Learning Through Coping: An Effective Preschool Program

Abstract

The more effectively a child copes, the more effectively he or she learns. This premise was validated in a two year study of Leaming through Coping, a preschool program for 3- to 5-year-old children with diverse handicapping conditions. Learning through Coping has three critical elements: the child's classroom program, the parent program, and the school system's involvement with the child. In the classroom program, the teacher and staff use the Model for Personalized Leaming to write IEP's. In this model, the learning of educational skills and adaptive coping behaviors are interrelated. Pre- and post-tests showed gains for the children In all areas of development. The parent program has six goals based on the assumption that parents must be able to cope with their own needs in order to be responsive to their handicapped children. In Learning through Coping, parents set personal goals based on their completion of a Needs Assessment Form. The psychologist sets informal goals based on observed, but unidentified needs. How both sets of goals were met was evaluated in the validation study. As a result of the participation of the children and their parents in Learning through Coping and the continuing involvement of the schools' child study teams. 64% of the children were placed successfully in regular kindergarten classes.