Early Childhood Special Education

Early Childhood Special Education Programs/Services are designed to bring family and school together to develop basic learning skills for children from three through seven years of age with physical, cognitive, speech, hearing, visual, emotional, or autism spectrum disorder impairments.

The Early Childhood Special Education Program is at Mary A White Elementary School.

The success of every student with exceptionality is a top priority at Grand Haven Area Public Schools. The staff, working in partnership with parents, will encourage the students to develop the skills that promote independent learning.

The ECSE Program is a play-based preschool setting that focuses on developmentally appropriate school readiness skills. The program services children with unique exceptionalities between the ages of 3-7. The program has been created to meet the individual needs of each child as they may perform at a variety of different developmental levels.

The content of the early childhood curriculum was determined by many factors, including the subject matter, social and cultural values, parental input, the age and experience of the learners.

The children would be exposed to a developmentally appropriate learning environment, with a well rounded curriculum, that would reflect the best practices suggested by NAEYC ( National Association for the Education of Young Children) AUEN (Addressing Unique Educational Needs of Individuals with Disabilities),and CEC (Council for the Exceptional Child), that allows for each individual to develop to his/her own potential.

The 9 focus content areas for the Early Childhood Special Education Program include, Academics (i.e. fitting pegs in holes, using scissors with control, holding writing utensils correctly, responds to name when called, follows oral directions, matches objects based on appearance, counts by rote) Personal Care, Health and Fitness (Unzipping independently managing outdoor clothing, washes hands independently, indicates need to use restroom, performing basic locomotor skills) Domestic Activities (cleans up after play centers, puts trash in garbage) Personal Work Assignments (chooses between a variety of work centers or different snacks, completes center activities independently, such as stringing beads or coloring a picture) Transactions in the Community (uses eating utensils and drinks from a cup, interacts appropriately with adults in school setting, get on/off bus willingly and appropriately) Participation in Group Situations (plays with other children, waits for their turn and takes it when called on, contributes to class conversations) Safety (sits in a chair independently, adapts well to new situations, handles alarms within school setting) Participation in Individual Situations (follows classroom rules, uses walking feet at school) and Personal Desires (expresses wants and needs in an appropriate way, makes eye contact, initiates play with others