What is a "visual display" and how can one be added to my child's report?
For the reports, elemntary school teachers often want some kind of visual display. They usually have a little list of requirements for the report, and one of those is some kind of visual display. This is the sort of thing that often sends parents into a little tail-spin; they don't know what to do about it. When you are looking for a visual display for a report, you want to bear in mind that teachers don't usually want anything grandiose. They want something that shows that the child knows what an animal looks like, or what a map of the state looks like, etc. There will be bonus points for a child who actually draws something for his visual display, rather than print it off the internet. We now live in a world where printing a color picture from the internet is so simple. That's fine: Google image searches will bring up all kinds of pictures that you can print and put on your cover of your report. However, even better is if your child will then draw that image themselves. The other thing we do a lot for visual displays is cut things out of old magazines and make little collages. Sometimes we make little diaramas. We can put a little diarama into a shoebox, make a little creature out of styrofoam or clay, etc. If you have child that struggles with writing or language, a visual display is an opportunity to show that they are talented with physical things, and show off to classmates and teachers the fact that they've put a lot of effort into their work. My one rule to remember with visual displays is that the report gets done first and then the visual display can be done afterwards. If this isn't a rule, a child will spend weeks on the display and then the report will be done at the last minute.
