|
Carpinteria Unified School District-Pre-Kindergarten Summer Institute 2009
Adriana entered the
program not being able to separate from her family. Adriana
had never attended school or daycare before.
She screamed and cried the first two days solid. She would not
participate in any activity or
interact with any of the other children. The teacher established an area
for her with a chair, where she could go;
an area that became her “safe zone”.
Eventually, Adriana
started moving
closer to the class, away from her safe zone, until she was in the class circle. After a
week, she felt comfortable enough
to be included without her safe chair. By the end of the program,
Adriana separated from her
family with ease. She participated and became excited about activities.
And, Adriana played and
interacted with the other children.
Daniel came into
the program at an exceptionally high academic level, but lacked fine
motor control. He could
tell the teacher all the letters from his name, but could not write it.
He would begin to cry when
asked to write his name because it was so difficult for him. The teacher
began to design fun
activities that would promote the development of fine motor skills such
as clothespin name
puzzles, chopstick letter pick up, and painting. After a week, Daniel
agreed to start working on
writing his name without crying. By the end of the program, he was able
to hold a pencil
correctly and write his name legibly.
Rigoberto came
into the program only knowing his colors in Spanish and not being able
to recognize his own
name. The teacher and instructional assistant worked daily on colors,
name recognition, and
name writing. Rigoberto actively participated in all of the whole group
and free-choice reinforcement
activities. By the end of the program, Rigoberto knew all of his colors
in English, except two.
He could also recognize and write his name.
|
