Pre-School and Daycare
JulesFo
member
Integrated preschool
JulesFo
member
Hi ladies,
Curious is anyone has any experience with their child going to an integrated preschool as a mentor? My daughter was accepted as a peer model for the upcoming school year. She was in a traditional preschool this past year in a 3s program.
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Re: Integrated preschool
I think it depends on her personality. IS she a strict rule follower? Will she be in distress if other LOs are not doing what they are supposed to do? How does she handle kids on the playground or in the community who are acting/look different? When is her birthday- will she be on the young side? Older side?
My kids' preschool has 4-5 special needs kiddos in each class of 12-14. My oldest does really well. One peer on the spectrum is explosive and destructive at times and she'll walk over and hug him to calm him. She actually went to speech therapy with him for a year because she did well with it, She is a November birthday, so she is a little more mature.
My DS is on the younger side (and interestingly went through years of early intervention for speech, OT and PT) and he thinks it's a blast and gets himself into trouble egging on or participating in the inappropriate behavior. His twin sister, though generally easy going and fearless becomes a little fearful when a student starts making loud noises or gets handsy. Any other student she'll stand up to and tell him she was first, or to stop __ing. But the special needs students frighten her. I am glad she is there because it is a co-op and I am in the class often and can help her process what is going on. But otherwise I think it could be a bad match for her. I really think you need to evaluate her sensitivity. Because I have a special ed background it felt like something I really wanted my kids to experience when they were young to learn tolerance, kindness and empathy. So I am a big fan. But I do think it could be overwhelming to a very sensitive child.
Aw, it sounds like you've got yourself a future Special Ed teacher or a therapist on your hands. She sounds like a wonderful little girl.
I'm coming at it from the opposite side of the fence -- my DD1 has ASD and her first year of preschool was in what our district calls their "co-taught" class, which is a mix of typical kids and kids with SN, led by a SpEd teacher, and has one extra teacher (so three for a max of 16 kids, rather than the standard two teachers). It wasn't always obvious which kids had SN and which ones didn't, and all of the parents that I interacted with loved that class, whether their kid had an extraordinary need or not.
DD1 is in a mainstream class this year, but it wasn't a hugely different experience -- last year was just a few more kids with SN and that extra teacher. It's a little less warm & fuzzy environment this year, I'd say. The curriculum was the same, the schedule was largely the same; the classroom was slightly smaller so that kids couldn't wander as much. I do think the environment was particularly warm and welcoming -- they actively encouraged all the kids to be kind and understanding of differences, both behavioral and physical, which I thought was awesome for all of them. Our school does a good job with putting very experienced and awesome preschool teachers in its co-taught class, and since the kid/teacher radio is lower, all of the kids got more attention overall, from what I saw.
On a more anecdotal level, one of the highest-ranked local private preschools in my area is aimed at serving both SN and typical kids (many private schools do not).
And as a mom of a kid with SN, I have to say, having typical kids in the classroom to observe and learn from and make friends with is huge for a lot of kids with delays or developmental disorders.
DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010