Database of Teaching Materials and Methods for Special Needs Education

Name of teaching material

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Target	Young children
Disability category	deaf and hard of hearing　mentally challenged　autism　other
Teaching units / Applicable scenes	activities for independent living　instruction for living skills　other
Specific purposes	The birthday calendar enhances children’s interest in and understanding of their own and friends’ birthdays and ages.
Considerations for disability characteristics	The calendar shows the growth of each child from his or her birth to present with photos (visual information). Children can visually recognize whose birthdays have already arrived in the year.
Expected effects and results	The calendar helps children grasp the concept of “growth”, which is difficult to see, by adding a photo every year. The calendar arouses children’s interest in their own and friends’ birthdays as well as their age and provides a topic of conversation.
How to use	- Keep the calendar always posted on the classroom wall. When the birthday of a child arrives, add his or her photograph taken on the day while saying, “(name of the child) became XX years old”, to the class. - Upon a child(ren) mentioning birthdays and age, draw children’s attention to the calendar and lead them to check and talk about birthdays and age.
Related teaching materials and information
Useful for other students	The calendar is also useful for children and students having difficulty understanding abstract concepts.

Informant DOTE Makoto, Special Needs Education School for the Deaf, University of Tsukuba　
Keywords birthday, age, photograph