When you have a special needs child, you often wonder how he or she is going to react to half or full days of school. You can get an early peek at his or her reaction by enrolling your child in a nursery school program. There are many good programs that accept special needs children, including Montessori schools, which may help if your child responds to the program's structure. To help you decide what nursery program will work for your child, you can tour nursery schools that run on a strict structure and schedule or "free choice". One works best for certain special needs than the other.

The Best Nursery School Program for Children with ADHD and Autism

Kids with ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders are often very bright and/or gifted in some way. For them, a traditional nursery school with lots of structure and predictability helps them succeed. To start, you may want to try half day attendance so that your child can adjust gradually to this change. Then, when he or she has adjusted to the half-days well enough, move your child up to full days of nursery school so that he or she gets used to attending full days and is prepared for kindergarten and primary school.

The Best Nursery School for Children with Down's Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Cognitive Disabilities

Because of some of the physical, mental and cognitive challenges these children face, a classroom with more flexibility is necessary to their learning experience. It also allows the teachers to add or detract time from other activities when challenging behaviors arise. In this type of classroom, your child has the ability to explore and learn from many different materials, with a group project or group activity a few times a day. (During half-day sessions, there may only be one group session.) Montessori schools are structured this way and children with special needs (with the exception of Autism and ADHD) really thrive in this learning environment.

The Rare Exception Child

Children with Autism who are lower-functioning may do better in a free choice nursery school, especially with the introduction of tablet computers. Other children with physical and mild cognitive disabilities may do better in a strict structure classroom. Really, it just depends where your child is on the disability bell curve. He or she may be the exception to the above classrooms, and knowing how your child responds to or interacts with others will play a big part in what type of nursery school program you enroll him or her.

To learn more, visit Colwell Nursery School daycare. 

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