Jump to content

Menu

I'm going to pull my hair out... piece by piece


AimeeM
 Share

Recommended Posts

She wants to go back to school so I order a CAT test. Just for practice. I also wanted an idea of just how much we would have to do get her up to level.

She should be in the fifth grade this year. Middle of her fifth grade year to be exact.

However, we were told by her school last year, that she did so horribly in fourth grade (indeed, her grades were awful) and that she only *just* *barely* passed the end of year standardized test. It was made to look like a favor the school didn't fail her. We decided to hold her back in fourth grade this year (at home). With few exceptions, she has had no instruction on a fifth grade level (barring science, which she is very advanced in). Everything is fourth grade or lower (writing and spelling much lower).

 

So, back to the CAT. I ordered the fifth grade CAT. I wanted to show her how much work it would be to push her up to an acceptable level that the Catholic school would accept her. Frankly, I wanted her to see that she needed another year at home; that catching up that quickly wasn't feasible unless she worked diligently through the summer.

 

It didn't work that way. I'm going to send it off to be officially graded, but I looked over every answer myself and, well, she only got a handful (if that) wrong. I counted about 4 in all the sections. All of those had to do with reading inferences (she is incredibly literal), and a couple of sloppy math computation mistakes.

 

How did she DO THAT? She hasn't had fifth grade instruction. How did she basically fly through a test generally given at the end of fifth grade when she barely passed the standardized fourth grade test last year and we've been remediating fourth at home????

 

I asked her why she felt she did better. Her answer? "It was quieter. My Vyvannse works better than the Adderall used to."

*insert indifferent 10 year old shrug here*

 

I almost feel upset.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:grouphug: But, to spin it a different way....

 

She has had a positive year at home, her meds make her feel better, and she is now performing at or above grade-level on standardized tests.

 

Congratulations, Mom! You are amazing! You've done a great job!

 

( I would guess the materials you've been using for 4th grade, probably cover most of what she needs for 5th grade CAT.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Frankly, because she complains so often about it, we've switched curriculum so often that I finally threw my hands up Dec. 1st and declared an early winter vacation.

 

:grouphug: But, to spin it a different way....

 

She has had a positive year at home, her meds make her feel better, and she is now performing at or above grade-level on standardized tests.

 

Congratulations, Mom! You are amazing! You've done a great job!

 

( I would guess the materials you've been using for 4th grade, probably cover most of what she needs for 5th grade CAT.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It being quieter could very well be the key here. My DD does great at home on her work. At school it's a lot harder for her to focus because the other kids are wiggly, noisy, distracting. Trying to focus on a test isn't easy with so many distractions. I bet if they'd given your DD the test in a quiet room where she was by herself she would have done a lot better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lol - we're in South Carolina. Our state standards aren't exactly "up there".

Not all standardized test are equal. Some states have higher standards. The CAT may have appeared easier because it was easier in comparison to whatever state's standardized test she took last year.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aimee, three things. One, I'd work to see if you can find some *other* middle of the road options to satisfy whatever needs she's seeing (social, more diverse opportunities, time away from mom, whatever) without actually putting her in school. I know that's none of my stink in' business, but I'm saying it anyway. Our np REPEATEDLY said that dd's success is because of the small-group environments she has been in. Granted your dd might do just fine in school now that she's on the meds, don't know. I'm just saying you could screw up whatever is working. And even if it doesn't FEEL like it's working, it takes time to find that groove. Some things work out *in spite* of us, not because of us. Sometimes they don't work because we're trying too hard and don't know that they WILL happen, just gently, slowly, in the end. Look at anyone whose kids are a few years older than yours and they're almost always looking back with a different perspective, realizing where they tried too hard with the first, tried too soon, etc.

 

But anyways, thing two, I agree the CAT *might* not inform you quite as well as the ITSB. Won't be terrible, but none of the CATs we've done have been as thorough, that's for sure. But just to do well on it, mercy, indicates tremendous improvement, etc.? And you know, it would leave me asking why you don't call her 5th gr this year and bop that work back up. Maybe that would make a difference in her happiness.

 

Third thing, didn't your np give you written accommodations that the school would be expected to adhere to? Ours is sending ours in the write-up. I assume schools get an IEP or something. He said ABSOLUTELY a "limited distraction testing environment" was a MUST, an absolute must. And if the school won't give her that, I wouldn't put her there. That's just setting her up for problems if they won't give her necessary accommodations for her success. He told us for college she ABSOLUTELY would need them. Blows my mind when I think back to how many tests I took in rooms with hundreds of kids, especially my freshman year. So I don't know how they do it or how it's practical. I'm just saying the np said it was a necessary accommodation.

 

I don't know, that just kinda BLOWS MY MIND that a school would take a child THAT BRIGHT and say to hold her back and label her a failure because they couldn't/wouldn't identify the need for or give reasonable accommodations. It's much more important at this stage that our kids succeed, even if they don't get everything they want socially. At least that's the choice we've made. Again, that's none of my business.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ah. The school. Love them (kidding!). We never got an IEP because the school we are in district for informed us that she would be placed, for certain periods of the day, in a special needs class - with children ranging from severe intellectual disabilities, to full blown autism. Also, her teacher was WONDERFUL, but admittedly didn't have the resources or time to dedicate to her. An IEP wouldn't help that. We would never put her back in that school (it was a public that we were just using because the Catholic of choice was full). The Catholic schools here are completely private and do no have to accept children with IEPs. Most do not adhere to IEPs, and all can refuse your child for an IEP. She did horribly last year, in a public school with over 28 kids in her class, many troublemakers, sexual harassment, bullying, etc. Previously, she did very well in Catholic school. Even though they didn't bide by IEPs or recognize any "labels", the classes were incredibly small (about 10-12 kids per class) and very seasoned, patient teachers who weren't bogged down with the overwhelming tasks public school teachers often are subject to. We pulled her only because that school was making curriculum changes far too often for our taste and it was harming the children's ability to learn and retain. By the time we did that, the other Catholic school option here was full to capacity (and generally always is :tongue_smilie:).

Once we can get her to a functioning 6th grade level, we can put her in the catholic middle/high school (6-12) which DOES (for a lovely astronomical extra fee) have resources for dyslexics. Unfortunately, this comes at an educational expense - those special classes take the place of wonderful opportunities the general school population has.

We are still in the process of having the GP refer out to an NP; but I wouldn't want an IEP regardless. It doesn't fit in with our goals (Catholic schools). We plan to keep homeschooling - but it isn't a hill I will die on, nor a hill I will allow our (mine and Autumn's) relationship to die on. She is simply used to a school environment and prefers it. She hates homeschooling.

Aimee, three things. One, I'd work to see if you can find some *other* middle of the road options to satisfy whatever needs she's seeing (social, more diverse opportunities, time away from mom, whatever) without actually putting her in school. I know that's none of my stink in' business, but I'm saying it anyway. Our np REPEATEDLY said that dd's success is because of the small-group environments she has been in. Granted your dd might do just fine in school now that she's on the meds, don't know. I'm just saying you could screw up whatever is working. And even if it doesn't FEEL like it's working, it takes time to find that groove. Some things work out *in spite* of us, not because of us. Sometimes they don't work because we're trying too hard and don't know that they WILL happen, just gently, slowly, in the end. Look at anyone whose kids are a few years older than yours and they're almost always looking back with a different perspective, realizing where they tried too hard with the first, tried too soon, etc.

 

But anyways, thing two, I agree the CAT *might* not inform you quite as well as the ITSB. Won't be terrible, but none of the CATs we've done have been as thorough, that's for sure. But just to do well on it, mercy, indicates tremendous improvement, etc.? And you know, it would leave me asking why you don't call her 5th gr this year and bop that work back up. Maybe that would make a difference in her happiness.

 

Third thing, didn't your np give you written accommodations that the school would be expected to adhere to? Ours is sending ours in the write-up. I assume schools get an IEP or something. He said ABSOLUTELY a "limited distraction testing environment" was a MUST, an absolute must. And if the school won't give her that, I wouldn't put her there. That's just setting her up for problems if they won't give her necessary accommodations for her success. He told us for college she ABSOLUTELY would need them. Blows my mind when I think back to how many tests I took in rooms with hundreds of kids, especially my freshman year. So I don't know how they do it or how it's practical. I'm just saying the np said it was a necessary accommodation.

 

I don't know, that just kinda BLOWS MY MIND that a school would take a child THAT BRIGHT and say to hold her back and label her a failure because they couldn't/wouldn't identify the need for or give reasonable accommodations. It's much more important at this stage that our kids succeed, even if they don't get everything they want socially. At least that's the choice we've made. Again, that's none of my business.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just throwing this out. What is interesting to me is how much *better* she did in that small, catholic environment. It's just my impression, but are those schools very STRUCTURED? That's one of the big buzzwords, structure. In fact, one of the things our np suggested was to replicated the structure of a school day (yes, with hours) at home.

 

So you've done a np eval to make sure you have the right labels or not? Around here we have a well-liked (very expensive too!) school for dyslexics. What's interesting is that it's not a stopping point. They come in, use it for a couple years to get on track (get OG, learn study skills, etc.) and then they mainstream back to regular schools. So anything they would be doing there, you could do at home. If she actually is dyslexic, then the things that catholic school would be doing later, you could do now. But that distraction stuff doesn't sound like (just) dyslexia, which is why I ask if you've had the evals.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Incredibly structured, disciplined; but with the affection you would find in a 50's school before lawsuits over hugging. The children stood as adults entered rooms, talked quietly in the halls, longer hours, etc.

 

We have not had an eval. We need a referral and our Ped isn't aware of any personally, so she is asking around to some others in her practice.

 

We have a school for dyslexics. It will run about 20K a year (up to 24K by the time they hit the higher grades). I spoke with them. The problem is that, honestly, her problems seem to run more auditory. The school admittedly didn't feel they could help her because their approach is very auditory based. Their entire approach hinges on a child being able to learn with auditory. I believe the method they use is Orton Gillingham.

 

The tests she took at the crappy tutoring center were read aloud to her - that is where she had major problems. She is very strong visually. Today, when she took her test, I didn't bother her. She read it to herself, in the quiet, sometimes discussing it out loud with herself - but reading it and visualizing it on her own, with no auditory interference.

 

I strongly suspect that it isn't dyslexia.

 

We know she's ADD (not hyperactive, just attention deficit) and her new medication is working wonderfully... but, really, she just does better left to study out of a textbook.

 

 

Just throwing this out. What is interesting to me is how much *better* she did in that small, catholic environment. It's just my impression, but are those schools very STRUCTURED? That's one of the big buzzwords, structure. In fact, one of the things our np suggested was to replicated the structure of a school day (yes, with hours) at home.

 

So you've done a np eval to make sure you have the right labels or not? Around here we have a well-liked (very expensive too!) school for dyslexics. What's interesting is that it's not a stopping point. They come in, use it for a couple years to get on track (get OG, learn study skills, etc.) and then they mainstream back to regular schools. So anything they would be doing there, you could do at home. If she actually is dyslexic, then the things that catholic school would be doing later, you could do now. But that distraction stuff doesn't sound like (just) dyslexia, which is why I ask if you've had the evals.

Edited by AimeeM
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...