Education

Many educational systems are already educating teachers about the new children. Scandinavian countries appear to be leading the way in nationalizing needed changes in curricula to accommodate these children. Often Children of Now are being home schooled due to the lack of flexibility of traditional schools in meeting their needs. Others opt for the more creative curricula of Waldorf or Montessori schools. Each child is different and will thrive in environments best suited to their individual needs.

Because many of these children are highly intelligent, boredom with traditional curricula that move at a fixed pace and are geared for the “average” student may present frustration, acting out, and other behavioral issues. These kids need to advance at their own pace, and because many are adept at multi-tasking, several options of study should be offered simultaneously and the child allowed to work in whatever order and at what pace best suits his/her needs.

Children need to be assessed for their learning style and how they process information, since these kids are often “right-brained” and require visual processing modes of learning over language-based methods.

Experiential learning is preferable to memorization.

Many challenges exist for highly-sensitive kids: noise levels, fluorescent lighting, chaos in rooms which have bright colors everywhere, walls covered with materials, and the EMF emissions from electronics devices.

Many schools are financially stretched and no longer offer physical education, music and art, all modalities necessary for high-energy and creative children.

Children generally thrive on structure and schedules, and these children would like input in establishing their parameters.

Some authors recommend classrooms with muted colors and no materials on the walls.

Placing desks in a circle, instead of rows, allows all children to be viewed and treated equally, something which is important to their sensitivity that all children ARE equal.

Some creative schools provide daily water on all desks, lamps instead of harsh overhead fluorescent lighting, and large balls to sit upon instead of chairs. This allows movement by the child when needed.

Teachers must be vigilant for the teasing and bullying that often plagues sensitive children, and this cannot be tolerated in classrooms. Because these children often feel “lonely” or “different”, emotional and behavioral issues must be recognized and addressed. Depression and suicide rates are increased in this population.

Allowing children to speak up and voice their opinions is critical to their development, and they should be included in decision-making processes.