My class is an Autistic preschool class consisting of 6-9 students who range in age from 3-5. Many of them are non-verbal and have sensory, communication, motor and social issues. A typical day in my class includes 1:1 or 1:2 time where students work on their fine motor, academic, and imitation skills. They also have circle time where they learn to sit and attend to the teacher, practice imitation skills, and participate in a group setting. Most of the activities during our day are hands on activities which include many file folder games and visuals. The students are at school from 9-2 so having a wide variety of activities is important. We are working hard this year to learn to sit on the floor during circle so we are able to move on to regular classrooms when we get to kindergarten. The first step to this is having a cushion to sit on as well as to define their individual spaces.
My class is an Autistic preschool class consisting of 6-9 students who range in age from 3-5.
Many of them are non-verbal and have sensory, communication, motor and social issues. There are a number of methods & techniques used in the education of autistic children. We use a variety of methods to teach our Autistic preschoolers and will modify curriculum and materials to fit each student's individual learning style. Many children in my class are visual learners so we use a variety of pictures, charts and visual representations when teaching. We also use a variety of concrete and hands on materials for students who learn well through their tactile senses and explore. The students LOVE music and circle time. During this time the students work on their imitation and language skills.
My Project
In the classroom we would use the seat cushions to teach our students how to sit on the floor and attend during circle time. The students have a difficult time staying in one place on the floor and having cushions would help to define their spots. Velcro is always important to our classroom. It is used for a variety of activities from interactive activities at circle to using file folder games and modifying books. The Velcro allows more then one student to use the activities by being able to remove the pieces and stick them to the correct locations. Velcro is also used to make individual communication books and schedules for our Autistic preschoolers. This helps them to become independent in their speaking and following the classroom schedule.
These donations of seat cushions and Velcro will help to improve my classroom by allowing us to work on important skills on such as sitting, attending, staying in our seat, becoming independent by using our schedules and communication books.
Half 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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