Playing Our Way through the Transition to K: Using Play-Based Practices to Support Students with and without Disabilities in Pre-K through K Environments
October 14, 2025 @ 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Location Online – at your home or School
Registration 3:45pm – 4:00pm
This session focuses on how intentional, play-based practices can support children with IEPs as they transition from self-contained or blended Pre-K classrooms to inclusive Kindergarten classrooms. We will define play-based learning and explore how it can be used as a framework for individualized instruction that meets the needs of all learners: academically, socially, and emotionally. Participants will examine strategies for planning both student-initiated and guided play experiences that are aligned with the Illinois Early Learning Standards and Common Core. Attendees will leave with tools to design developmentally appropriate and inclusive classrooms where play is used intentionally to meet diverse learning needs.
Presenter Erean Mei, Margi Bhansali
Learner objectives – Participants will learn how play-based practices can be used to provide individualized instruction that supports both academic and social-emotional development for students with and without IEPs in Pre-K and Kindergarten. – Participants will learn strategies for planning and adapting both self-directed and guided play that promote inclusive learning environments for students with IEPs. – Participants will learn how to design differentiated, play-based lessons that align with the Illinois Early Learning Standards and Common Core State Standards, while meeting the diverse needs of learners.
Location
Online – at your home or School
Registration
3:45pm – 4:00pm
This session focuses on how intentional, play-based practices can support children with IEPs as they transition from self-contained or blended Pre-K classrooms to inclusive Kindergarten classrooms. We will define play-based learning and explore how it can be used as a framework for individualized instruction that meets the needs of all learners: academically, socially, and emotionally. Participants will examine strategies for planning both student-initiated and guided play experiences that are aligned with the Illinois Early Learning Standards and Common Core. Attendees will leave with tools to design developmentally appropriate and inclusive classrooms where play is used intentionally to meet diverse learning needs.
Presenter
Erean Mei, Margi Bhansali
Learner objectives
– Participants will learn how play-based practices can be used to provide individualized instruction that supports both academic and social-emotional development for students with and without IEPs in Pre-K and Kindergarten.
– Participants will learn strategies for planning and adapting both self-directed and guided play that promote inclusive learning environments for students with IEPs.
– Participants will learn how to design differentiated, play-based lessons that align with the Illinois Early Learning Standards and Common Core State Standards, while meeting the diverse needs of learners.
Details
Venue
Other