I teach preschool special education in Honolulu, Hawaii. My students range in age from 3-5 years old and all have special needs. They come from various socioeconomic backgrounds and most receive free or reduced-price lunch. The students I teach have a variety of disabilities including language and communication delays, Autism, hearing loss, physical disabilities, as well as unique medical conditions. All of my students, regardless of the challenges they are facing, come to school happy and eager to learn, with bright smiles on their faces and joy in their hearts.
My Project
One of my favorite things about teaching preschool special education is the freedom to create my own curriculum. Typically, I choose a piece of literature to focus on for a month and build a thematic unit around that book. I LOVE the challenge of creating lessons and activities that connect to the theme! I am also able to differentiate my lessons to meet the needs of each individual student while still working within the theme. When skills are taught and developed within the context of a theme, the work is more meaningful to the students because it's all connected.
In the state of Hawaii, we will be doing distance learning for at least the first quarter of this school year due to COVID-19.
In the event that distance learning continues past the first quarter, I want to be prepared and able to provide each of my students with the books that we will be using for our next three thematic units. I also want to provide them with additional art supplies so that they will have what they need to complete assigned craft projects connected to the thematic units.
If we are able to return to school for face to face instruction in the second quarter, it will still enrich the learning of all my students to have copies of these books at home.
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