Prekindergarten Disabilities: Age 0-2 (#7650030) 


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General Course Information and Notes

GENERAL NOTES

Purpose

The purpose of this course is to enable children birth through age 2 years with disabilities to gain knowledge and apply skills in natural environments in the following areas:

  • Physical Development
  • Approaches to Learning
  • Social and Emotional Development
  • Language and Literacy
  • Mathematical Thinking
  • Scientific Inquiry
  • Social Studies
  • Creative Expression Through the Arts

Specific course content must include outcomes identified by the Individualized Family Support Plan (IFSP) team.

Course Requirements

I.  Physical Development

The rapid growth of young children that takes place during this period involves the development of strength, balance, and coordination. Development of gross, fine, and sensorimotor skills enables children to participate in physical activities such as play and self-care.

A child’s needs for physical support and intervention vary according to their specific motor delays and disabilities, with the goal being that the child can move as independently and as safely as possible in the environment. Physical support includes positioning and handling, adaptive equipment and tools, and special furniture. Positioning and handling refer to the way adults physically interact with the young child, such as picking up, holding, carrying, and laying the child down. Optimal positioning ensures that the child functions as independently as possible. Positioning equipment and adaptive tools are prescribed and monitored by a licensed occupational or physical therapist. Collaboration among family, service providers, and staff supporting a child is vital to facilitate consistency and safety in providing instruction and activities that address the child’s physical needs.

Adults who are supporting young children’s needs for physical development should include social and play interactions, along with interesting toys and materials while providing interventions.  Play encourages and helps children learn how to manipulate objects, maintain interest and attention, and leads to more physical movement.

  1. Engages in physical activities with increasing balance, coordination, endurance and intensity, including using senses and movement to explore and engaging in brief periods of physical play.
  2. Shows awareness of safety and increasingly demonstrates knowledge of safe choices and risk assessment when participating in daily activities by following adult guidance and directions related to basic safety (beginning at ages 18 - 24 months) and demonstrates differences in safe and unsafe behaviors (24 – 36 months).
  3. Responds to and initiates care routines that support personal hygiene by showing awareness of and cooperating with hygiene routines. (beginning at ages 8-18 months) and carries out some steps on own (24 – 36 months).
  4. Responds to feeding or feeds self with increasing efficiency and demonstrates increasing interest in eating habits and making food choices. Shows interest in being fed (beginning ages birth - 8 months) and begins to choose foods, feed self some foods, explore foods (beginning at ages 8 - 18 months) and feeds self with varying utensils, communicates hunger and thirst (24 – 36 months).
  5. Demonstrates use of large muscles for movement, position, strength and coordination in the use of learning new postures and positions and changing positions (beginning ages birth - 8 months).
  6. Demonstrates use of large muscles to move in the environment to explore and participate by reaching, holding, and interacting with objects (beginning ages birth - 8 months).
  7. Uses perceptual information to guide motions and interactions with objects and other people by moving with intention (beginning ages birth - 8 months) and coordinating perceptual and motor movements (beginning 18 - 36 months).
  8. Demonstrates increasing precision, strength, coordination and efficiency when using hand muscles for play and functional tasks such as reaching, grasping, and holding a bottle or toys (beginning ages birth - 8 months) and later utensils, puzzle pieces, or paint brushes (beginning ages 8 -18 months) and use eye-hand coordination to participate in routines and a variety of activities (24 – 36 months).

II. Approaches to Learning

Approaches to Learning is a unique and critical domain of children’s development. Although each of the other domains of development reflects specific content knowledge that document what children know and do, Approaches to Learning is not about specific content knowledge. Instead, it addresses how children deal with new environments, interactions, and discoveries. Approaches to Learning describes children’s attitudes and dispositions toward learning.

Children's approaches to learning are highly dependent on the quality and quantity of interactions with supportive adults. Children benefit from participating in environments that provide a variety of sensory experiences, access to developmentally appropriate toys and materials, and multiple opportunities for exploration.

Because children's individual needs vary, considerations in structuring activities should be given to providing multiple ways to engage children and ensure access to a variety of toys and materials at different developmental levels. In developing supports, adults should be aware of children’s needs related to tactile, visual, auditory, and physical aspects of the environment and interactions. Teachers, service providers, and families should collaborate to develop and use physical, visual, and verbal cues, along with predicable schedules and routines, to provide environmental support based on each child’s needs.

  1. Shows awareness of and interest in the environment and begins to show curiosity by exploring interactions with people and objects.
  2. Attends to sights, sounds and people for brief periods of time and increases attention to persist in repetitive or preferred activities.
  3. Notices and shows excitement about familiar people and activities and increases curiosity in exploring objects in familiar settings.
  4.    Planning and reflection skills are generally exhibited beginning at age 36 months; however, these skills are encouraged by activities that involve  talking to children about routines and facilitating choice making.

III.  Social and Emotional Development

Young children’s early relationships with caregivers become the framework for their future social and emotional development. Children construct knowledge about the world through their social exchanges, signifying the importance of social and emotional development to all other areas of development. Through relationships and healthy attachments with adults and other children, young children can develop the capacity to express what they are thinking, feeling, and learning.

  In planning activities for young children, provide interesting materials and space to allow and encourage them to move toward and reach for objects and people. Ensure that the needs of young children are met in a predictable manner and provide objects and responses that help them learn to calm and soothe themselves. Provide periods of quiet activities interspersed with periods of active play. Consider children’s needs for visual, auditory, verbal, and physical adaptations when planning activities and interactions.

  1. Expresses, identifies and responds to a range of emotions. This skill often begins with the use of sounds and facial expressions (ages birth – 8 months) and develops toward identifying emotions in others and reacting differently to varying emotions (ages 18 – 24 months) and labels emotions in self and others (24 – 36 months).
  2. Demonstrates appropriate affect (emotional response) between behavior and facial expression, imitating facial expressions (birth – 8 months), using facial expressions and gestures (8 – 18 months), and using words to label emotions in various settings (18 – 36 months).
  3. Demonstrates ability to self-regulate, including acceptance of being soothed by a familiar adult, holding a preferred object, accepting adult guidance for calming.
  4. Attends to sights, sounds, objects, people and activities for increasing periods of time to maintain joint attention and persist at preferred activities.
  5. Develops positive relationships with adults. This includes developing positive social interactions and games with familiar adults.
  6. Develops positive relationships with peers. This skill often begins with noticing other children and smiling, making noises, or reaching in their direction (birth – 8 months), interacting briefly or playing near peers (8 – 18 months), and develops toward interacting during play, engaging in turn-taking activities (18 – 24 months), and seeking out other children for play (24 – 36 months).  
  7. Develops increasing ability to engage in social problem-solving, including seeking adult attention (birth – 8 months), seeking adult assistance (8 – 18 months), and imitating others’ actions (18 – 24 months) to problem solve, identifies a problem and seeks adult assistance (24 – 36 months).
  8. Exhibits empathy by demonstrating care and concern for others, sometimes evidenced when children cry when hearing other children cry (birth – 8 months), smile or change facial expressions when they see emotions in others (8 – 18 months), and developing toward reacting verbally or with gestures in relation to noticing emotions (18 – 36 months).
  9. Develops sense of identity and belonging through play, including seeking attention from adults and children and engaging in parallel play.
  10. Develops sense of identity and belonging through exploration and persistence by showing interest in exploring surroundings and in persisting in engaging in an activity.
  11. Develops sense of identity and belonging through routines, rituals and interactions by responding to and beginning to initiate familiar routines.
  12. Develops sense of self-awareness and independence by indicating preference for specific objects, people and activities, as well as seeking adult assistance.

IV. Language and Communication

Language and communication are critical to children's ability to learn, work, and play with others. Children begin to understand language and develop communication in a variety of ways, including eye gaze, gestures, sounds, and words. It is imperative that children of all ability levels have supports to meet their needs for communication and are exposed to language-rich environments. Children’s development of communication and language skills is significantly enhanced by positive and encouraging responses of adults and peers to attempts to communicate.

Children's specific needs vary according to their individual delays and effects of their disabilities. Alternate strategies are needed when developing supports for children who are nonverbal, have language delays, or who are English Language Learners (ELL). Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems may be used to facilitate communication, and include sign language, voice output devices, and a picture or word board. Interventions may be developed to provide additional support for understanding language, such as peer models, visual supports for sequencing tasks and routines, and cue cards. Collaboration among teachers, service providers, and families is essential to ensure that interventions are consistently provided.

  1. Demonstrates understanding when listening through actions such as responding to adults’ voices, gestures, and facial expressions; responses might include gestures interact with adults (8 – 18 months) and actions or verbalizations to follow adults’ requests (18 – 36 months).
  2. Increases knowledge through listening by turning toward familiar sounds and repeated phrases (birth – 8 months), responding to own name and familiar phrases used during routines (8 – 18 months), interacting with gestures or verbalizations to participate in conversations, songs, and games (18 – 24 months), and participating in conversations, responding to questions, and identifying familiar sounds (24 – 36 months).
  3. Follows simple one-step directions beginning with maintaining attention to adult voices and developing toward following adult directions such as “give me …”, “show me …”, and “sit here”  with prompts and assistance.
  4. Speaks and is understood through use of speech like sounds in vocalizations (birth – 8 months and increasing in number during 8 – 18 months) and using words and simple phrases that are understood by familiar adults (18 – 36 months).
  5. Shows an understanding (receptively) of words and their meanings by looking at objects named and responding to own name (birth – 8 months), points to responds to the name of familiar objects (8 – 18 months), points to pictures or body parts and responds to simple requests (18 – 36 months).
  6. Uses increased vocabulary (expressively) to describe objects, actions, and events beginning with vocalizations, putting two or more words together and developing to using descriptive words in phrases.
  7. Uses age-appropriate grammar through playing with speech sounds, verbalizing words that are mostly nouns (8 – 18 months) to verbalizing phrases of both nouns and verbs (18 – 24 months), and using longer phrases which include descriptive words.
  8. Connects words, phrases, and sentences to express ideas as evidenced by productions of single words (8 – 18 months) to phrases that include labels and actions (18 – 36 months).
  9. Uses verbal and nonverbal communication and language to express needs, feelings, share experiences, and resolve problems by using facial expressions to initiate and respond (birth – 8 months), responding to simple questions (8 – 18 months), initiating conversations through statements and questions (18 – 36 months).
  10. Asks questions and responds to adults and peers in a variety of settings beginning with responding to tones of voice (birth – 8 months) and developing toward using gestures and phrases in back-and-forth conversational mode (18 – 36 months).
  11. Demonstrates understanding of social conventions of communication and language use by responding to adult contacts through facial expressions, gestures, and vocalizations (birth – 8 months), responding to adult contact by imitating adult expressions and verbalizations (8 – 18 months), and by responding to adult interaction using words (18 – 36 months).
  12. Shows motivation for and appreciation of reading through enjoyment of rhythms and sounds, showing interest of pictures in books, showing understanding that pictures represent objects (18 – 24 months), understanding that pictures represent objects and event and pretending to read (24 – 36 months).
  13. Shows age-appropriate phonological awareness. This skill is typically observed to emerge at ages 24 – 36 months and is evidenced by interest and attention to word play, nursery rhymes, and songs with repetitive sounds. However, children younger than 24 months respond to sounds and words that are paired with adult interactions.
  14. Shows comprehension of books read aloud through showing interest when an adult reads a book aloud (birth – 8 months), interacting with an adult reading aloud (8 – 18 months), and pointing to pictures or making sounds or words to interact when an adult reads aloud (18 – 36 months).
  15. Begins to show motivation to engage in written expression beginning with making random marks and scribbles (8 – 18 months) to making controlled and purposeful marks (18 – 24 months) and to express an idea about the marks (24 – 36 months).
  16. Shows alphabet and print knowledge beginning ages 24 – 36 months by recognizing that print conveys meaning.

Mathematical Thinking

The understanding of mathematical concepts helps children make sense of their world. The foundation of mathematical understanding is developed when young children observe and interact with their environment. Interest in and understanding of math can be embedded into daily routines and activities as children are encouraged to interact with their environment through exploration and play. Young children with delays or disabilities are likely to require encouragement and practice to process and organize information, as well as supports for understanding and communicating concepts associated with participation in activities that will facilitate the development of mathematical skills.

  1. Shows skills in and understanding of number sense by attending to objects during play and observing finger plays (birth – 8 months), indicating understanding of terms such as “all gone” and “more” (8 – 18 months), and begins to count 2 objects (18 – 24 months).
  2. Shows knowledge of quantity by exploring objects held in hands (birth – 8 months), noticing a reduction in number of objects (8 – 18 months), understanding changes in amounts of objects (18 – 24 months and 24 – 36 months)
  3. Shows awareness of patterns by exploring objects with varying characteristics (birth – 8 months), matching and ordering groups of objects, often through trial and error (8 – 18 months and 18 – 24 months), recognizing patterns in the environment, and replicating motions in a pattern (24 – 36 months).
  4. Begins to show understanding of geometry concepts by noticing shapes in the environment (birth – 18 months) and matching and sorting shapes (18 – 36 months).
  5. Begins to show understanding of spatial relations by watching and exploring with the movement of objects (birth – 8 months), follows physical motions to show positions (8 - 18 months), manipulates objects or pieces to make them fit into puzzles or containers (18 – 36 months).
  6. Begins to show understanding of measurement and data by exploring objects (birth – 8 months), shows awareness of size and weight of objects (8 – 18 months), uses words and gestures to describe attributes of “big” and “small” (18 – 24 months), use a variety of descriptions to describe size and quantity and sorts objects by one attribute (24 – 36 months).

Scientific Inquiry

Scientific inquiry relates to how children explore and discover in their environment. Their understanding of objects and concepts expands as they are exposed to and encouraged to engage in multiple experiences. Adults should engage with children and facilitate exploration and understanding by helping them participate. Adults should describe and discuss the concepts that children are exploring during play and interactions to expand children’s knowledge. Young children with delays or disabilities are likely to require encouragement and practice to process and organize information, as well as supports for understanding and communicating concepts associated with participation in activities that will facilitate the understanding of scientific inquiry.

  1. Uses senses to explore and understand their social and physical environment through responding to information received through the senses and using a variety of actions to explore the environment (birth – 18 months), identifies sense organs and identifies varying sensory input from the environment (18 – 36 months).
  2. Uses tools in scientific inquiry by responding to people and objects in simple ways (birth – 8 months), manipulating objects in purposeful ways and during play (8 – 24 months), uses objects to explore and observe (24 – 36 months).
  3. Demonstrates knowledge of living things in their environment beginning with their own bodies and developing toward increased knowledge of varying plants and animals in their surroundings.
  4. Demonstrates knowledge of physical science beginning with the movement of objects in their environments and developing toward understanding a variety of motions, speed of motions, and attributes associated with a range of objects.
  5. Demonstrates knowledge related to the properties of earth and sky, including touching and exploring water, sand, and soil (birth – 18 months), engaging in structured play with and exploring properties of water, sand, and soil (18 – 36 months).
  6. Demonstrates awareness of relationships to people and objects in their environment by recognizing and identifying toward describing familiar people and objects.
  7. Shows interest in how simple tools and machines assist with problem solving through attempting to use objects as tools during play (8 – 18 months), using and exploring simple tools as props during play (18 – 36 months).

Social Studies

Each child’s understanding of social studies begins with self and family and expands to include larger groups, often an early childhood program. Children require nourishing, respectful, and encouraging interactions to develop social understanding and experience success in social interactions. Children with delays or disabilities require repeated experiences that provide practice, along with positive and specific feedback to support their social development. Collaboration with family members is vital in helping children understand social skills within their immediate environment, as well as other social settings.

  1. Demonstrates understanding of cultural practices by first experiencing and developing toward participating in and identifying family practices.
  2. Demonstrates understanding of individual development and identity by first exploring characteristics of self and developing toward recognizing own characteristics along with varying characteristics of a group.
  3. Shows knowledge of individual and groups by recognizing and identifying family members (birth – 18 months), responding to the needs of others and following group routines (18 – 36 months).
  4. Shows knowledge of places, spaces, and environments by responding to people and objects in varying ways (birth – 18 months), recognizing personal space and familiar places in the environment (18 – 36 months).
  5. Demonstrates understanding of time, community, and change beginning with responding to schedules and developing toward sequencing events of own schedule.
  6. Demonstrates understanding of governance, civic ideals and practices beginning with responding to people and objects and developing toward following requests and understanding expectations in varying situations.
  7. Shows knowledge of economics and resources beginning with seeking responses from people and developing toward communicating to get needs met and showing awareness of a variety of occupations.
  8. Demonstrates understanding of technology beginning with reacting in various ways to people and objects and developing toward recognizing and exploring tools, machines, and interactive media.

Creative Expression

Creative expression provides children opportunities to express ideas and emotions, as well as to use tools and implements to accomplish their creative intent. Through creative arts, children are encouraged to develop their own ideas while learning to appreciate the ideas and products of others. Children who have delays and disabilities are likely to need encouragement to begin creative projects and might benefit from ideas or visual supports to help them develop a theme for a creative expression. Children with disabilities might require physical supports for using tools.

  1. Demonstrates participation and interest in sensory art beginning with experiencing a variety of sensory materials and activities and developing toward making choices of art activities and expressing self through art activities.
  2. Demonstrates participation and interest in music beginning by responding to music in a variety of ways and developing toward making choices of preferred music, engaging in creative music activities, and engaging in group musical activities.
  3. Shows creative movements beginning with showing increasing body awareness and developing toward using movement to show feelings and ideas, as well as movements that represent knowledge.
  4. Demonstrates imaginative and creative play beginning with imitations of familiar actions to play that uses objects and ideas for the purpose of engaging in creative play.
  5. Shows appreciation of the arts by responding to various forms of art in the environment and developing toward responding to their own and others’ art.

Notes

This course is designed for infants and toddlers with disabilities who need intensive, individualized intervention to address the child's developmental needs and the family's concerns and priorities identified on the IFSP. The expectations of this course are aligned with the Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards – Birth to Kindergarten (2017) adopted by the State Board of Education in December 2017, and the Division of Early Childhood Recommended Practices (DEC 2014).

The delivery of this course is carried out through collaboration of the IFSP team, which includes the teachers, families, and other service providers. Families play a crucial role in optimizing young children's development. Early intervention builds the family's capacity to help children develop and learn. Sensitivity to cultural diversity of families is essential when developing working relationships among members of the IFSP team and when delivering services.

A whole-child approach to early intervention recognizes that all developmental domains are interrelated. An integrated approach is more effective than attention to one domain in isolation. For this reason, the continued involvement of a team of professionals and parents is critical.

This course is designed to address a wide range of disabilities within the population of infants and toddlers with disabilities. Course requirements may be added or modified based on needs and priorities indicated in the IFSP.

The following references were used in the development of this course description:

Division for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children. (2014). DEC Recommended Practices in Early Intervention and Early Childhood Special Education 2014. Retrieved from https://www.dec-sped.org/dec-recommended-practices

Florida Department of Early Learning and Developmental Standards. Division of Early Learning. (2017). Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards 2017. Retrieved from http://flbt5.floridaearlylearning.com/docs/EGBirthtoK.pdf                  

National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). (2022). Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Early Childhood Programs Serving Children from Birth through Age 8. Position Statement. Retrieved from  https://www.naeyc.org/resources/developmentally-appropriate-practice  

 


QUALIFICATIONS

If contracted in accordance with Rule 6A-6.0361, Florida Administrative Code, see Section 1 for specific information on exemptions to the endorsement(s).


General Information

Course Number: 7650030 Course Path: Section: Exceptional Student Education > Grade Group: Elementary > Subject: Prekindergarten >
Abbreviated Title: PK DISABS: 0-2
Course Status: Draft - Course Pending Approval
Grade Level(s): PreK



Educator Certifications

Exceptional Student Education (Elementary and Secondary Grades K-12) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Emotionally Handicapped (Elementary and Secondary Grades K-12) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Mentally Handicapped (Elementary and Secondary Grades K-12) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Specific Learning Disabilities (Elementary and Secondary Grades K-12) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Speech Correction (Elementary and Secondary Grades K-12) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Speech Language Impaired (Elementary and Secondary Grades K-12) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Varying Exceptionalities (Elementary and Secondary Grades K-12) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement Plus Hearing Impaired (Grades K-12)
Visually Impaired (Elementary and Secondary Grades K-12) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Early Childhood Education (Early Childhood) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Primary Education (K-3) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement Plus Elementary Education (Grades K-6)
Elementary Education (Elementary Grades 1-6) Plus Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement
Preschool Education (Birth through Age 4)
Prekindergarten/Primary Education (Age 3 through Grade 3)
Prekindergarten Disabilities Endorsement Plus Deaf or Hard of Hearing (Elementary and Secondary Grades K-12)