Well, tomorrow I will site visit at a new school for JB. We are currently debating whether or not to put her in a different school next year. She is currently at a Charter School, which teaches an advanced curriculum. Here's the situation:
When she began kindergarten students had to be born on or before August 31 to enroll. Her birthdate is August 31. School began that year on August 24. So she began kindergarten 7 days shy of her 5th birthday. Had she been 17 hours older, she would have had to wait another year to begin schooling, and would now be in 2nd grade. Then I enrolled her in the Charter School which teaches an advanced curriculum. So now she is a "biological" second grader in what is technically a fourth grade classroom, and we are seeing difficulties. Weird I know. :-) The question arises as to how well she would do in a more age appropriate classroom, to close the gap so to speak. So that leads me to site visit the neighborhood school, where next year she would still be in 4th grade (so not held back a year) but would basically be repeating the curriculum requirements of this year (so held back a year). Confused yet? Plus the neighborhood school has a part time reading specialist whom we would have access too, and is not available at the Charter School. Yet JB actually does really well academically at the Charter School and currently earns straight A's with a B in spelling (reduced word list and some other accomidations are in place, not to mention the grueling ordeal of 2 hours + homework per night). We LOVE the family atmosphere of the Charter School and she has a lot of friends there, but we can't help but wonder if all of these accomidations will become unnecessary at an easier school. We also wonder why the Charter School hasn't hired a reading specialist of their own. When I asked the Principal about it she said she could maybe hire a teacher with reading certifications, but the idea of a dedicated reading specialist hadn't even crossed her mind. I'll see how tomorrow goes.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
March 27, 2008
Originally I was going to dedicate this blog space to the building of our new home, and will probably continue to mention it from time to time, but instead have decided to make this the main forum for my thoughts and activities as I slowly unravel Jb's learning disability. We are at the end of the school year, and truly not much has changed since November when she was tested and diagnosed with a "Specific Learning Disability" that resembles the characterisitics of dyslexia. However, we are not allowed to say that she has been diagnosed with dyslexia, or that she is dyslexic, because dyslexia is a biological condition occuring in the brain that can only be diagnosed with MRI scans. So if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, and looks like a duck, we can't call it a duck because we haven't subjected it to enough invasive procedures to actually label it a duck.
With that said, we have made some classroom accomodations for her that have made a bit of a difference in her daily struggle to read and write, but it hurts me to see her try so hard and make such little progress. Her spelling word list has been cut from 30 to 15 words, and I am in her classroom with her each day to read various things from math story problems, to grammar worksheets. I write out most of her writing assignments as she dictates them to me. Even with this one on one attention, she continues to be very anxious and cries at least once per day, sometimes more. Homework lasts an average of two hours per night, and we have had to arrange (and pay) for her to go to an after school homework tutor at a public school across town because she gets so angry and frustrated that I can no longer help her, and homework help is not available to us any where else. She studies hard, but it seems like studying is all she does. I am worried because next year I won't be the hired Aide in her classroom and she won't receive such individualized attention. I worry about how she will cope. I worry about her future and wonder how she will look when her mom has to go to college with her to read the assignments. :-)
I am currently investigation options available to us. It is possible we will change schools in the fall if needed to provide her with the services that are not available at the charter school that she is now attending. Our neighborhood school has a reading specialist that I will meet with next week, and I will also conduct some on site observations.
With that said, we have made some classroom accomodations for her that have made a bit of a difference in her daily struggle to read and write, but it hurts me to see her try so hard and make such little progress. Her spelling word list has been cut from 30 to 15 words, and I am in her classroom with her each day to read various things from math story problems, to grammar worksheets. I write out most of her writing assignments as she dictates them to me. Even with this one on one attention, she continues to be very anxious and cries at least once per day, sometimes more. Homework lasts an average of two hours per night, and we have had to arrange (and pay) for her to go to an after school homework tutor at a public school across town because she gets so angry and frustrated that I can no longer help her, and homework help is not available to us any where else. She studies hard, but it seems like studying is all she does. I am worried because next year I won't be the hired Aide in her classroom and she won't receive such individualized attention. I worry about how she will cope. I worry about her future and wonder how she will look when her mom has to go to college with her to read the assignments. :-)
I am currently investigation options available to us. It is possible we will change schools in the fall if needed to provide her with the services that are not available at the charter school that she is now attending. Our neighborhood school has a reading specialist that I will meet with next week, and I will also conduct some on site observations.
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