EARLY INTERVENTION TEACHING

Early Intervention Teachers (EIT’s) are Early Childhood Teachers with additional training and qualifications in Early Intervention. Their role is to encourage the cognitive and fine motor development of each child through a range of playful activities that support the development of all the key cognitive and fine motor developments of early childhood: cause and effect, understanding of similarity and difference, colour concepts, number concepts, drawing, writing, tool use etc.

Each child is regularly assessed, mostly through careful observation, and the understanding gained guides the setting of developmentally appropriate goals. These goals are worked towards by therapists, playroom specialists and parents/caregivers in partnership with each other. For children over three years who attend a community early childhood centre, the Early Intervention Educator (EIE) contributes to achieving the goals.

Early Intervention Teachers optimise each child’s cognitive and fine motor development by working in partnership with the parents/caregivers. This involves hands on, one on one therapy with each child in a structured setting; modelling, demonstrating, using specific teaching methods, listening to parents/caregivers, and explaining to parents how to enhance the child’s educational development. 

In addition to working on cognitive and fine motor skills we work in collaboration with interdisciplinary team members to promote regulation, engagement, social-emotional development and the development of the whole child. All intervention is informed by Developmental Science; the goals laid down in the individual therapy plan for each child, are informed by the specific developmental knowledge and expertise of each member of the multidisciplinary team and the family.