Curriculum Overview
The program spans over a period of three years that include academic courses with functional objectives as well as vocational preparation. During the course of their study in the second and third years, the students will be expected to do internships in selected business platforms and as per their career choice.
The curriculum is primarily based on the Life Centered Education objectives as published by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). The CEC is the world’s largest professional organization of educators dedicated to advancing the success of children with exceptionalities. Its mission is accomplished through advocacy, standards, and professional development.
The Life Centered Education (LCE) Curriculum provides a comprehensive instruction and assessment approach to meeting the transition needs of students related to transition education. The concept of transition typically implies movement and change. The transition to the world after high school is complicated and needs systematic attention. It comes with demands and challenges that require an array of knowledge and skill sets to function successfully.
At the end of the three years program the students will receive a certificate of completion from the Continuing Education Center - Regional external programs at the American University of Beirut.
Course Description
First Year – Fall SemesterCLCE 100: Daily Living Skills I
The students will be introduced to the program by first learning about the program, learning to give the right information about themselves and understanding relationship roles and changes with friends and others. They will identify personal as well as joint responsibility in relationships. In the second part of the semester, the students will discuss health issues and will learn about caring for personal needs as well as obtaining, interpreting, and understanding basic health information, understanding preventive physical and mental health measures, including proper diet, nutrition, exercise, and stress reduction. Using available information to make appropriate health-related decisions. Establishing and monitoring personal and family health goals.
CLCE 102: Self Determination & Interpersonal Skills I
This series helps the students work on their social and emotional well-being. In this course, the students learn about personal traits and identify personal needs. They will identify personal roles and the responsibilities that each role has. The students will learn and demonstrate listening and responding skills as well as the different social behaviors needed in different situations in a society.
CLCE 104: Functional Math I
This course will focus on teaching students basic math skills that are needed for everyday life. The course will cover basic counting and computation skills (in both English and Arabic), reading and writing numbers up to millions, ordering & comparing numbers, as well as problem solving. It will focus on practical use such as in calculators, basic measurement, capacity, weight, temperature, shapes and patterns.
First Year – Spring SemesterCLCE 101: Daily Living Skills II
In this course students will learn about clothes and dressing. They will explore modes of dressing appropriately for different weather conditions and for different activities. Given an occasion, they will be able to choose the appropriate clothing to be worn. The course will also explore the notion of taking care of clothing in terms of cleaning them properly and as needed. They will investigate different products and methods of taking care of clothing. Students will also learn about the basic home appliances and their use and maintenance.
CLCE 103: Self Determination & Interpersonal Skills II
In this course, they will continue exploring appropriate behaviors in public settings and develop respect and understanding for the rights and properties of others. They will then identify and demonstrate appropriate methods of conversation by practicing conversation using different forms of communication mediums like phone and social media. They will explore factors that are important in leading a personally responsible life and how these affect present and future outcomes in life. They will inspect problems in daily life by identifying the problem, describing desired outcomes, identifying the resources available in their lives, and how to use them in order to solve problems that arise in their lives.
CLCE 105: Functional Math II
This course will continue to elaborate of basic functional math skills. Students will explore the meaning of multiplication and division as well as fractions and their use in everyday life. This course will also introduce the students to the value of money and handling it by learning about currency, identifying bills, counting money, making a purchase, knowing how much to pay and how much to expect in change.
Second Year-Fall SemesterCLCE 200: Daily Living Skills III
In the first part of the semester students will work on understanding relationship roles and changes with family. This will cover the reasons for establishing relationships and the personal and joint responsibility in relationships. They will also gain knowledge of common illness, prevention, and treatment by identifying major symptoms of common illnesses, learn how cleanliness is related to health and get a general understanding of medical problems, medicine and their use. In the third part of the semester, students will build on their knowledge about clothing and taking care of clothes by exploring the proper procedures for ironing, mending, and storing clothing.
CLCE 202: Self Determination & Interpersonal Skills III
In this course, the students will explore their social and emotional preferences and understand the difference between personal needs and personal preferences. They will identify the communication skills necessary to becoming self-determined and learn to voice their personal needs. The students will explore the aspects of making and maintaining friendships and the rights and responsibilities that each individual in a friendship holds. They will learn to identify, demonstrate, and respond to praise. The course finishes by recognizing authority figures and learning how to follow written and verbal instructions.
CLCE 204: Money Management I
This course will teach the students how to make responsible expenditures by identifying prices on labels and tags of merchandise and choosing the most economical buy among like items of a similar quality. Students will also learn to identify purchases as necessities or luxuries in the areas of food, clothing, housing, and transportation. Students will visit different sale points and compare prices to determine the amount of money saved by buying sale items.
CLCE 206: Employment Skills I
This course is about understanding the value of work. Students will have to identify personal and societal values met through work. They will also learn about the remunerative aspects of work. Students will learn to explore occupational possibilities by locating sources of employment and training information, classifying jobs into employment categories, and investigating different employment opportunities. Students will explore jobs and different career paths through field trips and on-site training.
Second Year-Spring SemesterCLCE 201-Daily Living Skills IV
This course will cover skills needed for Setting Up A Household, connecting utility services, acquiring household items and furniture and major appliances. They will also learn about maintaining the interior as well as the exterior of homes when applicable. They will learn about the tools, the housekeeping and general maintenance. In the second part of the semester the students will investigate and explore the food industry further by learning how to prepare a shopping list and purchase within a budget, they will also need to learn the different types of food, how to buy them and store them to keep in a good condition.
CLCE 203: Self Determination & Interpersonal Skills IV
During this term, they will learn to identify and demonstrate ways that goal setting and attainment affect one's life, identify potential goals and outcomes and determine plan of action. They will identify and describe areas of self-motivation and its effects on attaining present and future goals. They will complete the course by recognizing nonverbal means of communication as well as verbal expressions that are consistent with their feelings.
CLCE 205: Money Management II
In this course, the students will learn to develop basic financial records. They will learn to construct a monthly personal budget for a specific income, identify financial information and financial records that should be retained.
CLCE 207: Employment Skills II
Students will learn to investigate and identify major employment interests as well as employment aptitudes. They will also investigate employment choices and identify the requirements needed of a desired available employment job. Students will learn to identify the needs that can be met through one's occupation and rank them in order of personal preference.
Summer: Internship
Third Year – Fall SemesterCLCE 300: Daily Living Skills V
This semester students will learn how to select the adequate housing as per the personal or family housing requirements. They will investigate the different types of housing in the community and the procedures to be followed when buying or renting a house. In the second part of the semester, the students will continue with learning about food but learning about the skills needed for food preparation including hygiene, and waste disposal procedures. Students will prepare meals and take care of the after-dining chores. They will also learn the proper eating skills and behavior. Later on the students will investigate utilizing recreational facilities and learn about choosing and accessing transportation.
CLCE 303: Self Determination & Interpersonal Skills V
They will demonstrate awareness of how their behavior affects others and how others perceive them. They will learn how to read nonverbal cues and learn to communicate assertively and effectively in different situations. They will also learn how to respond to emergencies. They will learn to examine the emergency and the steps in first-aid process. They will learn which authority to contact in a given emergency.
CLCE 304: Money Management III
In this course, the students will continue to learn to develop basic financial records. They will learn to apply what they have learned in the previous course. They should be able to record personal major income and expenses for one month. They will also learn to calculate balances of major debts.
Third Year – Spring SemesterCLCE 301-Daily Living Skills VI
In this semester students will demonstrate care of children. List the physical and psychological responsibilities involved in childcare. Identify basic stages of child development and a characteristic of each. Identify potential dangers and required safety measures. Demonstrate procedures for care of a child's physical health and identify common childhood illnesses, symptoms, and treatment. Identify parental responsibilities involved in the psychological care of the child. They will also learn about practicing personal safety and avoiding personal assault. By the end of the semester, the students will learn about their roles as responsible citizens in their community and will be able to become self-advocates regarding their rights.
CLCE 303: Self Determination & Interpersonal Skills VI
In this course, they will learn to anticipate the consequences of choices they made. They will revise the aspects of setting goals. They will develop and plan goals and try to attain them. They will learn to self-evaluate and provide feedback by developing and evaluating alternative options. They will understand the motivation of others in decision-making process. They will learn how to establish and maintain close relationships. They will identify whom they can establish close relationships with, and learn about the roles and responsibilities of the individuals in the relationship.
CLCE 305: Money Management IV
Students will develop an understanding of banking services and how to use them. They will learn about checking and savings accounts, checks, deposits, transactions, and withdrawals. Students will also learn about credit cards, and will name advantages and disadvantages of using credit cards, and how to use them responsibly. Students will get an idea of what are taxes, why they exist, they will understand the types of taxes normally assessed in the geographic area.
CLCE 106 Computer and Expressive Arts I 48 hrs
Students will learn basic computer skills that are needed for everyday functioning. These skills will include learning how to send email messages and navigate the World Wide Web. Basic Microsoft Word will also be introduced. Also, students will learn how to express themselves through various forms of art and drama. This will include painting, drawing, role-playing and participating in skits. Embedded in the activities are social, emotional, self-regulation, executive function and adaptive skills that are needed, in order to function well in society.
CLCE 107 Computer and Expressive Arts II 48 hrs
This course will be a continuation of CLCE 106. Students will continue to develop important computer literacy skills that will allow them to navigate the web, conduct successful web searches, and send email messages, among other things.
Students will also continue to learn about themselves, and those around them through a variety of art and music programs.
To Register
To register and learn more about the Next Step Program, click here.