Analysis of School Curricula in Terms of Reflection on the Development of Self-Care Skills to Mentally Retarded School Children

A focus on self-care skills fosters an environment where all children, regardless of ability, can participate and contribute to the classroom community. The formation and development of self-care skills for children with mental retardation during school years is an important and integral part of the overall system of preparing them for study in inclusive settings, independent life and work to the possible extent. At the same time, literature data, work experience of teachers and special educators working in inclusive schools, as well as our observations show that for children with mental retardation, especially in the lower grades, the acquisition of theoretical knowledge and practical skills and self-care skills in various types of daily activities (game, educational, work, etc.) presents significant difficulties. The possession of these skills is important for these children not only during school but also after graduation. The significance of the problem under study also increases because today in Armenia the shift to inclusive education is a reality and children with various needs study together. This requires children's independence, sufficient social behavior skills, spatial orientation skills, high-quality performance and many other self-care skills in a wide variety of areas of activity. The level of development of these skills largely determines the success of inclusion and adaptation of these children among their classmates. Considering the above mentioned, it becomes important to study and analyze school curricula for various disciplines in grades I-IV in terms of how they reflect issues of education and the development of self-care skills for children with mild and moderate mental retardation. This will help to clarify the positive and negative aspects of these programs, the degree of their direct or indirect connection with the issues of developing self-service skills in these children, and to develop appropriate proposals for their improvement.