Motor and Self Help Skills

My focus child needs to improve control of fine motor skills.  He is able to pick up objects (such as blocks) to move them from one area to another or to drop them, but I have noticed that he has trouble stacking blocks to build a structure.  His IEP notes that he needs to improve hand and finger control for pre writing skills.  I will work on his control of fine muscles by working with him to fill a container with blocks (or other small toys) and by stacking blocks.  I will also use peg puzzles to see how he is able to control movement in his finger and hand.  A coloring activity would also benefit his pre writing skills.  I would use markers as they are easier to create marks on paper.

Social Story

One of the goals on the IEP of my child is increasing his overall social interactions.  My social story will include activities to help J to improve his ability to advocate for himself.  J does not use words to communicate but makes noises and laughter to imply pleasures and happiness.  He is also able to express anger, sadness, and happiness.  He will sometimes show anger by yelling and/or hitting.  When he is upset by another child, he is beginning to move away from the situation to seek comfort from an adult.  My story will include activities and outcomes of J's improvement in advocating for himself.

How goals and objectives are embedded into activities

When working with children with or without IEPs there are goals/objectives that teachers and other professionals work on for the overall success of the child.  Embedding those goals/objectives into activities is how professionals accomplish this.  For example, children that may need to work on phonemic awareness can do so in an activity with children singing a song that contains letter sounds.  If children need to work on fine motor skills, cutting with scissors, using playdoh and dough tools, modeling clay, and stringing beeds is a way of working on those skills.  Teachers and other professionals can use the IEP to gather the necessary information they need to plan activities based off the goals (needs) of the child.  During these activities, teachers and professionals should keep progress notes (in my classroom I take anecdotal notes) on the child.  For a child that may need to work on a goal promoting positive social skills and do so in a pretend activity with other children.  Teachers could interact or could choose to simply observe.  Running records are another way that teachers and or professionals can look at the progress of the child.  Running records allow professionals to carefully look at the ways the child interacted throughout the activity to note what worked best and what did not work.  Embedding goals into activities allows children to naturally work on their goals without feeling pressured or watched while completing the activity.

The importance of the intervention plans and the collection of progress goals

IEP and IFSP are a vital element in early intervention.  The IEP consist of the goals and objectives necessary for working with an individual child.  It contains necessary information related to proper procedures to working with children and any related services that the child may be receiving.  The IEP also notes progress made towards goals.  The IEP allows professionals and families to be on one accord when working with children.
Without this documentation, many children may not recieve adequate services necessary to assist them with positive development.  Progress towards goals is important to document so that professionals and parents know what is working for the child and what is not working.  This also allows for a history of goals that have been worked on to be kept on the child.  IEP's help therapist, teachers, parents, social workers, and any other professionals that may be working together for the success of the child.