Deborah C. Lickey and Denise J. Powers
Welcome to the website of our book, Starting with Their Strengths. We are excited to share the process of teaching to the unique strengths of all young children through the project approach. In our book, we present the process of determining each child’s interests, styles of learning and unique intelligences, which in turn, determine his/her strengths. These strengths form the foundation on which to build a developmentally appropriate, child-negotiated, and emergent curriculum in the form of the project approach. We provide the strategies and tools needed for the planning, implementation, and assessment of this approach.
We wrote this book because we came to realize that the traditional approach to early childhood special education has focused on remediating young children's deficits, disabilities, and challenges. We have experienced great joy in using the project approach to educate children with rights to special education by emphasizing their strengths and interests as we write and implement their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).
As both parents and educators, we offer over ten years of experience in using this strength-based perspective of teaching early childhood special education. Our evidence-based knowledge and proven strategies will give the reader permission to embark upon a journey of teaching in a manner that is creative and intuitive and also results in practical and measurable successes. The sources cited validate the practices of discovering the strengths of each child and beginning the learning process based upon those strengths. Creating a learning environment rich in celebrating strengths fuels the sense of wonder and passion for learning in both the children and adults.
We wrote this book because we came to realize that the traditional approach to early childhood special education has focused on remediating young children's deficits, disabilities, and challenges. We have experienced great joy in using the project approach to educate children with rights to special education by emphasizing their strengths and interests as we write and implement their Individualized Education Plans (IEPs).
As both parents and educators, we offer over ten years of experience in using this strength-based perspective of teaching early childhood special education. Our evidence-based knowledge and proven strategies will give the reader permission to embark upon a journey of teaching in a manner that is creative and intuitive and also results in practical and measurable successes. The sources cited validate the practices of discovering the strengths of each child and beginning the learning process based upon those strengths. Creating a learning environment rich in celebrating strengths fuels the sense of wonder and passion for learning in both the children and adults.