Kaitfish Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 Hello! I love this board and am kind of addicted to coming here for help haha. We have been going to an educational therapist doing the Wilson Program for my 9 year old daughter with dyslexia and executive functioning issues. Needless to say, it's been an expensive summer. Due to my work schedule coming up, homeschooling is not an option unless I quit and do homeschool full time. We found a great Montessori school that is about 40 minutes away. They seem to have worked with kids with EF issues and I love that their program is strength-based and focused on experiential learning. All words I have never heard at public school (which I took her out of last year after all of you wonderful folks gave me great advice). My concern is she will be in a class with 3-5th graders....which seems like a pretty distracting situation. Has anyone else had their dyslexic child in montessori? Any words of advice? How about grants for Elementary Private School for kids with learning disabilities? I just sent out a bunch of emails today to our state government education and other services, asking questions. Thank you for your ideas and good luck to all of those whom are starting school next month! How did summer go so quickly?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 (edited) My 20yo son went to a Montessori school for first grade. Although we didn't know it at the time, he has dyslexia (and EF issues). The Montessori school was the *worst* place he could be given his issues. It sounds great--they go at their own pace, etc.--but dyslexic kids need direct instruction and kids with EF issues need structure. The Montessori school that my son was at provided very little of either of these things as they run counter to traditional Montessori ideals. I absolutely recommend *against* putting your daughter in a traditional Montessori school. If you are really wanting to put your child into this school, I would ask them what exactly they mean by "strength based." It is critically important to develop strengths *but* it is also just as critically important to have a specific plan to remediate weaknesses. I would want to know exactly how they propose to do both of these things. Edited August 17, 2016 by EKS 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 If your state has scholarships, they may require an IEP and probably have application windows. Private dyslexia schools will know your resources, so call them, definitely. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanin Posted August 17, 2016 Share Posted August 17, 2016 I'm not sure about Montessori schools in particular, but if you get serious about possibly going to this school, DEFINITELY get some firm answers about reading instruction. I know a boy who went to a really sweet, fun, awesome private school, and they *said* they individualized learning so they could accommodate his dyslexia. Well, I guess they *accommodated* it, in the sense that they let him do shorter assignments, etc. BUT they also did not teach him to read. Like, at all. It was really disappointing and expensive. Strength-based is kind of a vague term. Make sure they have a qualified person to teach reading! I thought that Montessori schools were kind of "kids will read when they're ready!" type places, which is not going to help a kid with a reading disability... Good luck!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
displace Posted August 18, 2016 Share Posted August 18, 2016 I would consider a commute that far only if it were a specific school that I thought would be perfect for us (a school to remediate disabilities and accelerate giftedness). You'd have to ask if they teach reading (likely not at that age) or will do remediation. Do they have a person trained in OG techniques? My state (FL) has a scholarship for students they can use for private schools after going through the iep process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetandSimple Posted August 19, 2016 Share Posted August 19, 2016 Is this a private Montessori or a pubic charter Montessori? We have some experience with a public charter Montessori-- because it is a public school, they have the required special education services offered at the school. So specialized reading help would not occur in the Montessori classroom itself, but would occur as a "pull-out" service with a reading specialist. That might be a good option. On the other hand, a private Montessori might not have those resources. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaitfish Posted October 8, 2016 Author Share Posted October 8, 2016 Thank you for your responses!! For some reason, I could not find these and I did not receive any notifications!!! Thank you for your posts. We tried the montessori, it did not work! I was frustrated they made it sound so amazing! Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 Thank you for your responses!! For some reason, I could not find these and I did not receive any notifications!!! Thank you for your posts. We tried the montessori, it did not work! I was frustrated they made it sound so amazing! Thank you!! :grouphug: Sorry it didn't work out. What are you doing now, if you don't mind my asking? And what happened that made it not a good fit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 8, 2016 Share Posted October 8, 2016 Oh I just saw your other thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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