Pulling 2E kid out of public school

[Ducksmom]

Background: I recently pulled my 8th grader and 6th grader of their public middle school in the middle of the school year.  My 8th grader is 2e and the school said she would have to choose between being in her gifted classroom or receiving support for her dyscalculia.  That was the final straw after years of fighting for services.

Anyway, the curriculum is on its way but I’m panicking.  I don’t have any special education in gifted children or dyscalculia.  I ordered Teaching Textbooks.  Does anyone have experience with that curriculum and kids with dyscalculia? Does anyone have any other advice or words of wisdom?   

[PeterPan]

Expect mistakes, possibly expensive ones. Talk to your kids. Find some STRENGTHS to pursue. Find some things you want to do together that have zero to do with their disabilities, like cooking, hiking, camping, chess, magic tricks, whatever). Prioritize having a good life over academics. With kids this bright, they'll be fine. The key is not too worry to much and to let it happen.

As far as the math, hey, who knows. What made you lean toward Teaching Textbooks? Did you do a placement test? How did that go? What math content are you wanting right now? Computation, pre-algebra, something else?

That really, really, really reeks that they weren't willing to give her accommodations and an IEP so she could have specialized services for the math and be on the gifted track for everything else. Absolutely absurd. 

Math is the thing that needs the most custom, so expect some learning curve there or trial and error. If you can describe what you need to have happen, people can guide you. Fwiw, we were given the advice with my ds to treated him as math GIFTED with a math DISABILITY. These two things can co-exist. When in doubt, plow both directions at once. So if she sorta likes math, even a little, find some cool math stuff to add to your day, just something fun. That way math isn't only about her disability but also about her ability. The dyscalculia, from what geodob and others have said, is on one side of the brain and the conceptual ability is on the other. She might actually be quite capable in some ways. My ds enjoys word problems, anything spatial, etc. He just really sucks at computation, lol. 

Dice Activities for Mathematical Thinking - Didax Educational ...https://www.didax.com › dice-activities-for-mathematical-thinking  I've got this on my desk right now, and it might be about the right level for your dc. There are others in the series.

 Advanced Pattern Block Book, Gr. 5-8 This is great.

Just ideas. 

Edited September 20, 2019 by PeterPan

[PeterPan]

         Magic DVD Set - Complete Card Magic 7 Volume Set on 4 DVDs - Teaches Over 120 Card Trick Effects       just for fun. We're doing these right now. 

[Lawyer&Mom]

I don’t know her maths strengths and weaknesses, but an 8th grader probably hasn’t seen a lot of Geometry yet.  You might be surprised.  You can have computational problems and excel at visual spatial.

 

[PeterPan]

6 minutes ago, Lawyer&Mom said:

Geometry yet.  You might be surprised.  You can have computational problems and excel at visual spatial.

Yup, that's what makes that Advanced Pattern Blocks book fun. There's also an upper level Family Math book. There's Patty Paper Geometry. Even just bringing in origami can be fun. With my dd I had these origami a day calendars. We did napkin folding using                                             The Simple Art of Napkin Folding: 94 Fancy Folds for Every Tabletop Occasion                                       which is only $5 on amazon right btw. Actually I say we, haha, and truth is I sent her down to her grandma's!! LOL

Sewing is also really great.

[itsheresomewhere]

Teaching Textbooks has been very good for DS with dyscalculia.  We tried a few programs and this one has worked well.  One of the moms I know, her son like a plus math more. So if teaching textbooks doesn’t work, try that one.

[Pen]

 

On 9/19/2019 at 8:34 PM, Ducksmom said:

Does anyone have any other advice or words of wisdom?   

 

Welcome! Take a deep breath.  Expect to make mistakes, but it’s going to be okay!

 

 

For the gifted, not dyscalculia side, I suggest reading  on Michael Clay Thompson website      https://www.rfwp.com/

if you scroll down you’ll come to:

 

Gifted Education

• Books on Giftedness for Parents and Teachers
• Books for Young Gifted Children on Reading, Writing, and Thinking
• Resources for Parents Homeschooling Gifted Children
• Is Everyone Gifted?
• What It’s Like to Be a Parent of a Gifted Child
• Gifted Women and Girls
• Novels about Gifted and Talented Children

Special Needs

• Books about Twice-Exceptionality

 

[EKS]

TT has the advantage that it does continual review in addition to teaching the new material each day.  However, I'd be careful about "outsourcing" your student's math lessons to a computer for two reasons.  First, having worked with students who have done most of their math online where answers are checked by the computer, my opinion is that it encourages bad habits.  It makes the focus of math the answer and not the process, and one of the byproducts of this shift in focus is that students tend to show their work in a jumbled mess (if at all).  Second, but more importantly,  I think that the very best thing you can do, regardless of the resource you choose, is to maintain an interactive presence as your student's teacher.  I believe this is critical for all students, but most especially for LD and 2E students.

Edited September 22, 2019 by EKS

[PeterPan]

2 hours ago, EKS said:

Second, but more importantly,  I think that the very best thing you can do, regardless of the resource you choose, is to maintain an interactive presence as your student's teacher.

Yup. That was our experience here too. Dd made some gains with TT in things like fact fluency, but when we realized she wasn't actually moving forward and retaining, then we had a mess. She was able to go over to MUS and plug through herself, but it's a mistake I'm not making with ds. You could even half/half, but don't completely outsource.

 

[Ducksmom]

Thank you so much for all your detailed responses! I didn't see any notifications so I assumed my post was ignored until just now. 

To address some of your questions: 

On math: I had to throw together some sort of curriculum in a very short time frame due to the sudden nature of this school change.  I chose Teaching Textbooks mostly because I did not feel comfortable teaching math myself, but I am absolutely taking into account the feedback that I should be actively participating in their math education.  I decided not do a placement test for DD13– One of many agonizing decisions I have made so far.  She has always struggled the most with tests and I felt it might hit her confidence too hard if she didn’t test up to the level she was doing before.  I absolutely hear you @PeterPan on being both math gifted and having a math disability.  It is always hard to explain to people how DD13 is both in a more advanced math level than many of her same age peers, and also needs to extra help. She also has ADHD and is at the same time well behaved.  No one knows what to make of her! I will take your suggestions and collect some fun math activities that she can do well in.  I did a placement test with DD11 and she tested a good bit higher than I expected. She actually tested into the same level I am going to do with DD13, which... well I’m hoping it doesn’t cause problems of it’s own.  

About the IEP: Yes, DD13 did have an IEP and I absolutely could have fought them on this...again... and probably won, but these fights have been happening with her school every year and we always waste the first months of school with inappropriate accommodations, tears, and money wasted.  I was done with all of that this year.  

Thank for the advice of doing fun things that don’t have to do with disabilities.  When I pulled the girls out of their public school I told them they could choose a couple of fun subjects to do this year.  They want to take a coking class and learn Japanese (they are casual anime/manga fans).  On top of that, they will be keeping up with their regular extracurriculars.  

 

[Pen]

56 minutes ago, Ducksmom said:

Thank you so much for all your detailed responses! I didn't see any notifications so I assumed my post was ignored until just now. 

To address some of your questions: 

On math: I had to throw together some sort of curriculum in a very short time frame due to the sudden nature of this school change.  I chose Teaching Textbooks mostly because I did not feel comfortable teaching math myself, but I am absolutely taking into account the feedback that I should be actively participating in their math education.  I decided not do a placement test for DD13– One of many agonizing decisions I have made so far.  She has always struggled the most with tests and I felt it might hit her confidence too hard if she didn’t test up to the level she was doing before.  I absolutely hear you @PeterPan on being both math gifted and having a math disability.  It is always hard to explain to people how DD13 is both in a more advanced math level than many of her same age peers, and also needs to extra help. She also has ADHD and is at the same time well behaved.  No one knows what to make of her! I will take your suggestions and collect some fun math activities that she can do well in.  I did a placement test with DD11 and she tested a good bit higher than I expected. She actually tested into the same level I am going to do with DD13, which... well I’m hoping it doesn’t cause problems of it’s own.  

About the IEP: Yes, DD13 did have an IEP and I absolutely could have fought them on this...again... and probably won, but these fights have been happening with her school every year and we always waste the first months of school with inappropriate accommodations, tears, and money wasted.  I was done with all of that this year.  

Thank for the advice of doing fun things that don’t have to do with disabilities.  When I pulled the girls out of their public school I told them they could choose a couple of fun subjects to do this year.  They want to take a coking class and learn Japanese (they are casual anime/manga fans).  On top of that, they will be keeping up with their regular extracurriculars.  

 

 

KhanAcademy might help to find and fix holes.  

If she has severe dyscalculia, something like James Tanton’s exploding dots, math u see, or a dyscalculia specific program might help.