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Establishing meaningful relationships with families is a critical part of your work, and your communication is especially important when working with families with preschoolers with special needs.

The first step to establish strong relationships with families of children with special needs is to spend time discovering their wishes and concerns for their children and to learn about the meaningful activities they participate in at home. Maintaining this communication throughout a child’s time in your program is essential. Ask questions to learn about strategies that work at home and consider using them in your classroom.

In your collaboration with families, acknowledge and respect their strengths and unique background, while realizing their ability to make decisions that are right for them (Hanson & Lynch, 2004).

A little planning before school begins can pay big dividends throughout the school year. Starting off on the right foot can make all the difference.

A strong preference for visual learning A natural inclination to technology Strong capacity for social understanding and empathy Stead vocabulary acquisition Strong short-term memory Age-appropriate self-help and daily living skills

An emotional and behavioral disorder is an emotional disability characterized by the following: (i) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and/or teachers. For preschool-age children, this would include other care providers. (ii) An inability to learn which cannot be adequately explained by intellectual, sensory or health factors. (iii) A consistent or chronic inappropriate type of behavior or feelings under normal conditions. (iv) A displayed pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression. (v) A displayed tendency to develop physical symptoms, pains or unreasonable fears associated with personal or school problems.

A child with EBD is a child who exhibits one or more of the above emotionally based characteristics of sufficient duration, frequency and intensity that interferes significantly with educational performance to the degree that provision of special educational service is necessary

Eligibility and Placement.

Gifted and talented children and youth are those students with outstanding abilities, identified at preschool, elementary, and secondary levels. The potential of gifted students requires differentiated and challenging educational programs or services beyond those provided in the general school program. Students capable of high performance include those with demonstrated achievement or potential ability in one or more of these areas: general intellectual, specific academic subjects, creativity, leadership, and visual/performing arts.

Resources for Educators, Schools and FamiliesAcceleration is an option for students who are academically advanced compared to peers in their age group. The Acceleration Institute website informs parents, educators, researchers and policymakers of the research and practices concerning academic acceleration. Visit the Acceleration Institute website. Developing Academic Acceleration Policies: Whole Grade, Early Entrance & Single Subject is a resource available to guide policymakers, school administrators, and educators to create or modify acceleration policies at the local level. View Developing Academic Policies: Whole Grade, Early Entrance & Single Subject. Sample whole grade acceleration procedure