Understanding remedial schools
Understanding remedial schools
Remedial schools are schools that cater for the intricate needs of children who are having difficulty performing in mainstream school. These schools focus on teaching learners with difficulties in school at a pace that they are comfortable learning at. Children who have difficulties with specific subjects in comparison to other subjects tend to do better at remedial schools. The reason for this is that the remedial school offers more support for specific gaps in learning for children who need a little extra help to get on par with other children their age. This could be subject specific, and the common subjects are Reading and Math. Lots of Remedial schools have support classes which are allocated in class time and children struggling with these subjects go to the support class and get an individualized lesson where they can learn at their own pace. The school is still academic based and operate on current educational syllabus as mainstream schools.
Remedial schools are often classed as schools for children with special needs. This is a common misunderstanding. Schools for children with special needs cater for children that have disabilities that disadvantage them from going to mainstream schools. They require special care and may not be able to cope in mainstream schools academically. These schools also include special teaching for children with both apparent disabilities such as blindness as well as the less noticeable disabilities such as Dyslexia. Special needs schools tend accept students older than 18 years of age and focus on adaptive skills to allow for independence as well as academics. Students who attend special needs schools require more assistance physically, therefore, a focus on skills that can promote independence are of high priority.
Both remedial schools and special education schools have assistant teachers in class that helps the form room teacher with children that are struggling more than others. Therefore, many parents opt for the option of remedial schools. As good as these schools are, there some downfalls to this option. Children that require help in one subject may be set back in other subjects that they excel in. This causes the child to lose interest in those subject lessons and may be detrimental at a later stage to the child’s learning. The child seeks a stimulation that they aren’t able to get from the classes that they exceed in and may engage in problem behaviour.
School facilitation deems a promising solution to problem behaviour in schools as well as the transition from remedial schools to mainstream schools. The facilitator attends school with the child and advises him or her on ways that they can tackle their stressors in the school environment in an independent way. This allows the child to learn how to deal with the obstacles in their way and motivate independence and has produced wonderful success stories.
