Special Education Preschool Program
Program Model
The Special Education Preschool Program is located at Snoqualmie Elementary School. Classes are held Monday through Thursday, with 2 1/2 hour sessions in the morning and the afternoon. Our classrooms vary in size, generally ranging from 8 to 15 students, and are taught by certificated special education teachers, with the assistance of trained paraprofessionals. The occupational therapist and the speech language pathologist also participate in each classroom, leading small groups and providing therapy services within the classroom environment. They also provide these services on a pull-out basis, if needed.
Our classrooms include children with and without delays in development. Children who qualify for this program as special education students have an identified delay in development which may involve the areas of speech/language, fine motor, gross motor, social, cognitive, and/or self-help. Children with typically developing skills are also enrolled in these classes. Since these children have not qualified as special education students, their families pay tuition to enroll them in this program. This allows us to provide an integrated learning environment for children with a wide range of skill development, enabling all of the students to interact with and learn from one another.
Curriculum
Our curriculum is generated and based on the learning needs of the children, with activities included to address all individualized learning objectives. Opportunities to develop pre-academic skills, critical for future school success are embedded throughout the preschool day. Our classes establish predictable schedules for our students, with a balance of teacher-directed and child-directed activities. Thematic units provide the framework for the activities planned. The themes might include topics such as forest animals, transportation, or dinosaurs, or may revolve around the books of favorite authors of children.
Reading: The classroom environment is rich in literature experiences. Children have many opportunities to access books and are read to daily. Curriculum focuses on early exposure to print and the functional use of books (e.g. holding a book upright, turning pages from front to back, etc.). Classroom activities are designed to offer ample exposure to the letters of the alphabet in ways that are meaningful to the students. Identification of letters and sound-symbol association are emphasized in the pre-kindergarten year.
Math: Hands-on math activities and manipulatives are used to teach early math concepts such as one-to-one correspondence, classifying, identifying geometric shapes, rote counting, number meaning, comparing, graphing, measuring, and patterning. Children are exposed to written numerals and simple processing of numbers as deemed appropriate.
Language: Classroom activities are language based and designed to increase students’ functional use of language. Opportunities for communicating with classmates and adults are embedded in the preschool day and designed to meet the needs of all students. Speech and language therapy is provided in a consultative and direct service model by the speech language pathologist. Direct services are provided in small group activities, naturalistic play situations and individual therapy as appropriate. Language modeling and imitation are used to facilitate language in direct teaching and in the natural play environment. Social interactions are encouraged and directly taught when appropriate.
Motor Skills: Children are provided opportunities to develop and practice large and small motor skills through specifically designed classroom activities, at recess, in PE and through occupational therapy services as needed. Therapy for motor skill development is provided by the occupational therapist through direct service provision (individual, small group, and large group), monitoring and consultative services.
Social Skills: A heavy emphasis is placed on social skill development in the preschool environment. Students are encouraged to increase their independence in following routines, interacting with each other, sharing toys, and solving minor conflicts. Opportunities for dramatic play in which many of these skills are rehearsed are offered on a daily basis with physical props used to facilitate a variety of role playing scenarios.
Evaluation: Curriculum-based assessment tools and observation are used to measure skill acquisition and maintenance on an on-going basis.
Parent Involvement: We recognize that parents play a key role in the education of their children. We strive to provide information and support to parents as they work with us in this educational process. Parents participate in the development of their child’s individualized educational program. They may also elect to be involved with helping in the preschool classroom, preparing classroom materials at home, going on field trips, attending family fun nights, participating in parent meetings, and having consultation visits in their homes with preschool staff.
Extended Day Preschool Program
For some of our students, the IEP team will determine the need for additional specialized instruction. These students are then given the opportunity to participate in an extended preschool day. This program is available from 11:30 to 12:30 on Monday through Thursday, and also on Friday from 9:00 to 11:30, and students might participate in some or all of that time, dependent on the IEP team’s determination.
During this time the students participate in small group and some one-to-one sessions, and they also might work at independent work stations. The specific programs offered during this time are highly individualized, based on the needs of each student. Some of the programs used during this time include discrete trial training, picture schedules, social skills and communication training, and picture communication systems. Support is given to generalize skills learned in the extended day program into the preschool classroom. Some activities that will be later used in the preschool class may be pre-taught in the extended day program.
Special Education Preschool Program