with other children.
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<div  class{{=}}speechbub style="position:relative; height:320px; width:380px; float:right; margin-left:20px;">
[[Image:HCWB_Ch2_Page_12-2.png|left|280px|alt=a woman thinking while she sits with a small boy.]]
<div style="position:absolute; left:97px; top:27px; width:148px;">Ali is so quiet and we’re such a talkative family. I worry he’ll be left out.</div></div>
'''Are  there  areas  of  my  child’s  development  that  I  am  particularly concerned about? '''

These might be ways your child lags behind other children, or they might be areas of development that are especially important to you or your family. 
{{clr}}
For more information on the ages and order in which children usually learn new skills, see the [[Helping_Children_Who_Are_Blind:Appendix_A:_Child_Development_Charts|Child Development Charts]].
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===Finding activities that can help===
Once you have identified areas in which your child needs help, look at the [[Helping_Children_Who_Are_Blind|Table of Contents]] to find the chapter of the book that covers this area of development. Each chapter contains information and activities to help your child learn new skills. For example :

<div  class{{=}}speechbub style="position:relative; height:160px; width:600px; ">
[[Image:HCWB_Ch2_Page_13-1.png|center|600px|alt=a man and a woman who are each thinking.]]
<div style="position:absolute; left:27px; top:39px;width:135px;">The chapter on movement should help me help Amina learn to walk.</div>
<div style="position:absolute; left:443px; top:15px; width:125px;">I’ll read the communication chapter to learn how to help Ali begin to talk.</div></div>

The first activities in each chapter help a child learn the most simple
skills in that area of development. Once a child has learned these skills,
she can begin working on the more difficult skills described later in the
chapter. If your child can already do some of the skills described, start
working on the skills immediately following those she knows. If she does
not know any of the skills, then start at the beginning of the chapter.

Try to work on skills in the order they appear in the chapter. This is
important because children develop skills step-by-step, in a certain order.
'''Trying to teach your child an advanced skill before she has learned the smaller, simpler skills that come first can lead to disappointment for both you and your&nbsp;child.'''


{{Previous and next sections|Chapter 2: Getting Started|How can I fit these activities into my family’s daily life?}}

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