SingaporeMotherhood | Preschooler & Up
May 2018
How Early Intervention Programme (EIP) Can Help Children with Learning Challenges Prepare for School
If your child has learning challenges, an Early Intervention Programme (EIP) can help prepare him or her for primary school or SPED life. As a parent, you may have realised that your child isn’t developing or learning as well as their peers. They may have a different way of responding to people or aren’t progressing in reading and writing as quickly as other children. They may find math concepts difficult to understand.
While it might be painful to admit that your child may have learning challenges, the earlier you identify these challenges, the better it is for your child. Once their learning challenges are acknowledged, you can then seek help to prepare your child for formal schooling in Primary 1 or Special Needs Education.
Not many facilities in Singapore provide an Early Intervention Programme (EIP) for children, and those that do often have a waiting list. However, as a parent, you’d probably want to seek help for your child as soon as possible. Well, we’ve found a brand-new EIP programme that not only has qualified individuals to help your child reach their fullest potential and uses the AEPS system, it also provides your child with a 14 day trial programme. Sounds exactly like what you’re looking for? Read on, we’ll tell you more.
What is EIP (Early Intervention Programme)?
EIP provides intervention and support for children with learning challenges. It teaches them relevant skills to prepare them for primary school or special education school (SPED) in Singapore. Early intervention teachers help children develop and improve in the following areas:
- Gross motor skills
- Fine motor skills
- Perceptual and cognitive skills
- Language and communication skills
- Socialisation skills, and
- Self-help skills.
This helps prepare the children for further education, and for a formal school environment.
Increase in Demand for EIP in Singapore
EIP has been steadily gaining traction in Singapore. In 2016, The Straits Times reported that EIP helped 2,600 children the previous year. This is almost double the 1,400 children who benefited from the programme in 2010.
Mr D’silva, a parent whose son is enrolled in MindChamps Allied Care, saw a significant improvement in his speech and toilet habits just after 2 months of attending the Early Intervention Programme. His son is now diaper-free! He has also noticed that his son looks forward to his classes everyday, and that the teachers are friendly, patient, and dedicated.
More EIP centres are opening across the island to cater to the demand for such services. MindChamps, already an industry leader in preschool education in Singapore, now offers Allied Care Early Intervention Programmes to help children with educational and developmental needs prepare for primary school. These programmes are currently available at two locations — Serangoon Gardens, and Tiong Bahru.
MindChamps Allied Care EIP Programme
MindChamps Allied Care Early Intervention Programme (EIP) supports and facilitates children aged 18 months old to 6 years old skillsets in five key areas to prepare them for primary school (either mainstream or SPED):
- Cognition and perception
- Communication and language
- Social skills
- Fine and gross motor skills
- Self-help skills.
All MindChamps therapists, psychologists, and teachers — including occupational therapists, speech therapists, educational therapists, and child psychologists — are qualified to work with children with unique learning needs and development.
These include, but are not limited to children with ADHD, ADD, Autism,, Global Development Delay, Specific Language Impairment, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Speech and Language Delay, Hearing Impairment, and Motor Speech Disorder/Apraxia of Speech.
Best of all, the small teacher-and-child ratio — 2:5 — ensures that your little one gets dedicated attention every time.
What’s Unique about the MindChamps Allied Care EIP?
The MindChamps Allied Care team works closely with the family to support every child’s development. Therapists tap on an integration of research evidence with clinical expertise and your child’s values and preferences — to achieve improved therapy outcomes.
But what truly differentiates the MindChamps Allied Care EIP Programme is its curriculum and criterion based system – The Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System (AEPS®). The AEPS® helps to:
- Identify children’s strengths and emerging skills across developmental areas
- Identify functional goals and objectives for Individual Education Plans (IEP)s or other individualised plans
- Assist in planning and guiding intervention
- Monitor children’s progress over time.
Therapists and teachers use the AEPS® to set realistic education goals and objectives that children can confidently work towards. With these guidelines in place, teachers can formulate the best learning opportunities for your child.
How to Get Started
If your child has any learning challenges and is between 18 months to 6 years old, MindChamps’ Allied Care EIP can help. To enrol, simply:
- Make a booking on www.mindchamps-alliedcare/eip-programme
- Complete registration form
- On the day of assessment, your child will go through an enrolment assessment (lasts 1 – 2 hours) by MindChamps Allied Care’s clinician
- Parents will be debriefed, and depending on the child’s needs, the child will be referred to the therapy and psychology team for further intervention
- Fill up the Family Report Form provided, and submit it on the first day of class
Within 14 days (the national waiting time for EIPIC placements is reported to be five months (source), you will receive classroom placement and a summary of your child’s assessment report. So your child can get the help he or she needs, as soon as possible.
Get a Trial of MindChamps Allied Care EIP
Is MindChamps Allied Care EIP Programme the right fit for your family? Why not try it out for 14 days to find out? The 14-day trial programme consists of placement, a parents’ review session, and recommendations for your child by MindChamps Allied Care specialists.
To find out more, head over to mindchamps-alliedcare.com/eip-programme and www.facebook.com/mindchampsalliedcare.
Our EIP Centres:
MindChamps Allied Care @ Marina Square
6 Raffles Blvd, #04-100 Marina Square
Singapore 039594
Tel: +65 9797 7485
Email: [email protected]
Serangoon Gardens
7 Lichfield Road Serangoon Garden Estate
Singapore 556827
Tel: +65 8826 9408 / +65 8826 9478
Email: [email protected]
#mindchampsalliedcare #seechampions
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