Lowcostcurriculum

Low-Cost Curriculum for the Blind

“Tell me, and I will forget;

Show me, and I may remember;

Involve me, and I will understand.”

-- Chinese Proverb

Over 300 million people in the world have visual impairments, and nearly 90% of them live in developing countries.

The blind community in many of these

countries is largely overlooked.

Blind students are not given the access to

valuable educational resources nor the

opportunity to properly integrate into society.

And that which is available to them is

expensive.

We aim to change this.

What?We hope to develop math and science lesson plans for blind students that can be implemented

cheaply and effectively in homes and

at schools.

Such a curriculum can be widely circulated and feasibly executed, allowing blind students to have access to the

education they deserve.

How?We intend to create a resource guide that outlines activities and strategies that are catered to meet the needs of blind students.

For example,Ridges can be cut into a ruler in under two minutes, allowing students to feel the grooves where values are located.

30x30 cm cardboard can be cut into a grid coordinate system in under ten minutes.Functions can then be graphed using push-pins.

Steps For Implementation:

(1)Examine math and science curricula for elementary and middle school students – looking at teaching objectives and necessary materials used at the Perkins School for the Blind (community partner)

(2)Detail how necessary materials can be adapted, using locally available resources, for blind children to use

(3)Test the core sections of the curriculum in summer camps held by Empowerment Through Integration (community partner) in Lebanon

(4)Spread curriculum to schools in other developing countries

(5)Help blind students succeed!