My DD1 requires an aide for kinder, however I know things have changed in recent years and it is no longer 1:1 it is in fact an extra teacher/set of hands for the entire class to bring down the child to staff ratio. This doesn't sit well with me, my child will fall easily if trying to climb, she will not move out of the way of a swing, is non-verbal and not toilet trained. At this stage I do not feel comfortable sending her to kinder even with the approved funding as I do not feel that it increases her safety.
I am hoping that someone has experience with KISS funding for kinder and can tell me it is in fact a fantastic opportunity.
I think that what happens in practice is going to depend completely on the kinder concerned. Can you meet with the head teacher and see what they intend to do? From what you say it seems as though your DD would need to be pretty much 1:1 supervised outside, and would be OK to share the aide inside.
Also, some kinders refuse completely to change pooey nappies. I'm not sure whether having an aide would make the situation any different, or whether you would still be on pooh-call, but this is something you should check out too.
I agree, I think you need to meet with the kindy, raise your concerns, and be very clear about her specific needs. i am assuming that she is in EI? Have someone from EI come along with you to support your concerns.
Thank you for your replys. I met the Kinder teacher yesterday and she is lovely and I am going back tomorrow after meeting with DDs early intervention coordinator today. The nappies are not a problem, I discussed this with the kinder a while back and they are completely supportive ( I only live 5 doors down so it wouldn't be any issue anyway).
I think it would be outside that is the issue, inside it will be simple things like opening her lunch box/drink. They will already watch things like scissor use etc.
Thanks again, DH and I have discussed it a lot this past week and we are going to just see how it goes, if she doesn't cope we can stop
If she is part-coping you might also be able to take her for "inside time" - especially if you live down the road. And gradually build up "outside time".
I've found that it varies a great deal between kinders how they choose to use that 'extra pair of hands', but on the most part, the aide has been assigned as exactly that and has been available to support the needs of the funded child.
It is in the kinder teacher's interests to support this - of course, it shouldn't come down to this alone - in that they are likely to be liable if your child has extra support needs to remain safe, the support has been provided for and she is injured when unsupervised.
KISS funding for 4yo kinder.
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