I think most of us would agree with this statement. Where we differ is in what you consider to be minutiae. To me, knowing the continents and oceans isn't anywhere close to minutiae.

We homeschooled dd through 6th grade, and she returned to ps for 7th grade this year. She really hates the ps math curricula and wants to homeschool math through high school, while attending ps full time. She's very good at math and I have no doubt she'll score high on standardized tests. But there wouldn't be any math courses on her transcript. Would that be a problem when applying to college? She plans to major in a science/math field. TIA.

That's called homonymous hemianopia. :grouphug: Hoping it's just a migraine...

I'm saying some of the kids in this category have preventable reading failure. Not all. I'm saying *most* of the kids in the categories called LD and SLI have preventable reading failure. We can bicker about whether that's 60% or 80 % or whatever, but I don't think there is any doubt that the single largest category of kids with an IEP have it because they have a preventable reading disorder. And that doesn't even include the even larger number of kids that have preventable reading failure that don't have an IEP.

Astrid, That's pretty high. What was his doctor's plan? Recommendations for a BP at that level would be a recheck in one week. Has he had it rechecked yet?

Also, I got sidetracked by the special education focus. I also mentioned IEPs in my initial post. I can't find a national breakdown of IEP by category, but I found one for Pennsylvania. Statewide, 66.2% were classified LD, and 15.8% were Speech/Language impaired. Frequently (I can't give a number) kids with SLI have preventable reading problems. ETA: I sorted those by county, and found a huge range: a high of 89% down to 3.9% LD. Those with lower LD have higher SLI. I think they are just calling it by a different name.

Well, I would *hope* they aren't putting the LD kids in a contained classroom with MR and autistic kids! They should be in the reading resource room. Maybe that's why he didn't see them.

I don't think it's at all clear. http://www.educationsector.org/analysis/analysis_show.htm?doc_id=509392 A conservative estimate would be the 45% diagnosed with LD. But most of the stuff I've read estimates it higher than that, since a large proportion of the other groups have reading problems that would not have been present if they had had early intervention.

Okay. They haven't been taught correctly. ;) There is tons of evidence about this. About 95% of kids that have been diagnosed with reading disability can learn to read if they are taught correctly from the beginning. The number is much lower if you wait until they are behind and then try to remediate. They may never read as quickly, or comprehend as well, but they CAN learn to read, usually at least at grade level. Very, very few schools are doing it right.

Sure, there are regional variations depending on how reading is taught. That 80% is a national figure. President's Commission on Excellence in Education And from Preventing Early Reading Failure and its Devastating Downward Spiral By Joseph K. Torgesen Ph.D There is plenty of evidence that appropriate intervention works, even in kids who "don't wanna". They're harder to teach, but almost all of them will learn to read if it's done properly. They might still drop out of school, but they CAN be taught.

I agree-- BUT something like 80% of the kids that receive special ed services and IEPs are there only because they can't read. And most of those kids would have learned to read just fine if they had had appropriate reading instruction (explicit phonics) from the beginning. They are curriculum casualties. An awful lot of money could be saved if the instruction was better.

Yes, they're different. Both are infectious diseases, but they are caused by different organisms. Typhus is spread by fleas and lice.

The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting I thought this was a good article.

Floam is EVIL. :angry:

I would definitely post this on the Special Needs Board too. I can't answer your questions, but just wanted to say that our concerns about 2 of our kids were completely blown off by the school. Ultimately, the kids were tested and we were correct on both counts. Listen to your instincts. I'd recommend having her tested. Around here, developmental pediatricians do the testing. It may be different elsewhere though.

Balanced literacy (whole language with a bit of phonics thrown in).

nm- can't find the data

Depends on the lab that did the testing. There will be some variation between labs. Lab reports should say what the reference values are for that specific lab.

My dd had a fraction assessment in her geometry class last week. It was a 32 question test over the 4 basic operations. An example: 3/5 +2/5=? This is a middle school geometry class, so these are the highest achieving kids in the school. Most of them are in the talented and gifted program. My dd found it very simple and finished it in 7 minutes. None of the other kids finished in the allotted 30 minutes, and they all found it very difficult. What's going on in the world is that the kids aren't being taught what they need to know. (We used Singapore through 6B, then Chalkdust Prealgebra and Foerster's Algebra 1)

1. Real school choice. 2. Overhaul schools of education. Better yet, get rid of them and require teachers to have a degree in a content area. 3. Once 2 is done, increase teacher pay. Ducking and running. :auto:

I've never done an attachment before. Don't know if I'm doing this right.

I didn't know that. Oops. :huh:

This is what I use too. It's the best I've found so far.

Lots of the interacting teens do with each other is drivel and folly, both IRL and online. My teen is very responsible, but when she gets together with her friends, she can act very, very silly. Highly annoying, sometimes, but it's just part of being a teen, IMHO. I think it's age-appropriate, and as long as they aren't doing anything dangerous, I don't see any harm done. They grow out of it.

I don't know anything about jellyfish, but viruses can infect any cell, including bacteria, so I'm sure jellyfish have some sort of infections. I'll bet the answer's in here somewhere. :001_smile: