So, you’ve committed to using the Complexity Approach with a student… but now you’re still trying to figure out what you’re therapy should like and what you’re supposed to use!!!
Our sessions usually involve:
- an activity using flashcards (important to familiarize the student using the vocabulary)
- a play-based activity (incorporating the target words in a fun play activity – no cards)
- a hands-on activity using a worksheet (we might stamp, dab, use dice games etc.)
more practice trials with flashcards
We usually start our therapy session reviewing the vocabulary and supporting children with additional cues and prompts where needed. While we still incorporate large flashcards, we recently made the switch to mini flashcards!
We just found that it was SO MUCH EASIER to have a high practice session with 45 mini flashcards vs. 9 larger ones. We could put magnetic counters on each mini card, hide them around the room, use in sensory bins etc. offering more flexibility!
This kind of high-volume, block practice matters — especially early on, when a child is still learning to imitate a hard cluster. In my own sessions, I’ll often go through the same handful of words five or six times in a row before moving on, just to build up some early success before asking for anything harder.
Bringing target words into play
Do your students ever roll their eyes when you show them another flashcard or whip out a worksheet? This is where a play-based activity using the child’s target words can break up your session and bring the fun back!
In the past, I used to think up activities on the spot, but now I’ve collected all the ideas into one sheet that I can put on the floor and refer to. The goal is always the same, though — start from a place of success. If I know a child is going to need a lot of cueing for a full cluster, I’ll often build up to it through a simpler, related word first, so that by the time we’re playing, they’ve already had a few wins.
Matching the activity to the child
Every child is different, so having options for worksheets and then giving the child a choice can help your sessions run smoother. Ask, “Did you want to play a board game next or use some stampers?”
If you’re worried about not getting enough practice trials in, our worksheets list the number of trials you can get on each page — we try to aim for 100 trials minimum per session.
Homework that actually gets done
As a parent, I sometimes find it hard to incorporate sit-down homework into my everyday routine. Placing word lists on a fridge is my number one recommendation! It’s visible to everyone, reminds me to practice, and I find it much easier to get short bursts of practice throughout the day!
For clusters specifically, I’ll often send home two versions of a homework sheet — one for backward chaining and one for forward chaining — and ask the parent to try both across the week to see which one helps their child more. Some kids find it easier to build a cluster from the end of the word backward; others do better starting from the front. There’s no way to know in advance, so it’s worth letting the child’s response guide which one you lean on.
Ready-made activities for your target cluster
If you’ve been enjoying these flashcard, play-based, and homework ideas and want a full set ready to go for a specific cluster, our 2 Element and 3 Element Complexity Approach bundles give you an extensive range of therapy activities, homework sheets, and forward and backward chaining visuals for each cluster — everything above, already built, for the specific 2- or 3-element cluster you’re targeting.
