Education And Schooling For Children With Down Syndrome

Within recent years, it has become more commonplace for children with Down syndrome to be educated within the public school system and within the regular classroom. Educating Down syndrome children with their non-Down's counterparts has proven to be an extremely beneficial experience for both the Down syndrome student and the regular students. This method of educating is called inclusion. Literally, inclusive education is the practice of teaching all children even those with disabilities, in the same classroom for the majority of the day. The practice of inclusion has proven to make regular students in the classroom more appreciative of their own situations and more tolerant of those who are different from themselves. In return, the children with disabilities are usually more motivated and eager to learn.

There are many school systems that do not use inclusion to educate their children with Down syndrome. In these cases, the children are in their own separate classrooms with children who are like them. Some children will be more severe and some will be closer to normal functioning. The belief for this way of educating is that the children benefit more from being around children who are like themselves. In addition, the teachers can teach to the majority of the needs in the classroom. The fear of inclusion for these students is that the regular teachers cannot provide the kind of teaching that the children with Down syndrome need. There is also the fear that the Down syndrome children will be too disruptive in the general classroom and adversely affect the students who do not have Down syndrome.

Many parents are taking education into their own hands and are home schooling their children with Down syndrome. There are many curriculums that are designed for parents as teachers and there are also online programs the parents can use to teach their children. The philosophy behind home schooling is that the student can learn in his or her own environment and without the stress of the classroom. There is no pressure to perform on someone else's schedule and the students are not subject to the opinions of other children that can many times be hurtful rather than helpful. Many Down syndrome children are not capable of spending six or eight hours a day in a classroom setting home schooling can help these students as well. There are many home schooling groups within communities these days where children from the community who are home schooled can come together and get to know each other and socialize. By introducing the Down syndrome student into these groups, they get the socialization with the children who do not have Down syndrome and the Down's children get the benefit of being with the regular children. If the parents are on board and able to home school, it is believed that this way of educating can provide the best of both world's for everyone involved.

Regardless of the way, a child with Down syndrome is educated; they can have a successful schooling career and learn just like other students. It is important to provide them with a way of learning regardless of what the particular method is.

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