My son Liam is 7 years old. He is deafblind and an early braille reader. We had family in town visiting and they took us on a train ride on the “1880’s Train“. Prior to the train ride Liam has ridden a small train at a local petting farm (little carts pulled behind a tractor) but never experienced a “real” train or been able to touch one before.
Procedure
There are many ways to plan and create an experience book. For this book, I planned a type of an experience book that would be informational (about trains) and would be about things he would be able to touch and explore at the 1880’s train.
Vocabulary that was included in the book:
- train
- cars
- tracks
- conductor
- windows
Experience:
- Before we boarded the train Liam was able to explore many old train cars. He was able to climb and walk around inside of them.
- I also made sure Liam had the opportunity to feel train tracks and feel the wheels of the train on the track.
- Liam was able to give his train ticket to the conductor and give the conductor a “high-five”.
- Liam was able to sit next to the open window.
- Liam enjoyed the swaying and all of the bumps that were part of the train ride.
- He got to eat fun snacks on the train.
- He enjoyed being able to share the experience with his family. We all sat together.
During the experience:
During the ride Liam was able to read and explore his new book. He had already “experienced”, hands-on, everything that was written in his book! We also brought his “toy trains” along as well (great to compare with the real train!).
The 1880’s Train was such a fun, motivating and exciting experience for Liam (and us all!) He did not quit smiling the entire trip!
New to experience books? Learn more here.
