This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
I am an early childhood special education inclusion teacher in a Pre-Kindergarten classroom at an elementary school. My students with disabilities are fully included into the general education classroom and curriculum. The general education co-teacher and I lesson plan and deliver instruction in a collaborative model. Our students range in ages from 3-5 years old. I have two sessions each day. This year we had 30 typical children and 14 children with special needs in our program.
When you were a little kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Was it an astronaut, a firefighter, or a doctor? Allowing children to play dress-up and pretend is such an amazing way to promote their dreams and their vision of who they want to be. It's also simply a lot of fun!
Over the years I have tried to collect different costumes and outfits for the children to use during our units on careers and community. However, it has never seemed comprehensive enough. The set I am requesting is a fantastic pairing of uniforms, hats, and props which will provide the children the costumes but more importantly, inspire the use of their imaginations to engage in representational play. Having costumes that my students can physically interact with and wear will allow them to become someone else. Pretend play is a great equalizer for all children of different levels of ability to access the fun and learning. Using costumes, the children who have speech delays and other cognitive disabilities will be able to engage in the role playing simply by putting on a helmet or a stethoscope. They will be transformed into builders and doctors along with their typical peers.
I think we all can remember pretending to be someone else when we were little, for example dressing up like mom and dad or using a garden hose to pretend to put out a fire. Your donations will help me bring an opportunity for my students to pretend to be whomever they want to be when they grow up! Pretend play is so essential for young children. It's within play routines that children graduate from only understanding concrete concepts to developing abstract ideas in their imaginations. This dress-up set will help foster language development, high cognitive skills, and pro-social skills within peer relationships. Who knows, one of my students could become such a fabulous actor that he or she could win an Oscar someday! Thank you for reading my proposal. Your generosity will help to make this wish list a reality for my little Pre-K family.
More than three‑quarters of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Ward-Loveland and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
