Prepared by M. Belanger and M.

Nudd SEI 523 Practicum Plan

Practicum Plan Michelle Belanger and Melinda Nudd SEI 523 - Fall 2013

Prepared by M. Belanger and M. Nudd SEI 523 Practicum Plan

BACKGROUND Our practicum hours will be completed together at Youth and Family Outreach in Portland, Maine. This center provides both early care and early education to children 6 weeks of age through 5 years of age. The YFO facility is open from 6:30am until 5:30pm. Michelle currently works at the facility, so together she and Melinda will be completing the required practicum hours on Monday and Friday afternoons. The child that has been identified and approved for the practicum work currently attends YFO five days a week for approximately 8.5 hours a day making the YFO setting a natural and home environment for her. We will be as flexible as possible to accommodate the mothers schedule given that she will need coverage for her classroom, or will need to meet after hours, for many of the assessments.

FAMILY We will be working with a single mother, Jane*, and her little girl, Sarah*. Sarah was born on June 30,2012 making her 14 months and 2 weeks old. Jane is currently the lead teacher in her daughters classroom at Youth and Family Outreach. We thought this was an amazing opportunity to partner with a family where we would have direct access to both the parent and the child in the classroom environment as well as in the private home environment. Because Jane is a single mom and also her daughters primary teacher, Jane is worried about the impact and ultimately the strain that so much time together will have on their relationship. In addition, Jane questions her

Prepared by M. Belanger and M. Nudd SEI 523 Practicum Plan

effectiveness in the classroom when it comes to teaching Sarah. Jane is eager to work with us and is looking forward to having support as well as recommendations that can improve both Jane and Sarahs experience in the class and at home.

PRACTICUM PLAN Understanding the Family Ecology Ecomap: We will create a comprehensive ecomap that depicts the current nuclear family and support structure for Jane and Sarah. In this map, we will identify the people that are in the formal, informal and intermediate networks so that we better understand existing support and resources, as well as those that are needed. We will start by interviewing Jane using the script outlined on page 32 of the Routines-Based Early Intervention text. As noted in the text, we expect that the interview will take only 15 or 20 minutes, however may require additional time given that English is a second language for Jane. This interview will be conducted on Monday, 9/16/13 and the ecomap will be developed over the subsequent days. We would like to complete this activity as part of our introduction and intake with Jane, and given that Michelle and Jane have been coworkers for several years, we do not feel it will be too intrusive. We anticipate having this complete at the end of September (assignment due date, 10/6/2103).

Prepared by M. Belanger and M. Nudd SEI 523 Practicum Plan

Functional Family-Centered Needs Routines-Based Interview: We will begin planning the RBI assessment the week of 9/23. Given that mom is both the teacher and primary caregiver for Sarah, the semi-structured interview will take place with her and will likely take place at YFO. We agreed as a team to develop individualized questions for the interview, using figure 6.2 (page 72) as a guide. As outlined in the Routines-Based Early Intervention text, we anticipate that this semi-structured interview will take a total of 2 to 3 hours. We may need to break this interview in to multiple sessions depending on Janes schedule, however ideally we will conduct it during one interview during the week of 9/30 and or 10/6. We plan to compile our answers and develop a comprehensive assessment report the week of 10/13. The final RBI assessment will be submitted by 10/20 at 5pm. 10 Family Outcomes: Using the information gathered from the RBI assessment outlined above, we will then develop at least ten functional family outcomes. The identified goals will be, measurable, with logical criteria The most important functionality criterion is that the behaviors be necessary, meaning that without it the child would not be able to function in everyday routines (p. 93). It is extremely important that these outcomes are meaningful and relevant to Jane and Sarah at home and in the classroom. By using the information provided by

Prepared by M. Belanger and M. Nudd SEI 523 Practicum Plan

Jane during the RBI assessment we feel confident that we can do this. After developing the family outcomes, we will review them with Jane and then finalize. Our goal is to write the outcomes during the week of 11/3 and review them with Jane during the week of 11/10. Outcomes will be finalized and uploaded to our portfolio sites by Sunday, 11/17. Resource List: We will develop a resource list for Jane that outlines relevant and useful resources in an effort to pride information, answer questions, recommend resources to access empower both Jane and Sarah, and also help identify a support network that may be helpful. Through the information gathered in the variety of interviews conducted to date, we would like to compile and complete this resource list during the week of 9/20 for final submission on 10/3. Additional Activities Complete Ages & Stages Screening Tool: Having never administered this particular assessment, both Melinda and Michelle are particularly excited about this additional activity. YFO does have the assessment available at the facility for use. We will conduct this assessment during the week of 9/30 and will finalize the report during the week of 10/6 for final submission on 10/13. http://www.brookespublishing.com/resource-center/screening-andassessment/asq/ Assist Family with Information and Resources: Building off of the resource list, RBI and family outcomes identified, we would like to provide Jane with additional recommendations and support information to help improve the work and home
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Prepared by M. Belanger and M. Nudd SEI 523 Practicum Plan

quality of life. This will be a more comprehensive list and set of recommendations for Jane and Sarah, which we will work on during the week of 10/21. We will share these with Jane Progress Monitoring Chart: We will develop a detailed matrix that will help Jane to collect, record, and monitor data on the achievements of the children. These will align directly with the goals and objectives that were identified and discussed during the RBI. We may expand on this information based on in class observations made and any other relevant information collected during the practicum. We will create this chart during the week of 11/25 and then present to Jane and ultimately finalize during the week of 12/2, for final submission on 12/8.