Junior Phase

Our Junior program is designed to provide your child with a strong academic foundation. We focus on age-appropriate approaches to early literacy, numeracy, and critical thinking skills to ensure your child is well-prepared for success in future grades.

Early Reading Readiness

Early literacy is the foundation of our junior program. More than 70%* of our youngest scholars leave kindergarten reading at or above grade level, offering them a confident leap into first grade and beyond.

Excelling in Math and Science

By the end of the school year*, more than 80% of junior phase students met expectations in both math and science. Their impressive performance showed they were well-prepared to transition to first grade.

Social and Emotional Learning

We prioritize the social-emotional well-being of our youngest learners. Beginning in the junior phase, students participate in a dedicated social-emotional learning curriculum, supported by the presence of a licensed mental health provider on each campus.

Mainstream Placement

At Yeshua Academy most of our learners return to mainstream to complete Gr 12 or join small independent schools where they are supported to do Gr 12, the rest are then placed in a vocational school to obtain skills such as hairdressing, plumbing, welding, chef school, hotel, tourism, early childhood development and more.

The learners will then develop:

• Quality of life

• Life skills

• Self-care

• Literacy

• Prevocational skills

• General communication skills with various methods of input

At Yeshua Academy, we strive to provide an environment where our learners can learn to plant a vegetable garden, prepare their own food and beverages, learn how to take care of themselves and learn basic prevocational skills. Also, through regular outings to interesting places we provide our class with as many life experiences as possible.

Research has shown that children who start intervention early and receive a high-intensity number of hours per week of applied behavior analysis therapy for at least a few years achieve the most significant gains.

For those who have achieved the best outcome we mean that:

• The child is in a regular education placement, is receiving passing grades and no longer needs specialized support

• The child scores above to above average in standardized assessments related to language, intelligence, socialization and daily living skills

• A medical doctor or psychologist experienced in diagnosing autism concludes that the child no longer qualifies for any diagnosis in the autism spectrum

The Right Approach to Autism Can Lead to the best outcome

School Facilitation for Autism and Related Disorders

Depending on the age, skills and deficits of the child upon entering our program, school placement may come into play. The sooner a child can catch up on his/her skills deficits, the better their chance of integrating into a school environment. Our goal is for children to be placed in mainstream school environments so that they learn from and model typical peers. The child’s allocated supervisor will assess whether the child has pre-requisite skills for school and will thereafter make a recommendation on school placement. If your child does not have the pre-requisite skills for school placement on assessment, the pre-requisite skills to school will then become a part of your child’s program at Yeshua Academy in order for us to prepare the child for a school placement in the future.

The aim of our Yeshua Academy facilitation program is to introduce the child to the school setting that best suits their particular needs. Our goal is for the child to be an active and ultimately independent member of the classroom. Allocating a trained Yeshua Academy facilitator to the child will allow the child to stay on par in the classroom and eventually the end goal being, the removal of the facilitator and the independence of the child at school.

Learn About the red flags to Autism.

It is important for parents, teachers, and other people responsible for looking after children on a daily basis to be familiar with the typical developmental milestones all children should be reaching; and to learn about the early signs of autism. The following checklist of autism red flags may indicate that a child is at risk of being diagnosed with Autism. In some children, the early signs of autism may be observed by 12 months or even earlier. If a child presents with any of the following, please don’t delay further investigation and see a doctor or pediatrician.

• Lack of eye contact

• Not responding consistently when their name is called

• Not engaging in pretend play

• Preferring to play alone

• Not playing peek-a-boo by 8 months

• Not babbling by 12 months

• No back & forth gestures such as pointing by 12 months

• No imitative behaviours such as waving bye-bye by 12 months

• No words by 16 months

• No meaningful, two-word phrases by 24 months

• Any speech loss at any age

• Losing previously acquired skills at any age

• No sharing of enjoyment or interest

• Becoming distressed by minor changes in routine

• Performing repetitive movements such as hand flapping or rocking

• Playing with toys in an unusual way, for example, spinning or lining them up

• Having unusually strong attachments to particular objects

• Limiting conversations to very specific topics

• Exhibiting oversensitivity to sound or textures.

• Being a picky eater

• Experiencing plateaus or delays in skills development

• Displaying challenging behaviours such as aggression, tantrums and self injury

• Appearing to be in their own world

• Not following any, or following too few, receptive instructions

• Repetitive movements with objects or posturing of body, arms, hands or fingers

• Being hyperactive

• Being unable to sustain their attention compared to their peers