Brown Family Activity
Materials:
Blank Cards 3" x 5"
Transition Service Option Cards (transition service options pasted on 3" x 5" cards)
Blank 8 1/2" x 11" Notebook Paper
Pencils, Markers, Masking Tape
Wall Chart Paper 27" x 34"
Description of Activity: “Transition Time” is an activity that discusses ways to make sure that the family guides the process of transitional planning from IFSP’s to preschool IEP’s. Collaborative decision-making skills are practiced in the context of identifying and setting culturally competent family goals, as family circumstances change.
Suggested “Transition Time” Activity Steps:
Reading the Brown Family Story:
- Co-trainers welcome participants and introduce themselves as co-trainers who are parent-professional partners and coordinators of the family-centered and activity-based curriculum.
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Co-trainers point out that the success of the Qualifying Curriculum for EI Professionals depends on the willingness of professionals to share heir knowledge and expertise in five phases of each activity:
a. Reading the Family Story
b. Taking the Family Picture
c. Interacting with Other Participants
d. Writing about the Family
e. Reflecting on the Learning - Co-trainers remind participants that the Brown Family Story is based on real family interviews. The Brown Family, Elaina and Lee, tell their story in the first person, to ensure that participants feel the presence of the family.
- Co-trainers distribute the Brown Family Story, and read the story aloud as participants follow along.
- Co-trainers distribute the Brown Family Activity, Transition Time, read the description of the activity, and remind participants that the objectives are integrated into this activity.
- Co-trainers inform participants that some handouts provided during the activity may be used directly as part of the active learning process, and others are for information only.
- Co-trainers distribute the handout, How to Draw the Brown Family Picture/Sketch and introduce participants to an appropriate way to learn more about the Brown Family.
- Co-trainers ask how they use family kinship maps, family sculptures or other ecological family assessments in their professional work with families, and guide them to share their ideas about other effective ways to “take a picture” a family, in order to ensure that early intervention services are family-centered.
- Participants draw a diagram or picture of the Browns, highlighting their careers, family members, moves and other transitions.
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Participants share their impressions and emotional responses to the family.
Interacting With Other Participants
- Co-trainers distribute the Content of the IFSP Plan and Natural Environments: The Law handouts and discuss these important pieces of information, which will assist them in understanding the family goals pertinent to transitional IFSP planning.
- Co-trainers ask participants to separate into small groups and step into the roles of Lee and Elaina, reviewing a set of Transition Service Options Cards and the handout, Early Intervention Top Ten List, provided by the co-trainers. The set of cards also contains blank ones, so that the participants can choose options that the Browns may not have thought about.
- Co-trainers ask participants to try to define the options listed on a sheet of paper and to prioritize the cards, according to their beliefs about the Brown’s preferences.
- Participants come together to share their top three choices, debating if the Browns want to be guided or told what to do, or be left alone to decide for themselves.
- Co-trainers provide participants with the IFSP Transition Plan Form handout and instruct them to go back to their small groups and make notes on the IFSP transition plan, based on the top priorities.
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Co-trainers distribute the IFSP from Child Development Resource handout; indicate the IFSP – to – IED transition process must be family-directed and family centered and requesting participants to evaluate whether the sample of an IFSP contains the essential elements of an IFSP, including a transition plan.
Writing About the Brown Family - Co-trainers invite the participants to take part in a concluding experience, which may show whether professionals can provide services and still keep the family in charge of the transition process. Each participant assumes the role of a professional who may be able to “help” the Browns achieve their family’s goals.
- Each participant writes the name of a profession on a placard and a statement of “What I can do the help the Browns.” The participants listen to each other, mingle, asking questions and group themselves together, if they have some expertise or strategy to share with someone else.
- Co-trainers, acting as the parents, approach the groups and stand at the center. They ask the participants these questions: Is this a family-centered process? Is it a respectful process? How do family members feel?
The Intervention Specialist Speaks
Brown Family Handouts
Content of the individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP)
Top Ten Ideas to Help You Work With Families
How to Draw the Brown Family Picture/Sketch
Transition Service Option Cards
Principles of Normal Development
