Twins in School–On-Line Resources

There are many myths about twins that have no research base to support them.  For example, we’ve found that some parents are told that their twins must be placed in separate classrooms.  The notion that twins need to be separated just because they are twins–that keeping them together will hinder their development and learning–is a dangerous myth.  Instead, it’s important to look at each twin as an individual child, and families and educators should decide together what is best for each child.   If you have twins, or are an early childhood educator working with twins at daycare, pre-school or the elementary years, you’ll want to check out these on-line resources from early childhood specialists, including myths about separating them.

Secrets to Winning School Placement Battles
Rachel Franklin is the mom of Emma and Jack, twins who just started kindergarten. In this informative article, she shares her story of school placement and embeds in the piece the websites and legislation that gave her the support she needed to advocate for her twins.  She includes national guidelines as well as copies of the letters she wrote on behalf of Emma and Jack, too.  Readable narrative chock full of resources.

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Twins in School:  What Teachers Should Know
Lillian Katz is a go-to researcher for everything about early childhood development.  This is a stellar article brought to you by the Early Childhood  and Parenting Collaborative at the University of Illinois.  It’s a brief and accessible summary of the latest wisdom on working with families on the best school placements for the twins in your family.  The references include even more websites if you want to take your research further.

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Together or Apart:  A Checklist for Parents and Teachers of Multiples 
http://tandm.curtin.edu.au.dloads/school_checklist.pdf  You can download this pdf with its handy checklist format.  Another helpful resource.