Inclusive Early Childhood Education – Virtual Toolkit

Professional Development Activity

Begin by reading the Growing Ideas: Inclusive Early Childhood Education Tipsheet (PDF) and completing the Growing Ideas Into Action Handout (PDF) – A resource to use as you read and use the tipsheets.

Three children reading a book together.

Training Materials to use right away:

Try, Review, Reflect and Plan:

CONNECT MODULE 1: Embedded Intervention Handout 1.1: Examples of Environmental Modifications provides visual examples of environmental modifications . “Describe Environmental Modifications” inspires additional thinking about what this means and additional ways to modify the environment to support children’s learning.

  1. Click on the first website link above to download the PDF “CONNECT MODULE 1: Embedded Intervention Handout 1.1: Examples of Environmental Modifications.”
  2. Click on the second website link above and scroll down to download the PDF “Embedded Intervention Activity 1.3a: Describe Environmental Modifications”. Click and play Video 1.7 and Video 1.8.
  3. Select and try out some of the strategies shared in these resources in your program.
  4. Use the Inclusive Early Childhood Education Self-Reflection Guide and Documentation Sheet (PDF) to:
    • Review, reflect and plan your work with children.
    • Document your training hours.

Highly Recommended Resource:

Children reading a book together.

Sandall, S., & Schwartz, I. (2008). Building Blocks for Teaching Preschoolers with Special Needs, 2nd Edition. Baltimore, MD: Brooks Publishing Co.

From the Publisher’s website:

“A teacher-friendly book that fits inclusive preschool classrooms very well … include[s] many handy forms and instruction examples that are ready to use.” —Sunhwa Jung, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Education Department, Otterbein College

Note: This book is no longer available through Brooks Publishing but can be found at Amazon.com.

Children’s Book Selection:

Friends at Work and Play cover

Bunnett, R. (2003). Friends at Work and Play. Bellingham, WA: Our Kids Press. (Available through Amazon.com)

Book Description:

“In this book young children along with community helpers all from different backgrounds and with diverse abilities work together to make their community a better place to live. The message is clear and simple: Everyone’s contribution counts.”

Interested in additional information on this topic? Visit our Inclusive Early Childhood Education Selected Resources page.

Have a professional development plan? As you read the Growing Ideas Tipsheets, and use the Virtual Toolkit training materials be sure to place your handouts/documentation of this work in your personal professional development portfolio.

Return to Foundations of Inclusive Early Care and Education

Updated: 12/16/2021