The ARIN Intermediate Unit 28 Early Intervention (EI) Preschool Program provides a variety of programs and services for children from their third birthday until entry into school. Services for children during the preschool years are provided at no cost to their families when the child is determined to meet eligibility requirements. Individual Education Programs (IEPs) are written to define the services that will be provided to those eligible children.

Preschool Services may include:

• Screening and Evaluation
• Support in Early Childhood Environments
• Specialized Instruction
• Speech
• Occupational Therapy
• Physical Therapy
• Hearing
• Vision
• Specialized Classrooms
• Transition to School Age Programs

As the process of evaluation begins, families will develop a relationship with a service coordinator who will guide them through the early stages of preschool age services through the Intermediate Unit. The service coordinator may visit the home to meet the child and explain the early intervention program. With parents’ consent, a multidisciplinary evaluation (MDE) is conducted by specialists in fields such as physical and speech therapy. The evaluation takes place in the child’s “natural environment,” one in which the child is most comfortable and could include the home or early childhood center where the child may already be enrolled.

Click here to explore the ARIN IU 28 Special Education Department!

Check out the Arc of Indiana County

Check out the Arc of Armstrong County

The Arc provides advocacy and resources for citizens with intellectual & developmental disabilities, & their families!

Local Task Force: As an advocacy group for students with disabilities, The Local Task Force (LTF) works to strengthen, improve, expand, and monitor programs and services that meet individual educational needs. The LTF gives parents, administrators, students with disabilities, agency representatives, and others a place to share information, discuss their concerns and seek collaborative solutions. The LTF also works to resolve problems and refers individual concerns to the appropriate person or organization.

Upcoming meetings:

• January 22, 2024
• March 25, 2024
• May 28, 2024

Meetings will be hybrid, both online and in-person, on the FOURTH MONDAY of every other month at 6:30 PM at The Arc of Indiana County (120 N. 5th Street Indiana, Pa) The Arc is now providing childcare for children 3 and up as well as Sheetz gift cards to help with travel costs while gas prices are high.

Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84332272413?pwd=THplc0gremFVVkJSK0RPQU4xUDhQZz09

Interested in joining the LTF? Click here!

8 Benefits of Outdoor Play

Why is playing outside so good for us? Besides getting us off the sofa or away from the desk, it also gives us an opportunity to explore our neighborhoods. While it's impossible to list all the benefits of outdoor play, we do have a few to share.

1. Playing outdoors is a freeing activity. It frees us from routines, enclosed spaces, and frames of mind.
2. The outdoors fills us with energy. Whether it's the fresh air, sunshine, or physical activity, we perk up and become motivated to accomplish things.
3. It clears the cobwebs from our brains. We sometimes get stuck on a topic, project, or issue and are unable to resolve it. A change of scene often brings clarity we didn't have before.
4. Outdoor play provides terrific physical activity for our bodies. Our hearts pump fresh oxygen to our limbs and brains.
5. We experience new sights and sounds. Children get to experience the world around them.
6. As a social activity, playing outside encourages positive interactions.
7. When you play outside every month, it becomes habit-forming - and this is one good habit to have!
8. It stimulates the imagination. Outdoor play almost has no boundaries. Your yard can be a kingdom or the playground can be a mountain to scale.

Outdoor Winter Activity Ideas:

1. Build a snowman
2. Have a snowball fight
3. Make snow angels
4. Have a bonfire (it's not just for summer!)
5. Go sled riding
6. Go snowboarding and/or skiing
7. Snow snowmobiling
8. Build a snow fort
9. Go ice skating
10. Take a walk and admire the snow, decorations, and winter scenery
11. Go on a winter scavenger hunt
12. Paint the snow! Mix water and food coloring in a squirt bottle!
13. Have a winter picnic

You can help your preschooler practice the following skills with dice:

• Subitizing (looking at the dots and knowing right away what number they represent instead of counting each dot)
• Number recognition
• Counting
• Matching
• Comparing
• Adding

Activities to try:

1. Dice War: Put all the dice in a big pile. Each of you takes a die and rolls it. Whoever has the higher number gets both dice. If you roll the same number, those dice stay in the middle and you both roll again. Whoever gets the highest number takes all four dice. Whoever has the most dice at the end of the game is the winner!
2. Matching: Lay out flashcards with the numbers 1-6 on them. Have your child roll a die and count the dots. Match whatever number is on the die with the corresponding flashcard.
3. Roll and Build: Have your child roll a die. Count the dots and stack a tower with that many blocks. Keep rolling and adding to the tower until it falls over. After each roll, count all of the blocks to see how the number changes.
4. Roll and Count: Get a a pile of fun rubber animals or your child's favorite toys! Have them roll a die, count the dots, then count out the same amount of toys!
5. Roll a Snowman (See photos below!):
   • roll a single die and draw the hat that matches the number rolled.
   • roll the die again to select the face that you will draw.
   • roll the die a third time to see what accessory to give your snowman.
   • Want a printable version of this activity? Click here!

You can get a printable copy of the DIY dice as seen below by clicking here!

1. Read Hansel and Gretel. Don't have a copy? Click here to follow along with a read aloud version
2. Build a Gingerbread House! If you want to try to make your own from scratch, click here for a recipe! Want a gluten free recipe? Click here!
3. Have your child practice their alphabet knowledge by decorating the Gingerbread A to Z coloring sheets as shown below! Want to download the entire alphabet? Click here!

For December Food Bank Dates/Locations:

ACCAP Facebook

ACCAP Website

Call: 724-548-3408

The Pennsylvania Farm Show Coloring Contest is now accepting entries! Grab your crayons, colored pencils, and markers and get busy coloring. The coloring page contest is open to participants, 4 years to senior citizen. Register by completing the General Entry Form and including it with your colored official 2023 Color Page.

Click here to see the 2024 Coloring Pages!

Click here to see the rules and how to submit an entry. Submit your entry by December 15, 2023!

Looking for a fun, free Christmas activity to do with your child(ren)? Check out your local Lowe's for the December 16th workshop! You can either complete the activity at the store, or get it to take home and complete!

Click here to register for the workshop! Change your store to the Lowe's location closest to you!

Check availability in your area!

The Dolly Parton Imagination Library provides books free of charge each month to children from birth to age 5.

Sign up for the FREE monthly Kindergarten, Here I Am eNews!

Each month get activities, tips and resources you can use to help your kindergartner prepare for and have a successful Kindergarten year.

December: We're in the Car or on the Bus!

Each month offers activities families can do together in a variety of settings. The activities within the Learning is Everywhere Calendar and on the website are aligned with the Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards (ELS).

Activities for your preschooler:

Before your trip, help your preschooler cut out pictures from a magazine of things they might see while in the car, such as a stop sign, a bicycle, a bus, etc. and store in an envelope or plastic zip-top bag. Once in the car, have them search outside the window for items that match the cut-outs. Language & Literacy

Give you preschooler a puppet while traveling. Ask the puppet to sing a song, or have the puppet tell you a story, or what it sees when it looks out the window. Play “I Spy”—can it see the clouds? Can it see trees, or the big truck? Creative Thinking & Expression Using a book, have the puppet “read” the story. Language & Literacy

Sing up for the FREE monthly Learning is Everywhere eNewsletter!

Parent to Parent matches parents of children with special needs or disabilities with other families who've had similar journeys. A new diagnosis for your child might feel overwhelming, but P2P wants to ensure that you don't feel alone. By being matched to another family, they can provide emotional support, advice, stories of their own experiences, or just a listening ear!

Click here to complete a new match intake form

Want to become a Peer Supporter? Click here!

For more information, call 1-888-727-2706