The First Day of Fourth Grade....
Well, we made it to the first day of fourth grade. Jb is excited to be starting at Hillcrest Elementary School. The decision to leave the charter school was very difficult for me to make. However, even though we would be leaving behind many wonderful people that we love, and an outstanding educational focus, the fact is that JB would not be receiving the help with her reading that she needs. Hillcrest will help us in two specific ways:
1. The charter school teaches an advanced curriculum so she would be required to do fifth grade work even though she is in fourth grade. She is currently not reading on a fourth grade level. Attending Hillcrest "shortens the gap" that needs to be made up to get her on the same level as her age equivalent peers.
2. Neighborhood schools are required to provide a "tier two" reading instructor or specialist to assist students that need extra help, charter schools are not.
As of this posting, she has attended 4 days of school. On the second day she came home with "homework" in the form of a word search that was to be completed during class. In the 20 minutes of school time that she had been given to complete the assignment, she was able to find 1 (one) 1 word on her own. She hadn't completed it so it was sent home as homework.
####Note to teachers #########################################
Word searches are HELL for dyslexic kids! The letters in the words are already jumbled up enough, without having them purposely mixed up. It is my personal mom opinion that word searches are nothing but complete busy work, have no educational merit whatsoever, and should be BANNED from education entirely!
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So what did I do? Even though I was seething inside, I quietly helped JB complete the word search, reminded her there would be some days like this when she would not be able to get everything done in class, and that it was good that she brought it home so she wouldn't get behind, and had her turn it in.
No, I did not march into her class to scream at the teacher (who on the second day of school has NO IDEA that this exceptionally bright and articulate child would have any difficulty with reading or a silly word search. Mainly because as of the first day of school JB's IEP still had not been sent from the charter school but that's another story...) But I did mention in my most quiet polite voice that Jb was sorry for not completing the word search in class, and that spelling and reading are very difficult for her, but she is working on it, and we are always willing to help out with what ever is needed from us. The teacher looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language, but I believe could sense that I wasn't telling her everything that she needed to know, due to lack of time, place etc. She just gave me a very puzzled look and said "OK", and started her day. I will speak again with her soon at a more appropriate time and give her better information.
The Magnificent Miss Wall (JB's teacher from last year who provided the testing for JB, and is one of my close friends) said it best when I told her my tale. Her reply: (SINGING LOUDLY) "And it's only just begun.......
