The PEN Project & Partners Resource Network
Texas Resource Center for Early Parent Intervention
Transition from Preschool to Kindergarten |
This is the next big step in your child’s academic life, the transition from preschool into kindergarten. This is a big step because you will be moving into the public school system, and officially diving into all that comes with educating a child with a disability. This is a whole new ballgame, and with it comes a whole new set of rules to know, information to learn, and people to meet. Kindergarten now is much different than it was when you went, much more advanced, and therefore their preparation for kindergarten is very important to your preschooler. Getting Ready A few months into the school year prior to starting kindergarten, you will be getting together with a committee of people in an informal setting to begin discussing this next transition. This “committee” is called your Individualized Education Program (IEP) team. In this meeting you will review the transition process and the timeline your child will be following over the next year. This process will serve to help make the transition process smooth and successful. At this meeting you will be looking at and discussing:
Some of the program options you may discuss are:
*Keep in mind that education in the least restrictive environment that is appropriate to meet your child’s needs, MUST be considered when choosing a program for your child. Assessments The progress you child makes during this final year of preschool, will impact the decision making process used to determine the upcoming services and settings for your child. During this year the staff working with your child will identify your child’s skills and areas of needed skill development important to their successful transition. Many different types of assessments will be conducted throughout the year to help identify and track your child’s needs and progress. Comprehensive assessments will identify their needs and are comprised of:
All of these assessments are part of an Assessment Plan that you will sign before any assessments can be done. In addition to the comprehensive assessments, Transition assessments will be conducted twice during the year; once in the winter and the other in the spring. These assessments address areas such as: academic readiness, social and emotional development, motor development, and many others. Combined, all these assessments will determine what services your child may need and the placement for your child next year. It’s now time to have your final meeting before your child starts kindergarten. This meeting will be where you will write your child’s IEPs for school. Services and placement will be determined in this meeting. Before your meeting, ask for the assessment results, so that you may review the information and findings, and you should have also had the opportunity to visit the programs being considered for your child. If you have not, at least make sure you are provided descriptions of these programs. If you are bringing in additional outside information, make sure you provide this to the school prior to the meeting. Also, if you intend on bringing anyone outside of your IEP team to your meeting, you need to inform the school prior to the meeting. People you might consider involving in this meeting:
At the meeting all assessment results will be reviewed, and you will be able to ask any question you have. At the meeting, you will be discussing and reviewing the progress you child has made on the preschool goals and objectives that were set up prior to your child starting preschool. Needs for continuing special education services will be determined at this time, and if necessary, new goals and objectives will be developed. At this point, you will also be determining what, if any, related services your child will need. Any services and all placements should follow along with your child’s assessed needs and identified goals. All decisions regarding services and your child’s placement are a team decision, and should be made after a thorough review of their needs. It can take more than one meeting to make these decisions, and you should not feel rushed to make any decisions right away. You make take additional time, outside the meeting, to review and sign the proposed IEPs from this meeting. The IEPs should have written into them, plans to assist your child with visits to the new program, prior to staring them in the fall. After the meeting has finished, Transition Summary should be given to all staff that will be working with your child in kindergarten. |
