Seeing All Kids as Readers

Synopsis

A forward-thinking book that promotes a new vision of early childhood inclusion, this book examines literacy development and inclusion in the classroom community for young children with significant disabilities. Offering a natural extension of the ongoing national discussion about literacy and schools¿ annual yearly progress to include all children in the classroom, it is the first book to fully examine literacy for pre-kindergarten and kindergarten-aged children with significant disabilities. The book discusses the importance of local understanding to inclusion and how environments that support this understanding encourage the social model of literacy and the importance of literate citizenship¿the idea that literacy, variously defined, makes one an active (and proactive) member of society. The book also discusses the ten domains of the inclusive early childhood literate community, which foster imagination and an ability to abstract and relate concepts. The book highlights how inclusion of young children with significant disabilities promotes literacy development in children with and without disabilities, and shows how assessment and goal-setting (especially in relation to IFSPs and IEPs) can work within this model.