It will soon be a new year, 2026. Even for most of us, learning a new year is always a challenge after January 1. Our brain and finger muscles have had 365 days to practice writing 2025. Now, all of a sudden, we need to remember to write 2026. That may take us a while… Now imagine if you have a significant learning disability. It may have taken you 300 of those 365 days to finally be able to “write” or “say” 2025 on your own. Now, for no reason you can comprehend, you must forget that, and learn a new number to designate the new year 2026. Very frustrating.
Admittedly, for many of the students I taught, knowing it was a new year was probably not at the top of their list of important facts to learn or recite. After all, many of my kids did not write or even speak. However, there were always one or two who were at the high end of that curve who would occasionally go out into the regular education setting and would be expected to write the correct date on their papers, including the new year 2026. Finally, the value often comes in the process, not in the outcome. So, how do we go about teaching our students with disabilities that 2025 is over, and now it is the new year 2026? Here are (what I think) some critical things to consider
1. Use ERRORLESS teaching
If they already know what year it is, we KNOW they will answer “2025” when asked, “What year is it?” Therefore, you need to provide full prompting immediately. Stop letting them practice saying or writing the wrong year. If you are asking your student verbally, then immediately follow your question with the correct answer, and then allow your student to repeat it back to you. For some students, you may need to provide the full verbal prompt several times before fading it. For example:
Step 1= Teacher: “What year is it?”
Step 2= Teacher: “2026”
Step 3= Teacher: “What year is it?”
Step 4= Student: “2026”
If your student is still saying 2025 after step 3, then repeat steps 1-2 several times before fading the full verbal prompt. **Remember, there is a lot of research that shows that fading to a partial verbal prompt is NOT effective. Just go from a full verbal prompt to no verbal prompt. If this is still not working and your student can read numbers, try using a cue card with the new year 2026 written on it. Pair that card with the new year with your full verbal prompt at first, then as you fade the verbal prompt, keep the card. Eventually, fade the card.
If your students are writing the year 2026 on their papers, have them trace the correct year on their work for a while. This will take some extra prepping on your part. Beforehand, write the correct date in pencil and have them trace it. Also, put the correct date on the board or an index card on their desk. That way, you can fade the tracing to a visual prompt. The index card with the new year 2026 is nice because it can go with them to various classroom settings if needed.
2. Practice, Practice Practice
Set aside plenty of time and opportunities to practice writing or reciting the new year 2026. The more frequently it is practiced, the quicker the muscle memory will build for either saying or writing the correct year. Take every authentic opportunity to have students tell you or write 2026.
3. Vary the stimuli
Remember, students with disabilities, especially Autism, have difficulty generalizing what they learn. So, they may be able to put the date on their paper in your classroom, but not in Ms. Smith’s inclusion setting. Taking visual prompts to new locations will be helpful, as will practicing the skill in various environments with different people. One way to practice is to try a cut-and-paste activity, which you can download for FREE by clicking on the button below. This is an excellent way for students to visualize the new year and manipulate the numbers. I would try printing it on different colored paper each day for a while (repetition with variation). Additionally, don’t forget that you can add color coding for students who require more visual structure.
***If you are looking for a unit to go with this activity, grab this New Year Unit in my store. Includes a story, circle maps, and cut and paste activities, and digital versions of all the activities.
NEW YEAR UNIT 2026
