AEPS-3 Curriculum: 3 Steps to Get Started

The AEPS®-3 Curriculum is your go-to resource for dynamic, creative, differentiated early childhood educa­tion strategies. Covering the same areas as the AEPS-3 Test (Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Adaptive, Social-Emotional, Social-Communication, Cognitive, Literacy, and Math), the tiered curriculum helps you:

• Design routines and activities that use best practices at the universal tier
• Plan and apply adaptations and modifications for children who need extra help learning at the focused tier
• Implement specialized teaching for children who need intensive help to participate in ongoing rou­tines and activities at the specialized tier

Here are three basic steps to follow when you’re getting started with the AEPS-3 Curriculum:

Step 1: Choose the Appropriate Curriculum Level

Select the curriculum level that matches the developmental level of the children on your caseload or in your classroom. The three levels are:

• Volume 3, Beginning: Addresses early foundational skills (birth to 18 months developmentally)
• Volume 4, Growing: Addresses expanding skills (18 months to 3 years developmentally)
• Volume 5, Ready: Addresses complex, coordinated preschool and school readiness skills (3 to 6 years developmentally)

Consider whether you might need other levels for children who have more or less advanced learning needs.

Step 2: Identify Initial Rou­tines and Activities

After you’ve selected the curriculum level, identify the routines and activities in the volume(s) that are priority contexts in which children need to learn new skills. Begin with those that:

• Have been identified by parents and caregivers as difficult times in the daily schedule at home, in the classroom, or in other environments (such as a community outing)
• Contain skills from developmental areas that commonly interfere with children’s learning (motor, cognitive, communication, social)
• Will help children with specific disabilities be more independent at home or in the classroom

Step 3: Identify Any Needed Supports

As a third step, identify any supports required for individual or groups of children within each routine or activity you’ve selected. (The expectation is that at any given time, you may be implementing strategies from all three of the tiers.)

Keep in mind that:

• Universal strategies are appropriate for all children—children with and without disabilities, at home and in classrooms. The Universal Strategies section in each routine or activity chapter provides suggestions to help improve the flow of routines and the quality of planned activi­ties.
• Focused strategies are beneficial for some children who need extra help with specific skills at home or school, and for small groups of children in classrooms. The Focused Strategies section in each routine or activity provides suggestions that can help children catch up and increase successful par­ticipation (for example, changes in materials, supplies, and interactions dur­ing art activities to address social-emotional, social-communication, cognitive, and literacy skills).
• Specialized strategies are individualized for children who need intensive support and focus on increasing access to and participation in home and classroom routines and activities. The Special­ized Strategies section in each routine or activity chapter provides information about prompting, positioning, and adaptive equipment to address the needs of children who have specific disabilities (for example, adaptive utensils to use during meals for children who have motor impairments).
• Use these three steps to jumpstart effective use of the AEPS-3 Curriculum. To help guide you, the curricu­lum volumes provide detailed suggestions and examples for three tiers of teaching/intervention strategies within the context of the routines and activities. The volumes also guide you in making decisions about what young children need to learn and how to teach and monitor progress toward acquir­ing and using targeted skills.

Today’s post has been adapted from Grisham, J., & Slentz, K. (Eds.). (2022). AEPS®-3 Volume 4: Curriculum—Growing. In D. Bricker, C. Dionne, J. Grisham, J. J. Johnson, M. Macy, K. Slentz, & M. Waddell, Assessment, Evaluation, and Programming System for Infants and Children, Third Edition (AEPS®-3). Brookes Publishing Co.