First Week Of Teaching...Need help!?

Oh my goodness, bless you my dear. I hope you are able to accept this challenge. It CAN be done, although this actually sounds like it might be a somewhat inappropriate mix. I hope you have an aide or an assistant as you will certainly be needing the extra hands. A few thoughts, the older kids should be encouraged to shepherd the differently abled. They can help push wheelchairs and get toys and materials for those unable to do so. Since you have such a mix, you might want to start with some books to help the older children understand the unique capabilities of some of the children in the class. Understand Sam is one of my favorites. It was actually written to help adults understand, but I use it with the children and find they really enjoy it. Here's a link to help you find it: http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Asperger-Syndr... Just a Little Different is another good one to help children understand and accept differences http://www.amazon.com/Just-Little-Different-Golden... And another one I like is Mama Zooms http://www.amazon.com/Mama-Zooms-Jane-Cowen-Fletch... I think you are really going to have to individualize a lot to make sure you are supporting the needs of every child. I would say circle time is going to need to be short and active for the most part with lots of individualized table activities to let the older ones progress as they need to. Have you had any trainings on inclusion? You might want to ask your director for some trainings to help you.

I'm no expert so I'm going to give your question a star to try to get some better answers from some of the answerers who have more experience in this area. (My classroom always includes some special needs children but they usually high functioning and it's easier to adapt and include.) I would just encourage you not to give up or get too frustrated. You are already stepping up to the challenge by seeking help with the situation. Go for it! Try to remember that sometimes adapting a lesson can be just a matter of adjusting your goals for individual children. One child's goal may be to practice some basic literacy skills while another's goal may be just to remain seated and focused on the activity.

To Jazzy: wish I could have contacted you through your profile. Got a question and don't want to sound like I'm arguing with you! Your advice not to allow a child to assist another physically sounds wise. Just curious how you handle that in a classroom with limited staff. My classroom usually only has 2 staff for 18-20 children and it's next to impossible for one person to focus solely on the physical needs of one or 20. Would love to hear from you as we may have a lot of special needs in our classroom this year. (You can reach me through my YA profile if you want to. I really would like to hear your thoughts.)

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Take a deep breath and remember that they are all children first. Your students with special needs will all have IEPs so there is support - perhaps a certified SpEd teacher is assigned to team-teach with you? There will definitely be a case manager/resource teacher for the students with special needs who will help you plan your schedule, curriculum and specific activities which will make your class a wonderful learning environment for all the students.

There is a wealth of information about inclusive preschools online and I am sure the school district will also provide you with training.

One word of caution, however, do not allow your typically-developing students to "help' with certain tasks, which might put the students with special needs at a safety risk. One child pushing another in a wheelchair, for example, might seem to be a sweet idea, but from a liability standpoint, not a wise decision.

Look this as more of a mixed-age setting and plan for that. I have taught Head Start mixed age for years. Plan your circle times to challenge kids ages 3-5. I had a co-teacher. We did our morning group time. We also had a smaller group time, I had the younger group. She had the higher functioning group. In these small groups, we taught skills specific to their needs. I will give an example for a Back to School unit: We started the school year talking about how e get to school and such (bus, car). We talked about home/school for attendance. This was a concept a mixed age group could handle. In small group, we discussed how to get to school. The goal was 'mapping', a content standard. The older kids made maps, my very young threes just discovered what a map was (and how they could use a map). Most of my three's had a rolled up paper for 'map' (think Dora). Content standards were met in the two groups, but two different standards. The older kids created maps, the younger kids made the connection between media (Dora) and a real map. Now, how much staff do you have ???? Focus on planning for the 'typical children' in class. I am surprised you do not have some IEP for the 'special needs' children. Your aides should assist with the special needs in class. Of course, the typical will ask about the 'other kids'. Answer questions that these kids are preschoolers too. You might want to bring up we are born as we are. When you split into small groups, include the special needs kids into those groups to mix (even into the high functioning group). I can remember one girl, very profoundly handicapped and wheelchair bound and visually impaired. She was 'quiet', so she joined our older kids group so they too had a 'special child' in their group as a way to integrate. We just added her in the older group, sure she could not do any of the work but at least she was part of a group. It can be challenging, but with good support this should be an exciting year for you !!! Be flexible !!

Again, how much staff help do you have? What expectations does the school have for the 'special needs grouping'?