Is your child in a self contained class?

amother

Lavender

Wed, Apr 22 2015, 9:51 am

Is your child in a regular school but needs extra help so is in a self contained class?

My child is struggling in a large class and I was considering the self contained for next yr.

How does is effect the child socially?

What are the pros and cons?

Although my child is not catching on so well academically I think that from a social aspect this child would be mortified and self confidence is so important at this point.

If you dealt with this, please help me out.

amother

Forestgreen

Wed, Apr 22 2015, 10:23 am

Last year my son was in a self contained class for English only (2nd grade).
He has no behavorial issues b'h but was falling behind in reading.
I thought it was a fantastic year for him.
In his school he had recess with the rest of his class and all 'exciting' activities they did together (like a fair) so he never felt like he missed out and spent his free time with his friends.
In general the class was purely for kids struggling academically, if there would have been many students in the class with behavioral issues I may have been concerned.
He did gain a lot from the class. It was 2 teachers to 7 students, and then they had reading groups were it was 2 students per teacher. In his class he was on top so for his self confidence it was very excellent.
Because of the small class size they were also able to do great learning projects, for example every Sunday they did a in depth science experiment. I think he gained so much more then he would have in a class of 30.

I was concerned about moving him back to his regular class for 3rd grade.
In math they followed the same curriculum and I think my son learned it way better then the other class and is now very good in math, he gained great tools.
For Reading and Spelling they went slower. I saw the material the regular class was learning and my son's class was behind. I was concerned moving him back and the school recommended tutoring over the summer in general to catch them up. But in the end (without extra tutoring) my son was able to rejoin the regular class the following year.

I think its also important to see how the school views the self contained classroom and how they see the future. Some places see a self contained classroom as a life time sentence and there is no going back (I was told this by teachers in other schools). My son's school made it clear from the beginning that it was a year by year evaluation.

amother

Lavender

Wed, Apr 22 2015, 6:50 pm

I know that academically this is a great option but is there a stigma attached? How do the other kids in the school relate to a child in a self contained class? My child would be in a regular class for Hebrew and the self contained would be for English. The class would watch this child pack up and leave every day after lunch to go to the self contained room. What will that do for friends/ self esteem?