ED 5635 METHODS OF TEACHING EARLY CHILDHOOD STUDENTS WITH AND WITHOUT DISABILITIES
Candidates will deepen understanding of typical and atypical development in infants and toddlers with a particular focus on language, socialization, and cognition. They will learn to administer and interpret developmental assessments commonly used with infants and young children and will learn to use the results to design instructional activities and to determine whether a given child qualifies for early intervention (EI) or as a preschool student with a disability according to NYS regulations. Candidates will learn the requirements for developing an individualized family service plan (IFSP) and individualized educational program (IEP). Candidates will learn to plan instruction incorporating the use of sensory motor activities, play, naturalistic language interventions, and social skill development. Instruction will be planned to foster learning by toddlers and preschool children whether they use spoken language or alternative and augmentative communication (AAC). Candidates will compare the advantages and disadvantages of home-based with center-based early intervention, and will identify and analyze a variety of methods of maintaining frequent and outcomes-based communication with children’s parents.