Getting ready to send our kiddos off to preschool can feel both exciting and daunting. This is the time most of us first experience what it means to explore placement options, inclusion, and the great and powerful…IEP. As parents, we want to start our kids’ educational journey right, but navigating their first IEPs can often feel like we’re the ones back in school, tackling a lot more than the ABCs and the playground.
Whether you’re doing this for the first time or you’re already experienced in the world of childhood IEPs, we have some resources for starting your preschooler’s IEP journey right, including touring preschools and envisioning the right setting your child can thrive in; the questions you should you ask of potential schools; what inclusion in preschool can look like and how to advocate for it; how to create a preschool IEP with the school, including accommodations and goals, and more.
Parent pop quiz: can preschool placement be decided before the IEP meeting or without your input? Find the answer at the end!
It’s time for IEP prep: the preschool edition!
Ready to kickstart your preschoolers first IEPs? Let’s start with the basics. Check out our article Choosing a Preschool and Preparing for Your Child’s First IEP to learn more about selecting and touring a preschool, placement options, preschool IEP prep, and more. Here’s what you’ll find inside:
- A handy printable preschool tour checklist to use when you tour potential preschools
- Some common documents to include in your first preschool IEP
- How to draft a parental concerns letter for your IEP
- Tips for creating preschool IEP goals
Preschool-aged kiddos can have accommodations too! Check out our list of Preschool Accommodations — from behavior to assessments to health, and more — which you can use as a starting point when discussing accommodations with your IEP team. Plus, a printable tip sheet outlining sample preschool accommodations that you can take on the go.
Can kids with disabilities have an inclusive preschool experience? Yes! Making sure our preschoolers are meaningfully included with their peers is something to advocate for. But what makes a preschool program inclusive? In our three-part series on preschool inclusion, Dr. Mary Falvey, a national authority on inclusive education for students, explains 1) what inclusion in preschool is (and what it isn’t), 2) what an inclusive preschool looks like in practice, 3) ways that parents can advocate for inclusion, and more.
Plus: universal preschool has arrived in California! Check out our article about what to expect and when the changes are rolling out.
“I have had the best experience with you and your staff. Thank you for your vision and talent in making it a reality. [My Navigator] has been amazing. She is so thoughtful, professional, and caring. I really felt her attention to detail was so helpful at the IEP meetings.”
Parent pop quiz: can preschool placement be decided before the IEP meeting or without your input? The answer is…no! When considering preschool placement, ask your district program to share all the options with you. If they decide to only show you one kind of placement, remember that placement cannot be decided before the IEP meeting or without your input. You are an equal member of your child’s IEP team, and you can’t discuss placement without knowing about all the options.
Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child: Undivided in Conversation with Parent & Author Kelley Coleman
As heard on the podcasts Brave Together, Parent Footprint, Just Two Dads, and Talk About It, Kelley Coleman is an author and advocate who has spent over a decade navigating public benefits, insurance, and education for her child with multiple disabilities. “No one knows how to do any of this. Until you need to know it all yesterday,” Kelley says. Join us on Monday, March 11, 2024, 4:00–5:00 p.m. for a live Q&A where she’ll give us practical tips and advice (and a pep talk!) on how we can advocate to make sure our kids get what they need. Register here for our event. (If you can’t attend the event live, RSVP anyway to get the full replay and recap of the highlights in your email!)
Flip the Script on IEP Conversations: Mastering the “They Say, You Say” with Education Advocate Lisa Carey
Have you ever been in an IEP and heard something that doesn’t sound quite right, but you don’t know how to respond? Then you tell your friend, and they’ve heard those exact same words in their child’s IEP? If something is stated as fact and repeatedly quoted as policy, it becomes easier to believe, despite that burning sensation growing in your gut when you hear it. (We’re looking at you, “We don’t do that here!”)
Undivided’s Education Advocate, Lisa Carey, will take some of the most common things said in IEPs and talk us through how we can respond. Welcome to Undivided’s edition of “If they say this, you say that!” Join us for a virtual Q&A on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 1:00–2:00 p.m. by registering for the event here! As above, even if you can’t participate in the chat during the event itself, RSVP to sign up for the full replay and recap straight to your email inbox!
Office Hours with Lisa Concoff Kronbeck
On Wednesday, March 6, 12:00–1:00 p.m. PST, Public Benefits Specialist Lisa Concoff Kronbeck will be available for Undivided Office Hours, where she’ll answer questions about funding therapies and medical supplies through Medi-Cal, Regional Center, and more. Bi-weekly Office Hours are virtual Q&A sessions with experts that are open to Undivided members only, so if you’d like to attend, sign up here to begin your free Kickstart!
- Inclusive education can (and should) start as early as preschool! Check out this advice for working with the school on YouTube→
- Why is the least restrictive environment (LRE) important for our kids, including preschoolers? Learn more in this Instagram reel→
- What are the top 3 things you do to prep for your child’s first IEP meetings? Join our supportive Facebook group→
- Join us in our mission to share resources that support families raising kids with disabilities! Connect with us on LinkedIn→
- Undivided can help you with your child’s IEP journey from the very start. Get step-by-step guides, 1:1 Navigator support, all the tools of the Undivided platform, and more! Start here→
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This newsletter was originally sent to our subscribers on 2/29/24. Subscribe to our newsletter to get more resources like this in your inbox, and check out our full library of articles, templates, and videos at undivided.io/resources.
