Shannon Knapp, M.A. Special Education, is a teacher and education coordinator with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia’s Hospital School Program, and her tote bag overflows with the tools of her trade: books, educational games, a whiteboard and more.
When children are patients at CHOP, the Hospital School Program staff members work with them to develop and maintain academic skills. Participating in the familiar activity of learning helps children cope with the stress — and, at times, the monotony — of hospitalization.
While some patients are able to attend virtual classes on their own, many kids who have complex conditions or are hospitalized long-term need the support of a bedside or group session with one of the program’s six teachers. Each week, Knapp splits her duties between coordinating educational plans with patients’ schools and conducting one-on-one learning sessions. This is a day in her life.
RISE AND SHINE!
6:15 a.m. Wakes up and gets ready for work.
6:45 a.m. Feeds her two cats, Fiona and Rue, and her dog, Winnie. Has coffee and breakfast.
7:30 a.m. Gets on the road from her home in Merchantville, N.J.
TIME FOR SCHOOL
8 a.m. Arrives at CHOP’s Philadelphia Campus. Logs on to the electronic medical record so she can check the status of patients she plans to see and send messages to their care teams. “We conduct lessons in every unit of the hospital except the Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit,” she says.
9:15 a.m. Preps materials for the day. Brushes up on the algebra problems that are on today’s agenda.
10 a.m. Arrives at the room of 6-year-old Melony, who has been in the Cardiac Care Unit since the summer. Pink accessories pack the room — fake trees, pillows, Hello Kitty knickknacks, ceramic cats. Knapp wants to assess Melony’s learning skills.
10:10 a.m. Puts six colored cups on the table in front of Melony and has her sort colored bears into the correct cups, and then solve other number puzzles.
10:40 a.m. Next comes lettered cards to practice basic spelling and a game called Zingo, a version of bingo. Melony puts the drawings into groups, declaring along the way, “I love butterflies.” The session ends with Knapp reading to Melony a rhyming book called “The Gruffalo.”
11:10 a.m. Ciarlo, 15, warmly greets Knapp when she arrives in his room. His mother, Kira, sits on the other bed chatting and doing work. Ciarlo is a long-time CHOP patient. He was diagnosed prenatally with spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal column doesn’t close completely. Kira and her husband Ken were referred to CHOP for evaluation, and Ciarlo has been in and out of CHOP since birth. This visit was for emergency surgery to remove a blockage.
11:20 a.m. Time for algebra! With some guidance from Knapp, Ciarlo solves all the problems correctly.
11:35 a.m. Soon Ciarlo’s days will be packed with occupational and physical therapy sessions. “He won’t have time for all the work his school assigns,” Kira notes. Adds Knapp: “Part of my job is to explain to the school the reality of what it’s like in the hospital. A patient’s day can be really unpredictable.”
11:55 a.m. Next up: vocabulary lessons. Ciarlo composes sentences using words such as “encumber,” “expound” and “hermetically” (“Like an airlock in a spaceship!”).
LUNCH, LESSONS, MEETINGS
12:35 p.m. Lunch, emails and planning for the afternoon.
1:20 p.m. Arrives at the Oncology Unit for a session with Megan, a second grader. Her father, Mike, is happy to see Knapp, saying to his daughter, “You’re a little bored, right?” Out of Megan’s earshot, he says she was diagnosed with cancer nine weeks ago: “I don’t remember much about beforehand.”
1:30 p.m. Megan’s lessons include rhyming words, arithmetic, spelling and reading skills: “When you add an E at the end, the vowel says its name,” Knapp explains. Megan is a pro, only hesitating over “hug” and “huge.”
2:05 p.m. Together, Knapp and Megan read a book called “The Animal Bridge,” and afterward, Knapp asks for a recap.
2:30 p.m. Back in her office, she documents the work she did with each patient. These notes are part of the information sent to each patient’s school to show the progress made since the last time the child was in a classroom.
3:15 p.m. Coordination time! Each week, the Hospital School Program reviews every school-age child in the hospital to ensure that they are receiving the help they need. Knapp calls families of new patients to explain the program and get the caretaker’s consent for the child to participate.
4 p.m. Meets with a parent to discuss their child’s educational needs. In some cases, when a child returns to school, they will need a new level of support that will fit their medical condition. This might mean creating what’s called a 504 plan that provides accommodations for students with disabilities or simply sharing with schools how they can best support a patient with healthcare needs.
4:30 p.m. Gathers her things and heads home for the evening!
Celebrating 75 Years of Child Life Services
Stress, anxiety and fear often accompany a pediatric hospital stay. The Child Life, Education and Creative Arts Therapy team helps patients and families cope with uncertainty, understand what’s happening, and provide normalcy and joy. The focus is on therapeutic play, psychological preparation and age-appropriate education.
Founded 75 years ago as one of the first such programs in the nation, CHOP’s Child Life Department includes child life specialists, creative arts therapists (including art, music and dance/movement), pet therapy, a multimedia broadcast studio, and the Hospital School Program.
With the goal of helping kids just be kids while in the hospital, the Child Life Department relies heavily on philanthropy to fuel their programs — all the supplies they provide to children, every patient event and the multimedia broadcast program are completely donor-funded.
To support Child Life’s work, contact Melissa DeFreece at defreecem@chop.edu.
Businesses and individuals have a unique opportunity to support the Hospital School Program and receive tax credits of up to 90% of the gift, reducing Pennsylvania state tax liability through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program. To learn more about how you can make a difference for patients through this powerful program, contact Lizz Miller at millere8@chop.edu or visit chop.edu/giving/EITC.
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Shannon Knapp, M.A. Special Education, is a teacher and education coordinator with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia’s Hospital School Program, and her tote bag overflows with the tools of her trade: books, educational games, a whiteboard and more.
When children are patients at CHOP, the Hospital School Program staff members work with them to develop and maintain academic skills. Participating in the familiar activity of learning helps children cope with the stress — and, at times, the monotony — of hospitalization.
While some patients are able to attend virtual classes on their own, many kids who have complex conditions or are hospitalized long-term need the support of a bedside or group session with one of the program’s six teachers. Each week, Knapp splits her duties between coordinating educational plans with patients’ schools and conducting one-on-one learning sessions. This is a day in her life.
RISE AND SHINE!
6:15 a.m. Wakes up and gets ready for work.
6:45 a.m. Feeds her two cats, Fiona and Rue, and her dog, Winnie. Has coffee and breakfast.
7:30 a.m. Gets on the road from her home in Merchantville, N.J.
TIME FOR SCHOOL
8 a.m. Arrives at CHOP’s Philadelphia Campus. Logs on to the electronic medical record so she can check the status of patients she plans to see and send messages to their care teams. “We conduct lessons in every unit of the hospital except the Newborn/Infant Intensive Care Unit,” she says.
9:15 a.m. Preps materials for the day. Brushes up on the algebra problems that are on today’s agenda.
10 a.m. Arrives at the room of 6-year-old Melony, who has been in the Cardiac Care Unit since the summer. Pink accessories pack the room — fake trees, pillows, Hello Kitty knickknacks, ceramic cats. Knapp wants to assess Melony’s learning skills.
10:10 a.m. Puts six colored cups on the table in front of Melony and has her sort colored bears into the correct cups, and then solve other number puzzles.
10:40 a.m. Next comes lettered cards to practice basic spelling and a game called Zingo, a version of bingo. Melony puts the drawings into groups, declaring along the way, “I love butterflies.” The session ends with Knapp reading to Melony a rhyming book called “The Gruffalo.”
11:10 a.m. Ciarlo, 15, warmly greets Knapp when she arrives in his room. His mother, Kira, sits on the other bed chatting and doing work. Ciarlo is a long-time CHOP patient. He was diagnosed prenatally with spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal column doesn’t close completely. Kira and her husband Ken were referred to CHOP for evaluation, and Ciarlo has been in and out of CHOP since birth. This visit was for emergency surgery to remove a blockage.
11:20 a.m. Time for algebra! With some guidance from Knapp, Ciarlo solves all the problems correctly.
11:35 a.m. Soon Ciarlo’s days will be packed with occupational and physical therapy sessions. “He won’t have time for all the work his school assigns,” Kira notes. Adds Knapp: “Part of my job is to explain to the school the reality of what it’s like in the hospital. A patient’s day can be really unpredictable.”
11:55 a.m. Next up: vocabulary lessons. Ciarlo composes sentences using words such as “encumber,” “expound” and “hermetically” (“Like an airlock in a spaceship!”).
LUNCH, LESSONS, MEETINGS
12:35 p.m. Lunch, emails and planning for the afternoon.
1:20 p.m. Arrives at the Oncology Unit for a session with Megan, a second grader. Her father, Mike, is happy to see Knapp, saying to his daughter, “You’re a little bored, right?” Out of Megan’s earshot, he says she was diagnosed with cancer nine weeks ago: “I don’t remember much about beforehand.”
1:30 p.m. Megan’s lessons include rhyming words, arithmetic, spelling and reading skills: “When you add an E at the end, the vowel says its name,” Knapp explains. Megan is a pro, only hesitating over “hug” and “huge.”
2:05 p.m. Together, Knapp and Megan read a book called “The Animal Bridge,” and afterward, Knapp asks for a recap.
2:30 p.m. Back in her office, she documents the work she did with each patient. These notes are part of the information sent to each patient’s school to show the progress made since the last time the child was in a classroom.
3:15 p.m. Coordination time! Each week, the Hospital School Program reviews every school-age child in the hospital to ensure that they are receiving the help they need. Knapp calls families of new patients to explain the program and get the caretaker’s consent for the child to participate.
4 p.m. Meets with a parent to discuss their child’s educational needs. In some cases, when a child returns to school, they will need a new level of support that will fit their medical condition. This might mean creating what’s called a 504 plan that provides accommodations for students with disabilities or simply sharing with schools how they can best support a patient with healthcare needs.
4:30 p.m. Gathers her things and heads home for the evening!
Celebrating 75 Years of Child Life Services
Stress, anxiety and fear often accompany a pediatric hospital stay. The Child Life, Education and Creative Arts Therapy team helps patients and families cope with uncertainty, understand what’s happening, and provide normalcy and joy. The focus is on therapeutic play, psychological preparation and age-appropriate education.
Founded 75 years ago as one of the first such programs in the nation, CHOP’s Child Life Department includes child life specialists, creative arts therapists (including art, music and dance/movement), pet therapy, a multimedia broadcast studio, and the Hospital School Program.
With the goal of helping kids just be kids while in the hospital, the Child Life Department relies heavily on philanthropy to fuel their programs — all the supplies they provide to children, every patient event and the multimedia broadcast program are completely donor-funded.
To support Child Life’s work, contact Melissa DeFreece at defreecem@chop.edu.
Businesses and individuals have a unique opportunity to support the Hospital School Program and receive tax credits of up to 90% of the gift, reducing Pennsylvania state tax liability through the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program. To learn more about how you can make a difference for patients through this powerful program, contact Lizz Miller at millere8@chop.edu or visit chop.edu/giving/EITC.
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