Developmental Preschool

A study at the University of California, Los Angeles found that nearly 90 percent of children with developmental challenges who received intensive treatment in their preschool years improved their social, self-help, play, and communication skills. By first grade, nearly half were indistinguishable from their classmates. That's the reason behind Developmental Preschool, the cornerstone of The Children's SPOT.

Developmental Preschool at The Children’s SPOT

  • Serves children 1 – 6 years of age
  • Meets 2 hours a day, four days a week, 50 weeks a year
  • Offers a 3-to-1 child-to-therapist ratio
  • We offer one morning classes and one afternoon class. Placement is based on age, availability, and/or developmental level.

A welcoming environment

Developmental Preschool meets in The Children's SPOT, which features:

  • Colorful décor that is inviting to children
  • Three preschool classrooms that attach to pediatric bathrooms for those who are independent or working on toileting skills
  • An indoor playground with slides, a walking bridge, a variety of trikes, scooters, and bikes
  • Our gross motor room includes a rock-climbing wall, a zip line, a trampoline, and therapy swings

What looks like a playground is actually a suite of sensory integration equipment designed to help children build gross motor skills and improve socialization.

Services

This early and intensive program provides:

  • Therapy-based services: Preschool classes are led by licensed and certified physical, occupational, and speech therapists who work to help children develop learning, speech, social, and motor skills.
  • Individualized treatment plans: Based on test results and family input, each child receives a specialized plan specific to their needs.
  • A supportive community: Therapists provide strong support and encouragement to families so children can apply their new skills at home.

Students also learn positive behavioral and social skills at developmental preschool.

Curriculum

Preschool focuses on skills such as:

  • Language development: following directions, receptive and expressive vocabulary, verbal problem solving, role playing, picture recognition and naming, attention and listening skills, asking and answering questions
  • Socialization/Pragmatics: sharing, helping, turn-taking, developing relationships, behavior management
  • Music: singing, listening, playing instruments, dancing, gesturing, rhythm
  • Vision: light stimulation, visual tracking, recognizing contrasts, visual perception
  • Articulation: phoneme discrimination, sound productions
  • Self-awareness: body parts, body image
  • Pre-academic skills: counting and number skills, color recognition and naming, alphabet recognition, shape recognition and naming, matching, pre-writing, visual sequencing, pre-reading, memory development, paper and pencil tasks, calendar and time skills
  • Self-help: dressing, toileting, hygiene, buttoning, zipping, tying shoes
  • Motor skills: cutting, pasting, drawing, walking/running, skipping, jumping, balancing, coordination/bilateral integration, painting, manipulating toys, controlling switch toys, grasp
  • Sensory exploration and sensory integration: auditory, tactile, olfactory/oral, visual, proprioception
  • Oral motor/Feeding: self-feeding, swallowing, oral awareness, exploring new foods, tooth brushing

Enrollment

  • We start with a phone call to gather information regarding your child to determine if group therapy is appropriate.
  • This is followed by a tour of our facility to learn more about our Developmental Preschool program. 
  • If there is a waitlist, you are added to the list and contacted once we reach your child’s name.
  • When it is time to initiate treatment, we will schedule speech and occupational therapy evaluations to determine your child’s needs and develop a treatment plan. If a current evaluation has already been completed, those results will be utilized instead of doing a new evaluation.
  • We will obtain a doctor’s order for therapy and have some additional paperwork for you to fill out prior to starting preschool.
  • We will also check your insurance benefits to determine if there is coverage for group therapy and talk to you about your insurance coverage.

Insurance Coverage

Coverage is dependent upon your individual plan. You will want to check to see if you are in-network or out-of-network with Saint Luke’s Hospital of Kansas City. You may have a deductible or co-pay for services and there may be exclusions to your plan regarding therapy that is covered. 

View accepted insurance list.

Family assistance program

At The Children’s SPOT, we believe all children deserve the best possible start in life. Our Family Assistance Program provides support to families who are uninsured or under insured, and is made possible by gifts and grants from individuals, corporations, and foundations in the Kansas City metro area.

Attendance

We are committed to providing the best possible care for your child and your family, but we do need your help. Your child’s success depends on attending every therapy session and arriving on time. If you are unable to attend a scheduled appointment, please call us as soon as possible before the appointment at 816-932-3832 to cancel or reschedule. We have many children in need of services. Multiple cancellations may result in termination of services.