In previous posts, we discussed the Executive Functioning skills of Focusing, Responding to Auditory Information and Emotional Regulation. Floreo also has content that can address the Executive Functioning skills of Impulse Control and Flexibility.
Lessons on raising your hand and waiting to be called on before responding to a teacher's question are well suited to a virtual reality lesson because the Learner is able to practice this skill with characters rather than real peers. The lessons Raise Your Hand - Kindergarten and Raise Your Hand are impulse control-related lessons that allow Learners to work on this skill in a simulated classroom. It puts control of the pace of the lesson in the Coach's hands so that the Coach can provide the Learner with as many opportunities for waiting as needed. It also provides opportunities for managing instances when other students might have difficulty calling out in class. This lesson, thereby, also addresses flexibility.
The Listen & Find lessons (beginning with Listen & Find, 1 Animal by Name) require that the Learner wait for the "Go" signal before finding the named animal. The Unfriendly Greeting lesson asks the Learner to refrain from the impulse of responding to an unfriendly student. The street crossing lessons (such as Lucky Corner, Driver Wave), help teach the Learner to look deliberately down the street until the Learner hears the bell (left, then right, then left again) before moving directly into the street.
Opportunities to work on Flexibility can be found working during Greetings in Motion (also in Low Traffic and High Traffic). Is the Learner able to flexibly respond to different greetings as the characters walk by? Other opportunities can be found in Find Your Bus: Wait for 2nd Bus when the Learner needs to wait for the 2nd bus before boarding, as well as in Find Your Bus: With Other People when the Learner needs to adjust based on other people and moving vehicles in the scene. Using Time Management: Interruptions and Distractions can help the Learner stop a task briefly to respond to an unexpected customer question and then return to the task. Working collaboratively with others requires flexibility and can be practiced in Teamwork: Collaboration & Compromise.
Many hidden opportunities for working on both Impulse Control and Flexibility present in the Floreo lessons can ultimately support the Learner's development of social and practical problem solving.
