Jump to content

Menu

Using ps resource room as a homeschooler


Recommended Posts

If you live in a state that allows this- has anyone done it?

 

We're looking at having dd attend a couple school periods a day for special Ed services only, she doesn't need speech or related services, but resource room for her math disability & maybe writing too.

 

Just wondering if anyone has btdt? Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not experience, but here are questions I have about resource room.

 

How do they benchmark? This is -- how do they find their starting level?

 

Do they do a more full math curriculum, or do they stick to basics? This is like -- are they going to stick to basics like adding and subtracting, or also learn fractions. Are they learning basics or are they approximating a grade-level math class. This will depend on the placement i think.

 

How large are instructional groups and who runs them (aide or teacher). How do they form instructional groups.

 

There is some give and take in forming instructional groups, because it is likely they will always want to be also working on social and language, in some resource rooms. Is there a good fit for both language/social and math? And then honestly if you get steered towards a fit that is better for language/social than math, in some ways, do you want that? I often would want that because those are important goals to me too.

 

However you wouldn't expect the same math improvement, necessarily, to come out of a 1:1 tutoring situation with everything exactly targeted to one child, as from small group.

 

But at the same time, small groups can really be positive.

 

I think you would want to be really clear on your goals, and probably some amorphous kinds of "had a good experience" or "was in a positive social environment" or "motivated by being around peers" types of things as kinds of goals you would be open to.

 

On the other hand, can you get 1:1 tutoring? Do you think there is anything where your daughter would benefit from a computer program?

 

If you want or can get 1:1 tutoring then the skill of the tutor, the curriculum used by the tutor/teacher, and how your daughter gets along with that person go a long way.

 

Maybe you get a mix of group and individual... maybe you get a number of minutes of each or mostly one or the other.

 

Also I would ask about independent work and how much of a goal that is and how they address it.

 

For example, would you mind if someone always sat with her and helped her, to maximize her time, but she had trouble doing things alone?

 

Or would you mind if part of her time was spent just doing a review worksheet by herself just for the sake of having something she did alone?

 

That is a big back-and-forth for me.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good things to ask & consider, thank you!

 

I have other concerns from my years of being a rr teacher myself. Since we're in a new district, I have no idea how they do things.

 

Just talked to them & they want to do a new eval first, which I'm happy about. So, we'll go from there.

 

They don't think they can offer rr to homeschoolers, but I'm reading the law (& a memo sent out from state Ed clarifying the law) differently, so there may be a battle involved.

 

I wish I could just find & hire a good tutor, but really don't have the cash.

 

No idea if I can get the school to implement a 1:1 math intervention program, but I'm going to ask.

Edited by Hilltopmom
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got 30 minutes 1:1 with the teacher for my son at his old school.

 

Two things.

 

One, unfortunately he didn't make good progress in math over a few months and I flipped out over the lack of progress and complained over her head.

 

Two, it does say something in IDEA about instruction being provided by a qualified teacher and using research-based curriculum.

 

I have just moved to New York and locally it seems like they don't have aides teaching instead of the teacher. But they also have less 1:1. Where I am coming from they had much more 1:1 but the quality could be poor. That is such a broad, broad thing to say.

 

But just to give an idea like -- here I am a lot happier with my son in a small group with the actual teacher, compared to 1:1 just for the sake of 1:1. But when he had 1:1 with an awesome teacher that was great even though it was for a fairly short amount of time.

 

If you would potentially like this to be a longer-term thing, though, definitely go in with an attitude that you can make adjustments as time goes by, and that when they get to know your child they will probably be a lot better able to discuss things than when you are looking at putting her in but they don't know her.

 

It is frustrating for that to take time and you have to wonder if the time is worth it, but I am not sure

there is a way to get around that.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You can talk with your state dept of ed. If you email them the legal questions, they will write you back with something that will have weight when you say it to the school. ;)  They'll actually forward it to the dept of ed legal person and get you a precise statement. 

 

Sometimes schools are really confused and will say inaccurate things. I had one ps tell me homeschoolers give up their FAPE, which is legally not true. You have the legal right (federal right) to the evals. It varies by state and sometimes by district (if there's discretion) as to whether they'll provide services. You can ask basic questions though like whether a homeschooler is allowed to partially enroll. If your state allows that, then you can use that, kwim? Then it's their problem to provide the IEP and services.

 

My ds has an IEP and has SLDs (and more), so I've been down this path. Personally, I don't see how that works asking the ps to service the math or writing but not letting them do all the math or all the writing. If she goes for their math class AND gets math intervention, that makes sense. But for you to teach her math at home and then send her there for a 15-20 minute intervention time (what our ps puts in my ds' IEP), that would be odd.

 

You can see what they'd write for the IEP. I'm just saying from their perspective it might be an odd situation. Might be easier to partially enroll her and let their system work as they're used to it working. 

 

Also, in our area, if you just want intervention, you take the disability scholarship, give up your FAPE, and use the scholarship to pay for intervention. So we have options here. But those people are expensive. I can't get my ds that level of intervention on top of his other services, sigh.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also I think if you are wanting primarily the results of tutoring, maybe try to see if the school has any good materials or methods and then use them yourself if you can't find a tutor.

 

But try to look for side benefits like: it is independent in some ways, child gets used to working with others, things presented in different ways may give her a more broad base, etc.

 

That can be good but isn't necessarily "made it to the next level in a fast time."

 

I hear also that if you want some kind of expectation for "what is reasonable progress" then look for that privately. I am not sure.... I am on a waiting list for another eval though so I am buying into it (lol). It can be hard to know if progress is reasonable or if the school is setting their sights too low. But getting a measurable IEP goal is something to try for so if there isn't progress you have room to ask for a change. You could potentially ask for a progress check in 2-3 months to readjust if progress seems lacking.

 

And then what will the progress measure be -- test score, teacher observation, pre-test/post-test, etc.

 

I am still figuring this stuff out but since getting burned once I am not going to think empty platitudes from the teacher = good progress.

 

And that sounds negative but actually I have had overwhelmingly positive experiences!!!!!!! Still I learned a lesson on that one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

E -- there are different levels and it sounds like they put "RTI level 2" or similar into your son's IEP.

 

That is not universal at all and might not be the situation of OP at all.

 

My son isn't even in RTI (my younger son) he is in Special Education and here they aren't allowed to put Special Education kids into RTI services.

 

But there are academic services in an IEP that may not be considered "special education."

 

But then it varies by school district or at least by state, as I have found out by moving!

 

The terminology wrt my older son is very different and even the term "resource room" doesn't mean what it did int old state.

 

In my old state "resource room" was used for everything.

 

Here they have "resource room" and "academic intervention services" and they are two different things.

 

Here a "extra 20 minutes in addition to regular classroom instruction" would be delivered in an "academic intervention services" setting and not in a "resource room." I may be confused on that, but here I get weird looks for saying my older son was in resource room because here that is a specific thing and not a broad term.

 

But anyway -- it would be weird to take a kid just for 15-20 minutes of RTI level 2, but it might be done on computer or have a computer component, and they might just give you a login and password to use at home. Anything is possible lol.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They don't actually allow part time enrollment in our state (I'm in NY too) so I was thinking to loophole it since they are required to provide spec Ed services, they should provide rr. We'll see.

Good idea on contacting state Ed myself

 

Sadly, no disability scholarships here either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

If you would potentially like this to be a longer-term thing, though, definitely go in with an attitude that you can make adjustments as time goes by, and that when they get to know your child they will probably be a lot better able to discuss things than when you are looking at putting her in but they don't know her.

 

It is frustrating for that to take time and you have to wonder if the time is worth it, but I am not sure

there is a way to get around that.

On long term, yes, I really want a workable public school high school plan for her, including Vo tech in 11/12, so I want to feel them out for next year 8th for her so they can get to know her & vice versa.

 

It's not really working at home anymore full time. Time to try something new. Part time at school for spec Ed would be ideal, but well, maybe not legal.

 

I was about to apply for a part time spec Ed teacher position there but decided not to now. She doesn't need me in the room next door.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you live in a state that allows this- has anyone done it?

 

We're looking at having dd attend a couple school periods a day for special Ed services only, she doesn't need speech or related services, but resource room for her math disability & maybe writing too.

 

Just wondering if anyone has btdt? Thanks

 

In our local district, middle school and high school resource room services are designed to support kids' work in their general education classes.  So, they spend time going over online portals, learning how to record assignments, and working on assignments in other subjects.  If there's math support, it's homework help on the homework from math class.   Even if she came with math assignments from you, the classes are generally too big for kids to get much 1:1 help.  

 

If I was looking to send my kid to one class at public, I'd look for a special ed or inclusion math class, or for an "intervention" class.  But I don't see how resource would work.

 

You may have a school that uses the term resource more broadly.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you want to enroll for 11/12th, are they going to accept your credits?

Ah, we're in NY, so if she can't pass Regents examsat the end of each class in high school, she won't get any credit or a diploma anyways.

Grrr.

 

I want her to attend their vo tech though, regardless.

 

But I'm starting to lean towards just enrolling her full time starting in 8th, next fall. See how it goes

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In our local district, middle school and high school resource room services are designed to support kids' work in their general education classes. So, they spend time going over online portals, learning how to record assignments, and working on assignments in other subjects. If there's math support, it's homework help on the homework from math class. Even if she came with math assignments from you, the classes are generally too big for kids to get much 1:1 help.

 

If I was looking to send my kid to one class at public, I'd look for a special ed or inclusion math class, or for an "intervention" class. But I don't see how resource would work.

 

You may have a school that uses the term resource more broadly.

Yeah,mthats more what I want, a self contained math class, but here we still call that "resource", depending on how big the dept is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

From Daria's post -- where I live now the meaning of resource room and intervention room are exactly opposite, and where we came from, resource room was used for all of it.

 

Good to know in case we ever move again (and my husband is in the Army so....).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son is half mainstreamed and half in a resource room that is a self-contained classroom kind of resource room, and within that they have instructional groups based on a combination of math level and overall how well they get along in a group.

 

Edit: where we were before it was set up differently and more based on doing everything 1:1, but it was because most of the kids couldn't really learn in an instructional group, so it is actually a nice thing for my son to be in and instructional group for math now. (And also since I came from that model I am aware it has drawbacks too, while here people who have never had that model can think it would be better -- but I think pros and cons for both, I am happy with what we have here now that I am use to it.)

Edited by Lecka
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would ask what methods they use, the range of abilities in the classroom, how many students in a group, etc.

 

In some schools the Resource room doesn't use anything different than the regular math curriculum....they just use it 1-3 grades below grade level.  That you could easily do at home.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would ask what methods they use, the range of abilities in the classroom, how many students in a group, etc.

 

In some schools the Resource room doesn't use anything different than the regular math curriculum....they just use it 1-3 grades below grade level. That you could easily do at home.

Well, I am a special Ed teacher, so while yes, in theory, I could do anything at home with her, it's not happening for a variety of reasons. She needs to go work with someone else in a different setting.

 

It's a big district & from looking around their website, it looks like they have a good range of different classrooms & options. We'll see. I know a school psych over there from a previous job, I'm gonna talk to him a bit before we go in for her eval too.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...