Special Needs CCD

[glamourdollxoxo]

At my parish which is fairly large I was considering bringing up the idea of a CCD class for children who are special needs do any of your parishes have this and if your parish did not would you support one starting up?

 

[kmuestwin]

I have been assigned to assist at a CCD class this semester. We have a special needs student in our class and it works because his mother comes and helps him stay calm, engaged and involved.

I think, if you were to set up a special needs course, it would have to be either one on one or a main teacher and a TA for every child or every two children.

I think a special needs class is a great idea. I don’t know how you would determine the curriculum or organize the class but if the need is there, it should be met if at all possible.

I would support it.

Another method might be to get TAs or facilitators to assist the special needs children in the classroom with children their own age for most or all of the class and have it set up so that they could learn and have the same classroom experience.

Either way, these kids need to learn about the faith too! I would support any effort to educate children in the faith.

 

[Marysann]

We have done this in our rather small parish, and this is what we did. We put out a call for help from special education teachers who belonged to the parish. There were always a few. They came forth and were a great help. They can actually teach classes, and they can hold workshops for the other volunteer teachers to give them tips on how to approach these special situations. Teaching ordinary CCD is difficult enough for those who are not trained as teachers, and special ed even more so. With the help of the special ed teachers in our parish, we were able to serve ALL the children in the parish. The parish represents the whole Church to the community, and we do not want any child to be turned away from our program. It could cause hurts that last for years. Good luck with your program.