NC ELSSP-VI Newsletter
January
Each child will be honored, respected, and empowered to achieve success in school and life.
North Carolina Early Learning Sensory Support Program for Children with Visual Impairments
Office of Early Learning
Email: bethany.mayo@dpi.nc.gov
Website: www.ncelssp.com
Location: 6371 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699
Phone: (984) 292-3063
Contents
Amazing Kids -Staff
LL Cool Tips - Lori Bartram & Lori Persinger
Incorporating Orientation and Mobility into TVI Lesson Plans- Lori Persinger
Thank You Pampered Chef - Lori Persinger
Professional Development Opportunities -Staff
Save the Date - Eye Shine Foundation
Holidays and Professional Development Schedule -Lin Causey
Staff Birthdays for December
Photo/Video Credits
Amazing Kids
Lucian
teacher- Karen Bejer
Nyamedze
Nyamedze is enjoying a dancing jingle bell dog activated by a switch.
teacher- Pam Bye
Meet and Greet
Brother siblings meet sister siblings.
teacher- Lori PersingerPlay group
Children enjoy music and movement activities.
Lori PersingerNathan
teacher- Lori Persinger
Play group
Malikita's student is sitting with his mom and sister.
Clara and her mom
Liam
teacher- Lori Persinger
Brandon
teacher- Lori Bartram
LL Cool Tech Tool Tips
Low Vision Centers
By: Lori Persinger and Lori Bartram
Extension Activity for the Low Vision Center worth .5 CEUs and 5 hours of Infant Toddler Credit - Click Here for Description
Incorporating Orientation and Mobility into TVI Lesson Plans
Nancy Kirby-Sauls coordinated with Lori Persinger in November to do a co-teaching activity with their kiddos. A pre-lesson was conducted by the TVI by reading a book on grocery shopping and talking about grocery trips with the parent/guardian. The TVI made a shopping list with the parent and the child by cutting out the front of boxes, juice pouches, yogurt containers, etc., and placing them in their book or Ziplock bag. Each page with these items was their grocery list for the kids to scan and find on the shelf. Each book contained at least 5 items to shop for in the grocery store. On the next visit after the grocery trip, they talked and reflected about the trip, what they saw, what they smelled, what they heard, etc. They had great fun!
Thank You Pampered Chef!
I wanted to share and express my gratitude and appreciation to Pampered Chef, Sara Tolley, consultant, and Jennifer the parent of a child I teach, who hosted a Pampered Chef fundraiser show at the end of September so that she could gift 2 Kitchen Classroom Kits along with a monetary donation of 15% of her total sales to support TVI's (Teachers of the Visually Impaired) that work with the Early Learning Sensory Support Program which serves young children with visual impairments in the state of North Carolina. I was able to piggy back on this at the end of October and have a show of my own and we were able to get a third kit. Let me just say, that the kits are AMAZING! Over the top generous! Each kit has 5 sets of mixing bowls, measuring cups, measuring spoons, mix and scrape spatulas, and nylon knives, along with 6 large flexible cutting mats, 6 emoji cookie cutters, 2 veggie strep makers, and one microwave popcorn maker, mini nylon spatula, and snack bar maker. Teachers in each region will have access to each set or can break it down and use individually with their students to provide sensory rich cooking lessons individually, with siblings/family members, and with preschool classrooms. The kits also include cooking lesson plans to teach hands-on lessons in math, science, and important life skills.
Nathan and I couldn’t wait to break in the first kit and made homemade play-doh for one of our lessons. We invited Ms. Sara over to join in the fun!
Professional Development Opportunities
Attachment Vitamins: Interactive Course on Early Childhood Attachment, Stress, and Trauma (9 online lessons)
· Summary: Early childhood mental health is the capacity to grow and to love well. In other words, it means helping children engage in social and emotional behaviors that are appropriate to their age. Good mental health means being able to experience, express, and regulate emotions as well as recover from dysregulation. It also means establishing trusting relationships and repairing conflicts with others when they occur. This helps children learn how to love and be loved while feeling safe. The Attachment Vitamins lessons help learners support children and families through the early years of a child’s life. It will help create a trauma lens through which providers and parents can view and better support young children as they grow and learn. In these 9 interactive lessons, learners will walk through concepts such as understanding a child’s context, what attachment is, temperament and parenting style, trauma exposure in young children, mental health concerns, cultural considerations, and self-care tips.
· Date and time: Ongoing
· Fee: Free
· Register: https://learn.nctsn.org/course/view.php?id=483 (You will need to create an account to take the course.)
Received from Krystal Davis
Human Services Program Consultant II
Division of Public Health, [beearly.nc.gov]Early Intervention Branch
Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina - 2019 Learning & Leadership Summit
The theme for this event is, “Connections Matter for Prevention.” The Summit will enhance the practice and leadership skills of participants by providing educational workshops designed to help professionals develop the essential skills necessary to support and strengthen families in their communities, activate support for effective prevention practice, and engage all members of society in promoting what works in effective child maltreatment prevention.
Dates: March 5-6, 2019
Location: The McKimmon Center on the NC State Campus; it is located at 1101 Gorman St., Raleigh, NC.
Early Intervention: A Coaching Mindset - Considerations for Family Sessions
Description: This course, designed for early intervention providers serving families of infants and young children with hearing loss, provides strategies and a framework to focus your planning and preparation for family sessions. Experienced early interventionists provide a coaching model to accomplish the all-important goal of parent engagement.
Location: Webinar
Date: Ongoing
Contact hours: 30 minutes
Sponsor: Central Institute for The Deaf/Washington University School of Medicine
Fee: free
Register: https://cid.edu/professionals/courses-overview/coaching-mindset-considerations-family-sessions/
Early Intervention: Foundational Strategies for Coaching Families
Description: This course was designed for early intervention providers serving families of infants and young children with hearing loss. Experienced early interventionists provide field-tested strategies, examples and tips to guide you toward cultivating mutual respect and common purpose through coaching, to attain the goal of parent empowerment.
Location: Webinar
Date: Ongoing
Contact hours: 30 minutes
Sponsor: Central Institute for The Deaf/Washington University School of Medicine
Fee: free
Register: https://cid.edu/professionals/courses-overview/ei-foundational-strategies-coaching-families/
CCSA's 2019 ASK Conference scheduled for February 23, 2019. Our special guest speaker is, Micheal Bonner!
Please feel free to share with your colleagues and your network! Attached is the entire conference schedule and registration form. Or you can use this link for an online version:https://www.childcareservices.org/providers/ps/training/
Save the Date
Eye Shine Foundation is pleased to announce the 2019 Eastern NC Braille Challenge, to be held in Raleigh, on Thursday, February 28th, 2019! Save the Date… registration coming soon! All braille readers from the Central and Eastern areas of NC are encouraged to attend and participate in a fun day, in which children compete in 3-4 braille challenges. There’s fun, games, food, prizes and camaraderie! We have 4 competition categories and 1 non-competition category for children from Kindergarten through 12th grades! Rookie Freshman Sophomore Junior Varsity Varsity Arrival begins at 8am and the contests and activities conclude by 2:30. The Braille Challenge is a great way to motivate and encourage your students to increase and improve their braille skills! Practice tests are available online, through the iBraille app, and we can also send copies of tests from last year. We hope that you will encourage your braille readers to attend this year! It is a special event and children always enjoy it so much- it is most definitely worth missing a day of school! Many of our participants are competitive and some are there to compete with themselves and to see old friends or make new friends! There will be informative parent sessions, while children are in competition. We will serve breakfast, lunch and have games, prizes and t-shirts! Registration forms will be coming in a future email, when we receive them from the Braille Institute. To make the day fabulous, we do need many volunteers… you can register here at the Sign Up Genius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0848aeaa28a5ff2-braille We appreciate your help so much! Please let us know if you have any questions by sending an email to EasternNCBrailleChallenge@gmail.com
Birthdays
January 6 - Starla Wilson
January 10 - Sue Caruso
January 20 - Kim Sawyer
January 24 - Lin Causey
Photo/Video Credits
NC ELSSP-VI Staff