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ECE Program

 

Our Early Childhood Education Program (ECE) at MSAD offers education for our student from birth to 5 years old.  Our program includes four different programs:  

  • Home Visits (from birth to 3 years old)

  • Toddler School (from 18 months old to 3 years old)

  • Preschool (from 3 years old to 4 years old)

  • Pre-Kindergarten (4 years old to 5 years old)

We serve all families with Deaf and Hard of Hearing children regardless of their degree of hearing loss or the family’s choice of amplification.  MSAD follows the ASL/English Bilingual philosophy that allows content to be taught through both academic and social American Sign Language (ASL) and English in order for students to develop competencies in their first and natural language (ASL) and English language (written/spoken English).

All of our Early Childhood classrooms use the Creative Curriculum which ensures that our students are kindergarten-ready.  The curriculum outlines more than 30 objectives for students from birth to Kindergarten that are predictors for school success and aligned to Minnesota's Early Childhood Indicators of Progress.

In addition to our instruction, we offer speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy or blind visually impaired services with our exceptional specialists who will come into the classroom and work with students in the classroom setting.

All of the classrooms rotate through different themes, with every classroom material, activity, toys, and books selected to foster growth through different developmental areas to help our students be ready for kindergarten and beyond.

 

Classes at Faribault Public Schools

We have a co-op relationship with Faribault Public Schools. If a student would like to take classes at McKinley Early Childhood, we will coordinate schedules, interpreters, transportation, and accommodations. The opportunity to take classes at both MSAD and McKinley Early Childhood is a worthwhile experience for many of our students.   The deadline for signing up for fall classes will be April 1st and for spring classes will be November 1st, each year.