To immerse students in learning opportunities outside of the classroom. Learning does not just take place in a classroom but transfers out into the community. My goal is to engage students with special needs in the community. These opportunities will allow them to practice many skills they will need for a successful life, learn social skills and better understand the community they live in. It will also allow the community to see my students as contributing members of society. Students will make real life connections between what is learned in the classroom and why those skills are needed in life.
The local community provides very rich learning experiences for students. Experiences in the community will allow students to make connections outside of the classroom and see what sorts of careers use the skills they are learning at school. There will be one community-based learning experience a month for seven months.
The benefits the students in our modified curriculum program will be life changing. All of our students have significant intellectual disabilities and struggle with academic skills as well as social and communication skills. Life skills education and community-based learning are natural ways to encourage these skills in students. Students will work on following a grocery list as they shop and practice paying for the items they buy. They also will gain a greater understanding about places they can go for leisure activities in the community, about the environment around them and communicating with people in the community. Each location we visit corresponds to our unit of study for the month, so students will be able to generalize what they learned in the classroom, with what they are experiencing in the community. These opportunities will allow students to learn skills that will set a strong foundation for them as they advance through school and eventually go through our transition programs and into the community as adults. Another big part of this learning is to help educate the community on acceptance of people with special needs and to help show our students in a positive light, so they feel that they belong wherever they go.
Each community-based learning program will be 2-3 hours, so there will be transportation costs. The cost of a bus is $26.75 an hour. The total cost for buses comes to $404.95
