Thanks. I wasn't planning on homeschooling.

We are moving to NJ this summer and I'd love to meet more parents in the state that can tell me what their experience has been like.

My son has problems with visual processing. They use little boxes, puzzle piece shapes and other icons for him to count and it is difficult for him.

Thank you both for such detailed responses! Really, I appreciate the information so much and I will be taking your advice. I have not looked at his paperwork from the doctor in a while and some of the phrases and diagnosis are hard to understand. He is in such a good school now that I haven't had to think about it in a while. I think it says learning disorder (math, reading and written expression), dysgraphia. Currently he is below grade level in reading and math. We will be moving to NJ, out of FL and that is why he will be going to public school. We certainly couldn't afford private school in NJ. So, I guess the answer to my question is that no, the school does not HAVE to follow the RTI process but they most likely will. I really wanted to get him help asap without them dragging their feet. The problem is we don't know exactly what town we are moving to yet at the end of this school year. It depends on where we can find a rental house and they are hard to come by. We are moving because my family lives up there and we don't have any support down here. So I can't begin any process until I know where our house will be. I have contacted a few child study teams in the areas but they don't really want to talk with us until we move or have an address. I did read Overcoming Dyslexia but it seems like my son doesn't follow some of the guild lines of characteristics of dyslexia. I will try some of the other books that you suggested. Wow, it is such a crazy process trying to get my son the help that he needs. That's why I have avoided the public school up until now. It is very discouraging. Thank you again. If you have any other suggestions I'd love to hear them. Jennifer

We are going to put my son in the public school system next year for 2nd grade. He has only been in private school up until this point and does not have an IEP or 504 but has been diagnosed by a private developmental pedi as having LD. Is it federally mandatory for public schools to do the RTI process first or is there anyway we can jump to getting him help bc he has a diagnosis, is that determined by each school? Thanks, Jennifer

My son's school that specializes in LD uses this program for homework. Does your child's school use this? How do they do? Why would they give this to kids with LD? Just seems strange. Is there a program like this for kids with LD? Thanks, Jennifer

My son noticed that in his old school all of the kids could read but him. At that time we didn't know why. Now he is in a special school for kids with learning disabilities and I feel like now might be the time to tell him. I'm not sure exactly how to tell him or how much information he can handle. I'm still in the process of understanding how he learns. He has some components of dyslexia but not all. He has problems with his short and long term memory as well as visual processing. How did you explain it to your kids and at what age?

My son's teachers are telling me that what he learns just doesn't stick. One day he'll remember it and the next it's like he never saw the information. This is truly heartbreaking. How will he ever learn? What can we do to help him? He is 6 and in first grade. He goes to a special school for kids with learning disabilities. Thanks for your input.

What is the best way to help with phonics for my 6 year old going into 1st grade next year? I'm not sure what program they will be using next year but I'd like to help him during the last few weeks of summer. Any suggestions?

He just had an evaluation done about 2 weeks ago and I don't have the results of it yet but I got the feeling that he did fine. I sat in on it.

My son is 6 and was just diagnosed with learning disabilities so I know what you mean about thinking that the preemie days are behind you. I know it can happen to anyone but I can't help but think it is bc he was born 10 weeks early and had developmental delays. Grrrr! Darn prematurity!

I should also add that he is socially right on par.

The developmental pedi said that he has two parts of dyslexia. Phonological awareness is actually his strong point. He has dysgraphia from low muscle tone. He has a problem with his visual perception, long and short term memory. Sight words are almost impossible for him to learn unless there is some kind of action attached to it. As are learning to identify numbers. It's like he gets the higher order thinking skills but not some of the basic memorizing. Kentuckymom, you bring up some valid points. Heck no I don't want him being 7 in kindergarten or 19 as a senior! He is already the tallest in his class. We are thinking of moving from FL to NJ this summer and I am really hoping that move things along faster there then here. They are big on RTI here in Tampa and it can take forever to get help.

Well, now that we know about his LD we will get an IEP and hopefully get some services and different curriculum that he needs. At least that is what I hope. Am I fooling myself? Do a lot of parents of schools hold back kids for the same reason I'm thinking about it? That he missed a lot and it might be too much for him to handle playing catch up next year? We are getting him a tutor over the summer. We found one that uses Orton and Lindamood-Bell.

VanGogh check out Mommies Little Miracles (preemie moms only) on Facebook. We'd love to have you join us! Low muscle tone is called hypotonia. People with it put forth 7x the amount of energy to get their bodies to do what "normal" people can do. They tire easily and can have dysgraphia (handwriting).