Nancy Stewart Children’s Music

Nancy Stewart Children’s Music

This easy to navigate website provides free original and traditional music as “Song of the Month” offerings archived by categories including Read & Sing Songs, Finger Plays & Counting, Instruments & Rhythm, and Languages & Literacy. The Languages & Literacy songs feature several songs with instructions for American Sign Language and a few in Spanish. Related activity pages and instructions for making simple instruments are also available.

Move International

MOVE (Mobility Opportunities Via Education/Experience) helps children and adults with severe disabilities acquire more abilities (and independence) to sit, stand, walk and transition. This is achieved through instruction and adaptive equipment.

With these increased abilities, there is: 1) better health, 2) less burden for care providers to move or lift people, 3) more dignity, and 4) new opportunities for fuller participation and inclusion in family life, school and community. Life is no longer relegated to a bean bag, floor mat, wheelchair or bed.

MOVE is a research-based program shown to improve functional mobility skills and empower children and adults with severe physical disabilities to better direct their own lives.

Four school sites within the Sacramento County Office of Education (SCOE) Special Education Programs have been designated as Model Sites for the MOVE International Program and Curriculum for students with significant physical disabilities. SCOE is the first MOVE Model Site to be established in Northern California. As a MOVE Model Site, SCOE will implement the program throughout the county and serve as a demonstration and training site for this internationally acclaimed model

National Public Radio (NPR): For Kids With Special Needs, More Places To Play

Listen to or read this story on inspiration for an inclusive playground in Salinas, CA.

National PTA

PTA’s mission is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.

• 6 Keys to Engaging Families in ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) (PDF)
• Family-School Partnerships Implementation Guide: The Power of Partnerships (12 page booklet in English and Spanish)
  The benefits of Family-School-Community Partnerships are many: higher teacher morale, more parent involvement, and greater student success are only a few. That is why PTA developed the National Standards for Family-School Partnerships Implementation Guide, a tool for empowering people to work together with an end goal of building family-school partnerships and student success.

Office of Head Start National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement (NCPFC)

The Office of Head Start National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement (NCPFC) released the Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework in September of 2011. The framework, downloadable and available in both English and Spanish, is a “road map” to family and community engagement across systems and service areas. Along with the framework are a variety of short videos (links) discussing this framework and family engagement through the eyes of the national director of Head Start, teachers, and parents. The framework and short videos focus on the development of family engagement partnerships and is a comprehensive guide into incorporating research-based methods in developing relationships among families, communities, and providers which will aid in the development of a healthy and balanced child who is ready for school success.

To further promote the use of the framework, in January of 2012 the NCPFC introduced a guide for use of the Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework, specifically focused on helping programs to identify “markers of progress,” and using the recently developed “self assessment tool”.

• Using the Head Start Parent, Family and Community Engagement Framework in Your Program: Markers of Progress (PDF)
• Parent, Family, and Community Engagement Simulation
  The PFCE Online Simulation takes you to a virtual Head Start Center where you assume the role of a Head Start staff member meeting a mother and her child during an intake visit to introduce the family to the program. In the role play, you will practice four every day and engaging relationship-building strategies with emotionally responsive avatars.

National Down Syndrome Society

The mission of NDSS is to benefit people with Down syndrome and their families through national leadership in education, research and advocacy. Our activities include:

• Developing and disseminating quality educational materials and programs.
• Initiating and advancing basic, clinical and applied research.
• Shaping and advocating for improved public policy, increased public resources and services for people with Down syndrome.
• Working in partnership with our affiliates and other support organizations.
• Sitio En Español (Site in Spanish)

National Down Syndrome Congress

The NDSC works to empower its members and all people with Down syndrome by creating a national climate in which all people will recognize and embrace the value and dignity of people with Down syndrome. The NDSC operates the NDSC Center which serves as a clearinghouse for information on Down syndrome. The Center provides up-to-date information on topics of interest to people with Down syndrome, family members, friends, professionals and interested others.

• Sitio En Español (Site in Spanish)

National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

Established in 1988, NIDCD is mandated to conduct and support biomedical and behavioral research and research training in the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech, and language.

It is estimated that more than 46 million people in the United States suffer some form of disordered communication. NIDCD has focused national attention on disorders of human communication and has contributed to advances in biomedical and behavioral research that will improve the lives of millions of individuals with communication disorders. NIDCD has made important contributions to the body of knowledge needed to help those who experience communication disorders and to advance research in all aspects of human communication.

• Sitio en Español (Site in Spanish)

National Indian Parent Information Center

The National Indian Parent Information Center is a national program that provides information (printed, by email, phone and workshops) on disability issues for Native family members who have children with disabilities and the professional who work with them. We provide workshops on and off reservations to Tribes, Nations and Clans on Disability Laws and Parent Leadership. Our services for families are at no cost to family members. We hope to give Indian families a voice that will impact the special education process.

National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA)

The National Indian Child Welfare Association (NICWA) works to address the issues of child abuse and neglect through training, research, public policy, and grassroots community development. NICWA also works to support compliance with the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (ICWA), which seeks to keep American Indian children with American Indian families.

NICWA improves the lives of American Indian children and families by helping tribes and other service providers implement services that are culturally competent, community-based, and focused on the strengths and assets of families. This work includes collaborating with tribal and urban Indian child welfare programs to increase their service capacity, enhancing tribal-state relationships, and providing training, technical assistance, information services and alliance building.