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Climbing
wall activities provide excellent educational opportunities for
students with special needs. The term "special needs"
as used here includes, but is not limited to, students who are:
- Emotionally
challenged
- Aggressive/assertive/angry
- Disruptive,
defiant, uncooperative
- Conduct
disordered
- Withdrawn/passive
- Excessively
self conscious/anxious
- Paranoid/fearful
- Attention
deficit
- Academically
challenged
Because
learning takes place out of the traditional setting where failure
may have occurred, student's chances of success increase. Evaluation
conducted on experiential programs points to a number of positive
outcomes including:
- Improved
self concept, self trust, and self reliance
- Improved
academic achievement
- Improved
social connections
- Improved
peer, family, and school functioning
- Increased
problem solving abilities
- Increased
ability to work cooperatively with peers
- Increased
ability to identify multiple alternatives/solutions for challenging
situations
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Students
on the climbing wall are encouraged to challenge themselves physically,
mentally, emotionally, and socially. By facing up to these challenges,
participants learn to see themselves as capable and in charge of
their lives. Because learning is "based" on these climbing
wall experiences, the chances for success with special needs students
are actually quite high as compared to those utilized in the traditional
classroom. To support this premise, consider these interesting facts:
we remember 20% of what we hear, 50% of what we see, but up to 80%
of what we do and experience. Therefore, when we incorporate the
activity of climbing into our curriculum, the odds of success and
transfer into "real learning" are actually quite good!
In
summary, the metaphor of climbing is a very promising teaching strategy
for special needs students. With guided facilitation and thoughtful
post-activity reflection, this curriculum innovation could positively
change your special needs learning environment and help your students
find success experiences that help them thrive.
If
you have further questions about this exciting opportunity, please
do not hesitate to call us at 1-800-476-7366. Or, for further information
and support, we suggest that you visit several of the website links
listed below:
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