SELECTING AND PREPARING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS FOR PRE-SCHOOLERS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES

Chithra Krishnan Adiyodi Loh San Cheong University of Malaya Malaysia cadiyodi@yahoo.com; lohsch@um.edu.my

Research has acknowledged the importance of early childhood education for children aged between birth and six years of age who have deviated from the norm in terms of physical, cognitive, social, emotional and adaptive developments. Theories such as behaviourism, constructivism and ecology have made great contributions towards this field in terms of teaching strategies and methods. These strategies and methods comprise the value-based and empiricalbased practices that are known as recommended practices for early childhood special education. Application of these practices in educating children with learning disabilities has been proven to enhance their performance. Recommended practices are implemented using a variety of instructional materials. However, certain criteria have to be adhered to when selecting, preparing and using instructional material for children with learning disabilities. materialfor This study looked at how three teachers assessed the students, and how they planned and implemented the lessons in their pre-schools for children with learning disabilities. However, for the purpose of this paper, only the selection and preparation ofinstructional of instructional materials is discussed. Suitable for the students and/or the objective of the lesson, quality as well as the safety features was the common criteria for the selection and/or preparation of instructional materials Some other criteria also considered were multiamong the three teachers. Some dimensional use of the material, its cost effectiveness and how much time was saved through using the specific instructional material. Although the three of the criteria stated in the recommended practices participants adhered to some ofthe when selecting and preparing instructional material they varied in how they implemented them in practice.

Keywords: Pre-school education, learning disabilities, instructional Material

Research acknowledges the vital relationship between experiences in early childhood and a child's development; and that the first six years of a child's life isare crucial for laying the foundation of learning (Bowe, 2000; Chiam, 1991; Dunlap, 1997; Lerner, 2003). Research also concedes that early childhood

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education is more important for children who have deviated from the norm in terms of physical, cognitive, social, emotional and adaptive developments (Lerner, Mardel-Czudnowski, & Goldenberg, 1981; Lerner, 2003). Early Intervention or Early Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) (ECSE) for children with developmental delays aged from birth to six years of age helps reduce declines declines in development (Gable, 2004; Gholam Kibria, 1994; Guralnick, 1991, 1993) and enables them to attend mainstream education classes with fewer or less intensive special education classes (Bailey & Wolery, 1992). Extensive research has helped develop early childhood special education as a distinct field, generating its own body of knowledge, theories and philosophies (Bowe, 2000). The evolving research on preschool special education has identified various appropriate teaching methods and strategies based on theories such as behaviourism, constructivism and ecology (Cole & Chan, 1990; Odom & Wolery, 2003). Further investigation in the field has enabled researchers to identify specific criteria associated with preschool special education, which contribute to its success (Dunlap, 1997; Guralnick, 1991, 1993,2000,2001; Odom & McLean, 1993; Odom, Teferra & Sudha Kaul, 2004; Odom & Wolery, 2003; Sandall, McLean, & Smith, 2000). Researchers have grouped these criteria under various terms, such as attributes by Dunlap (1997), tenets by Odom and Wolery (2003) and strains by Sandall et al. (2000). of Odom and Wolery (2003) have referred to tenets as "A Unified Theory of Practice in Early Intervention (EI)/Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE)". The tenets are: i) ii) iii) iv) v) Families and homes are primary nurturing contexts Strengthening relationships is an essential feature of EI/ECSE EIIECSE Children learn through acting on and observing the environment Adults mediate children's experiences to promote learning Children's participation in more developmentally advanced settings, at and independent times with assistance, is necessary for successful and participation in those settings EIIECSE practice is individually and dynamically goal oriented vi) EI/ECSE vii) Transitions across programmes are enhanced by a developmentally instigative adult viii) Families and programmes are influenced by the broader context (Odom & Wolery, 2003) These tenets have various evidence-based and value-based practices which are also known as recommended practices. Some of of the recommended practices in these tenets are learning through play, activity-based intervention and routine structuring. Empirical studies and meta-analysis of these empirical and valuebased practices have discovered that they have contributed to the success of preschool special education programmes (Odom & Wolery, 2003; Sandall, McLean & Smith, 2000) and have made significant contribution towards enhancing the quality of instruction. Successful implementation of these

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recommended practices is invariably dependent upon the use of of instructional materials. Experts in the field have attached a number of criteria for selection and preparation of instructional materials. One of the main criteria is that instructional materials should be appealing and responsive, age and ability appropriate, comprise naturally occurring objects, and support learning of skills (Bailey & Wolery, 1992; Gargiulo & Kilgo, 2000). Experts also opine that every object in the environment is an instructional material for preschool children with Learning Disabilities. According to the DEC Recommended Practices, "materials are structured and adapted to promote engagement, play, interaction and learning by attending to children's preferences and interests ... " (Sandall et aI., 2000). Bricker and Cripe (1995) add that instructional material should help children reach the goals and objectives set for them. They add that the materials should be related to their daily activities besides providing ample training opportunities. Suitable Suitable instructional materials should assist children with Learning Disabilities in making generalizations across settings, conditions and people. Gargiulo and Kilgo (2000) state that the points to consider when making instructional material are: the durability of the material, its use in relation to time, the curriculum, the specific needs of the child, how well it lends itself to multiple uses, and whether it fits into the physical environment and schedule of the preschool. Instructional material selection and preparation must be carried out with great consideration because they should be able to create a match between the unique, child and the curriculum. individual needs of the child Malaysia has been actively involved in providing preschool education for early 1990s. Non-Governmental children with Learning Disabilities since the early Organisations, private individuals and the Ministry of of Education (MOE) through its Division for Special Education since 2005 have been involved in this exercise. The MOE opened 32 preschools in 2005; then another 12 in 2006 and the number is expected to increase to meet the demand created by the parents' awareness of its importance. However, very few in-depth studies have looked at how instruction is provided in the preschool classrooms. data on instructional practices in these these preschools prompted the Lack of data researcher to look at how three teachers provided instruction for preschool children with Learning Disabilities. Attention was paid to how teachers planned and implemented the lessons and assessed the students. But for the purpose of this paper, only the section of data concerning instructional material will be discussed. of the MOE receive instructional materials Preschools under the jurisdiction of from the State Education Departments. MOE provides guidelines as to the type, number and quality of the instructional materials to all the sixteen State Education Departments in Malaysia. However, the final decision is actually made by the State Education Departments. Hence, the differences in the type, quality, and quantity of the materials provided to the three preschools. Some of the materials

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sent to them comprise toys, puppets, sand pit, water play, charts, pictures, blocks, books, Lego sets, musical instruments, trampoline, gym balls and educational software. Teachers can also use the allocation given to these preschools to purchase ready-made materials or raw materials like coloured paper and stickers to prepare prepare instructional material.

METHODOLOGY
Qualitative case study methodology was employed in carrying out this study since moC;e because it comprises describing and explaining it is the best reporting moc.e (Merriam, 2001) and it also allows the researcher to preserve the holistic and significant characteristics of real life events that happen on-site (Yin, 1984). Case study also provides rich descriptive data that can be used to make comparisons of the criteria used by the teachers when preparing instructional material (Gillham, 2000). The participants were three teachers teaching in preschools for children with Learning Disabilities. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the participants. They were teachers who had at least two years experience in preschool teaching. The participants Kayla, Marla, and Sheila (pseudonyms) fulfilled the requirements. Kayla has a basic degree in Early Childhood Education and a Masters in Special Education; Marla has a Certificate in Teaching; and Sheila has a Diploma in Teaching. The pre-schools used the curriculum developed by the MOE. Each pre-school had between five to eight students with varying types of Learning Disabilities. The researcher obtained the necessary permission from the MOE, the relevant State Education Departments and the head teachers of each preschool before In addition, written consent was also obtained from the teachers collecting data. In and parents of the students. The participants were willing to be observed, videotaped. interviewed, audio taped and videotaped. through in-depth interviews, observations and analysis Data were collected through of relevant documents. The study utilized a set of self-designed interview protocol that consisted of eight open-ended and semi-structured questions. These preschools operated five days a week, from eight to half-past eleven in the morning. The researcher spent eight weeks at each pre-school. Field notes were expanded; interviews were transcribed; and photographs of the instructional materials were coded and filed for the second level of analysis. Issues pertaining through triangulation with multiple sources such as to validity were resolved through interviews and observations; getting permission from the relevant authorities; and member checks. Reliability was observed by audit trail, and triangulation of the data obtained from a variety of sources (Merriam, 2001) 200 I) Analysis of the data showed that when planning classroom instruction, the participants participants of this study concentrated on writing the daily lesson plan, preparing preparing the instructional materials and arranging arranging the physical setting of the preschool classroom. This paper discusses the criteria the teachers adhered to when

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selecting and/or preparing instructional materials as well as how they used them when providing instruction in the classroom. FINDINGS classroom instruction. They believed The three participants used materials during classroom that preparing instructional materials was part and parcel of of their their teaching job. According to Kayla "Preparing material is also an important component of classroom instruction" (Tl/INT/12). (Tl/INTIl2). They used the materials provided to them by the MOE. They also used real objects such as food items and cutlery besides preparing extra materials such such as worksheets for their students. However, differences were observed in how they went about using the material in their daily classroom instruction and the criteria they adhered to when selecting and preparing the materials. Using Materials in Daily Classroom Instruction Using a variety of materials in a structured manner manner in accordance with the theme selected for the week in her daily classroom instruction was Kayla's style. She selected was able to do so because she has established a routine in her classroom instruction. She used materials such as pictures, worksheets, toys, musical instruments, songs, educational software, books, gym balls, puppets, and real objects in her daily teaching repertoire. When she started her day with the Morning Circle she used puppets, toys, pictures and real objects. Students were given the toys to play and react with the teacher. Students passed the objects while Kayla sang theme-related songs. Sometimes the students did some pasting work on figurines as Kayla identified the objects. Then she used real objects and gym balls. Even the furniture became instructional materials when Kayla carried out activities related to the Physical component which was her second component of the day. Real objects were again used during Self-Help skills to encourage students to eat by themselves and then bathe. Feeling fresh after a bath and a change of clothes, the students worked with pictures, worksheets and educational toys such as puzzles and Lego sets during the Cognitive component. Finally, the lesson for the day was concluded with stories from books, songs and musical instruments. This routine that she observed every day was only compromised if the day's activities included sand play, water play or art work with water colours. Kayla allowed the students to play, handle the toys and pictures by themselves. used limited types of materials when providing Comparatively, Sheila used instruction. However, like Kayla, she used her instructional materials in a structured manner according to her lesson plan for the day. Students were instructed to sit at the table in their specific places as soon as they walked into the the class. If one or two of them took the gym balls to play, they were immediately told told to put them away because she wanted to instill discipline in them. According

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to Sheila, their chances of being allowed a place in the primary special school depended upon their ability to sit when instructed. She was also worried that the students would miss the toys when they went over to the primary classroom where there was none. Once all of them were seated at the table, she handed out their exercise books in which she had prepared some written work according to the ability of each student. The students completed the worksheets with either Sheila's or the teacher assistant's help. Then the students were given colour pencils to colour the pictures that she had drawn on the worksheet. During Self Help skills, the students were encouraged to eat on their their own, brush their teeth and ease themselves before beginning the next activity for the day, art work. Students watched Sheila do a piece of work such as pasting or colouring before they were allowed to do it on their own. Sheila or her assistant guided the students closely when they were handling water colour and glue so that they would not their places at the table to do more dirty the place. Then the students returned to their written work prepared by the teacher. Students were occasionally allowed to play with the musical instruments, take books from the shelves shelves or blocks from their containers. Marla, unlike Sheila, allowed the students ample time for free play with the their choice when they came in the morning. The students took the toys toys of their that interested them and played individually or with one of two of their friends. Whenever possible Marla sat near the students to teach them social skills; she got them to acknowledge their their friends who came near them and guided them to play together. She also included pre-academic skills such as learning the names and the colours of the objects as well as counting them. She always helped them After the free play the students sat at the table to put back the toys on the shelf. After do some written work. Photocopied or hand written worksheets were distributed to all an the students. Marla, like Sheila, guided each student in completing the worksheet. Her teacher assistant also helped the students to complete their work. Sometimes the students left the table to play with the toys. Marla would let them continue playing if they had completed their written work. Otherwise, she would bring them back to the table to complete their unfinished worksheet. The students usually went to the canteen for their their meals. Since two of the students' mothers their children in the canteen. So these two were always in the class, they fed their children were not used to handling forks and spoons or glasses. Marla's students their teeth and bathing every day after their meal were also not used to brushing their missed the opportunities to use real objects to carry out in the canteen. So they missed these activities. Structure was almost absent in Marla's classroom instruction because her use of materials for teaching the students were also on an "on-off basis".

Criteria for Material Selection and Preparation

Kayla had specific criteria that she adhered to when selecting and preparing instructional material but Marla and Sheila did not always adhere to the criteria

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that they stated. The common criteria among the three participants was selecting selecting and preparing material that suited the students while ensuring quality and safety. Kayla and Marla Marla also stated that the material must suit the objective of the activity. However, Kayla had other criteria which will be described here.

Thematic Link
Kayla always tried to ensure that her instructional materials were in line with the theme of the week. However, the theme was far from Sheila's mind when preparing the worksheets. Kayla's planning emphasised designing of activities to teach the LO stated in the Curriculum Specification but all the activities were based on a single theme. She said, "I try my best to [make sure] whatever (TIIINTI12), because she felt that the activities I do I go back to the theme," (Tl/INT/12), ... help you to more focus" (Tl/INT/33) (TlIINT/33) when choosing activities for themes " ... teaching the students. The teaching materials she used during the activities were also related related to the theme that she had selected for the week. The songs she sang during Morning Circle were related to the theme; the materials she used during the physical activities were related to the theme; and the worksheets she prepared for the cognitive component were also related to the theme. As explained earlier, Kayla was always on the lookout for teaching materials related to the themes suggested for the Preschool Programme. She purchased coloured stickers of fruits and vegetables. She saved theme-related coloured pictures in her hard disk to print out when she needed them. Sometimes themes were selected according to certain occasions. For instance, if there was a birthday during that week, the theme was occasions. food; and the teaching materials were cake and cake decorations. After the students had decorated the cake, they celebrated the birthday. The worksheets were also prepared with the theme in mind. The students difficult to did not learn the letters in the alphabetical order, but in the "easy to difficult write" order. So the first letters that they learnt were 'T', 'K'. For example, if the theme was 'Parts of the Body', then the students learnt words such as 'Tangan' (Hand) and 'Kaki' (Leg). So she prepared worksheets with pictures of "Iangan' a hand or leg, and the students had to write the letter 'T' or 'K'. On the other hand if the theme was 'Things in the Classroom', then the worksheet would have a picture picture of a television but the letter would still be 'T'. Marla's instructional material did not display the link to a single theme although she always stated that she used the thematic approach.

Material that Suited the Students

Kayla was of the view that the teaching material used in the activities should suit the students in terms of level, ability and interest. So not all of the educational toys in the classroom were constantly used; some were used more

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often than others. All of her students except for Zhi and Jordan were always occupied; either involved in doing an activity or playing with an educational toy. toy. Kayla had many educational toys in her classroom. They were placed on open shelves. The students could always reach out and take what they wanted to play. Even the books were also kept in easily accessible shelves. When the students were free, Kayla gave them educational toys to play with. Ashah and Danish were usually given puzzles; Jary and Jordan were given clothes pegs or tongs to pick up objects to practice their fine motor skills. Through her her observations Kayla knew what the students liked so she also gave them toys that interested them. For instance, Vince liked to play with animals, Denis liked computer games, Hanaf liked the ball and Jary liked to use the scribble board. Besides ensuring that the songs were according to the theme, she also played (Tl/INT/ songs which she felt were "very interesting for the children to follow." (Tl/INTI 05) These were songs that she had obtained from her daughter's music school. She had also attended music classes with her daughter to learn the actions for the songs. Besides educational toys, Kayla used a lot of worksheets. According to Kayla " ... my worksheets I do not print, photo state [sic] directly from workbook. I get the ideas, I try to prepare it." (Tl/INT/OO). (Tl/INT/OO). After school hours both Kayla and Mun her teacher assistant were busy preparing various types of worksheets for each student based on the theme of the week and according to their level. cc ... the one you prepare you cater for individual child, the one She opined that, " in the market cater for all levels." (Tl/INT!l2/28). (Tl/INT/12/28). Furthermore, Kayla believed that by giving students materials she prepared to suit their needs, the students, "can improve better" (Tl/INT/28) as compared to, "you take the one in the market and just give it to the child." (Tl/INTI28). (Tl/INT/28). As an example she showed me a book where there were worksheets with outlines of fruits done with dots picture of the fruit. Kayla said that students had to join to form the complete picture that it would have been easier for her to get her students to join the dots after photocopying the worksheet; but she preferred to do her own worksheet based on the idea in the book. Her worksheets were colorful and two-dimensional. She used white and black sugar paper and colourful pictures printed from the computer. She had worksheets for prewriting skills such as joining dots, writing letters and numbers, matching, providing texture, collage, and colouring. The worksheets that she used for writing letters and numbers were just A4 paper with rows and columns of empty square boxes. She wrote the letter or number that she was teaching the student in one box. Then she used a highlighter to write the alphabet or number in the other boxes. Students went over the highlighted alphabet or number with a pencil to write over them. The number of boxes with highlighted alphabet or number depended on the level of the student. She left some boxes empty for better students like Ashah and Danish to write the alphabet or number on their own. So the worksheet was individualized. Then there were worksheets where she had pasted sandpaper of varying degrees of coarseness for the students to feel the texture. Quite often Kayla used

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these worksheets with Jary to stimulate his fingers. Sometimes Jordan was also told told to rub his fingers on the sand paper. Then she had worksheets with photocopied pictures which she used for collage work work with the students. So Kayla's worksheets were prepared with the students' abilities in mind. her Likewise Sheila prepared different types of written work for three of her high functioning students. She had two types of exercise books for these students - a long one and a short short one - in which she wrote all the work she wanted them to do. The books were not specifically used for one component but used interchangeably for both cognition and language. She concentrated on giving Mathematics for cognitive practice and learning letters and words for both Malay and English. When Sheila had to go away away for courses she would prepare pages of written work, for both Mathematics and language in the exercise books for all three students. This work which was not related to the theme of the week was based on previous exercises that they had done so that the replacement teacher did not have to teach them. Even though Marla stated that she selected and prepared materials that suited the individual needs of her her students, it was not obvious in the worksheets. She gave all her students the same worksheet and helped the children to complete them. Her worksheets comprised activities like colouring, joining the dots and writing digits. The worksheets were either written by hand or photocopied from books. However, she allowed the students to play with toys that suited their interest. For For instance, Alim (pseudonym) was allowed to learn the alphabet and interest. numbers using the computer because computers interested him. Akira (pseudonym) was taught the parts of the body through a song because she liked to sing.

Quality and Safety

The teaching materials that they received were not according to the requirement mentioned in the programme. She quipped, "For example, the spec says a drum, the actual big one, but the one I got, in fact two, from the Kedai Dua Ringgit. There it is broken. (Tl/INT/05)" Kayla also lamented that, "Many of the things are of low quality and some are even dangerous. They are too small that children can swallow them" (Tl/INT/05) The wooden toys chipped easily. So these materials were packed, sealed and put away in the store room. Sheila said that she was unable to use many of them because they were not suitable like the test tubes and tiny plastic toys. Some of the teaching materials were so small that she was also afraid that the students would swallow them.

Matched the Objective of the Activity

The second criterion, according to Kayla and Marla, was to ensure that the material matched the objective of the activity. During one particular lesson Marla Marla played a Karaoke CD which somebody had given her for free. The students

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enjoyed themselves dancing to the music although they were distracted by the purpose for the activity was pictures of people on the screen. But since Marla's purpose for the students to move parts of the body, she did not mind the students watching the television. A similar incident happened during the closing activity in Kayla's classroom. Kayla was singing a song pertaining to body parts and at the same time she and her teacher assistant were prodding the students to move the relevant body parts. The assistant moved the right foot when she should have moved the left foot; Kayla did not correct the mistake because the objective of the lesson was enjoyment.
M uIti-dimensional Multi-dimensional

Kayla insisted that the material should be multi-dimensional. She used the Vikki stick to help the students to match pictures from one end of the black sugar paper to the other end. The Vikki stick, according to Kayla, was "cheap and useful" cognitive and it could be used for many purposes such as "prewriting skills, for cognitive activities, for hand-eye coordination" (Tl/INT/05). She added that and physical activities, its rough texture was good to feel for the students. Another multi-dimensional teaching aid that Kayla had was the three panel flannel board which she had bought. She moved the boards to and fro effectively to reduce the size of the area and distraction. The flannel boards also came in useful during matching activities when they offered a large area for the students to stick the pictures. pictures. Moreover the board could be used on both sides.
Cost Effective and Time Saving

Kayla was a keen observer of preparing cost effective and time saving instruction materials. She collected a lot of things such as used refrigerator door magnet magnet stripes, egg holders, cartons, old magazines magazines and books, cereal and other boxes. These things came in handy when she was preparing teaching materials. The door magnets were better than the commercial ones and she could break them into the lengths she wanted. The egg holders were used to mix colors during art work. She opened the cereal boxes, cut the different sections and kept them as cards to be used for pasting pictures from the books, magazines and computer before laminating them; as photo frames to put up the students' photographs on the board; and as pages for a scrap book. Coloured pictures of various sizes were used extensively in activities. activities. Since Coloured using pictures from the sources mentioned above for preparing matching exercise worksheets consumed a lot of time because they had to be cut and pasted- she preferred to use stickers. Kayla managed to get small sized cheap stickers according to the themes that she taught while on her trip to Thailand. She was glad to have obtained these stickers because she could save a lot of time since she made many copies of the same worksheet. Her enthusiasm for making suitable teaching material was challenged by time constraint so, "Over the years I have

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saved a lot of pictures from print artists. So I just have to print print them out when I need them. I use a colour printer." (TlIINT/21) She was always devising cost effective and time saving ways of making suitable teaching materials. Kayla also made instructional material out of discarded objects. Students' parents were always requested to bring books and boxes. Even parts torn from carton boxes their hands on to feel the were used for art work and for the students to run their texture of the ridged edges. She also used plastic bathroom mats for the students texture to feel the texture as they walked on them. DISCUSSION Some of the criteria mentioned by the three participants for selecting and preparing instructional material are in line with those mentioned by experts in Early Childhood Special Education. The participants' criteria that were similar to those mentioned by the experts are discussed here. The participants' interpretation of these criteria and their their adaptation in the classroom are also discussed. Meeting Specific Needs The same instructional materials were selected or prepared for all the students during certain activities such as the Morning Circle, physical activities and art work. However the three participants catered to the specific needs of the students by varying the amount of help provided to them. For instance, Kayla allowed a fruits and couple of her students to do physical activities such as carrying fruits vegetables in a plate on their own while climbing up and down chairs that were arranged in a row. On the other hand, one of her students was helped all the way even though he used the same materials. Another example would be making a scrap book with pictures of 'Things in the Classroom' in Kayla's classroom. The students were first required to make scrap books by threading ribbon through the holes punched into the thick paper. They then picked the picture stated by the teacher, applied the gum and finally pasted the pictures. This activity had two different objectives; the high functioning students were required to recognise the things in the classroom whereas the low functioning students were just practicing their fine motor skills. The individual student's ability was always in both Kayla's and Sheila's minds when they prepared worksheets or written work for the students. They adjusted the difficulty of the worksheet or the amount of work given to the students according to each student's ability. The high-functioning students in Kayla's classroom trace on the alphabets and digits that she had written. She always left empty places on the paper for them to write on their own. Sheila, on the other hand, prepared different types of written work. She allowed one of her students to use stamp pads to stamp the alphabets to complete words because he did not like to write. However, even though Marla used the same material

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for all her students, she tried to meet their needs by varying the amount of support given to each of them. Kayla and Marla gave their students specific educational toys to improve their skills in certain areas. When her high functioning students had completed puzzles to sort out whereas her low their worksheet Kayla gave them jigsaw puzzles functioning students were given small items like clothes pegs to strengthen their fine motor skills. Meeting Preferences and Interests The three participants carried out the same activities using the same instructional material for all students. Sometimes they did use materials of interest to the students but these occasions were quite rare during instruction time. Kayla used the educational toys during teaching especially when she was providing one-toone instruction. Then the other students were allowed to play with jigsaw puzzles, scribbling boards, the sorting container and plastic alphabets. The toys given to the students depended depended on their level, ability and interest. Kayla also read stories that interested interested the students. Preferences and interests were catered to during free play in Marla's classroom. The students were allowed to play with toys that interested them as soon as they walked into the classroom. Promoting Engagement, Play, Interaction and Learning Kayla's worksheets were interesting, colourful and three dimensional. The students especially the high functioning functioning ones were able to do the matching and writing exercises given to them. Sometimes Kayla increased the number of required to complete if the students appeared to worksheets the students were required be interested. They were allowed to play with the toys of their interest as soon as they had completed their written work which comprised writing the alphabet and digits. Sheila's and Marla's worksheets were black and white and two dimensional. Most of Marla's were photocopied pieces of the worksheets she used for colouring activities and joining dots to form digits and letters. Sheila's worksheets were handwritten on pieces of A4 paper or in the students' exercise books. The required to do some writing, stamping with alphabet stamps or students were required colouring. These types of exercises rarely helped the students learn because they were assisted by the teacher or the teacher assistant in completing the work. However Sheila rarely used the toys. Even when students took them she told them to put the toys back from wherever they were taken. She said that the students could play with the toys only if she allowed them. This was to instill discipline in them, especially when they went to Year One. One box of blocks even had lizard eggs in them. The toys were neatly packed and kept away. The puppets were displayed on the shelf with a plastic covering them, looked like she had never used them in the class. Musical instruments were neatly arranged

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on the shelf and the students were not allowed to take them. According to Sheila the students have lost interest in the toys because they had played with them in the beginning of the year. Related to Daily Activities The participants did use instructional materials related to daily activities. activities. Kayla guided her students to put their used clothes into a basket after their bath every day. All the three participants also ensured that the students arranged their shoes on the shoe rack before entering entering the classroom. Kayla and Sheila had managed to get the students into this routine. Kayla's were even able to hang their bags in their respective places. However, some of Marla's students were unable to follow the routine and had to be helped. Other activities which used naturally occurring objects as instructional materials were meal times, brushing their teeth and bathing. Kayla also enlisted the help of the students' parents to follow some her practices in the classroom such as her routine after their bath. But there were parents who insisted on feeding their children at home thus making it difficult for her in the preschool. These problems existed in Marla's and Sheila's classroom as well because some of the parents were not cooperative in helping their children generalize learning across the settings. Age and Ability Appropriate related to quality quality and Age and ability of the instructional materials are closely related safety. Materials of inferior quality can be quite dangerous. For instance, the plastic chair in Kayla's classroom broke when she sat on it. Fortunately neither she nor her students was injured. Another incident was when the cheap drum broke while they were playing. In this case they were lucky that nobody was injured. when it came came to selecting age and ability appropriate material, the So when participants were careful. They lamented that they could not use some of the instructional materials that were sent to the preschools in their activities because they were not suitable for the preschoolers' age as well as ability level. Some of these materials were so small that the students could accidentally swallow them so the participants had to pack and put them away. Implications and Recommendations This study shows that the quality of the classroom instruction for preschool students with Learning Disabilities is compromised because the instructional materials for the activities do not adhere closely to the criteria specified in the recommended practices. The instructional materials do not always cater to the

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individual needs of the students which is the core principle ofproviding of providing preschool

education for children with with Learning Disabilities.

The findings of this study can help the Special Education Division of the Ministry of Education in providing courses and training that will expose the current teachers to the criteria necessary for selecting and preparing instructional material materials. Training and workshops in the area of preparing instructional material are also needed to help educate these teachers. In addition, the Division and other authorities can pay specific attention to the instructional materials to ensure that materials sent to the preschools are safe and age appropriate. Teacher training colleges can make use of the findings to ensure that the information when they leave college. fresh trainees are equipped with the relevant information trained for The State Education Departments must ensure that teachers who are trained sent to the preschools so that students receive quality special education are sent education.

References
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