Understanding Early Childhood Special Education for your SXI Child
Education for each student in our community is unique to meet their educational, emotional and physical needs and yet the structure and curriculum being taught aligns closely with that of their peers. How our students move through the learning process looks different and I hope that this framework will provide prospective on the fundamental levels of learning of our students.
Levels of Learning Description of Level
| Encounter | Student is present during an experience or activity without any obvious learning outcome. For some students, their willingness to tolerate in a shared activity may, in itself be significant. |
| Awareness | Student appears to show awareness, noticing that something has happened and fleetingly focusing or attending to and object, event or person |
| Attention and response | Student attends and begins to respond, often not consistently, to what is happening. Student demonstrates the beginning of an ability to distinguish between different people, objects, events and places. |
| Engagement | Student shows more consistent attention and can tell the difference between specific events in their surroundings. |
| Participation | Student engages in sharing, taking turns and the anticipation of familiar sequences of events. |
| Involvement | Student actively strives to reach out, join in or comment in some way on the activity itself or on the actions and responses of the the other students |
| Gaining skills and understanding | Student gains, strengthens or makes general use of their skills, and understanding knowledge, concepts or understanding that relates to their experience of the curriculum. |
Keeping the continuum in mind for the global development of our students, the following structure is used to ensure your child’s education is held to the highest standard.
Academics
- Language Development
- Literacy
- Math
- Science
- Social Studies
- Creative Art
- Social & Emotional Development
- Approaches to Learning
- Physical Health and Development
- Logic & Reasoning
Communication
- Communication: Student is able to interact with adults
- Communication: Student is able to interact with peers
- Communication: Student is able to communicate for a purpose and with intent
Daily Living Skills
- Daily Living: Student is able attend to 1-1 instruction while sitting in a chair
- Daily Living: Students will use their hands for Activities of Daily Living (Eating, drinking, etc.)
- Daily Living: Students will be able to manage clothing
Employment
- Employment: Students will be able to follow basic school routines for clean-up.
- Employment: Students will be able to use classroom toys safely and appropriately
- Employment: Students will be able to use classroom materials appropriately
Community Instruction
- Community Instruction: Students will be able to transition between classroom activities
- Community Instruction: Students will be able to appropriately participate in small group instructional routines
- Community Instruction: Students will be able to appropriately participate in whole group instructional routines
- Community Instruction: Students will be able to appropriately participate in individualized instructional routines
Leisure Recreation
- Leisure Recreation: Students will be able to play alone
- Leisure Recreation: Students will be able to play with other children
- Leisure Recreation: Students will use gross or fine motor skills to explore leisure activities