Individual "Development" Plan

On a daily basis I need to remind and encourage myself that it's alright that Sarah is not at a kindergarten level. Some days it's easier than others as is so many other things. Something I thought of creating was a personalized "Individual Development Plan". In the school system, it's more commonly known as an IEP or Individualized Education Plan. I felt if I changed the word "education" to "development, I would be less focused on educational learning at this time. I do understand the importance of education for her, but the typical three year old isn't expected to do kindergarten so why should Sarah?

A short time ago, I was fortunate to grab a quick breakfast with my sister without our kids! That in itself was a nice treat! We chatted for a while about some things that I could do to put in a program plan for Sarah and with some of Alicia's ideas this is what I came up with:

Sarah’s Individual “Development” Plan

September 2013

Summary:

Sarah’s development is in the range of a 3-3½ year old. Therefore anything we do with and for her must be developmentally appropriate. 

Strengths:

• Sarah is very easy going and very compliant. She can be encouraged to do an activity with very little effort. 
• She loves to play with toys, especially dolls, lego and play doh.
• She has the attention span of a typical three year old.
• She loves to please people and be around those she loves.

Goals:

• I would like to see us work on Sarah’s attention span when she is engaged in an activity. This would also include cleaning up her mess before moving on to another area. (social skill)
• I would like Sarah to work on helping chose her own clothing and (other than diapers) be encouraged to do as much of her dressing as possible. Help is always there but so is supporting independence. (life skill)
• Although she isn’t ready for kindergarten academics, I would like us to talk about the colours in her world. I may or may not focus on one at a time but we can use colours to describe objects often in daily conversations. (academic skill)

Possible activities and ideas:

• Sorting various objects into appropriate colour piles. I have lots of small manipulative toys that would be work for her. This can also be done with the Duplo or other puzzles that we have. Books that talk about colours would be beneficial too.
• Labelling her dresser drawers with pictures to indicate the clothing in each. 
• Social stories or story boards for getting dressed. For instance, she needs pants, a shirt (or a dress) and socks. 
• Stay with her for an activity for longer periods of time. If she indicates she’s done, encourage an additional 3 or 4 minutes. Use a timer on a phone or the microwave as an audible cue for her. Also to ensure she works at cleaning her mess before moving on.

So proud of her matching colours and shapes here!