State-Funded Pre-Kindergarten Programs
If your child is eligible for Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities (PPCD), you may consider placement in a pre-kindergarten program offered in many Texas school districts. Texas funds half-day pre-kindergarten programs in districts which have 15 or more four-year-olds who:
- Are unable to speak or understand English;
- Are educationally disadvantaged (eligible for the free/reduced lunch program);
- Are homeless; or
- Whose parents serve in active military duty, in an activated reserve unit, or who were killed or wounded in action.
School districts may draw on other funding sources to provide a full-day program or open the program to three-year-olds. Additional funding sources may also be used to include preschoolers with disabilities. Some school districts partner with local Head Start programs and community daycare providers.
Pre-Kindergarten programs are designed to help at-risk preschoolers develop the skills they need to be successful when they reach public school. Emphasis is on language development, pre-reading and mathematics, and social skills. Like Head Start, state-funded pre-kindergarten programs can provide the inclusive programming that benefits children both with and without disabilities.
To find out if there is a pre-kindergarten program available in your school district, contact your neighborhood school or your district’s administration office.
Additional Resources:
Beyond ECI
You and Your Preschool Child – Toolkit developed by the U.S. Dept of Education
Early Childhood Education – What Works Clearinghouse review of interventions
Head Start and Early Head Start – U.S. Dept of Administration for Children & Families provides information to help understand needs and services of children with disabilities enrolled in Head Start/Early Head Start programs
TEA Special Education Services for Students with Disabilities – Ages 3-5
TEA Showcase of Promising Practices - For examples of how some districts in Texas are effectively educating preschoolers with disabilities alongside their non-disabled peers
Legal Framework for Children with Disabilities – Ages 0-5
Dual Enrollment
Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities (PPCD)
Pre-Kindergarten Curriculum
Revolutionary Common Sense Articles by Kathie Snow, Disability Is Natural
Environment, Environment, Environment (pdf document)
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