Every parent’s biggest concern is the education of his or her children. This is why; they do not mind spending money on the fees and other educational needs of the child. As much as it is important for a child to get the right kind of education, another factor that most parents tend to overlook is selecting the right method of education for their kid. There is a little difference between the different methods of education, but each of them has your own benefits. Let us take a look at how some of these methods can benefit your child.
Mainstreaming education
In mainstreaming education, a child with special needs gets the benefit of being in a regular classroom but during specific timings. This is a combination of especial education and regular education. This kind of education is customized to the needs of the child and the teachers receive all the necessary training that is needed to cater to children with special needs. The classrooms of these schools are also known as resource rooms or self-contained classrooms, where children get one on one attention.
Inclusion education
In this education, the focus is without a doubt upon the children with special needs; however, the twist here is that these students sit in a class with regular students. In this form of education, the whole concept of special classrooms does not come into existence. Training of children with special needs is blended with the requirements of regular students. There is no special education in the picture since all the children get a uniform type of education based on their classroom and age. This form of education makes the environment a little challenging for children with special needs, but at the end of the day, they are trained to live under real situations.
Let us look at some other factors that come into the picture
Assessment and Curriculum changes
Both assessment and curriculum vary with the environment of the classrooms. In the mainstream form of education, children have to undergo special training to keep up with the different instructions given in the classroom. These instructions are based on the needs of the child as well as the class that they are in. When you look at inclusion classrooms, the case is very different. Here, a special board sets the kind of assessment and curriculum for the particular year. Before changes are made, they have to be approved through the board and there is little or no flexibility on this front.
Focus on students
In Integration or mainstream education, the focus is specifically given to the child with special needs. On the other hand, inclusion form of education focuses on all the students in the same batch. Very rarely does a single child get individual attention. This is because there are other sources that give a child special attention such as tuitions or private classes.
Classroom environmental changes
If you look at the environment of the classrooms, the mainstream form of education has an environment that is flexible so that it can easily fulfill the requirements of the child with special needs. These kinds of classrooms are customized with all the resources and help that are essential for the child to make it easy on them while studying. On the other hand, inclusion form of education does not have any such flexibility, but it comes along with certain rules and regulations that are applicable in the classroom. Changes aren’t made for a particular child, but they are made for all the children in general.
Making the right choice for your child
Without a doubt, as a parent, you would want to make the right choice for your child. Especially when you have a child with special needs, you need to sit and think if your child can handle going to a regular school. Today technology has come into the picture of education to make it easy for a child to not only learn new things but also to understand them well. The fact of the matter is that everything is customized keeping in mind the needs of special and regular children in every way. It does not matter which stream of education you choose but what really is important is the fact that your child should be able to handle it. There are pros and cons to every choice that you make, but in one form or the other, this deeply affects the future of your child.
