No Classes on July 28

July 24, 2008 · Filed Under News · Comment 

There are no classes on July 28 (Monday) for both preschool and grade school to make way for the president’s State of the Nation Address.

Nest’s Special Education Program

July 13, 2008 · Filed Under SpEd · Comment 

I. Definition

Inclusive Education
This refers to the philosophy of ensuring that schools, centers or learning and education systems are open to all children. This will enable learners to be included in all aspects of school-life. It also means identifying, reducing or removing barriers within and around the school that may hinder learning. For this to happen, teachers, schools and systems need to modify the physical and social environment so that they can fully accommodate the diversity of learning needs that pupils may have.

Special Educational Needs
Individuals have different abilities and potentials in performing tasks. In education, there are individuals who do not perform like the others, but could improve with appropriate support. These learners have learning/educational needs which vary from one child to another. Theses are then referred to as special educational needs.

Differentiated Curriculum
Another commonly used concept in inclusive education is differentiated curriculum. This is an approach that you can use to identify the subjects in the curriculum that a leaner should cover and plan for each learner according to his or her needs and ability. It may require you to break down the subject into small teaching/learning steps of instructions for the benefit of the learner with special needs in education. These learners have learning or educational needs which vary from one child to another.

PRINCIPLES OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION

• Calls for equal opportunities to all learners to experience normal mainstream activities, while making deliberate and appropriate measures to ensure quality education for all.
• Calls for a child centered curriculum and the learner to attend the school that he/she would naturally go to in his community if he/she had no special needs.
• Advocates for accessibility to the learning process and the curriculum by all learners by differentiating the learning and assessment process according to the learners’ needs.
• Recognizes and caters for individual differences in race, religion, abilities, disabilities or circumstances. Differences are seen as challenges.
• Positive learning opportunities with support to learners with special needs are planned as an integral part of the ordinary schools.
• Requires changes of attitudes, behaviors, teaching methods, curricula and environments to meet the needs of all the learners. Hence overcoming barriers to learning and development.

II. Enrichment Activities

Afternoons are allotted for ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES: ART ENRICHMENT, MUSIC ENRICHMENT, MAD SCIENCE, and SUBJECT ENRICHMENT.

These ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES are open to ALL children.

III. Exemption

The Department of Education adheres that “the curriculum offered shall be based on that prescribed for the regular schools. Any major deviation / modification from the suggested curriculum subjects and requirements shall be made with the prior approval of the Secretary of the DepEd.”

To secure exemption:

• Developmental pediatrician writes a letter stating specific subject exemption.
o Address letter to
• Dr. Teresita Domalanta
Director for Department of Education
Quezon City – NCR

• Parents write a letter to NEST requesting for the exemption

The DepEd will send the letter of confirmation to the parents. A copy of the confirmation letter will be kept in the child’s NEST files.

IV. Admission & Enrollment

NEST recognizes children with special needs.

Slots for children with special needs are available in each class level. NEST allows 25% of class population to be allotted for children with special needs (3:15). Admission of children with special needs will depend on:

 Report from developmental-pediatrician regarding special needs
 Recent report from specialists helping: speech, OT, reading
 Informal assessment done by NEST SPED
 Grade level demographics to which child is applying for

V. Individualized Educational Program

A. Definition: The Individual Educational Program (IEP) is a written plan/program developed by NEST special education team with input from the parents, developmental pediatrician and all other professionals helping with the child’s therapy. The IEP specifies the student’s academic goals and the method to obtain these goals.

The IEP will focus only on the areas that are affected by the disability(ies). The IEP will provide a focus for the student’s learning and specify a specific time frame. It will reflect high expectations for the student.

The IEP will identify supports and services the student needs for success.

B. Contents of the IEP:

1. Current performance (present levels of educational performance): information comes from evaluation results such as classroom tests and assignments, individual tests done for reevaluation, and observations made by parents, teachers, related services providers and other school staff.

2. Annual Goals: Goals that child can be reasonably accomplish within the year. These goals are broken down into short-term objectives or benchmarks. Goals may be ACADEMIC, address SOCIAL or BEHAVIORAL NEEDS, relate to PHYSICAL NEEDS or address OTHER EDUCATIONAL NEEDS.

3. Special education and related services: The IEP must list the special education and related services to be provided the child or on behalf of the child. This includes supplementary aids and services that the child needs. It also includes modifications (changes) to the program or supports from the school personnel.

4. Dates and places: The IEP must state when the services will begin, how often they will be provided, where they will be provided, and how long they will last.

5. Measuring progress: The IEP must state how the child’s progress will be measured and how parents will be informed of that progress.

C. The IEP Team Members:

1. Parents
2. Teachers
a. regular education teachers
b. Special education
3. Developmental Pediatrician
4. Personnel doing related Services
a. Speech-language pathology
b. Occupational therapist
c. Reading Specialist
d. Counselor
e. Physical Therapist
f. ABA

Enrichment Schedule

July 9, 2008 · Filed Under Enrichment · Comment 

Artists @ Work: An Art Workshop For Children

Art is an expression of life. It is art that gives meaning to life that can be seen in
nature and in all beautiful and honest works of man. The Arts are records of
man’s experiences and aspirations. They are vehicles of human expressions that
affect our lives in many ways.

The Artists @ Work is an art workshop in Basic Drawing, Painting, Sculpture
and Crafts for children aged 6-12 years old. It is an introduction to various art
media, materials, and techniques. It is composed of 12 sessions with two
modules: (1) Arts and Crafts and (2) Materials and Techniques.

• Arts and Crafts – This section focuses on fostering creativity in
children through art.

• Materials and Techniques – Children will be exposed to different
media and techniques that they can use in translating their feelings
or ideas into a beautiful reality.

The culminating activity of the workshop is an exhibit that will feature the
children’s best works.

Workshop Fee: P 3,500.00 (exclusive of materials) for 12 sessions
Schedule: every Tuesday starting July 1, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

MUSIC ENRICHMENT

New research continues to show music lessons, can help elementary
school students score higher on math tests. Music targets one specific
area of the brain to stimulate the use of spatial-temporal reasoning,
which is useful in mathematical thinking.

Nest is offering the instruction of Guitar, Violin and Voice for the first
semester.

All Instrument Teachers are from the U.P. College of Music.

Workshop Fee: P 3,500.00 (exclusive of instruments) for 12 sessions
Schedule: every Thursday starting July 3, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

MAD SCIENCE

Mad Science offers a large selection of after-school activities. For the first 5
sessions in Nest, Mad Science will start off with Red-Hot Robots! The students
will create and command their own robot and learn the basic fundamentals of
Robotics!

Workshop Fee: P 3,500.00 (inclusive of materials) for 5 sessions
Schedule: every Wednesday starting July 2, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.