A Guide for Parents Seeking Help for Special Children’s Education

Special children’s education can be a touchy subject for parents. Most of the time, parents would be the ones seeking out that needed extra assistance when children begin to show signs of autism. This is not to say that schools are not doing anything to help, when they should. For all we may know, they could be trying to find help but the given circumstances just makes it easier said than done. Reality tells us that the funding for special education is low, its resources are limited, and the waiting lists are long.

This does not mean, however, that all hope is lost. Sometimes, such as in these situations, being squeaky is necessary if it would mean getting the grease. If you are among the parents who are seeking educational help for their special children, here are some advices to get you started:

First, make the first move and start today. Do not rely on your child’s school because, chances are, they will not take in the problem. You might get the attention you want at first, but most often, schools will just dismiss initial concerns at the end of the day. Time is precious here; do not waste it dealing with them. You could complain, and begin your squeaking with them, but what for? It would get you nowhere since the school will not exactly be the one to provide help anyway. Like you, they will just be seeking that help from the higher organizations that focus on special children’s education. Furthermore, unless you know someone on the inside, the school is practically your only means of reaching those organizations. Thus, no matter how frustrating it could be, do not antagonize them. Rather, be friends with them. It could prove to be helpful.

Second, if you can afford to hire professionals to work for your child’s case, being organized is vital. Failure to attend one meeting will already count against you. Be sure to keep every document given to you throughout the entire duration of the case such as notes on meetings, reports and results.

Third, be patient. The testing process will take time so you might need to wait for long. Sadly, many parents who badly need to get the testing over with resort to privately hiring someone to speed up the process. While waiting, do your homework. The more information you can get about the condition of your child, the better it will be for you to get help.

And fourth, know your rights. Do not hesitate to complain to higher authorities if your child’s school is still not doing anything to help your child after you have long communicated your concerns. Special children’s education is not to be taken granted. You have all the right to seek legal assistance so speak up if you have to.

A Child’s Education Should Begin at Birth!

Early child education, or simply “early education”, according to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), refers to the phase in the period of childhood characterized by the child beginning to learn through play, spanning the human life from birth up to the age of eight.

Over the years, researchers, teachers, and parents have all recognized the importance of early education on the child’s overall development. Numerous studies have been conducted to establish whether there is a connection between early education and the child’s academic performance and behavioral development patterns. Findings varied in some ways but one thing remained dominant—the findings show that majority of those who did not have early education end up getting arrested or drawn into the use of alcohol, drugs or tobacco. One particular study came up with shocking findings suggesting that students who lacked early education are 70% more likely be to be arrested for a violent crime by age the of 18. This clearly shows how early education is vital for a child’s overall development.

However, many people, especially parents, have this common misconception that early child education simply means enrolling the child at an early age—three years old as the earliest possible. While that could in fact be the earliest age for a child to be eligible to enroll, early education does not necessarily mean learning at school. As how NAEYC defines it, early education begins at birth!

To further emphasize why even infants need to be exposed to stimuli at such an early age, here is a little trivia for parents. An average newborn infant has roughly 12 million neurons. These refer to the cells in the brain. When a child reaches the age of 12, all unused neurons die. Thus, most of the 12 million neurons of a child when he was still an infant die since they were not used. Although a few parents already know this scientific discovery, they do nothing about it.

Your child should be given early brain stimulation as early as a month old to retain most of their neurons. At 10 months, he should be exposed early to math and reading. There are programs on early child education designed even for infants that create learning pathways in the brain, enabling them to understand math and read even before they reach the age of 2.

The Transition Points Every Child Goes Through

Child development and education are two of the most vulnerable yet most significant stages in life. It is during these stages that the child’s first identity is built based on how he first sees himself, how he thinks he should behave, and how he expects others to behave in relation to him. During these stages, also, the child will face different challenges as he goes through many transition points. These challenges include physical changes, social demands, academic pressures, and emotional needs. Some of these can be handled with just a little getting used to but others truly can place much stress and pressure on the child.

This is why parents play an integral role during child development and education. It is crucial that parents are there to provide particular understanding and guidance for the child. They must offer him support, understand what he is going through, and help him cope with these challenges.

Preschool may pose emotional, academic and social challenges for the child. This is the time when a child experiences his first prolonged separation from his parents and could also be the first time when the child is required to stay put at his assigned chair for brief periods of time, and listen and follow instruction. The child also learns how to read, write, and listen, and develops his comprehension and memory skills by learning the alphabet, the names of colors and how they look like. As for social challenges, a child is used to being pampered and being the center of attention but preschool with its group nature, requires him to share colors, books, and other supplies, participate in group games and activities, and ultimately, share the spotlight.

Early elementary years usually involve acquiring new skills and discovering hidden talents, forming new friendships, crying over petty fights, facing bullies, developing a “boy versus girl” mindset, experiencing having crushes (thus marking the start of self-consciousness and insecurity), and going through periods of envy every once in a while.

As one will see, a lot of things happen during child development and education and all of these things will have affect your child in one way or another, making it vital for parents to make sure that he receives the love, understanding, guidance, and fair discipline that he needs.

The Five Foundations of Any Child’s Education

“Is the education of a child important?” This might just be the most ridiculous and obvious question ever asked. Ask any parent this question and for sure, you will get the same answer again and again. However, if the question had asked for the reason behind this importance, there will, without a doubt, be many different answers. One parent may say “So he will be able to easily get a job”. Another may say that it is important so that his child will learn responsibility. Another reason could be that the child’s learning will help him make good decisions. Parents have countless other reasons for a child’s education but ultimately, they mean the same thing—to prepare the child for adulthood.

Some might disagree with this; in fact, many parents do not want to think of adulthood yet, saying they do not want their children to grow up fast. Well nobody said anything about reaching adulthood fast. Rather, it is progressing from childhood and growing up to be adults. You have to bear in mind that in the end, only two things can happen: your child grows up with you, with your guidance, or your child grows up without you, guided by his friends. Which ending do you want for your child?

Surely, you want your child to grow up guided by you. If you are to prepare them to become responsible adults, you must make them learn, understand and live by five essential things. The proper education of a child involves the teaching of values, morals, ethics, problem-solving, and decision-making.

Values are the feelings, thoughts and opinions which your family has determined important. The values of one family may, of course, differ from those of another. A child needs to learn what the things he values are. Morals refer to what things are right and what are wrong. Usually, our morals are shaped by a bigger community’s standards and beliefs. Every child must be able to distinguish right from wrong. Ethics refer to the ideology of how one should behave. These are the principles of conduct and manners. A child will follow what he sees. If parents are not there to show the child how one should rightfully behave, he will then follow those whom he sees; he will pattern the way his peers behave.

Problem solving is the ability to come up with a solution for a particular task or difficulty AND the ability to do everything required to carry it out. Knowing that sand can put out a spreading fire is useless if you do not know where and how to get that sand. A child must be able to determine what must be done with a problem and know to do it. Lastly, decision-making is the ability to make sound decisions that will be for the betterment of all. A good decision is one that is based on the first four essential principles. A child must learn have the ability to make good judgments and sound decisions so that he will be able to determine which direction to follow.

These five elements shape the entire education of a child. Without these five, your child may grow physically and biologically, but he will never grow from being a child to becoming an adult.

——————————————————————————–
Secrets to a Better Memory and Better Grades Revealed!

Useful Resources Online For Your Toddler – The Learning Process Can Be Fun!

Early child education refers primarily to the stage in life where a child learns through play. Used interchangeably with it are the terms “early learning”, “child education”, “child care”, and “early education”. This period begins from birth and ends at the age of eight according to the National Association of Education for Young Children (NAEYC).

The term has been used widely to describe the education of preschoolers, and even baby programs. Although (as mentioned earlier) this period includes all children ages 8 and below, it is a stage that concentrates more on the years from birth up to the end of preschool (usually at age four).

As a parent, you should be involved in the period of early child education by helping enhance your toddler’s learning. Fortunately, the internet can help you. There is almost nothing that cannot be found on the internet today, and this is true even for educational resources for toddlers. You can find countless educational games, printable activities for toddlers, fun science learning packages, a catalog of toys for toddlers, teaching tools such as blocks, flash cards, math tables for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, planet charts, and a lot more.

There are also many audio-visual games that teach English and the proper pronunciation of words. In addition to that, even French, German, and Spanish pronunciations are included. There are easy-to-use point and click games that test and enhance your toddler’s comprehension memory skills. For example, five apples will be displayed and your toddler’s goal is to correctly choose the number corresponding to the quantity of the items as shown. In this example, the toddler must click “5”. Another similar game focuses, this time, on colors. For example, the computer shows a picture of a banana and your toddler must click on “Yellow” to move on. More games similar to teach on time, the alphabet, animal sounds, etc. are available online.

Perhaps the most important years in a toddler’s life are those during the period of early child education. Thus, you must make sure to provide only the best learning experience during this period. Furthermore, a toddler can only be a toddler once in his lifetime. Why not make his preschool years fun?

The Areas of Development Crucial To The Establishment Of The Child’s Identity

Child development and education are perhaps the most critical phases in one’s life. These stages span the human life from birth up to the end of adolescence. What a child experiences during these years would shape practically his entire identity and determine what his adulthood would be like.

During the early part of these years, a child will first begin to make sense of the world, and determine how he sees himself, how he sees other people, what he thinks the proper way for him to behave should be, and how he expects other people to treat him. These years are characterized primarily by the child’s innocence.

The years that would follow involve experiencing changes in the body, being exposed to the principles of right and wrong, establishing personal values and ethics, discovering talents, building self-esteem, developing self-awareness, forming new friendships, beginning to take notice of the members of the opposite sex, going through periods of insecurity, being confused for a lot of things, starting to assume independence, going through fights between parents, develop decision-making and critical thinking skills, and ideally, a shift from childhood to maturity just before entering adulthood. These are the things that generally will take place during the stages of child development and education.

Speaking of development, the following are the six different areas of development in every child:

1.) Physical development. This involves the development of cognitive abilities and motor skills as the child starts to explore his surroundings.
2.) Intellectual development. This involves making sense of the world and developing his personal perception of the things around him.
3.) Social development. This concentrates on forming of the child’s identity and his ability to establish relationships and attachments that can last, deal with other people, and understand what his place in particular community is.
4.) Creative development. This involves the discovery and improvement of skills and talents.
5.) Emotional development. This involves developing self-confidence, being aware of one’s self, developing insecurities, understanding emotions, and the ability to cope with them.
6.) Spiritual development. This involves the development of faith, prayer and the belief that all things are beyond his control. This developmental domain provides a source of hope and motivation for a child when all else fails.

Child development and education center on the child, but call for the guidance, presence and involvement of the parents and other people.

A Classroom Cannot Substitute The Real World

Like most parents, you are probably thinking that a decent school with high standards of teaching is enough to ensure the proper education for your child. This is not true. A good school may and most likely will provide your child sufficient “academic” knowledge, but education is not limited to subjects like history, language, math and the sciences alone. There is more to education than the ability to summarize the life of Julius Caesar, explain the symbolisms used by Shakespeare, calculate limits at infinity, and recite the names of all the constellations of the night sky. In fact, a background on these things is important but in the end, you and I both know that your child will not survive the real world if these were all he knows. Even if schools teach values education subjects, knowing what is “ideal” is not enough when he finally comes across what is “real”.

Learning achieved in school is not enough once your child’s out there in the real world. What one reads in books, no matter how much your child has memorized them, will not help him if he has not been there firsthand. Real education is achieved through experience. Life requires that a person learns and understands certain things—things that cannot be learned inside a classroom. One must experience something in order to understand it. Likewise, the education for your child if he is to become prepared for adulthood, must involve being exposed to what really happens once you are an adult.

The best real examples from whom he can learn are of course, his parents and immediate family, and the community. A child must observe, learn and understand how adults function in order to survive, how one should balance time and handle money responsibly, and how one should act and speak if somebody lost a loved one. He must also experience failure, so that he would know how to stand up if he fails again. He must know and experience how to apologize, express gratitude, forgive, solve problems, and make decisions. He must know how one should behave in parties, how spouses should give and take, how to raise a child well, and how to respect the opinions of other people. These are some examples of the things that make up the real education for your child.

==========================================
Home school your children with the best resources!

Welcome to Child Education Tips!

Welcome to Child Education Tips!

Education is important in the world today. So it is good to start young. As the child grows, they grow with knowledge as well.
It is the duty of the parents to ensure that their kids have a proper education so that in future, they will not be neglected by
society because of their lack of education.

Child Education Tips is here to help you with your child’s education. Be sure to look back here for great child education tips!