Goals Embedded Into Activities

My child has a speech and language impairment that is based on the way he produces certain sounds and pronouncing the ends sounds in words. The goals that are in place for him are to better help him better those impairments listed above. To help assist him and meet his goals, I will plan activities that align with his goals and their purpose will be to improve the problems he is having.

An important factor when planning activities to reach goals is that the "activity should lend itself to repetition with minor variations." This ensures that each activity completed with the child focuses on the same goal each time rather than bouncing back and forth between different goals. When the same goal is used, it provides consistency for the child to help them work towards that goal.

After speaking with my case study child's teacher, trying to get some ideas of what he likes to do, she told me he enjoys blocks and puzzles. To work on his objectives I plan to use activities where he can play with blocks and puzzles and incorporate words that are associated with those things he is playing with. For instance, he needs help producing final sounds in words, so if he building with colored blocks, I will emphasize the "d" in red and have him repeat it to me while playing. That way he can practice saying sounds and words he has difficulty with in a very natural way.

Reference:

Cook, Ruth E., Klein M. Diane, & Tessier, Annette. (2008). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs (7th Edition). Columbus, OH: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Importance Of Collection of Progress on IEP

Collection of progress is important and can help accomplish two things:

                1. Determine if the activities being developed for the child are developmentally appropriate.

                2. Determine if the objectives are developmentally appropriate.

A system is needed to monitor progress of a child with an IEP. The system is usually created or set up by the professional. What ever system that is used shows two things: progress being made or progress not being made. If progress is being made, the activities seem to be working and are appropriate. If progress is not being made, it is obvious something has to be done. It could be the activities or it could be the objectives. From the progress chart, the professional can make adjustments as necessary to the activities being provided to the child.

The same goes with the objectives. Collection of progress on an IEP can give the professional an indication of whether or not the objectives are appropriate. The text states, “Children should be able to demonstrate proficiency performance or 80% accuracy one on objective before moving to the next.” When a system is set up to measure that particular objective, it let’s the professional know if the objective is too hard or inappropriate for the child based on their progress performance.

Reference:

Cook, Ruth E., Klein M. Diane, & Tessier, Annette. (2008). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs (7th Edition). Columbus, OH: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Importance of Individualized Education Plan

The Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is developed first and foremost to benefit the child. The plan sets up an approach for the entire IEP team to follow to ensure the child makes progress towards his/her goals.  Everyone involved including all professional s and families must use this document as a guide to identify specific skills that need to be developed. Once the skills are identified, planning on how to accomplish those skills can begin. 

The IEP has a particular format that must be followed. This is a requirement that can vary in written format, but all elements must be included.  The format is of particular importance because it is necessary that all the elements are followed to better identify the child as well as mark the specific goals the child is expected to achieve by the end of the school year. The goals need to be specific to the child otherwise the IEP does not provide much assistance. 

Reference:

Cook, Ruth E., Klein M. Diane, & Tessier, Annette. (2008). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs (7th Edition). Columbus, OH: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Importance of Family Involvement in Individualized Plan

Family involvement has never been more important in a child’s education. When it is necessary to develop an individualized plan, the family should be the center of it all. Our text states, it is no longer the professionals who are the “experts” and do it all, but rather it should be a relationship between the two parties to come up with the best goals and objectives for the child. The text also states the outcomes, goals, and objectives should come from the families concern and priorities, not the professional.  It is the professional’s job to help find ideas and resources for the concerns and priorities of the family not create the concerns or priorities.

In my opinion an individualized plan could not be developed properly without family involvement. However I should also mention that a family’s involvement should only be as in depth as they want it to be. It is the family’s choice to determine the extent to which they want to be involved. The family is given the option, and it is the responsibility of the professional to include them when and how often they want to be.  Some families may feel it is better to leave the major decisions up to the professionals and others may want to be there every step of the way. It is a personal preference. All that matters is that the family is aware of all the steps that are taking place and that the family is first and foremost.

Reference:

Cook, Ruth E., Klein M. Diane, & Tessier, Annette. (2008). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs (7th Edition). Columbus, OH: Pearson Prentice Hall.