Curriculum Anyone??

Today I had a sit down with one of my administrators during my "planning time" (LOL!).  She wanted to know what kind of curriculum the Low Incidence populations were using .  I don't know what was funnier, that some people think we have a planning period everyday, or that we have an established curriculum with textbooks, workbooks and standardized assessments!!

So the objective of today's rant:  Find out what curriculum other self-contained functional classrooms are using.  I am finding the items and materials that have been provided to me by my school division are not fully aligned with the Common Core Standards.  Therefore, in my free time (hahahah, I made another funny), I end up creating most of the items/materials I use in my classroom. 

The reading program my school division uses with their Low Incidence populations is called Teaching Reading to Children with Down Syndrome.  This program is based on functional word vocabulary and instruction is based on matching picture to picture, word to word, picture to word and word to picture.  It is a good program for functional vocabulary.  It is broken down into units and for each unit I have created a predictable book with repetitive text, so my students could also learn sight words, sentence structure, tracking etc..  I would LOVE to know what you all are using in your own classrooms?  Does your school division provide you with curriculum materials or are you left to your own devices?

We also do a Community Based Instruction Program which is wonderful.  Our Special Education Central Office folks, created several activities that include Eye Spy games, BINGO, Coloring Books, and such for us to use during instruction.  The downfall is we only get 2 Community Based Field Trips a year.  I am considering incorporating a dramatic play area in my room, so we can create some of these experiences with my students.  However, as you know and I know, pretend play, imagination and creativity is not one of our population's strong suite.  Have any of you, added a dramatic play area to your classes and if so how is it going for you?

The Science curriculum materials that were purchased just a few years ago are basically obsolete now that the VAAP criteria has changed this year. So when it comes to Science, Math and Social Studies I am on my own.  Silver Lining Alert:  Our local T/TAC has recently published the new Curriculum Framework that is aligned with the ASOL's for my state of Virginia.  This has been a big help in guiding instruction, and I am excited about developing a curriculum for my kiddos based on this.  What programs and materials are working for you in your classrooms?