"Keeping Your Child in a Mainstream Classroom" - A Guest Post

There has been a push lately in educational circles to simply separate students with special needs from those without special needs. While there are certainly cases where some students need much more one-to-one support than a classroom teacher can offer, there needs to be more solid evaluating performed before any decisions are reached. This is a two-way street and demands that parents take partial ownership of the situation and listen to the school’s faculty before making demands in one direction or another.

There will be times when the parent wants to keep their child in a regular-styled classroom but this isn’t always what’s best for the student. Remember we’re dealing with a child’s education. Regardless of anyone’s demands for special attention, we need to always remember that we’re doing what’s best for the educational demands of a student not their social status. Some parents feel there will be a stigma attached to their children if they’re removed from the general population. They need to be educated to the point that if their son or daughter needs this kind of attention then this should be the only concern.

Depending on your child’s needs they may be the ones demanding to stay in a conventional classroom setting. They need a caring and proper explanation of the reasons behind the decision whether to keep them in this setting or to take them out for more one-to-one attention. Depending on the age group of your child this will vary in difficulty from your end. There is also the issue of making sure the other students don’t complicate a very sensitive matter. This is something the conventional classroom teacher will have to deal with.

If your child is kept in a mainstream classroom there will still be times when they will require more support than the other students. Whether it is the regular teacher or an aide that helps in this regard the student with special needs will need to try to welcome this special attention. It will be awkward, especially if this is the first time they’ve received this level of support. This is where the training of the teachers and aides is extremely important as their number one job is to make sure educational materials are being delivered to the student but they also need to be mindful of how difficult a situation this may be for the student involved. Sensitivity should be the biggest concern of all involved.

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This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of best online degree. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.