Julie Gallagher & Callie Herrenbruck

School

PTEC Early Childhood Academy

Grant Title

Thematic Learning for Early Learners

Synopsis

We are seeking this grant opportunity in order to purchase a variety of theme-based materials for our early childhood therapy groups. Our therapy sessions are planned around numerous themes. These themes are based upon the children’s interests, books, holidays, and common vocabulary. Gaining more themed-based materials will assist with carryover of a variety of language skills taught during our therapy sessions. We will use these materials to help our students improve receptive and expressive vocabulary, word retrieval skills, and answering “WH” questions, thus resulting in overall language skills. Our early childhood therapy groups consist of students with deficits in production of speech sounds and/or expression and comprehension of language. With the use of theme-based materials, our students will be introduced to materials that will provide opportunities for exploratory activities, vocabulary, introduction, guided discovery, and direct language instruction. Our speech therapy funding does not cover the cost of materials. It strictly covers the cost of evaluation materials. Therefore, it is upon us to receive the additional funding for materials or pay for them out of our own pockets.