Resources and Supports
All families have strengths. Families play a key role in the identification of supports and services which are meaningful to them. Promoting family strengths builds confidence and competence that will further enhance the child’s development. Step by Step Child and Family Center (SBSCFC) works to assist all families in building their capacity to meet their child’s needs. Each family’s strengths are valued, accepted, and wherever possible integrated into the child’s individualized educational plan.
Screening and Assessment Tools
Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social Emotional Edition (ASQ-SE)
A developmental screening tool which is used to check in on and monitor a child’s social-emotional development and to determine whether follow up steps are needed. This document is completed by all parent(s) at the beginning of each school year. When necessary, the questionnaire can be completed by the parent with assistance from our Family Support worker, the classroom teacher and/or other resource professionals.
Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ)
A developmental screening tool which is used to check in on and monitor a child’s development and determine whether follow up steps are needed. This document is completed by the classroom teacher, the resource professionals, and/or the family support worker in collaboration with the parent(s) when the need to look more closely at a child’s developmental trajectory has been identified.
Assessment, Evaluation and Programming System (AEPS)
A comprehensive tool for assessing development in the following areas; fine-motor, gross motor, cognitive, adaptive, social-communication, and social. This document is completed by the resource professionals and family support worker, in collaboration with the parent(s) when it has been determined that there is a significant need to understand a child’s detailed developmental profile.
Individualized Education/Family Support Plan (IEP/FSP)
An IEP is created when the need has been established by the resource professionals to identify the strengths, challenges and needs of a particular child and his/her family and some priority objectives and strategies which will support the child in achieving their potential with regards to their learning and overall development.
The IEP/FSP is a true collaboration between the resource team, specialists, classroom team and the family. The IEP/FSP is regularly reviewed and updated in order to monitor progress and make adjustments as needed.
What is an IEP?
The Individualized Education/Family Support Plan (IEP/FSP) is a document which identifies the strengths, challenges and needs of a particular child and his/her family and some priority objectives and strategies which will support the child to develop and learn.
The IEP/FSP is a true collaboration between the Resource Team , Specialists, Classroom Team and the family. The IEP/FSP is regularly reviewed and updated in order to monitor what we are doing and how well the child is doing.
There are some items in the IEP/FSP required by the Ministry of Quebec for funding purposes. Our main goal is to create an IEP which is meaningful and benefits the child and family.
What is the role of our Resource Team?
Resource Team (includes Resource Consultant, Resource Teachers and Inclusion Support Workers)
Work with the classroom teachers and the Resource Team to maximize children’s learning opportunities and to support their inclusion
Observe children to determine their strengths and needs
Develop and review Individualized Education Plans ( IEPs) for children based on strengths, interests and areas of challenge needing support
Meet regularly with teachers and assistants to support their understanding of the needs of individual children and the strategies to be used to support their learning and participation
Work directly one on one or in small groups with children who have IEPs, both within and outside of the classroom
Create visual support materials for classrooms and individual children to assist with the children’s comprehension, communication and participation
The Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) is a professional who's expertise includes prevention, identification, evaluation and treatment of communication difficulties. The SLP at Step by Step will work in a team to help support children in using their speech, language, and social skills in the childcare center and with their peers.
The Psychologist supports and strengthens the capacity of parent/families so as to enable families to develop a good quality of life with their children and to help themselves throughout their lives.
The Family Support Worker provides meaningful and practical supports and learning opportunities to parents/families. Supports teachers and families to bridge learning for children between school and home.
Speech and Language Support
The Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) works in collaboration with the resource team. Based on her observations of the child and discussions with the other resource professionals, the SLP determines the need for supports and develops a service delivery plan, which is carried out by the teaching staff and/or resource staff. Efforts are routinely made to ensure that the recommendations made by the SLP are carried out in the context of the child’s natural routines and activities. At SBS, it is the responsibility of the Speech and Language Pathologist to determine when, or if further, more formal testing is required and to provide an intervention plan based on the results.
Psychological Support
The Psychologist works in collaboration with families and/or the resource team in order to develop an understanding of children’s needs and/or circumstances, which may signal the need for further supports. Our psychologist develops a set of strategies designed to support the child and his or her family to achieve optimal outcomes. As with all professionals, the psychologist collaborates genuinely with families by acknowledging and seeking out their own expertise about their children.
Occupational Therapy Support and Physiotherapy Support
Both Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy services are delivered on an “as needed basis” at SBS. When it has been determined collaboratively by the professionals on the resource team and the family that either of the services would be in the child’s best interest, the Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist is brought into the Center to do an assessment and provide recommendations. These recommendations are then subsequently written into a child’s IEP/FSP plan and carried out on a daily basis by members of the classroom and/or resource team.
Health and Nutrition Support
Over the years, SBS has worked continuously to support and educate parents through newsletters, nutrition workshops as well as Kahnawà:ke Schools Diabetes Prevention Program promotional activities. Additionally, monthly family breakfasts are held in the Center where extended family members are welcomed in to spend time with their loved ones to enjoy a meal together.
Physical Surroundings
The environment plays a vital role in our curriculum. Often referred to as the “third teacher”, a thoughtful, intentionally planned environment acts as a facilitator in the learning process of young children and reflects the fact that children learn wholistically - both from their interactions with people and the many aspects of the environment.
As we engage in purposeful environmental design and planning both inside and outdoors, educators must pay attention at both a macro level (design and set-up) and a micro level (materials available and how they are presented).
Considerations of space must include its power to organize children
The need for areas both private and public
The promotion of positive relationships through small and larger gatherings of children and adults
The creation of aesthetically beautiful spaces which promote joy and pleasure and space that supports and stimulates choice, communication, engagement, curiosity, all while contributing to a general sense of well-being and safety.
Materials are the bones of the curriculum and the foundation of the teaching and learning process. They have their own concrete life and story to tell but are transformed through their encounters with children. The materials we choose support what the program values both in children and in the educational vision we have for them. And so we must take care to select materials which reflect an enhanced view of children.
Children use natural materials to learn about the world, explore questions and represent, review and reflect on their thinking. To enhance children’s use of the materials toward more complex learning we must challenge ourselves to become mindful and deliberate with what we provide and how we provide it.
Family Support Worker
The Family Support Worker provides meaningful and practical supports and learning opportunities to parents/families. Supports teachers and families to bridge learning for children between school and home.
