OCR Text |
Show t DAVIS COUNTY CLIPPER. JUNE 30. 1978 Pre School Program Aids Learning f A FARMINGTON development project for children between the ages of j to 5 is geared to work with children who are delayed in any development area as much as a year According to Jams Jolley, supervising teacher, this project, located at the Monte Vista School m Farmington, includes children who are behind in either physical, mental, language or motor development or have minor speech disorders pre-scho- 2l-- O' ft w? Li 2. - - , ' As4 re t'f ' jr Mn a icch'snx' 16 to? UlLt ; I ,'la hit i u- ? t J t ; - - V i ft : v a r Y, VcJ-revVf- ''. r, r'' o-pi- 'V; aavx 6 4 r f S - x ft I t k ' , , v f S . y r t V KCVt j, s - .:'tr 4 ! . s . - . t VI i , In many cases students m the program have secondary emotional children. 'S y a MISS JOLLEY pointed to one student who went out of the pie school program into a regular classroom There he was rated in the top ten percent of his class. This child, who had a cleft pallet, needed the interaction of the regular classroom and was well adjusted enough to fit into the regular program , y x pie-scho- O , v r$ " f II f y'C S' S r j f if II L TWENTY-TWchildren attend one of the two sessions offered every day except Friday. The school is staffed, in addition to Miss Jolley by Margaret Redfern, a social worker, two teachers' assistants Freddie Crowe and Patti Oliverson.la speech pathologist, Sandy Cragun, who provides services three times a week, and a physical therapist, Adrienne Petersen, who works two days a week with the . X o i f V IN ALL EXCEPT one case, the children are mobile and are either able to crawl, walk or move with the help of braces One child must be lifted Miss Jolley said that about 25 percent of the children are able to move into a regular kindergai ten after the training in Some continue to attend the school while classes at the Monte-Vistothers fit into other programs for the educably mentally retarded k3. s H ' f is : i 1 I V gyre learn pride in their accomplishments as well as acceptance, according to Miss Jolley. They establish a circle of friends, but learn not to do the work for each other pre-scho- i re . I & v, ',vV r 9Sr'? ; A All have normal emotions and feelings, the teachers said. The interaction with other children is important because they operation, the project has been funded during the last two years by the Division of Family Services (DFS). This year the money that comes to the Farmington Center will have to be cut since over nine similar projects are funded throughout the state and the money is not adequate to provide money for the over 400 children who are eligible Twenty-twchildren attend one of two sessions of the development project which is staffed by a social worker, two teachers assistants, a speech pathologist and a physical therapist on a part-tim- e basis, in addition to Miss Jolley, the supervising teacher said. A Xir. AA EACH CHILD has his own way of communicating, according to Sandy Cragun, speech pathologist Sometimes the skills of these children are more developed than Gesture wise, those of other children they are very strong," she said BUT THIS year the program faces some funding problems In its fifth year of pr-- u- entering the program, each child must receive a medical evaluation Teachers evaluate the child as to their development in language and motor programs and work to build up skills By ROSELYN KIRK sr , re i tv pre-scho- Since funding has become a problem, the program will be shortened this year to accommodate the lack of funding, Miss .Jolley said Usually the full year program runs from July 1 to July 1, but next year's program will not begin until August MISS JOLLEY said the focus of the program is to teach the handicapped preschool children to learn the skills that a normal child can often learn by himself The earlier the child receives this kind of help, the more normal his development will be. Children entering the school have a variety of handicaps, with cerebral palsy being the most common According to Miss Jolley, others have central nervous system disorders, are spastic or, in some cases, have multiple handicaps. Some have brain damage. MISS REDFERN works with the parents at home as well as in the classroom, offering supportive services and encouragement to the family. Some counseling is available to parents, in many cases to the mother who is most frequently home with the child One of the main aims of the program is tc teach both the children and the parents how to adapt. In all cases, parents have had to c hunge their lifestyles to adapt to a handicaps d child. Miss Redfern said. They are in a crisis situation, which culls for some kind of adjustment. Some of the children won't become normalized, but it is difficult for 'parents to admit to the disability. pre-scho- MISS JOLLEY said often valuable time is wasted earlv, be fore parents admit they( need help. But once children are in the program, it helps parents to talk to or listen to other parents A mothers group for the pre school development has In en organized More contact with the parents than in an ordinary is demanded since parents must work with the teachers and therapists in working out the develop nnntal programs fur the ihilJ Prior to pre-scho- problems, but these problems do not develop when they are able to build a good self image, Miss Redfern said , , i if: zA-- v A, r , - V f S ! - k, " t 4 fy n 'rfz i ytt'Uyi J - PARENTS volunteer to help in the school. This is helpful to the development of the child. Miss Jolley said, since the parents can learn to use the same wording and rules as the teachers, and thus increase the educational skills learned at schcxil- In all cases the young children are transported to school by parents. The building is piovided by the school district, but funding is available from other sources v i it sfs-rJ- x , r'i x rt ,1 jk AT , ' V?" 7 ? g v ' H-- "y "V 7 V, 4 5 jit V kv;v. ' x s' i - T 'Y-- S : Referrals of children come from a variety of sources, one through the Davis County public health nurses, who woik with handicapped i hildren in the home in the infant stimulation program before thi-are able to come to school. v i,s -- , 7 I ;rr v MISS JOLLE.Y said the cutting back of the program to erne half will cause some problems, but the school is hopeful that voluntary contributions V v - jJH r r may help with funds The Utah Association for Rtturded Citizens also plans to present the needs of the school to the Utah Stale legislature when that body nut is nt xl January This is the only pre school proj ram Sh-die ally for the handle apped, she said The first time wars, tne pie school was fuiidc d under a devc lopmentul disabilities ' program v Although the children meet with teachers for and one lull hours a day, this period is extended to the home where the parents become a part of the cooperative lum On f n.lav the teaclnrs and therapists nn-t- l tegular to plan the mdividu il.zej ptngram (or each child They conference with patinis at least three I, mi's a yc ir TOUA TIiL pn school development project ended tlx- sc hool y.,1- won th sot oiid annual j.rt- -j i iduu.un ceremony lo ( h Idren pumusittd in the pre a s - . - vr ' - . . ' V' ' . r t v v', ' - ! vt 7f ' F ' , . X sy V Tk'-v- - of oluion, using the tin me T ime is a I a tie " The children sang soiis fuUoAcI ty a pres nt i'ii n t graduates an nt In rs in (JKJ c las t io , - Xtt ' ci , 8 : ' y V ' s y 5 ' ' y 14 r 4 ( ' C1 -- v ( j y 0 . re yi 1 4' r V A 1 1'J' - - . A jr-- s ' V? S' jc i V -- ! t 4 ' V A W' V y 'X. A ,1' .? - w ? - ; 1 4,r'-. v ,s . v A y 'it s . .;-' n x ; . ,A I 1 .ft A ... 4 ., V A k i r.A :H ' . I -1 , , ? . ' 5 f- c , i .1! " 7n - ' 7t iy' & 7 t ' fc? ,vr t U - "Vs f ; 4 ' A'.r r, As--.t- ' I, X.S ; t j - I - 7 -- r y(Hh V ; 4 v r 4j ' t k 4ftr- V 'S - fi ' X ' 7yj - s -- V 1,7 V r ; t a ' aX . ' & |