What might this be?

[joannqn]

I was just talking to someone who mentioned that they are homeschooling their youngest son because he is behind and the school isn't dealing with it. Their goal was to catch him up and send him back. However, he's not catching up.

 

The child is 7, almost 8. He's not having any motor skills issues. Talks fine. Knows names of things. Can't identify numbers or letters well. They drill...this is a 4. They count things, use manipulatives, etc., but come the next day, he has no idea what the symbol 4 is. He's starting to get his numbers but it sounded like he's almost 2 years behind. Same story for reading...trouble getting learning the names of letters, let alone reading.

 

At the end of Kindy, the school told them he was way behind but was passing him up to first grade anyway. They knew that was a bad idea so they pulled him and homeschooled for first grade in the hopes of catching him up and putting him back in for second. However, he wasn't catching up. They tried putting him back in and getting testing but the school claimed they had no right to testing because they had homeschooled the previous year. I think this is bull. Anyway, they pulled him again hoping to keep working with him and get him ready to go back next year. There's no way he'll be ready for third grade, as he is starting to get his numbers and letters but still having trouble.

 

In our state, homeschoolers are entitled to an IEP and any services provided in the IEP. I stressed that it sounded like they are dealing with a learning disability; they need to get testing so they can find out what is going on and be able to tackle it properly. Once they have a diagnosis from the doctors, they can get IEP services through the school.

 

So, what does this sound like? I was thinking dyscalculia and dyslexia. Aren't they related? Or am I way off base? I was hoping to give them some ideas of things to consider while they are working on getting that referral, or to help them argue for the referral. I'll also be giving them the number of a parent partner organization that helps parents get IEP services from the school.

[LizzyBee]

So, what does this sound like? I was thinking dyscalculia and dyslexia. Aren't they related? Or am I way off base? I was hoping to give them some ideas of things to consider while they are working on getting that referral, or to help them argue for the referral. I'll also be giving them the number of a parent partner organization that helps parents get IEP services from the school.

 

I thought of dyslexia and dyscalculia too. I would want to rule out vision and auditory issues before jumping to that conclusion, though. An evaluation with a speech/language pathologist might be helpful, too.

 

They might want to take a look at some of the Lindamood Bell curriculum, esp. On Cloud Nine and LiPS.

 

And they can watch several hours of free video about dyslexia at http://www.dys-add.com. For the school stuff, http://www.wrightslaw.com would be helpful.

[merry gardens]

...So, what does this sound like? I was thinking dyscalculia and dyslexia. Aren't they related? Or am I way off base? I was hoping to give them some ideas of things to consider while they are working on getting that referral, or to help them argue for the referral. I'll also be giving them the number of a parent partner organization that helps parents get IEP services from the school.

It sounds like you're on the right track. I agree with Lizzy Bee about getting vision, hearing and speech evaluations. (speech therapists can check for phonemic awareness and other things like that which relates to dyslexia.) I'd also guess the child has either sometime going on with either his vision or with his visual memory (or mental imagery) for what letters and number look like.

 

Here are a couple of simple ideas to try while waiting on evaluations and referals. Children can write letters and numbers in a pan filled with sand (or salt or cornmeal). Letters and numbers can also be built out of clay or play dough. Another technique is to write them on a large white board, chalk board--or even just in the air--using large arm motions. Those are some examples of multi-sensory techniques that can be helpful for children who struggle just learning the symbols for letters and numbers.

[Dobela]

Have them check out www.covd.org as well. I was surprised my son had most of the signs of a vison problem and I had never known it.

[renmew]

I am in California, but I believe these laws should apply in all 50 states. It does not matter whether or not a child is homeschooled, private schooled, or public school - after the 3rd birthday, their school district of residence is responsible for testing / IEP creation. They don't have to honor the IEP / provide services unless the child is enrolled in the public school, but none of that is supposed to affect initial testing. Schools frequently feed parents a bunch of bs to save money. Your friend should look in the phone book and call the regional center to ask for help working with the school district / laws enforceable. What you're describing does not sound right.

[joannqn]

I am in California, but I believe these laws should apply in all 50 states. It does not matter whether or not a child is homeschooled, private schooled, or public school - after the 3rd birthday, their school district of residence is responsible for testing / IEP creation. They don't have to honor the IEP / provide services unless the child is enrolled in the public school, but none of that is supposed to affect initial testing. Schools frequently feed parents a bunch of bs to save money. Your friend should look in the phone book and call the regional center to ask for help working with the school district / laws enforceable. What you're describing does not sound right.

 

 

I know it doesn't sound right to refuse testing because he homeschooled the prior year. I've given him a contact with a parent partner organization that helps parents with IEP/504 issues.

 

They ended up keeping him out of school a second year since the school wasn't going to do anything to help him, but they aren't succeeding in catching him up either. That's why I strongly recommended testing through the local children's hospital, along with giving them the names of the developmental pediatricians they would be working with (there are only two).

[Shay]

I have a student I've been tutoring since kindy and this is just what she was like. Finally we have a SLD diagnosis, but that is really broad and is what dyslexia falls under. She had the same problems with numbers as letters. So, yes, I'd say dyslexia and dyscalcula. Sounds in words are fleeting and abstract and there is no rhyme or reason why a certain sound is represented by a particular grapheme. My student had major problems with this. In my limited experience the school does not know how to deal with this and if they can do it, I'd continue HSing the child.

 

What helped my student (and it is a not a quick fix, but hard work):

1. learn one letter/sound at a time. This child got very confused by the simultaneous introduction of letter names and sounds in kindy. I left letter names out completely. Learn to mastery and then add in another. Start learning to blend once you have a few. I used I See Sam books with her.

 

2. For the letter sounds that are troublesome (/e/ and /i/, there are others for her too) consider mnemonics. This is the only way she has sorted out e and i. I wish I'd known about the flip book that comes with Itchy's Alphabet when we first were working together, as I think that would have helped. Gestural mnemonics are helpful, too. Jolly Phonics includes this, but the pace of JP would likely go too fast.

 

3. Once letter sounds were learned and she had started to blend decently, we started Barton. Barton would have moved too quickly for her before 2nd grade because one lesson is a batch of letters and it really assumes capital letter knowledge is there.

 

We are now in level 3 of Barton and have to do each portion of the lessons twice, but it is worth it and I'm seeing progress. We are still continuing with I See Sam and are in the 3rd set.

 

It is hard to know what your friend is dealing with. I had worked long enough with my student that I knew intelligence was fine, and vision and hearing seemed fine. What wasn't fine was memory and phonological processing.

 

HTH,

Shay