Early ChildhoodSpecial Education Services

• To foster positive feelings towards learning. • To strive for excellence through a

developmentally appropriate, nurturing environment with highly trained staff and

exceptional and creative curriculum.

Goals

History \ StaffingEstablished 9/19917-8 sites in 20 years

Moved to New Harrington when it openedContinuing to grow

Staffing:Early Childhood Supervisor/Director- 1FTE

Administrative Assistant- 30 hours weekEarly Childhood Special Education Classroom Teachers- 3.8 FTEEarly Childhood Special Education Assessor/Consultant-.5 FTE

Early Childhood Special Educator/Social Worker- .5 FTESpeech and Language Pathologists- 2 FTE

Occupational Therapists- 1.5 FTEIAs for classrooms-10 staff members- 4.24 FTE

SSIs for ILP Classroom- Currently 8 staff members- 32 hours weekShared with System- BCBA, PT, Orientation and Mobility, AAC, AT

Child FindScreenings 

Full Evaluations 

( 67 Initial Evaluations so far this year)

Transitions

From Early Intervention Programs  

( 20 so far this year)

To Kindergarten Level Programs  

( 45 children this year)

Service Provision

Related Services ( OT, PT, Speech and Language, Vision, Orientation 

and Mobility, Teacher of Hearing Impaired,  Augmentative Assistive Communication,  Assistive Technology, Transportation )

Paired with regular consultation from Special Educator to area Nursery/Daycares

and parents. 

Preschool Programming

Integrated Preschoolsee brochure for hours/schedules:

up to 75 studentsmore than half general education

mixed age groupsIntensive Learning Program Preschool 

for children on the Autism Spectrum:9 students  ( some included in 75 above)

In‐service Training:

Trainings for parents/preschool/daycare staffs:

“ Bully Proofing Your Preschooler”Lexington Family Daycare Providers

November 2, 2011

“ Eliciting Positive Behavior from Preschoolers”Cary Library

November 9, 2011

“ Tools of the Mind for Parent Night”LCP

November 29, 2011

All preschool aged children with identified special needs are currently serviced within the 

school district.

What is Tools of the Mind?

• Program based on the work of Lev Vygotsky and current research on best practices

• Designed to impact both underlying cognitive skills, like self‐regulation and to teach content skills in literacy and mathematics 

• An approach to teaching children that changes the way children learn

What is school readiness?

Doing well in school is the result of a set of underlying cognitive skills that enable children to learn—anything, including the knowledge and skills used to define reading readiness and math readiness.

In elementary school, children have to:

• Learn on‐demand– Learning when the teacher says it is time to learn

– Learning what the teacher says they should learn

– Making the teacher’s plan their plan

There is growing evidence that self‐regulation/executive function 

is learned.

• It does not develop naturally• It is not a personality characteristic that cannot be changed

http://www.newsweek.com/id/139885

What is Self‐Regulation? 

• Is also called Executive Function (EF)

• Is associated with the pre‐frontal cortex• Involves regulating social‐emotional behaviors:  delay of gratification, anxiety, stress, and anger

• Involves regulating cognitive behaviors:  attention control, working memory, cognitive flexibility 

What Makes Up Self‐Regulation?

The “Executive Functions” (EF), which depend 

on prefrontal cortex, include 3 core abilities:

Inhibitory Control

Working Memory

Cognitive Flexibility

Adapted from Adele Diamond, 2008

Tools of the Mind

Our program is designed to go beyond the facts and skills to teach “Tools” or mental strategies that help children become self‐regulated.

Make‐Believe PlayThe School for Self‐Regulation

Mature Make Believe Play:– Deep engagement

– Planned in advance

– Roles with rules– Scenarios that change and adapt

– Symbolic props – Language used to plan the play

Physical Self‐Regulation GamesChildren practice physical self‐regulation– Fingerplays & Songs

– Freeze Games

– Pattern Movement

– Graphics Practice

Cognitive Self‐regulationChildren plan their play

Play Plans

• The color tells you which center the child went to that day.• Children start drawing their plan, begin to draw lines for the words in their 

message, and eventually write on the lines using invented spellings (phonetic spelling).  In kindergarten, they drop the lines and transition to conventional spelling.

• Writing play plans every day, built in data collection system. Easy to chart progress.

Cognitive Self‐RegulationMath Activities

• Remember & Replicate

• Math Memory

• Making Collections

• I Have Who Has Math

• Attribute Game

• Numerals Game

• Venger Drawing• I Have Who Has Shapes & Number

Cognitive Self‐Regulation 

• Children are asked to talk about how they “know things”

• Children act as a checker for another child, practicing “reflection on action”

Questions?