Early Childhood Program

What is the Early Childhood Program?

The Early Childhood Program serves children 18 months to 5 years of age who will benefit from an individualized, structured learning program.   Naturalistic teaching within daily routines provides a supportive environment for children to establish, maintain, and increase active engagement with people and their surroundings. Our primary goals are to help children learn the joy of sharing their world and experiences with others through social relationships, and to help them develop play, self help, and communicative competency.  Staff training and teaching techniques incorporate our knowledge and understanding of infant/child development, the principles of applied behavior analysis, and the development of social-emotional-communicative relationships as the foundation for learning.

Program Description

Each child starts the program with a routine based assessment at home, followed by an initial assessment period at the center, which can last from three to six weeks.  During this time, the primary focus is on building rapport with the classroom teachers.   This is an important step, because children are able to best learn from people with whom they have positive emotional relationships.  During the rapport building process, using the Denver Model Curriculum Checklist and the Assessment, Evaluation and Programming System (AEPS), each child is observed and assessed in the areas of communication, socialization, motor development, play development, and independent behavior. Following the assessment period, the lead teacher conducts a formal routine-based interview with the child’s family.  Together, the Alta Vista Center team and the family create an individualized program for the child with specific goals and objectives to target areas of developmental need.

Schedule

The Early Childhood Program runs year round, Monday through Friday, 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. The child’s day consists of a high degree of predictability and routine. Using the principles of applied behavior analysis, individual goals are targeted through naturalistic teaching opportunities, following the child’s interests.  Relationship building techniques are used to foster warm, affectionate, and playful interactions throughout their day.  Structured cognitive activities such as matching and sorting are incorporated as well, to teach independent learning skills.

Admissions

Contact info@altavista-autism.org or call 303-759-1192 ext 10 regarding admission.