Little Sight, Big Vision

Miami Lighthouse Academy

Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired - in collaboration with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Early Steps and the Early Learning Coalition - offers an inclusion environment for pre-kindergarten, and a kindergarten, first grade and second grade for blind and visually impaired students. As a certified Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten (VPK) Provider, the Miami Lighthouse Academy pre-kindergarten enrolls students with and without vision impairment promoting an inclusive program and resulting in a sense of belonging for all children and families. In support of our mission, children without vision impairments are selected to aid the learning environment for children with vision loss.

Miami Lighthouse Academy is a national Accredited Professional Preschool Learning Environment (APPLE center).

Using the evidence-based HighScope Curriculum, blind or visually impaired students are supported in a print/braille rich environment. Miami Lighthouse is the first vision rehabilitation educational institution in the U.S. using the international HighScope Curriculum, and this is the first time that HighScope has been applied to blind learners in a fully inclusive model. Click here to read more about the HighScope Curriculum.

Learning in all classrooms is conducted by Florida-certified early childhood teachers, Florida-certified teachers of the visually impaired and teaching assistants. Currently, research faculty from the University of Miami is conducting a four year longitudinal study of the participating children and families as we help prepare them for mainstreaming into our public-school system.

For more information please contact our Program Coordinator at (786)362-7483.

Blind Babies Program

Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Inc. offers early intervention and parent education through a home visitation program to blind or visually impaired children from birth to age 5. The Blind Babies Program home visitation, supports families, empowers parents, and supports blind children's readiness to learn.

Miami Lighthouse offers weekly playgroups at our state-of-the-art facility where learning is fostered through active play. Through a family-centered approach, our programs support the social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and linguistic needs of blind or visually impaired children. Families come together weekly resulting in a strong emotional support network for parents and caregivers. Saturday parent braille courses and support groups on a variety of topics, including understanding your child's eye condition and preparing for your child's Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meeting are also available.

Bright Beacons

Literacy and technology are keys to self-sufficiency and societal integration for individuals with visual impairments. The Bright Beacons enables visually impaired school aged children to access high-quality core and expanded core curriculum. Expanded Core Curriculum foundational skills are essential for student success at school and home.

 

 

Summer CAMP Programs

Summer camp promises to be a fun seven weeks designed to support literacy, physical fitness, and social skills by integrating the expanded core curriculum and evidence-based literacy programs. Opportunities for camp include an early intervention based camp for children with visual impairments ages 1-4 and a school aged camp for children with visual impairments and their siblings in Kindergarten through 5th grade.

 

 

Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired is committed to serving the needs of children with visual impairments. It is with great sadness that a visual impairment or blindness in a child is often the result of neglect or abuse. If it were not for this unfortunate circumstance the child would have developed with “normal” vision otherwise. Our Blind Babies Program has seen many cases of shaken babies and blind children being cared for in the foster care system due to neglect, abuse, or abandonment over the course of years. Our Miami Lighthouse Learning Center for Children™ is a resource for these children and the unfortunate circumstances they find themselves in. As a program that serves children and families of low socioeconomic backgrounds we often assist families enrolled in our programs dealing with homelessness access resources for housing while we continue to support the early intervention needs of the child who is blind.