- A child with a disability is a child with a special ability -

Portage

What is Portage?

Portage is a home teaching service for pre-school children who show some degree of developmental delay. The children may have learning difficulties because of a specific condition due to disability, such as Down's Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy, or there may be no obvious reason for the fact that they learn more slowly.
The Service helps parents teach their own children in their own homes with support from a trained home visitor who visits the family on a regular weekly basis. Portage was developed in the town of Portage, USA, in 1966 and since spread throughout America and in the UK. There are also many Portage Services in many other countries

How does the service work?
Once a child has been accepted onto the service a home visitor and the parents will asses what the child can all ready do using the Portage Checklist as a guide, and will work out together which skills the child is ready to learn. A teaching plan for a three-four month period Is. agreed between the parents and home visitor, and may include goals such as the child learning to find picture in a book, how to drink from a cup or how to do simple jigsaws. Each teaching plan is tailored to the individual child and what the parents want their child to learn.
Who does the teaching?
It is the parents who do the teaching because they spend most time with their child, they know their child best and they have the greatest influence on their learning in the pre-school years. During the weekly visit the home visitor will demonstrate how to teach the skill, as well as how to observe and record the child's progress. The Teaching activity for the week will then be written down clearly on an activity chart. The parents will try out the teaching activity during the home visit and will then spend a short period of time everyday for the next week teaching the child.

The emphasis is on these teaching session being enjoyable and they can be often included in the child's normal daily routine of play. Other members of the family including brothers and sisters are encouraged to help if they wish, the childs progress will be discussed with the home visitor during the next visit and the next step in the teaching programme planned.
Portage is a partnership between parents and the home visitor in which the parents can gain the skills and the confidence to teach the own children. For further details about Portage contact your local Educational Psychology service.

go to top

© copyright 2001- 2003 all rights reserved

to bookmark this site 'right click' on the link below http://www.special-abilities.net then choose 'add to favorites'
	Donate food by clicking here
Our web hosts are