Nobody undervalues the importance of going to school. It’s where we learn the fundamentals of math, science, reading and writing. But what if you couldn’t go to school since you were really sick and in the hospital?
Missing a substantial amount of classroom instruction hours can put any student behind. Add to that a serious illness and it’s enough to make any child feel like they may never get caught up. That’s where Seattle Children’s Hospital makes a difference.
Seattle Children’s Hospital
They offer K-12 classes taught at the hospital by a team of six certified teachers and four instructional assistants. They are all certified in both general and special education. All the classes are free for children who need to stay at the hospital for over a week.
Every effort is made to tailor the lessons to each child’s learning style, what they are studying in school and their particular medical condition.
That is part of this “school’s” special talent. They are used to working with children of all backgrounds and medical analyses. That might mean students with special needs due to “deafness, visual impairments, chronic health problems, physical disabilities, emotional and behavioral disorders and developmental disabilities that can affect school performance and attendance. For children who have limited English, Children’s Interpreter Services is called in to work side by side with our teachers,” according to their website.
Some services they offer are individual tutoring at beside if a student cannot come to class, academic assessments, classroom teaching for children who can participate in group instruction and consultations about a child’s academic history.
They even coordinate with the regular school teachers to ensure a successful transition back to school.
“The hospital school services helped my daughter feel like she could still get enough education and be ‘caught up’ with the school since she wasn’t able to attend an actual school at that time,” said one parent from Gig Harbor, WA.
