Please Read...Important Proposed Rule Changes for Special Education

Vermont Families who have children who are recieving or did recieve early intervention...there is a proposed rule change that could impact future services for children (highlighted in red)...please read and respond via email to the appropriate parties so your voices can be heard.
Proposed Special Education Rule Changes: Parent Comments Needed! Deadline is January 8, 2013The Vermont Department of Education (VTDOE) is currently collecting comments on proposed changes to the Vermont special education rules for children birth to 21 years old. Parent feedback is critical in this process. We would like to highlight two significant proposed changes.
The first change will affect students ages 6-21. The current rule states that a school shall complete an initial evaluation for special education within 60 calendar days. The proposed change states that schools shall complete an initial evaluation within 45 school days. This change would particularly impact students referred for evaluations late in the year (close to summer break) and during the holidays. School vacations, weekends, and summer break would no longer be included in the count of days used to complete evaluations; only official school days would be counted in the 45 days.
The other proposed change includes a new requirement stating that children transitioning out of Early Intervention at age 3 meet a 25% delay to qualify for special education services. Currently children who have received Early Intervention services automatically qualify for special education services when they transition out of Early Intervention at age three. This is a significant change.
The Vermont Department of Education will be collecting comments on these and other important proposed changes until January 8, 2013. To submit a written comment you can email sharon.welch@state.vt.us. For more information on the proposed changes, click here. There will also be two forums held to collect public comments on the proposed changes: Wednesday, 12/12/12 Public Hearing: South Burlington High School Time: 6-7 pm Thursday, 12/13/12 Public Hearing: Rutland City SU Time: 6-7 pm.

Holiday Gift Ideas for Preschool Children

Need excellent ideas for Christmas to give your child?

Consider:

Toys to build imagination such as:

• Blocks
• Art materials
• Toy dishes
• Figurines and dolls with accessories. See attached article link.
• Dress up clothes. Very popular items in the dress up area are pieces of fabric. Choose shiny, sequins, fleece, etc. Fabric that doesn't ravel won't need any sewing!

Things to build fine motor skills:

• Playdough
• Tongs and small toys to sort
• Scissors
• Puzzles
• Magnet toys
• Legos, manipulatives that snap together, Velcro together or click together and are a little tricky to separate.

Books:

• Predictable stories
• Non fiction
• Wordless books where you and your child can tell the story.
• Books with concepts about color, shapes, new vocabulary

Things to spend time together doing: 

• Board Games
• Certificates for a scavengar hunt, a game of hide and seek, a date to build blanket forts in the living room, a special trip to the library or lunch dates. 

 

Yummy Recipe from a parent!

Amish Raisin Bars

Servings: Serves 24 Makes 2 Dozen Bars

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 34 minutes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups raisins

1 cup citric juice (such as orange)

1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon, ground

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) plus 2 Tbsp. Butter, unsalted, softened and cut into 1 Tbsp size pieces

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup Light brown sugar packed

directions:

1. Start preparing the filling. Mix the raisins and orange juice in a medium bowl, making sure the raisins are submerged, and set aside until raisins soften, about 30 minutes.

2. While the raisins soak, prepare the crust. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with vegetable cooking spray.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Use an electric mixer on low speed to mix, about 5 seconds. With the mixer on low add 1 cup of the butter one piece at a time and then the vanilla. Continue mixing on low until the mixture resembles damp sand, about 2 minutes.

4. Pour about two-thirds of the mixture evenly into the prepared pan and firmlypress it into a compact, even layer. Bake until golden around the edges, about 20minutes. While the crust bakes, add the remaining 2 Tbsp. butter and the brownsugar to the remaining oats mixture. Mix on low until damp clumps form, about 1 to 2 minutes; set aside.

5. Once raisins have softened, drain the orange juice into a medium saucepan andset raisins aside. Whisk in the cornstarch, sugar, and salt until smooth. Set the pan over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly until thickened, about 3 to 4minutes. Mix in the raisins and lemon juice, and remove from heat.

6. When crust is ready, pour the raisin filling onto the hot crust and spread it evenly over the surface. Sprinkle reserved topping mixture evenly over the filling, forming it into rough pea-sized clumps. Return pan to the oven and bake until topping is a deep golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool pan on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours. When cool, run a sharp knife aroundthe outer edges of the pan, then cut into 24 squares and serve. Store leftover bars in an airtight container up to 4 days, or freeze.

Source: Hannaford fresh Magazine, July - August 2011

Thanks Wendy Marchessault

SNOW!

PLEASE label your children's snow clothing!!!!!

Pizza Pizza

Hello Families,

Next week we will be making pizza for snack!  This is a fun activity for you to also do a home with your little ones! Stretching the dough is a fun sensory activity.  Deciding on which toppings and talking about the different smells and tastes provide great language modeling.  There is room for conversation about colors, patterns and plenty of opportunity for counting!  Pizza as an educational experience...who knew!  You could even go all out and make one that looks like this!

We will be reading several books about pizza including Pete's A Pizza and Hi Pizza Man, which is a very silly and fun book!

Happy Pizza Making!

The Importance of Early Intervention

This wonderful essay was written by a parent in our program.  If you would like more information about services for children ages 0-3 in our community please contact Jennifer Knowles at jknowles@mtsd-vt.org or call 802-316-6181.  If you would like more information about special education services for children ages 3-5 please contact your child's teacher.  Thank you!  And Thank You to Nell for sharing her story.

Why Early Intervention is so Important!

By: Nell Solleder, a parent of a special needs child.

Long ago, when I was in school back in the 1980’s, exceptional children had their own classroom. From what I remember, these children were not integrated into the general classroom setting. I never had the opportunity to learn about the many disabilities and disorders in my community. Let alone, have the opportunity to socialize and become friends with children who have special needs. They were separated into their own classrooms and had their own recess schedules. Looking back, these children were excluded from the general education classroom setting and I believe this may be one of the reasons why “labeling” children with disabilities could have a stigmatizing affect upon today’s parents. Children back then were also not as accepting as children are today.

In today’s world, so much has changed with the Individuals with Disabilities ACT. Special needs children are entitled to an “inclusive” and “least restrictive” education in the general classroom setting. Today, with special needs children being included, all the children in the general education setting have the opportunity to be exposed to the diversity of our society. They all have the opportunity to interact and learn about each other. I believe that “inclusive” education will someday minimize the negative stigma associated with “labeling” children for disabilities. Times were much different 30 years ago.

As a mother of a 3 year old child who is on the Autism Spectrum, I had the opportunity to experience Early Intervention first hand. Early Intervention has taught me, as a parent of a special needs child, how to communicate with my son with various communication methods like sign language and PECS. I have learned how to manage various behavioral issues related to the lack of communication and the autism spectrum disorder. I certainly have learned a lot about my son’s disability through Early Intervention program and the resources they provided. I have seen remarkable results with this amazing journey with my son. The fantastic Early Intervention team and my son have inspired me to go back to college to become an Early Childhood Special Education teacher. This is how strongly I feel about Early Intervention. I am a believer and I have witnessed amazing results. It’s very rewarding to see a child overcome their challenges.

When my son was first diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, there was a possibility that he might not speak. He had only two words in his vocabulary at the of 18 months. Many people even told me to wait and not worry about this (boy am I glad that I never took this advice). I strongly believe that our lives would be very different if Early Intervention was never introduced to my son. My son’s vocabulary and communication would be very limited, there would be no understanding, there would be a lot of frustration and many tantrums. I wouldn’t even know how to manage my son’s behaviors or how to communicate with my son! This would be a very stressful for our family. My son would also be very behind in his knowledge and skills by the time he would start Kindergarten. This would be a huge setback for him! Not only would he have to learn all the new education associated with kindergarten, he would also have to learn all the skills and vocabulary to help him communicate and function in Kindergarten. There would be a lot of catching up to do.

Ages 0-3 is a critical time for cognitive development in a child (and is also a very crucial period for Early Intervention). Cognitive development slows down as the child gets older and it becomes more challenging for a child to acquire new skills and knowledge. Especially when they are behind! To all the parents out there, if you choose to not have Early Intervention services provided for your child due to the fear of labeling, think about the challenges your child will encounter as they grow older. Imagine what life will be like for your child when they are behind in skills, cognitive development, and language. It will be a much more difficult road ahead for your child and your family.

Early Intervention will provide services and resources to help you with issues related to the disability. Early Intervention will provide the education your child needs to help with their disability and help them be more successful in school. With the fantastic help of our early intervention team, my son has certainly come along way. He has gone from saying 2 words to speaking in descriptive and complete sentences! My worries of him not speaking are long gone. Research has proven that early intervention can help reduce the symptoms of the disability. There is even a possibility that the symptoms may completely go away depending on the severity. Early Intervention will help your child become caught up on their fine and gross motor skills, cognitive development, and language. Your child will be ready to start kindergarten and will have a better chance of succeeding in school. With general education being inclusive, children today are a lot more accepting of others than children who went to school over 30 years ago. Set the labels aside and do what’s best for your child, It’s your child’s future. Early intervention is a great approach to help your child with their disability or disorder, and gives your child the opportunity they deserve to succeed in school.

Exploring Sounds and Lights

This week in preschool we are exploring lights and sounds!