Preschool

The Foundation for Blind Children provides daily preschool classroom programs for children who are blind or visually-impaired, and who also may have multiple handicaps. 

Research has shown that the first five years of life are the most critical developmental period. The child learns to relate to the world, how to move in the world and how to understand the world around them. The child develops attitudes and aptitudes that affect them for the rest of their life.

Specialized teachers, counselors and therapists work in cooperation with the child’s parents in planning an individualized program that will best meet the child’s needs.

We focus on four major objectives:

1. We offer a learning environment that fosters independence and maximizes the students’ potential in order to achieve a smooth transition upon returning to their neighborhood school.
2. We facilitate education informally and in intentional settings for parents and primary caregivers to understand and have awareness of appropriate expectations for their children so that learning and growth will mirror between home and school.
3. A team model of various appropriate disciplines address the whole child in planning and implementing each child’s educational program.
4. Providing an intensity of service from a teacher of the visually impaired to address each child’s learning within the core curriculum and the expanded core curriculum.

The keys to our success are: 

• We believe any child can learn.
• A low student : staff (1:2) ratio and small class size.
• The classroom teacher is a teacher of the visually impaired so that the development of skills is addressed throughout the daily routine as well as monitoring the child’s functional use of vision.
• A longer than typical school day offers intensity of instruction that includes repeated opportunities, balance of activity and therapeutic services.
• Unique auxiliary services are provided in the program to all children including pet therapy, music therapy, and gymnastics to facilitate body awareness, communication skills, social skills and sensory processing skills.
• Therapy staff offer the expertise of their discipline yet also become knowledgeable on the unique challenges associated with vision loss.
• We value a partnership with the child’s family.
• A collaborative effort is maintained with community agencies, public school districts and other appropriate resources.

We define a successful preschool graduate as:  Early cane skills, responsibility with simple magnifiers and glasses, early intro to Braille, pre-literacy skills, able to initiate interaction, parents are fully involved/engaged with their child’s education, identified literacy mode, identified communication system, parents are knowledgeable on their child’s rights and resources available, parents enrolling children in appropriate clubs and activities, parents are aware of community opportunities, means of mobility appropriate to the child’s physical ability.

For more information, please contact our Preschool Program Coordinator at 602-678-5813.