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CHD 215 Project

By: Amanda Jackson

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Philosophy
What is the need for early care and education that this program serves?
How do young children learn and how will this program support their
positive development? What theories/models guide your program? What
is the overall goal of your program?

Needs

Early intervention is crucial for children suffering from mental and

physical disabilities

While there are many government supports (such as in home

therapists) for the children, there is a lack of options for socialization
and classroom learning for children in this situation.

This would be a reverse inclusion setting with the option for self
contained classes

Reverse Inclusion- Classes with more atypical than typical students

Self contained- Classes for only disabled students

Supports

This program will utilize different supports:

Speech Therapy

Physical Therapy

Occupational Therapy

Job Training

These positive supports will promote independence and teach life

skills .

Theories

Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)

Lessons will be age and skill appropriate

Each student will have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) with

achievable goals

Set up for success

Constructivist

Language Promotion

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Promotion of optimal learning times

Scaffolding

Appropriate Teacher Guidance

Models

Montessori

Headstart

Having family meals and learning habits (like brushing teeth) last a lifetime and have a big
impact, especially on preschool children. Modeling appropriate behavior is necessary.

The Project Approach

Fostering independence and creativity is important. Music and art are outlets that promote fine
and gross motor skills as well as help develop talents. Introducing them to a new world of
learning on their own, but still having adults for guidance.

By using themes the children are interested in, you take away the stressors of standardized
testing. You are ultimately setting the child up for success. By having a self initiated and
directed activity, the child is able to show you what they believe is important and how they
believe things should work.

Waldorf

I really like the incorporation of the body, mind, and soul. I believe in these things myself and I
believe in being self aware. Only by knowing themselves will they be able to progress in life.

Goal

The overall goal is to have a place for children that will allow them to
grow to their full potential.

Without this, these children are missing a crucial time period

because they often get misdiagnosed or remain undiagnosed
through preschool.

Having early intervention services, allows for proper diagnosis and

access to positive supports.

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Population Served
Who will benefit from your program? Are there specific families or children
that will be served? In what community is your program located? What
ages are served? How are they grouped?

Children Accepted

Ages 1 (at least walking) to fifth grade

Typical and Atypical, with priority to disabilities

Grouping

Classes will be grouped by age, and then by disability

Infant Classroom

Toddler

Preschool

K-2 Classes( After & Before school only)

Talents (Music, Art, Sports, etc.)

Life Skills (Cleaning, Healthy habits, etc.)

Teamwork and Socializing

Self Contained (Physical Disabilities)

Learning Disabilities

3-5 Classes (After & Before school Only)

Talents (Music, Art, Sports, etc.)

Life Skills (Cooking, Cleaning, etc.)
Teamwork and Socializing

Community

Activities for CBI

Movies

Shopping

Nature Walks

Large Building/Recreation Space

Large Playground

Quiet Community

Not heavy traffic

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Curriculum Elements
What is the role of the teacher? What will the children be doing in your
program? What guidelines or standards will the curriculum follow? What
kinds of activities, materials, interactions will be occurring?

Role of the Teacher

The role of the teacher is to be an active participant in the childs life

and studies

Guide and learn alongside rather than in front of/on top of

Respect of the child

Protection of childs dignity

Role of the child

Engaged in learning

Self aware and use communication

Partner

Respect for the teacher

Standards

I would create my own standards that follow the SOLs so that

students are prepared for grade school

I would promote independence and healthy habits, so I would create

standards on handwashing, teeth brushing, healthy eating, etc.

Activities and Materials

Small manipulative

Things to actively engage in science and math

Token Reward System

Technology Area

AAC Devices
Computers

News 2 You stories and pictorial guides

Dramatic Play Props

Kitchen
Dress up

Art Materials

Crayons/markers/colored pencils
Paint
Clay

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Family Involvement
In your program, how are families involved? What benefit do they get from
the program? What services does your program provide for them beyond
childcare?

Parent Involvement

I would encourage parents to volunteer at the center and get to

know the other students and parents.

Because I will provide access to these therapies, children will have

whole teams working together for the child. This alleviates stress for
the parents when they are trying to work with individual people and
therapies.

I think the one service I would try to encourage is to have a college

work program for caretakers after the program is done for the day. It
is a growing need for parents to have someone with them while they
are home to help with the child. It is state funded as well (at least in
Virginia).

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Regulation and Evaluation
What professional requirements are there for staff and how will the
program be evaluated? How are families included in the evaluation? How
will you know that your program is successful?

Staff

Experience and schooling are my top priorities

System of checks and balances on each other

Keeping an open environment for grievances and success stories

Family Involvement

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Surveys

Keeping an open environment for communication

Success

I will know that my program is successful when the students are at

ease transitioning to their elementary school.

This was from CHD 215. Some of the objectives are:

Evaluate developmentally appropriate practices in model early childhood

programs

Articulate a framework for culturally relevant, multicultural, and anti-bias

education

Distinguish variations in early childhood programs for children with typical and
non-typical development

This supports this standard because it shows the framework for a program I would create.
It has my philosophy and what I believe the needs of the community are. It shows the
different models I would pull from and how they would act together. I believe this is
important because it shows the strategies I would use. These strategies are important
because learning needs to be differentiated for each child.

Amanda Jackson
Teacher Interview - Literacy Project 1
CHD 119 - Christine Schull

Special Education is a field where teachers are able to take a

normal lesson plan and alter it to fit the needs of each individual child.
Not only the children benefit; teachers often find this task one of the
most rewarding. Though this teaching job has one of the highest
turnover rates, Mr. Justin Farnan has taught in this field for over four
years. He started work at a secondary school for emotional disorders
and autism in northern Virginia. Mr. Farnan specialized in
Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), Virginia Alternate Assessment
Program (VAAP) Testing and behavioral disorders. After this job he
moved to where he is now at Redbud Run Elementary School in
Winchester, Virginia. I was especially glad to find out that he worked at
Redbud because it is the school that I attended and has always held a
special place in my heart. Justin now works in the learning disability
field and specializes in teaching those children. He works with children
of all ages kindergarten through fifth grade.
I interviewed Justin on a day that school was not in session. I did
not have the chance to see his classroom; however I got a vivid
description. His classroom is set up as a series of stations. Each station
has a special meaning and time or date. Typical stations include a
science station, math station, and a technology station. In the science
station, there is a sink nearby. There are probably samples of things
they have collected outside along with tools and supplies like
magnifying glasses. On other side of the sink is the art station. In the art
station there are all kinds of markers, crayons, colored pencils, glue,
paper and glitter arranged on a shelf. It is organized with labels for
everything. The children may bring this stuff to the table to work. The
table is large and round; big enough for group activities. In the
technology station, he has a row of computers. Each computer has a set
of headphones and a microphone.
Some students only see his room as a resource room, while other
students are in there constantly. Those students that use this as a
resource room may have a Title 1 teacher working with them. Title 1
teachers are given when a student needs English as a Second Language
(ESL) or has free or reduced priced lunch. Title 1 teachers must be high
school graduates or the equivalent. Along with this, they may spend up
to 2 years at a higher education school and take specialized classes
towards the subject they wish to help in. They may also get specialized

certifications in the county they are teaching; however, these are only
valid in that county. Title 1 teachers are wonderful assets to the school
system; however it can make a child uncomfortable if it is brought up
that they have a special teacher while the others do not. I believe these
teachers should make their status known discreetly and help all
children to divert the special attention from the actual student they are
there for. In Justins classroom, if the Title 1 teacher is there for a
particular student, it shouldnt be as awkward. This is just in my
experience working with children. Justin doesnt have any of these
students in this classroom at the moment. Justin sees a varying number
of students throughout the year due to their need for specialized
programming as well as testing seasons and remediation.
One of the stations that he has is for reading. In the reading
station, there are books of all reading levels and interests. There may
also be beanbags or mats for small groups and discussions. This is close
enough to the table they may migrate for large group activities. For
reading, Justin uses a product called Reading A-Z. Reading A-Z is a
fluency - based program for the learning disabled. He linked me to the
website and showed me around there to explain how the product
works. Because it is fluency based, children read aloud at the level they
are at and then it is calculated whether they should move on or stay at
that level. Fluency is believed to aid comprehension. By calculating their
fluency as well as the level they are at, the teacher is able to understand
their level of understanding of the material. For the teachers to test this,
he or she counts the number of words, subtracts the errors, and divides
the correct words by the total numbers to get the accuracy percentage.
This program has 27 levels, starting with each letter, and beginning with
aa or beginning readers.
Along with reading aloud, the series has books that focus on one
word and the multiple ways of using it. An example would be the funny
cat and on the next page the funny shirt. These books come in
multiple levels for each of the letters. Another tool that Justin uses is
velcro and letters on a board. The students can match the letters into a
word. This is also used for the children with autism. In their autism
department, they use a method of teaching called Sight Words. Sight
Words may be used with any disability, but is most commonly used with
autism, cerebral palsy and downs syndrome. This method works by

memorization and being able to recognize the words. By doing this,

children can learn words that are hard to sound out, hard to spell out
because of complex rules, or words that may not be as common such as
a name of a popular sports hero. The teacher has a couple of different
options to teach this, one of which includes introducing the word on an
index card, then showing a picture of the word. This done with review
should teach the child the word. The child should do this with 80%
accuracy.
While these children may not be tested with Standards of
Learning (SOL) tests, they use a testing system called VAAP. The content
of these tests is derived from the SOLs, but is less complex. These
students still have to be tested in the same areas as those students
without disabilities. They are scored locally and parents are notified of
the scores afterwards. Along with the scores, they get achievement
results and what they need to do to improve upon them. Justin doesnt
believe in SOLs or standardized testing due to the fact that they are
tailored more towards the teacher than the students themselves.
Typical SOLs stress out the students, parents, and sometimes even the
teachers themselves. They are done with a proctor, sometimes someone
that the students dont know or arent comfortable with and often take
longer than expected due to the different levels students are
progressing at. Another unfairness of the SOLs, is the content. While
some schools get through all the content equally, some teachers only
focus on what will be on the test while others expand. This gives some
students an advantage over others, and can also cause inaccuracy in the
testing results.
If remediation is needed during the school year, the use of
technology is utilized. Justin has computers in his classroom set with
programs to help children learn to read. One of these programs is called
Istation. It does word study and focuses on pronouncing words. It also
focuses on beginnings and endings of words and how they can interact
with one another. Istation is a computer driven program with
assessments, a teacher library and a catalog, and games. It is a game
based system for the children with inspirational characters and fun for
the child. The assessments are scored real time and with results that
will make it easy to correspond with the childs real life reading level.
The system also comes with thousands of resources for the teacher

including; lesson plans, books, and a manual. A Title 1 teacher may be

introduced at this point.
Throughout the year, Justin uses graphs to keep track of his
children. The data from their testing, their computer use, and the levels
they are at are all compiled to keep Justin in line with the other
teachers. For the students who use his room as a resource room, Justin
can keep them updated with these graphs. The data can be transferred
easily through email or the students personal records. Justin likes
using this system because he can update the childrens levels easily and
track progress over time. These graphs can be compiled daily, weekly,
or even yearly. After the child has progressed, they can take a look back
at what they have completed and how long it took them to complete. If
all teachers compiled data equally, the school would be able to use the
results to get school wide data without using standardized testing.
Justin is a teacher I aspire to be like because of his determination.
While this career is often an easy one, he has consistently stuck with it
since college and has come to a place in his career where he is happy. I
agree with him on the standardized teaching and wanting to have
something more tailored to the child, especially since nowadays we
have such a variety of learning disabilities and physical disabilities that
hinder learning in a restrictive manner. While each county is different, I
believe Frederick County, Virginia and the curriculum they have chosen
for these children is highly effective. Each program and method used is
creative and fun for the children so that they feel that learning is
interesting and not a burden. Being responsible through remediation
and keeping track of the children has always been a goal of mine and
will continue to be as it seems to be a big part of the children continually
growing and learning as they move through the school and the school
year itself. Having the consistency of not being pushed to a level too
hard or skip through a level to easy makes learning a lot easier as well
as intriguing for the child.
All of these are functional pieces to reading because it takes
consistency, dedication, and repetition. Games and other ideas are just a
plus to a great system. While not one system is perfect, neither is any
child and we, as teachers, are helping to remedy this.

Works Cited
Light, Janice, and David McNaughton. "Sight Word Recognition." :: Literacy
Instruction for Individuals with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome,
and Other Disabilities. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2015.
"Reading A-Z." : The Online Leveled Reading Program with Downloadable
Books to Print and Assemble. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2015.
"Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP)." VDOE. N.p., n.d. Web. 24
Jan. 2015.
"Why Choose Istation?" Istation.com. N.p., n.d. Web.

This was from CHD 119. Some of the course objectives were:

Differentiate adaptive learning materials to meet the needs of all children,

including children with special needs in language arts

Distinguish wide range of skills for promoting language and literacy skills that are
sensitive to the language spoken in the child's home, and meets the needs of
individual learners

I believe that this supports this standard because it shows the individual reading needs of
a special education classroom. The teacher specifically worked with reading and had
special practices. I remember being amazed because it seemed like he had the dream job.
He had a great point of view and gave me great insight about the variety needed when
teaching disabilities. It shows the differential teaching strategies needed.