Special Needs Children To Benefit With Lifetime Montessori School's New Special Needs Teacher

SAN DIEGO - Nov. 15, 2018 - PRLog -- Lifetime Montessori School, a toddler, elementary and preschool in Santaluz, has named Heather Zolzer, M.Ed., as Resource and Inclusive Education Coordinator. A nine-year veteran of Lifetime, Ms. Zolzer is the new special needs teacher at the 200-student school.

"Lifetime Montessori is a child-centered, problem-solving school where we prepare students to be confident, independent future adults who make good choices, are empathetic and work hard," Ms. Zolzer said. "As the Resource and Inclusive Education Coordinator, I'll be working with teachers, children, and parents to solve atypical behavior problems that may be based in sensory, stimulation and motor skills deficiencies."

Identifying Special Needs Kids

Often, what parents and teachers see as strange behaviors may be rooted in other areas. For example, if a child is acting out, frustrated or angry, it may be because there is another problem.

For example, it could be that the child has vision or color blindness problems. If they're acting clumsily, it may be that they need more hand/eye coordination drills or more exercise. Or, if they can't develop sounds, mumble and switch their sounds, the problem may be hearing-oriented.

In these instances, Ms. Zolzer follows a systematic and methodical approach based on observing the child's atypical behavior by:

• Working with him or her
• Documenting the behavior
• Troubleshooting the behavior
• Alerting parents early on
• Making teacher recommendations to fix those frustrations in the classroom via visual charts, cues or special spaces

She further describes, "many of our special needs problems can be addressed  by simply making modifications in the classroom environment or providing additional guidance to the the teacher," Ms. Zolzer said. "We can modify the curriculum or environment to meet the needs of the child but if our initial recommendations don't work, we then talk with parents and outside specialists  to see if the child would be better served in a different environment. "

"The majority of parents we've talked and worked with are great champions when it comes to their kids. Fortunately, the number of parents who are in denial about their children's problems are few. The goal  is to accurately identify the child's needs to ensure that whether the problem is a need for speech therapy, occupational therapy, an optometrist or audiologist that parents know about it so they we can help come up with an effective plan that will help the child and their families," she said.

The value of having a dedicated full-time Resource and Inclusive Education Coordinator at Lifetime Montessori is that it gives parents an early indicator of atypical behaviors. "We are and have always been a 'child first' learning center. The key takeaway for all concerned is that we have 'eyes on the ground' to observe, document, and troubleshoot solutions with teachers, parents and professionals to ensure we're problem solving from Day One," says Kristin Edwards, M.Ed., and Director of the school.

Lifetime Montessori School is celebrating its eleventh year as one of San Diego's finest private toddler, preschool and elementary schools. With curriculum based on Dr. Maria Montessori's teachings, Lifetime Montessori school strives to build confident and independent students as they progress into middle school and beyond. To tour the school, visit: https://lifetimemontessorischool.com/free-tours. (https://lifetimemontessorischool.com/free-tours)