My students are ages 3 to 5, and they each come to me with a variety of disabilities and unique needs, some as early as their 3rd birthday. While their developmental levels are often very different, as young children, they have the common thread that they all want to play, and they learn best through play! All young children need exploration through play experiences to learn about the world and their place in it. So that is what we do. My job is to find ways to engage students in play that is developmentally appropriate and that promotes needed skill development in their individual areas of deficit, but I also want them just to enjoy their play and experience the same benefits from it that their typically developing peers do. It should be FUN to learn. That is the first step of growing a lifelong learner….teaching little people that it can be fun to learn, and that they are made for learning!
My Project
Some children come to me with sensory impairments as one of their challenges. I find ways to engage these children in learning experiences that maximize sensory input that is meaningful to them. I want tools to enable children with low vision and hearing impairments to make new discoveries at school. A light table topper, tactile, and reflective materials will support low vision learners, and sound cubes will support those with hearing impairment. Multisensory exploration experiences, however, benefit ALL of my early learners. During structured and unstructured learning, I want my students engaging as many senses as possible to build pre-academic skills that will foster personal best later academic successes.
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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. Blenderman and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
