My son will go to Kindergarten next yeat and I don't know whether mainstream or EC class.

Delaina - posted on 03/01/2010

It is a federal law that all children deserve a least restrictive educational environment and that they should be given a free public education. This being said,many times "budgets" are a way for the school to get out of giving a child an aide. If they want to refuse you, get it in writing. It may be needed should you proceed with legal action in the future. But back to your original question: My daughter is in an ESE pre-school class and she loves it. HOWEVER, she has auditory sensory issues (if something is too loud, she shuts down). She did not even talk for the first few months (and she does very well with talking. She is even reading about 75 words. She just turned 3 a few months ago). I have always wanted her to be a in a"regular" class, but I want her to succeed in her own right even more. Some kids with DS do very well being fully included, while others need more one-on-one. Try it out and see how he responds. Make sure you meet with the teachers and get monthly, detailed updates on his progress. Go in and observe the class for a day and watch how he reacts. If he is not doing as well as he should, he may need to be in a smaller class. Just make sure that the teachers (no matter what class he is in) know all of his strengths and do not shortchange with respect to his education. Hope this helps!

Tori - posted on 02/06/2010

My son's birthday is in September so he doesn't make the cut off date to start school. However, I thought that the schools had to listen to you, if you don't feel comfortable with him starting school why should he go before you feel that he was ready. I also thought that the schools had to provide your child with all of the tools necessary for your child to get an education. Maybe you should talk to your local DS association and see what information they can help you with. Let me know what happens (if you don't mind)

Rita - posted on 01/29/2010

Hi, my son Erik has down's. He is now in grade 2. He has had a full time aide since he started preschool. He was in pre school for 2 yrs, starting at 3yrs old (at first there wasn't a preK available, so they accomodated him in the kindergarten class). His course has been modified for him and always will be.
Erik's speech is still delayed. He started with sign language when he was 2. We knew about 125 signs. He started to use more words a couple of years ago and dropped the signs as each word came easier for him. The school paid for his kindergarten teacher, his aid and the diversity education teacher, to go to a short sign language course (I went also, but paid for myself) This helped them to better communicate with Erik. (it wasn't like we held converstations in sign...but he used 1 or 2 signs at a time to get his point across)
As far as I know, down syndrome is an automatic designation for a full time aide. I would check further and use your community living associations to help get what you need.
(I am from Saskatchewan)
Good luck Angela, and don't take no for an answer.

Kristine - posted on 11/19/2009

I thought schools were required to provide an aide when it was needed. Ours up here in Alaska have to. My daughter is 5 and started kindergarten this year. All the teachers and specialists thought she would do well in a regular class, with some time in the resource room for reading and math. It didn't work out very well though. The class had 20 kids and she was so distracted by all the other kids that the teacher couldn't even get her to respond, and she speaks well usually. She was so nervous she always had her hand in her mouth and struggled with her toileting. Anyway, we had to move her to an extended resource class at another school, and now she loves it. There's an aide, a teacher and only 4 students, K - 2nd grade. The level of help is in between a regular class and intensive needs. I really wanted her to be in a regular class, but I think it was affecting her self-esteem. I think doing well in regular kindergarten would totally depend on your son's personality and the teacher. Is there a resource room option?