Pre-K
Transition Across the Grade Span: From Pre-K to Post-Grad
This easy-to-use guide empowers families to navigate post-secondary transition planning for children with disabilities, starting in early childhood and continuing into adulthood. It covers four key areas of transition planning: self-determination, postsecondary education and training, employment, and independent living and community participation. Regardless of where your child begins their special education journey, these considerations provide a supportive framework for addressing your child's unique needs. Plan and help your child thrive in every stage of life!
- Encourage your child to try new things to discover likes & dislikes
- Work with your child's team to identify which communication system your child will use
- Encourage your child to identify & communicate likes, dislikes, and interests
- Reinforce your child's strengths to help them identify and communicate what they do well
- Create opportunities for your child to ask for help and gain attention
- Complete and share this Preschool template with your child's team
- Help identify components of a Good Day Plan
- Talk with your child's teachers/therapists about ways to assist your child with these skills
- Offer opportunities for your child to be a helper and also to complete assigned tasks independently
- Provide opportunities for your child to complete a task following a simple visual schedule with 1-3 steps
- Emphasize similarities and differences
- Allow for opportunities to learn from failure. (Example: What if no one cleans up the toys? Does that make it harder to find your favorite items?)
- Help your child identify emotions and strategies for self-regulation
- Identify community helpers and the different jobs they do when you are in the community
- Expose children to various occupations through books and online videos
- Consider who in your family/circle of relationships can share about what they do
- Match jobs with the people who do those jobs
- Involve your child in tasks such as shopping and meal prep
- Choose & complete a variety of school- and home-based chores (cleaning up, setting the table, gathering items needed for a task)
- Practice making choices between options (i.e. clothing, activities)
- Practice daily living skills with increasing independence & fading support (brushing teeth, getting dressed, etc.)
- Complete age / developmentally appropriate jobs at home (e.g. cleaning up toys, matching socks, putting clothes away, cleaning the table)
- Expose your child to different places & activities in the community
- Encourage the development of problem-solving skills
- Introduce concept of "trusted adults"
This product was created by the Family Engagement Network (FEN), through a grant provided by the Virginia Department of Education and managed by the Center for Family Involvement at the Partnership for People with Disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth University.
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