Tot Spot: Goals Yield Results
In Up to 3’s L’il Aggies transition-to-preschool class, two-year-olds learn important social and communication skills to help them when they turn three and move on to school district supported services. Cathy Crump, a clinician with Up to 3, teaches the class.
At the beginning of the year, the Up to 3 team set goals to meet Division on Early Childhood (DEC) recommended practices. Crump decided to set a goal to include more movement in her classes. She incorporated movement into circle time by having the children do different actions like “roll like a pig” or “hop like a bunny.”
“One kid didn’t want to do it and was not compliant even when I did hand-over-hand with him,” Crump explained. She struggled to help this child to “roll like a pig” for four class sessions. “The next week he did it on his own!”
Another child in Crump’s class worked on movement for three months, and just before he turned three and transitioned to a preschool, he met all his targets.
These little successes are what make working with young children so meaningful. And it goes to show, setting goals and following through really does yield results!
Tot Spot is a regular column brought to you by the Up to 3 Early Intervention Program. Up to 3 promotes the development of children, under the age of 3, who have any type of disability or developmental delay and provides services to children and families living in Cache, Box Elder, and Rich Counties.