The Age-Appropriate Scope & Sequence Charts are provided for each domain to support in determining the age-appropriateness of skills. The curriculum in each domain is organized with a focus on functional activities rather than the tradition focus on isolated developmental or academic skills for instruction.
Instructional Domains
The Age-Appropriate Scope & Sequence Charts contain four domains. These domains are: Self-Management/Home Living, Vocational, Recreation/Leisure, and General Community Functioning. Click on domain button below for more information.
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Self-Management/Home Living Domain |
| Vocational Domain | |
| Recreation/Leisure Domain | |
| Community Functioning Domain |
Embedded Skills
Within the four instructional domains there are also four embedded skill areas. These embedded skills are academics, communication, motor, and social. Since the instructional domains focus on activities, many embedded skill areas may be subsumed under one activity. For example, the activity of going to the library is listed under the instructional domain of community functioning. Within this activity, embedded academic skills of reading the book titles and counting the checkout limit of three books could be addressed. The embedded communication skill could be making eye contact with the librarian when spoken to. Removing books from the shelf and retrieving a library card from a wallet might be embedded motor skills. An embedded social skill during the activity of going to the library might be demonstrating quiet behavior.
The embedded skills are an important part of the instructional domains. When planning an activity, the instructor is encouraged to look at all of the student needs in performing that activity successfully to determine which embedded skills need to be focused upon. Not every student involved in the activity would need specific cueing or instruction on every possible embedded skill. Only those embedded skills that the student needs would be dealt with specifically. A student might work on only one or on several embedded skill within one activity.
The identification of embedded skills provides the opportunity to see how staff members representing various disciplines can work together in a transdisciplinary manner to provide instruction. Thus, all instructional staff who work with a student could provide instruction on the activity. For example, communication skills are then not the sole responsibility of the speech and language pathologist, motor skills are not addressed exclusively by the occupational or physical therapists, and academic skills are not the sole responsibility of the teacher. This allows for integrated services which relate to the needs of the whole child.
An Age-Appropriate Scope & Sequence Is
• A sequence of skills that will help teachers of students with disabilities find functional, age-appropriate objectives
• One that covers pre-school to age 21
• A framework or reference
• Organized as an inventory of priority areas
• Skills that are sequenced in relationship to typical age expectations
An Age Appropriate Scope & Sequence Is Not
• A listing of expectations
• A list of requirements
• A mastery hierarchy where one skill has to be mastered before another is addressed
• All skills that are taught or addressed on the IEP
Age-Appropriate Scope & Sequence Charts
The age-appropriate scope and sequence charts are an inventory of priority areas and are arranged in hierarchical order. They are intended to serve as a framework from which the transdisciplinary team will select the individual goals that are determined a priority for a particular student at a given point in time. It is unrealistic to expect that all functional or community learning activities can be sufficiently addressed during any student's educational career.
It is also realized that learning does not stop at age 21. Too often, in an effort to prepare students for adulthood we teach functional skills to students with a disability long before most non-disabled peers would be expected to engage in those activities. To help as a guide in determining what skills should be taught when, an adaptation of the scope and sequence charts from the Syracuse Community-Referenced Curriculum Guide has been included. In this chart, activities are sequenced according to the ages/grades at which most children might be expected to participate in them.
The order in which the skills are listed in the chart is the order in which a student might participate in such activities as he or she progresses through the school year/age category. Skills which are most important to a students everyday life are listed higher in the chart. These skills pose a no-choice situation. If the student does not do them, then someone else will have to do them for him. Other activities provide the student personal choice and give them the opportunity to influence decisions about their personal lives. Students might work concurrently on several skills.
For instructional purposes, new activities are addressed while maintaining participation in previously established routines. This approach continuously builds upon and strengthens a student's existing repertoire. The activities identified for a given age group should be given full consideration when developing the individualized education program (IEP) until a sufficient level of proficiency of participation has been attained. Decisions must be based on the input of the team members, particularly students and parents.
The setting where the skill is taught, whenever possible, should be where the skill is most "naturally" needed. Many of the skills noted in the scope and sequence are related to regular school activities, such as, using the school cafeteria. Others skills, although not necessarily a part of typical school programs may be incorporated into a students program, such as preparing a snack or taking a trip to the public library.
The Age-Appropriate Scope and Sequence chart also addresses activities that more naturally occur at times and in settings that extend beyond the school program. These are noted in a box titled "Extended Activities". Such activities might include preparing breakfast, keeping the bedroom neat, and raking the lawn. These are skills for which instructional opportunities typically occur apart from school-- activities that would naturally occur, for instance, before school, in the evenings, or on the weekends. Activities like these might be considered better suited for instruction during these non-school hours. However, these activities can, in particular circumstances, be incorporated into a program for a child.
Functional Skills Curriculum Guide
Special School District of St. Louis County
