Are you looking for activities that will save you time and money but that are big on fun and learning? Let us introduce 2 more activities from our featured series. All materials for the activities can be found at home or purchased in dollar stores.
#11 Bottles and Jars
Objective:
Using simple objects such as plastic bottles and jars to support teaching in many different areas of development. Continue reading
Educators have numerous responsibilities to the children in our care. Most importantly we are responsible for fostering their social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development. In our school age program for children aged 6 to 8, we set goals for creating new friendships between peers and fostering skills to support basic social interactions (e.g. asking to join a game already in progress). But where to start?
Our CISS Resource Consultant told us about a former program called “Amigos Time”. It sounded exactly like what we were looking for. The concept is fairly simple. Each week, the educators place the children in pairs. The pairings are written on a dry erase poster hanging on our Amigos Club bulletin board, and the children are very excited to see who their partner will be upon arrival from school on Mondays. Each educator introduces a cooperative activity once or twice a week that they do together. Continue reading
The document How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years stresses the importance of Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECE’s) engaging in a strong and respectful relationship with children and their families in order to foster a sense of belonging.
In February 2016, Judith Colbert PhD was the keynote speaker at the Welcoming Newcomer Children Conference who spoke about meeting and responding to the needs of young immigrants and refugees. Judith shared that young newcomers have distinctive needs arising from their settlement experience which may differ from other children in child care programs. Continue reading
Did you know that preparing children for upcoming transitions saves time, energy and reduces challenging behaviours from occurring?
Examples of transitions include:
By planning and organizing your transitions, it creates a plan that can be implemented by anyone. Continue reading
Previously published in the Spring-Summer 2006 issue of ACCESS Integration.
Rebecca, born on February 1st , 1990, has Down Syndrome and lives with her mother, father and older sister, Monika.
Rebecca has been integrated into regular child care settings since she started day care at the age of two and a half at Dow’s Lake Day Care. It was there that support from Children’s Integration Support Services began.
Rebecca started her school years at St. Patrick’s Elementary School and attended the Barrhaven Child Care Centre school age program. When she first started at the day care, integration was a new concept and a “learn as you go” approach was taken by Rebecca’s family and teaching team. Rebecca’s parents were very appreciative of the team that was assembled to help and for the ongoing support of their Resource Consultant. Continue reading
Summer is coming! As you are planning for your summer, consider some new and exciting activities or variations of old favorites for your outdoor play spaces.
The following websites provide an inclusive and inspiring approach to promoting physical activity in programs and at home. Continue reading
Throughout Canada, changes are being made to facilitate and provide a positive inclusion experience for all children with special needs. In our society, it’s important that we emphasize the dignity and value of each child. The myth that only “some” children can be included is false, all children can be included with the proper community support. The key to a successful inclusion experience is team work and communication. We need to remember that the parents\guardians are such a vital part of our team.
Here are some strategies that I’ve used as a preschool teacher.
Basic guidelines:
Are you looking for activities that will save you time and money but that are big on fun and learning? Let us introduce 3 more activities from our featured series. All materials for the activities can be found at home or purchased in dollar stores.
This activity can help to develop fine motor and language skills.
Purchase a collection of containers such as: small coin purses, small tin toy lunch boxes, cases for eye glasses, pencil cases, plastic/tin containers with hinge lids, salt/pepper shakers, etc., with a variety of fasteners such as: velcro, zippers, snaps, latches, magnets, fasteners, screw tops, etc. Continue reading
Twenty five years ago, our community had a vision that saw each child as a child first. They wanted a supportive and inclusive system that was flexible as well as responsive to the changing needs of families, children and teaching teams. The hope was to reduce or eliminate social isolation which was experienced by so many families with a child with special needs. By making this happen one child and one child care program at a time, supportive relationships were formed so that each child would reach their optimum development and experience the true meaning of belonging. Continue reading
Mealtimes can be a great opportunity for children to increase their vocabulary and learn some of the skills that are necessary for engaging in conversations, such as listening to others and taking a turn to talk.
Here are some general suggestions.
Get your children to help prepare part of the meal
There are many opportunities for learning and using vocabulary such as ‘wash’, ‘spread’, ‘tear’, ‘mix’, ‘stir’, ‘rinse’, and ‘peel’. At mealtime, ask each child to tell the rest of the family what they did to help. Continue reading
ACCESS Inclusion Newsletter 