Most people who grew up in America in the last century are familiar with a song written by Will Cobb and Gus Edwards in 1907. “Dear old Golden Rule days, reading and ‘riting and ‘rithmetic Taught to the tune of the hick’ry stick”. Educational ideas might have been simpler in 1907 but there is no doubt that not only are present ideas different they are much more complicated.
One complication is that each child learns in different ways. For example some are visual learners and some are auditory learners. Some are visually impaired and some are hearing impaired. The primary goals of every parent is to offer the opportunity for each child to reach their highest potential and become independent, productive members of society. That is also the goal of their communities that each child can contribute and enrich their communities
A parent enrolling a child in school requires some research to understand what choices are available and what is best for each child. Healthyhildren.org has some suggestions as to some of the questions for parents to consider. Is learning individualized or is the entire class taught the same material at the same pace at the same time? Are children grouped by ability or do all classes have children at different levels? Are children well behaved but still allowed to be playful individuals?
There are many areas to be considered in educational programs that a child will be spending ½ of their awake time attending. These including student-teacher ratio, available resources, and nutrition to name a few. These parental concerns become even more complicated when their child has a disability or special need.
What is special education? Public schools were not always the norm. Throughout the 19th century public schools became more common but access was not equal for children of color, or girls, or immigrants. Children with disabilities were often kept at home or put into institutions. In 1975 Congress enacted the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. This was followed in 1990 by Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) which says states and local school districts must offer a free appropriate public education for all 3-to 21-year-olds. They must identify, locate and evaluate all kids with disabilities no matter the severity to determine need for a specialized approach to the education. They must develop and individualized education program (IEP) for each child with parental involvement and children should be placed in the least restrictive environment possible.
Special education provides individualized programming at NO cost to the family and may include special education teachers, therapists (OT, PT and speech), and dyslexia instructors. Parents have the right to request a special education evaluation from a public school at any time.
For school to be “Dear old Golden Rule Days”, children have to feel comfortable, included and successful. In addition to learning how to read, write and count money, all students learn how to get along with everyone, learn the rules of polite behavior and how to negotiate friendship.
By Sally Robinson, MD
Keeping Kids Healthy
University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB)
Published October 2023