|
Help! My Child Has Been Kicked Out Of School! |
By:
Dr. Noel Swanson |
|
|
Help! My Child Has Been Kicked Out of School!
Dr. Noel Swanson
Once again the British press is full of discussion about children misbehaving in school. And once again the main solution seems to be "exclude the troublemakers from the classroom".
However, the discussion involved a new, unique solution. The new solution is that idea that parents should stay home and monitor their children once the kids have been removed from school for their bad behavior.
This doesn't make any sense and is a nuisance to parents. The discussion also describes letting special schools stay open or even building new special schools for these children.
After all, if the child is not getting on well in mainstream (which, since they have just been excluded, is clearly the case), then surely the answer has to be to find a type of educational environment in which the DO get on well?
This leads you to wonder what you can do as a parent if your child has been sent home from school for misbehaving. I have thought about this in detail after dealing with the very same issues with my oldest child.
1. You have not failed as a parent. Don't waste time having a pity party for yourself. Perhaps your parenting skills could use some improvement, but that is the case for just about everyone. Try to be a better parent by actively seeking out information through books and materials on raising kids.
2. The school has not failed to support your child. Your school does care about your child and maybe the mishandled education of your child is due to issues beyond their control like not having enough resources or poor teacher training.
3. Seek out assistance from the local education authority (LEA). They should be able to provide an alternative learning situation for your child. You need to be persistent when you contact them, but avoid being rude. You can ask your politicians and newspapers to help you get the ball rolling if you need to.
4. DO be prepared to consider alternative placements, such as special schools or even residential placements. Better to deal with it now, than to have your child growing up with the bad behaviors!
5. Seek out help to see if your child may have a learning disability, ADHD or Asperger's syndrome. These can cause disruptions in the classroom. There is an enviroment in which children who suffer from these conditions can thrive. It is a matter of finding that environment.
6. Don't be tempted to look beyond your child's behavior or kid yourself into thinking that they are a model student. You may feel like defending your child and think that everyone is wrong about his behavior. It is more productive to acknowledge that there could be a problem and work it out with help from the LEA.
Those are just some of the issues you may have to deal with, so be prepared for them.
Hope that is of some help to you, if you are struggling with this at home. And, if you are an educator, please don't be one of the ones that keeps trotting out that nonsense about excluding children as being the solution! It helps no one, and solves no problems.
Worried about your child's performance in school? Concerned about http://www.good-child-guide.com/special-educ-needs) special educational needs? Read more of Dr. Noel Swanson's helpful articles, and get a FREE gift, at his http://www.good-child-guide.com/ parenting advice website, and check out his parenting manual and free newsletter.
|
|
Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article75244.html |
|
|
|
|
|
