Tools and Strategies to Support Each Child S Full Potential

Tools and Strategies to Support Each Child’s Full Potential

Fact Sheet of Research on Preschool Inclusion

Research Synthesis Points on Early Childhood Inclusion

Joint Position Statement

DEC/NAEYC. (2009). Early childhood inclusion: A joint position statement of the Division for Early Childhood (DEC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Chapel Hill: UNC, FPG Child Development Institute.

Early childhood inclusion embodies the values, policies, and practices that support the right of every infant and young child and his or her family, regardless of ability, to participate in a broad range of activities and contexts as full members of families, communities, and society. The desired results of inclusive experiences for children with and without disabilities and their families include a sense of belonging and membership, positive social relationships and friendships, and development and learning to reach their full potential. The defining features of inclusion that can be used to identify high quality early childhood programs and services are access, participation, and supports.

Foundations of Inclusion Birth to Five

Joint Policy Statement

US Department of Health and Human Services/US Department of Education.(2015, September).Policy statement on inclusion of children with disabilities in early childhood programs.

Inclusion in early childhood programs refers to including children with disabilities in early childhood programs, together with their peers without disabilities; holding high expectations and intentionally promoting participation in all learning and social activities, facilitated by individualized accommodations; and using evidence-based services and supports to foster their development (cognitive, language, communication, physical, behavioral, and social-emotional), friendships with peers, and sense of belonging. This applies to all young children with disabilities, from those with the mildest disabilities, to those with the most significant disabilities.

Resource List: Fabulous and Free: Resources to Support High Quality Inclusion

Evidence-Based Practices that Support Inclusion

National Professional Development Center on Inclusion.(2011). Research synthesis points on practices that support inclusion. Chapel Hill: UNC, FPG Child Development Institute, Author.

Evidence-Based Practices that Support Children with or at Risk for Disabilities

• DEC Recommended Practices in Early Intervention/Early Childhood Special Education

(position statement)

• Recognizing and Performing the DEC Recommended Practices

Interaction Resources

→Interaction Resources

Performance Checklists

→Interaction Checklists

→Adult-Child Interaction Checklist

Illustrations

Practice Guides for Practitioners

→Interaction Practice Guide for Practitioners: Peer Interaction

Practice Guides for Families

→Interaction Practice Guide for Families: Peer Interaction

Do You See the Recommended Practices?

Featured Film:

A Creative Adventure

Approaches to Learning

Resource List: Play is the Heart of Development

Let's Play ResourcesThis site offers a variety of free resources for engaging and supporting play for children of diverse abilities, ranging from creating switches to using computers.

Featured Film:

Where I Feel Like Me: Shane’s Inspiration

Language and Literacy

SCRIPT-NC Resources:

Resource List:

Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL)

The goal of the Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL) is to promote the adoption and use of evidence-based early literacy learning practices. The website has downloadable practice manuals, including manuals that address adaptations for children of diverse abilities, video clips, family resources, and other materials.

Supporting Parent and Caregiver Involvement in Early Literacy Practices with Young Children from Diverse Backgrounds and Abilities
literacy/documents/family_literacy_research_brief.pdf

This research brief presents a review of six studies on early literacy practices that support parent involvement. Three of these studies are intervention studies, which are briefly summarized in a table at the end of the paper. Implications for practice are discussed.

Featured Film:Catch a bubble

Mathematical Thinking and Expression/ Scientific Thinking

Resource List: Math and Science Resources

Help! They Still Don’t Understand Counting

This article describes a developmental framework for counting and how it can weave in with long-established best practices for supporting young children with and without disabilities. The article briefly discusses how difficulty with counting may or may not be indicative of a math disability.

Teaching Math to Young Children: A Practice Guide

This practice guide provides five recommendations for teaching math to children in preschool, prekindergarten, and kindergarten. Each recommendation includes implementation steps and solutions for common roadblocks. The recommendations also summarize and rate supporting evidence. This guide is geared toward teachers, administrators, and other educators who want to build a strong foundation for later math learning.

Featured Films:

Neil deGrasse Tyson: Get Out Of Their Way

Creative Thinking and Expression

Resource List: Creative Activities Landing Pad Handout

SCRIPT-NC Resources:

Making the Most of Creativity in Activities for Young Children with Disabilities

Using the MOST (Materials + Objectives + Space + Time) approach, this article offers practical suggestions and planning tips for including children with disabilities in classroom activities. Examples of how the MOST approach can be used for children with visual impairments, hearing impairments, autism, or physical disabilities are presented in a chart.

Research on How Music Promotes Learning

This paper presents an overview of the benefits of active engagement in music in various domains of development such as intellectual, personal and social, and physical development, as well as in language, literacy, and numeracy skills.

Featured Film:

Brandon’s Story: A Mother’s Voice

Health, Wellness, and Physical Development

Resource List:

Natural Environments: A Letter From a Mother to Friends, Families, and Professionals

Written by a mother of a boy with Down syndrome, this article from Young Exceptional Children describes how the family made use of routines and activities in their natural environments to support their child’s development.

Promoting the Health, Safety and Well-Being of Young Children with Disabilities and Developmental Delays

This 2013 position statement from the Division for Early Childhood elaborates on the six recommendations presented by the DEC, explaining the rationale behind these recommendations and presenting the research evidence supporting the recommendations.

Featured Film:

Henry Gets Around

Social-Emotional Development

Resource List:

SCRIPT-NC Resources:

Classroom Routine Support Guides

These guides were developed to assist teachers and caregivers in problem-solving a plan to support young children who are having challenging behavior. For each example, the guides pose four questions (Why might the child be doing this? What can I do to prevent the problem behavior? What can I do if the problem behavior occurs? What new skills should I teach?) and provide sample answers to each question.

Routine-Based Support Guide (2-5)

Early Elementary K-2nd Grade

Creating Teaching Tools for Young Children with Challenging Behavior

Free tools developed by TACSEI and based on evidence-based practices can be downloaded from this website. Teaching Tools contains strategies to help teachers support young children with challenging behavior. Included are handouts and worksheets, as well as helpful techniques and strategies.

CSEFEL Training Modules(infant)

(preschool)

The four Infant-Toddler Training Modules are designed with a focus on promoting the social and emotional competence of very young children. Topics include understanding social-emotional development, understanding behavior, building and sustaining relationships, and supporting infant toddler social-emotional development. Materials include PowerPoints, handouts, video clips, and a trainer’s guide. Modules are available in Spanish.

Family Routine Based Support Guides

These guides were developed to assist family members and caregivers in building relationships with infants, toddlers and young children as well as in developing supportive plans. They promote understanding the intent of the behavior and supports selecting prevention strategies, teaching new skills, and changing the way they respond in an effort to eliminate or minimize the challenging behavior.

Building Relationships with Infants

Early Elementary-4 to 8 years olds

What Works Briefs

Each short document in this series from CSEFEL offers a summary of evidence, followed by practical strategies and additional resources. Topics addressed range from Using Environmental Strategies to Promoting Positive Interactions to Helping Children Learn to Manage Their Own Behavior. Briefs are available in Spanish.

What Works Training Kits

Based on the What Works Briefs topics, these short training packages include PowerPoint slides with accompanying note pages, activities, and handouts, which provide a trainer with the materials needed to conduct a short staff development program on a focused topic.

Featured Film: Technology will never replace love

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