Marcus just turned 4 years old and loves to move. He is active and enjoys running and other large motor activities, even though his family and teacher agree that he falls down a lot. He lives with his mom and dad and his newborn baby sister. Both his parents work full time and he has been enrolled in your large, well-established full-day child care center since he was 2 ½ years old. Prior to that, he stayed with his maternal grandmother. Recent evaluations have revealed delays in speech and language that are significant enough to qualify him for early childhood special education services. In addition, a physical therapist noted that Marcus’ muscle tone is mildly low, which may account for him falling and bumping into things. At school, Marcus has little interest in the materials in his preschool classroom with the exception of the block area where he loves to knock down towers, whether he built them or his friends did. At home and at school Marcus has “meltdowns” when transitions interrupt his play. Marcus’ speech-language pathologist says he has mild to moderate articulation delays, low expressive vocabulary, and sentences that are usually two to six words long. He frequently substitutes one word for another that sounds similar and then is frustrated when others don’t understand what he says. Based on all you know about Marcus, what areas would you offer support? Give specific details of what you, as his early childhood educator, could do in the classroom to support the areas of delay. How would you work with his special education team and family to support the goals established through his IEP?
Note an IEP would be established because he qualified for special education services.