For many of my students, this is their first experience in school. I want them to love coming to school and strive to instill a love of learning at the start. My students have severe special needs and require specialized instruction. The principles of applied behavior analysis are incorporated throughout the day.
All students are capable of learning and deserve to learn in an environment where they are comfortable, safe, welcomed, and supported.
My students spend part of their day included with typically developing peers. Many of my students are learning how to communicate and be social with their peers. Using the principles of applied behavior analysis, they learn the skills that they will need to be able to learn within a group setting.
My Project
I am looking to get new puzzles for my classroom that are more developmentally appropriate and also tie into thematic units that I am teaching. I have added a few games to this project as well. These puzzles and games will improve my students' educational experience in a variety of ways. Most importantly, they will help them problem-solve as they provide opportunities to practice the trial and error method of finding a solution. Manipulating the pieces and figuring out where they fit and where they don’t introduces students to early math skills that they will need to be successful later on in life.
Puzzles and games are perfect for helping preschoolers develop critical cognitive skills.
These materials will teach students how to persevere in the face of a challenge as the only way that they finish is by demonstrating patience while staying focused on the bigger picture. Playing with puzzles teaches them not to get ahead of themselves and to take things one step at a time just as they would with the pieces of a puzzle.
Finally, flipping, rotating, and moving the puzzle's pieces also builds their fine motor skills. Using these fine motor skills while finding a piece, picking it up, searching for its proper spot, and fitting it into the puzzle strengthen the connection between students' hands and eyes. I plan to have these puzzles accessible to my students every day, rotating them based on the theme I am teaching. Some I put on my list to be specifically used during choice time, such as the magnetic maze puzzles which my students love.
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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. Becky and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
