What is Early Start?
Mokena Early Start is a preschool at-risk program for children ages three to five. This program serves children who, because of their economic, health, home, emotional, special needs, or learning situations, are at-risk of academic failure. The program encourages children to make choices and interact in various learning centers throughout the classroom, as well as greatly encouraging and supporting parent participation. Two daily sessions are offered, an A.M. session and P.M. session.
Early Start Screening
Mokena School District 159 will be screening children from the ages of three to five in the areas of motor, cognitive, and speech and language development. All children three to five years of age who reside within Mokena 159 boundaries are eligible to be screened free of charge.
Preschool screening is designed to identify preschoolers who show delays or problems in speech and language skills, large and small muscle coordination skills, cognitive skills, or social/emotional growth.
Staff will determine the necessity, if any, for further individual evaluation that would assist in the identification of the need for special education services.
Children are screened using the DIAL-4 (Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning), to determine their progress in vocabulary, speech and language development, social and emotional development, self help skill, English proficiency, fine and gross motor skills, and cognitive development.
DIAL-4 provides scores for all five early childhood areas:
Preschool screening is designed to identify preschoolers who show delays or problems in speech and language skills, large and small muscle coordination skills, cognitive skills, or social/emotional growth.
Staff will determine the necessity, if any, for further individual evaluation that would assist in the identification of the need for special education services.
Children are screened using the DIAL-4 (Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning), to determine their progress in vocabulary, speech and language development, social and emotional development, self help skill, English proficiency, fine and gross motor skills, and cognitive development.
DIAL-4 provides scores for all five early childhood areas:
- - Motor area: Gross Motor items include catching, jumping, hopping, and skipping. Fine Motor items include building with blocks, cutting, copying shapes and letters, and writing, and a popular finger touching task.
- - Language area: Items include answering simple personal questions (name, age, and sex), articulation, naming (expressive) or identifying (receptive) objects and actions, plus phonemic awareness tasks such as rhyming and “I Spy.”
- - Concepts area: Items include pointing to named body parts, naming or identifying colors, rote counting, counting blocks, identifying concepts in a triad of pictures, and sorting shapes. Includes an item that assesses automatic naming of objects, a skill that is associated with potential learning disabilities.
- - Self-help development: Looks at the child’s development of personal care skills related to dressing, eating, and grooming.
- - Social development: Looks at the child’s development of social skills with other children and parents, including rule compliance, sharing, self-control, and empathy.
2017-2018 Early Start Screening Schedule
Tuesday, December 5
Tuesday, April 10
9 am—3 pm
Wednesday, April 11
TBD
All screenings will be conducted at
Mokena Elementary School
11244 Willowcrest Lane
This is not a kindergarten readiness screening
Children who will be 5 years old after January 1, 2017 are not eligible for this screening.
For questions concerning your child under the age of three, please contact Child and Family Connections in Joliet at (815) 730-2617
Children who will be 5 years old after January 1, 2017 are not eligible for this screening.
For questions concerning your child under the age of three, please contact Child and Family Connections in Joliet at (815) 730-2617