Citrusheights5 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Hello! My name is Lee, and I am a mother to 6 wonderful kids, and I'm sure my siggy is outdated.... Just a little background, I have home schooled my oldest 2 kids on and off for most of the elementary school years, they are now in PS high school and middle school and doing well. I am on my second journey of elementary schooling. Miles, is currently in first grade after repeating K at home. The school advanced him to first grade but I knew he was not ready for it. He is soon to be 8, and has recently been identified by our school as having some sort of LD. I have decided to bring him home next year due to social, age and learning speed is just not what the school wants, and it is affecting his self esteem. Nathan is 6, and never went to PS. I kept him home and did K with both my boys. He is also in first grade at the same school with Miles but in a different classroom.He has been identified as eligible for the schools special "RL" program. The school he goes to has a "special" inclusive all day Gate program, where once the kids are identified they are placed in the rapid learner program and continue with the group of kids until middle school. These classes start in second grade, so I went to the open house, toured the classroom, visited the teachers, etc. They study one year ahead in all subjects, so in second they use 3rd grade text...etc.. But the thing is they seam pretty rigid. As in - since they are already doing a year ahead work why should they do more... Nate's teacher has been amazing at letting me send workbooks, and stuff to keep him busy while in class, but the thing is he is doing 4th grade work in Language Arts, and she just cant help or explain things to him, because she has 30 other kids to teach. He has to be able to do things independently, and well he is 6, and he finally hit a point where he need explanation for what to do. An example would be his work book says to identify the adverb, but he doesn't know what an adverb is.. Still looking for the question? Is it possible for a bright child like him to be turned off by school? They are preping for a reading fluency test so his timed passages while complex are not above his ability. He was reading regularly at 140 words a minute, but now he barely gets 60. His handwriting is getting worse, never that it was that good- fine motor skills have never been his strong suit. He just seams like he's given up. More importantly: Won't this just happen again next year? The program is expensive too.. although it is PS they do want a monthly donation that pays for the extra art, music, pe, and Spanish teacher. Then there is the Technology fee, Field Trip Fee. Excuse me --donation... I really wanted this program to work for him.. We moved to this neighborhood specifically for this program for him. I'm wondering if I am too in love with this program that I am missing the obvious of what I should be doing.... Or If I am too in love with homeschooling that I am just looking for an excuse... I would love to hear any opinions please, hit me with the ugly that you see.. I really need some outside perspective on this... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2smartones Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Sounds like he needs more one-on-one involvement. If that means homeschooling, don't feel guilty. If it means the school needs to accomodate him by letting him move up a grade level for grammar but stay where he is in math, so be it. Something needs to change. Sounds like he's starting to shut down, which absolutely CAN and DOES happen to higher level learners... whether gifted or accelerated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citrusheights5 Posted February 10, 2012 Author Share Posted February 10, 2012 The school will not accelerate or deviate since they believe they are already doing as much as they can. It really limits my options... I've read the posts on having kids IQ tested, and wish I had the $$ so I could know if he is gifted or accelerated. Both of my older kids were accelerated in one subject, and Nate appears to be the same... just across the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenbrdsly Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Hello! My name is Lee, and I am a mother to 6 wonderful kids, and I'm sure my siggy is outdated.... Just a little background, I have home schooled my oldest 2 kids on and off for most of the elementary school years, they are now in PS high school and middle school and doing well. I am on my second journey of elementary schooling. Miles, is currently in first grade after repeating K at home. The school advanced him to first grade but I knew he was not ready for it. He is soon to be 8, and has recently been identified by our school as having some sort of LD. I have decided to bring him home next year due to social, age and learning speed is just not what the school wants, and it is affecting his self esteem. Nathan is 6, and never went to PS. I kept him home and did K with both my boys. He is also in first grade at the same school with Miles but in a different classroom.He has been identified as eligible for the schools special "RL" program. The school he goes to has a "special" inclusive all day Gate program, where once the kids are identified they are placed in the rapid learner program and continue with the group of kids until middle school. These classes start in second grade, so I went to the open house, toured the classroom, visited the teachers, etc. They study one year ahead in all subjects, so in second they use 3rd grade text...etc.. But the thing is they seam pretty rigid. As in - since they are already doing a year ahead work why should they do more... Nate's teacher has been amazing at letting me send workbooks, and stuff to keep him busy while in class, but the thing is he is doing 4th grade work in Language Arts, and she just cant help or explain things to him, because she has 30 other kids to teach. He has to be able to do things independently, and well he is 6, and he finally hit a point where he need explanation for what to do. An example would be his work book says to identify the adverb, but he doesn't know what an adverb is.. Still looking for the question? Is it possible for a bright child like him to be turned off by school? They are preping for a reading fluency test so his timed passages while complex are not above his ability. He was reading regularly at 140 words a minute, but now he barely gets 60. His handwriting is getting worse, never that it was that good- fine motor skills have never been his strong suit. He just seams like he's given up. More importantly: Won't this just happen again next year? The program is expensive too.. although it is PS they do want a monthly donation that pays for the extra art, music, pe, and Spanish teacher. Then there is the Technology fee, Field Trip Fee. Excuse me --donation... I really wanted this program to work for him.. We moved to this neighborhood specifically for this program for him. I'm wondering if I am too in love with this program that I am missing the obvious of what I should be doing.... Or If I am too in love with homeschooling that I am just looking for an excuse... I would love to hear any opinions please, hit me with the ugly that you see.. I really need some outside perspective on this... Welcome Lee! My two cents, with Miles I would make sure that the school district is still giving him services for his LD, even while you are homeschooling him next year. (Hopefully) the special ed teachers would have some sort of training or program that would be able to help. I would envision a one hour, three days a week type of schedule. With Nathan, I would say to give the program one more year. Maybe with a different teacher, things would be different. In the meantime, I would request a Student Success Team (SST meeting) with the grade level teacher, the next grade level teacher, and the principal. I'm not sure if SST is still the lingo they use in CA, but that use to be what it was called. Make sure the school is fully aware of your concerns so that they can address the situation at once. My own son is in a similar program, where they do a grade up for starters. His teacher is AMAZING! We are very lucky. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.