Welcoming All Children offers strategies for successful inclusion of children with special needs into preschool programs with typically developing children.  Another inclusive program is a pilot program in Volusa, Florida where public schools are blending children with disabilities and those developing at a typical pace into combined pre-kindergarten classrooms – and the children are experiencing success. A NewsJournalOnline article by Linda Trimble reports on the classroom’s effectiveness.

Under Federal law, school districts must serve children with disabilities starting at age 3, and most of those children in Volusia attended classes for part of the day. Then, in 2006-07, the state set a goal of including 76 percent of pre-K children with disabilities in classrooms with typically developing children by the 2010-11 school year. The new blended pre-K program allows children of school district employees to attend the pre-K classes for a fee.

Bill Fink, director of Volusia schools' exceptional student education, says that language development is enhanced by the blended setting. "The language process is developed almost completely by the time you're 5. When children interact, they shape the language of the children they are around."

Nancy Burrows has been teaching children with developmental delays for 21 years, but finds the capabilities of the children in the blended class far surpass those of previous students. They've learned so much from their peers I couldn't have taught them," Burrows said. "It's been so neat and so incredible to see the progress everyone has made." Burrow’s previous goals, for instance, had been to teach a child to count to 10, but in the blended classroom, the class learned to count into the hundreds using sets of 10. Learning social skills like “how to reason, get along and be part of a group, “are major factors in that success, says Burrows.

Nancy Redmond, exceptional student coordinator, says that the progress of the children in the blended pre-K classes will be tracked as they move up to kindergarten, and those who are old enough and have good readiness scores will move up.

Parents say they don’t need tests to indicate how much their children have learned. Andrea Stavarace, whose child could not talk, write, or jump before starting the program, can now do all three. "I would recommend this program to anyone who has a child with a partial disability or learning problem," Stavarace said.

Lisa Ravede, a fourth-grade teacher at Pine Trail School whose 3-year-old son attended the class says he "loves school, he loves learning. He's going to be very ready for kindergarten."