Post by Ms. Kathy on Jul 19, 2004 3:59:49 GMT -6
[glow=red,2,300]My Class[/glow]
For a few years I had a preschool class of children born premature who had varying degrees of ROP with other conditions that may accompany extremely premature birth. Most were also developmentally delayed. One child was nonverbal, another was echolalic and another had cerebral palsey. Still another had seizures and one came to me with the ability to say no more than 2 syllables at a time and another was hard-of-hearing as well. Two were totally blind while one functioned as a totally blind child. At one time 4 of 6 were in diapers.
Some people like video games and crossword puzzles. I enjoyed the little puzzles in my class--discovering what worked with individual children, what they liked to eat, what motivated them and what turned the little lights on for life experiences. I'd be so tired at the end of many days but it was "joyful exhaustion".
Some of the ideas I have here were taught to me by these children. I'd learned many years before from working with children at the school for the visually impaired that children will teach you how to teach them. I must also give credit to my class of older deaf-blind kids in Florida as they helped prepare me for working with my babies. I had a wonderful assistant who helped me with sign language and co-active signing. Little did I know that this and other things the kids taught me would be needed later with other children.
Although my babies had to be taught differently, I didn't believe they should be isolated from the other children at the school (we were on a regular elementary school campus). We shared half a room with the class for "regular" preschoolers with visual impairments. The French and music teachers and the guidance counsellor would visit our class and teach the kids together. My aide and I would stay in class with our kids and make sure they were doing what the other kids did within their own capacities to do so.
They went to the library and listened to the stories the librarian read to the group. Then they would raise their hands (some with help) to check out the books she suggested based on what we were doing in class. It was a learning experience for those teachers as well as they would ask questions about the kids. Soon they understood our kids and were including them in activities making thier plans to include abilities of my kids.
My kids ate breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria with the other children. After eating they were expected to put their trays away and clean the table, just like the big kids! My aide and I took them out to play during the Kindergarten to second grade recess instead of segregating them from the other children. The other children learned that they could run and play too.
A second grader loved to take one of my boys around the playground. He learned fast that he didn't have to hold his hand all the time because he'd wrench loose, take off running across the playground and climb to the top of the jungle gym!
It was so much fun to see the kids grow--I mean, not only my class but the children who got to know them. I remember a kindergarten girl who was a behavior problem in her class. She was so curious about my kids and one curly-headed boy in particular. When a new girl came to her class, she called to him to come play with them. I heard her explain to her new friend, "Now he can't see and he doesn't talk. But that doesn't mean we can't talk to him. He still likes to be talked to. He has to have this thing (hoop cane) to walk so he won't bump into things. That's because he was born too early." With that, the girls took him to their circle for a game of ring-around the rosy.
I will be posting some of the activities we did in that class. May you experience joyful exhaustion as well!
Stay Blessed!
Ms. Kathy
For a few years I had a preschool class of children born premature who had varying degrees of ROP with other conditions that may accompany extremely premature birth. Most were also developmentally delayed. One child was nonverbal, another was echolalic and another had cerebral palsey. Still another had seizures and one came to me with the ability to say no more than 2 syllables at a time and another was hard-of-hearing as well. Two were totally blind while one functioned as a totally blind child. At one time 4 of 6 were in diapers.
Some people like video games and crossword puzzles. I enjoyed the little puzzles in my class--discovering what worked with individual children, what they liked to eat, what motivated them and what turned the little lights on for life experiences. I'd be so tired at the end of many days but it was "joyful exhaustion".
Some of the ideas I have here were taught to me by these children. I'd learned many years before from working with children at the school for the visually impaired that children will teach you how to teach them. I must also give credit to my class of older deaf-blind kids in Florida as they helped prepare me for working with my babies. I had a wonderful assistant who helped me with sign language and co-active signing. Little did I know that this and other things the kids taught me would be needed later with other children.
Although my babies had to be taught differently, I didn't believe they should be isolated from the other children at the school (we were on a regular elementary school campus). We shared half a room with the class for "regular" preschoolers with visual impairments. The French and music teachers and the guidance counsellor would visit our class and teach the kids together. My aide and I would stay in class with our kids and make sure they were doing what the other kids did within their own capacities to do so.
They went to the library and listened to the stories the librarian read to the group. Then they would raise their hands (some with help) to check out the books she suggested based on what we were doing in class. It was a learning experience for those teachers as well as they would ask questions about the kids. Soon they understood our kids and were including them in activities making thier plans to include abilities of my kids.
My kids ate breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria with the other children. After eating they were expected to put their trays away and clean the table, just like the big kids! My aide and I took them out to play during the Kindergarten to second grade recess instead of segregating them from the other children. The other children learned that they could run and play too.
A second grader loved to take one of my boys around the playground. He learned fast that he didn't have to hold his hand all the time because he'd wrench loose, take off running across the playground and climb to the top of the jungle gym!
It was so much fun to see the kids grow--I mean, not only my class but the children who got to know them. I remember a kindergarten girl who was a behavior problem in her class. She was so curious about my kids and one curly-headed boy in particular. When a new girl came to her class, she called to him to come play with them. I heard her explain to her new friend, "Now he can't see and he doesn't talk. But that doesn't mean we can't talk to him. He still likes to be talked to. He has to have this thing (hoop cane) to walk so he won't bump into things. That's because he was born too early." With that, the girls took him to their circle for a game of ring-around the rosy.
I will be posting some of the activities we did in that class. May you experience joyful exhaustion as well!
Stay Blessed!
Ms. Kathy