Engaging Parents

The Learning Team

A Handbook for Parents of Children with Special Needs, 2003

This handbook offers information and strategies for parents of children with special needs who want to be meaningfully involved in their children's education.

This handbook emphasizes the diverse and changing learning needs of children with special needs. As well as offering support and encouragement to parents, the handbook describes services and activities for meeting children's diverse learning needs at school. It also provides suggestions for ways parents can support and enrich their children's learning. The handbook also includes information and strategies for helping children make successful transitions, for voicing parental concerns, and for staying informed.

The Learning Team is a revision and expansion of the resource Partners During Changing Times (1996), a parent handbook developed by Alberta Learning and the College of Alberta School Superintendents.

This handbook is in portable document format (PDF) and is divided into sections. See page numbers and file size information for downloading and printing.  A print version of this resource is available for purchase from Learning Resources Centre or may be downloaded at no cost from this site.

The Learning Team (PDF version - complete guide)

Or by sections:

Front Cover (276 kb) 

Title Page and Publication Date (103 kb) 

Acknowledgements, pp. i–ii (117 kb) 

Table of Contents, p. iii (99 kb) 

Introduction, pp. 1–2 (4 kb) 

Chapter 1: Who are Children with Special Needs?, pp. 3–7 (245 kb) 

Chapter 2: Building the Learning Team, pp. 9–26 (428 kb) 

Chapter 3: Meeting Children's Diverse Learning Needs, pp. 27–47 (477 kb) 

Chapter 4: Supporting Social and Emotional Growth, pp. 49–58 (361 kb) 

Chapter 5: Planning for Transitions, pp. 59–70 (361 kb) 

Chapter 6: Resolving Differences, pp. 71–80 (278 kb) 

Chapter 7: Keeping Informed, pp. 81–90 (306 kb) 

Appendices, pp.91–109 (411 kb) 

Bibliography, pp. 111–113 (120 kb) 

Feedback, p. 115 (116 kb) 

Back Cover (285 kb) 

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