My son who will be six in a week is getting reading glasses. He only needs them for reading, BUT his doctor wants him to be wearing them EVERY time he reads so that we can figure out if the eye-strain really is the cause of his headaches and complaints of "moving" vision.
I actually started wearing glasses at his age as well and I was ALWAYS losing or breaking them.
Anyway, he will have to take them to school and will need to take them on and off throughout the day.
Any suggestions for helping him manage that process (not losing them, or breaking them, or forgetting to wear them)?
FYI his classroom has table groups, not individual desks and they move around the room frequently for centers etc.
Any and all suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
T.
Thanks for the suggestions so far. Ordering backups from zenni-optical (cheaper than the deductable on the replacement plan) and a neck strap.
I like the "face or case" bit too :)
He tried his new glasses on the menu at lunch after picking up his glasses today: "wow. This is really good." Since it seems to be helping already, I'm really hoping your ideas help us keep them around!
I don't know if this will help much or not. My son was 4.5 when he got his glasses, but he needed to wear them all the time, so it is a different situation. We constantly told him "glasses go on the face or in the case," it eventually got shortened to "face or case" but after a few weeks we didn't even have to say it anymore, I guess he got so tired of hearing me say that that it was just easier to take good care of his glasses, lol.
First, make sure his teacher knows, her 'helping' will make all of the difference in reaching the goal to keep him on track! If she is willing ask if he can give the glasses to her or place them on her desk when he goes out to reccess.
My little brother was told "on your face or in your case" a million times to help him remember to put em in the case.
I would put them on a strap around his neck.
Here is a source for very inexpensive glasses, prices listed are for frames and lenses:
http://www.zennioptical.com/
Several of my friends have glasses ordered from Zenni and are happy with them.
I got reading glasses in 4th grade. My parents got me a case that could clip to a belt loop, so I always had the case with me during class. Easy to put on and put away. For recess, lunch, PE, etc , he can leave the case in his cubby.
No one in our household has glasses but I have a son about the same age. I have to keep track of most of his stuff. I would make a designated place and always keep the glasses in the same place. Ask the teacher to help with this at school. If they don't have desks maybe a cubby or backpack pocket would work.
If it isn't too expensive I'd get 2 pair of glasses--one for home and one for school. Also see if there is an extra protection type program like insurance if they get lost or broken. Put his name on the glasses and case, of course.
As someone who has worn glasses since I was about 8 something that immediately comes to mind is make sure he doesn't try to read in bed. I don't know how many pairs of glasses I bent/temporarily lost/broke/etc while trying to read in bed and falling asleep with them on. Since he only has to wear them when reading, I would either make sure he has a case that will clip to his belt or get a neck strap. I would also get a pair for school and a pair for home. (and maybe a spare pair just in case). Walmart has some good deals on the frames too. They also offer a one year "warranty" for an additional cost.
As far as the "moving" vision problems...... have you talked to his school? There is something called Irhlen syndrome (a subset of dyslexia) that can be helped by using colored overlays.....
http://irlen.com/distortioneffects.php
There are different type of visual distortions that can be helped with the overlays.
