Re: Mainstream classroom

[Guest guest]

My daughter Kaitee who is 15 has always been mainstreamed in school, no aid and

she has done okay up till middle school then the problems started to appear, but

even though she struggled she managed to keep up. High school  has proven to be

very difficult and she is not doing well at all, I kept thinking 3 more years

and we done with it just 3 more years lol... the IEP meeting last week they

infromed me they wanted to retest Kaitee, and replace her , and she wont be

eligible for a diploma but a certificate and wont complete school till she is

21.....Do I believe things would of been better had I gone the other way and

placed her in a contained enviroment ....no... I have always been led to believe

she was only slightly behind other children her age and now I am told she is

tested at a 4.5 grade level... it is confusing and I bet I didnt help one bit

did I lol.

Debbi

________________________________

To: MosaicDS

Sent: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 7:31 PM

Subject: Mainstream classroom

 

Has anyone in this group decided to place their child with MDS in a mainstream

classroom setting without a one to one aid? My daughter is going to be starting

kindergarten this coming Fall and my husband and I are still trying to decide

which route to take for her. She does well in an inclusive environment. However,

she is still delayed in speech and fine motor skills. We think she may get bored

in a self-contained smaller classroom but we are concerned about her being

mainstreamed without an aid in such a large classroom mainly due to her speech

delays. I am not sure what to do. So I'm just wondering if anyone else has

decided to go mainstream even though your child was speech delayed and how did

it work out good or bad? Thanks

Carmen

[Guest guest]

This is where you need to talk with the school and stay on top of it.

My son, who is now 17 and a junior in high school, had a 1-on-1 aide

since pre-K, up until 8th grade. He is a bright MDS with a charming

personality. However, what happened is that he charmed his aides into

doing more for him than they should have - so he got lazy! When he

should have been doing handwriting through middle school, he wasn't.

I got him back on track but almost too late. He is now doing IXL,

which is an on-line math program - containing pre-K through High

School. Check it out and ask your school to: if they join for a low

yearly subscription, they can put your child on it to use it after

school. And ask for homework nightly (I enjoyed learning with him).

An aide is useful, but that aide should not become a crutch to your

child.

> My daughter Kaitee who is 15 has always been mainstreamed in school, no aid

> and she has done okay up till middle school then the problems started to

> appear, but even though she struggled she managed to keep up. High school

> has proven to be very difficult and she is not doing well at all, I kept

> thinking 3 more years and we done with it just 3 more years lol... the IEP

> meeting last week they infromed me they wanted to retest Kaitee, and replace

> her , and she wont be eligible for a diploma but a certificate and wont

> complete school till she is 21.....Do I believe things would of been better

> had I gone the other way and placed her in a contained enviroment ....no...

> I have always been led to believe she was only slightly behind other

> children her age and now I am told she is tested at a 4.5 grade level... it

> is confusing and I bet I didnt help one bit did I lol.

> Debbi

>

>

>

> ________________________________

>

> To: MosaicDS

> Sent: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 7:31 PM

> Subject: Mainstream classroom

>

>

>

> Has anyone in this group decided to place their child with MDS in a

> mainstream classroom setting without a one to one aid? My daughter is going

> to be starting kindergarten this coming Fall and my husband and I are still

> trying to decide which route to take for her. She does well in an inclusive

> environment. However, she is still delayed in speech and fine motor skills.

> We think she may get bored in a self-contained smaller classroom but we are

> concerned about her being mainstreamed without an aid in such a large

> classroom mainly due to her speech delays. I am not sure what to do. So I'm

> just wondering if anyone else has decided to go mainstream even though your

> child was speech delayed and how did it work out good or bad? Thanks

>

> Carmen

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

My daughter who is 8 and finishing up first grade is totally mainstreamed.

There is a classroom aide and she has a 1 on 1 outside the classroom just

because she likes to wonder. I was told you don't want a 1 on 1 because the

child will become to dependent on them and if you don't get the perfect aide,

the aide will tend to do too much for the child. I'm seeing that now. My

daughter's classroom aide is pretty much her aide and she is not holding her

accountable for things. The teacher has gotten on the aide for this. My

daughter is totally capable of doing everything but if it gets the slightest bit

hard she noes how to play the game and get out of it. this is where the teacher

holds her accountable and makes her do it. I hope this helps!

Sent from my iPad

> Has anyone in this group decided to place their child with MDS in a mainstream

classroom setting without a one to one aid? My daughter is going to be starting

kindergarten this coming Fall and my husband and I are still trying to decide

which route to take for her. She does well in an inclusive environment. However,

she is still delayed in speech and fine motor skills. We think she may get bored

in a self-contained smaller classroom but we are concerned about her being

mainstreamed without an aid in such a large classroom mainly due to her speech

delays. I am not sure what to do. So I'm just wondering if anyone else has

decided to go mainstream even though your child was speech delayed and how did

it work out good or bad? Thanks

>

> Carmen

>

>

>

>

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[Guest guest]

My daughter who is now 18 started elementry school in a mainstream class. She

did kindergarten and first grade in a mainstream class. There were struggles

because academically she was behind the other kids. She also had a personal

aide. We switched her to a self contained classroom for the rest of elementry

school. I held her back in 5th grade to mature her alittle. There were still

problems with behavior. Then in middle school she was also in a self contained

classroom but the work was hard for her and the behavior continued. Now she is

a junior in high school and she has been in the life skills class. She takes

regular elective classes also. She is in chorus, did the school musical, and is

in drama club and make a wish club. There have been no behavior problems at

all. She is very social now there are many mentors(her peers) that come into

her class and have lunch with her. She also attended her junior banquest with

the mentors she knows and had a wonderful time. She still struggles

academically her reading is on a 2nd grade level. But we are working on her

social skills and the skills she needs to one day have a job. She goes out for

work part of the day in school. Right now she is working in the Public library

putting away books. I am told she works independently. I still want her to

learn what she can from the normal subjects in school but more importantly she

needs the skills to function outside of school. She will graduate 12th grade

and participate in the graduation ceremony but she can stay in school until she

is 21. For the last two years I am thinking she will go out part of the day to

a vo-tech school to learn a skill. I have to go to check out that school.

Every child is different and you have to do what is best for your child. What

is good for one may not work for another. Also every school district is

different. I feel lucky my district has always done what I felt was best for

her and I have always considered what they suggest. She has a wonderful teacher

who just won Teacher of the year in our high school and the district.

I also have my daughter involved in an organization in my town called Pathways

for Exceptional Children. She is in an employment program with it which teaches

alot of computer skills and work skills. She has done food service at an

assistant living facility, and dog walking. She does bowling, weightlifting and

is in a Rock band called pathways Rock band. If you have a chance check out the

web site Pathways for Exceptional Children. The woman who runs this goes into

other towns to help them start these programs. There are mentors that work with

the kids.

I am very gratful to her teacher and the children that mentor her. It is

because of them that she is involved in the school with typical kids. They have

included her and made it easier for her to do things. I feel it is up to the

school to include our kids because it is difficult for them to include

themselves.

Jeanne

Mainstream classroom

Has anyone in this group decided to place their child with MDS in a mainstream

classroom setting without a one to one aid? My daughter is going to be starting

kindergarten this coming Fall and my husband and I are still trying to decide

which route to take for her. She does well in an inclusive environment. However,

she is still delayed in speech and fine motor skills. We think she may get bored

in a self-contained smaller classroom but we are concerned about her being

mainstreamed without an aid in such a large classroom mainly due to her speech

delays. I am not sure what to do. So I'm just wondering if anyone else has

decided to go mainstream even though your child was speech delayed and how did

it work out good or bad? Thanks

Carmen

[Guest guest]

Hi Carmen,

I concur with what the others have said and in fact it's good to hear that

others have experienced what I'm going through right now. My son is

finishing up kinder this year and he has a full time aid, spends 5 hours in

general ed (kinder) and the rest of the time in special ed. He also had/has

delays in speech and fine motor. I really didn't think he needed a full

time aid but I'm not at school all day so don't see everything that goes

on. He was a runner, but thankfully not so much anymore, so that's one of

the reasons why they recommended a full time aid. To make the transition to

kinder easier, he had the same aid that was with him in the PPCD program

(he was in that program at the same school starting at 3 yo). This was a

good and bad thing - made the transition easier because he loves her, she

is patient with him, but he also is too dependent on her. We just had our

ARD (Admission Review Dismissal - to review the goals for next year) and

they suggested (which we were going to do as well) that his aid is rotated

among 3 different aids. He knows each of them already so we think this will

be a good plan. Kinder was a very hard transition for us - in Texas it is

all day starting at 7:40 AM and ending at 2:40 PM so he was exhausted the

first couple of months. We moved up his bed time and I was able to adjust

my work schedule to pick him up at 4:30 PM (he was in the after school

program at the school). I'd like to also suggest that you spend some time

in the classroom on occasion. I had always planned to do that this last

year and never did and regret it. I will definitly schedule this for next

school year. It will help me understand the general ed classroom dynamics.

~Gwyn

> **

>

>

>

> My daughter who is now 18 started elementry school in a mainstream class.

> She did kindergarten and first grade in a mainstream class. There were

> struggles because academically she was behind the other kids. She also had

> a personal aide. We switched her to a self contained classroom for the rest

> of elementry school. I held her back in 5th grade to mature her alittle.

> There were still problems with behavior. Then in middle school she was also

> in a self contained classroom but the work was hard for her and the

> behavior continued. Now she is a junior in high school and she has been in

> the life skills class. She takes regular elective classes also. She is in

> chorus, did the school musical, and is in drama club and make a wish club.

> There have been no behavior problems at all. She is very social now there

> are many mentors(her peers) that come into her class and have lunch with

> her. She also attended her junior banquest with the mentors she knows and

> had a wonderful time. She still struggles academically her reading is on a

> 2nd grade level. But we are working on her social skills and the skills she

> needs to one day have a job. She goes out for work part of the day in

> school. Right now she is working in the Public library putting away books.

> I am told she works independently. I still want her to learn what she can

> from the normal subjects in school but more importantly she needs the

> skills to function outside of school. She will graduate 12th grade and

> participate in the graduation ceremony but she can stay in school until she

> is 21. For the last two years I am thinking she will go out part of the day

> to a vo-tech school to learn a skill. I have to go to check out that school.

>

> Every child is different and you have to do what is best for your child.

> What is good for one may not work for another. Also every school district

> is different. I feel lucky my district has always done what I felt was best

> for her and I have always considered what they suggest. She has a wonderful

> teacher who just won Teacher of the year in our high school and the

> district.

>

> I also have my daughter involved in an organization in my town called

> Pathways for Exceptional Children. She is in an employment program with it

> which teaches alot of computer skills and work skills. She has done food

> service at an assistant living facility, and dog walking. She does bowling,

> weightlifting and is in a Rock band called pathways Rock band. If you have

> a chance check out the web site Pathways for Exceptional Children. The

> woman who runs this goes into other towns to help them start these

> programs. There are mentors that work with the kids.

>

> I am very gratful to her teacher and the children that mentor her. It is

> because of them that she is involved in the school with typical kids. They

> have included her and made it easier for her to do things. I feel it is up

> to the school to include our kids because it is difficult for them to

> include themselves.

>

> Jeanne

>

>

> Mainstream classroom

>

> Has anyone in this group decided to place their child with MDS in a

> mainstream classroom setting without a one to one aid? My daughter is going

> to be starting kindergarten this coming Fall and my husband and I are still

> trying to decide which route to take for her. She does well in an inclusive

> environment. However, she is still delayed in speech and fine motor skills.

> We think she may get bored in a self-contained smaller classroom but we are

> concerned about her being mainstreamed without an aid in such a large

> classroom mainly due to her speech delays. I am not sure what to do. So I'm

> just wondering if anyone else has decided to go mainstream even though your

> child was speech delayed and how did it work out good or bad? Thanks

>

> Carmen

>

>

[Guest guest]

Carmen, how old is your child?  If you are unsure of what to do in the fall

(mainstream or self-contained) why not let your child play an extra year?  I

think many people send their kids to school too early.  As an educator, it's

heartbreaking to see an overplaced child pulling out his/her hair on the 

rainbow rug, trying to keep it together.  My best friend (with an autistic

daughter)and I (non MDS) both let our older children play an extra year and the

results are amazing.  Our children have emerged into leaders.  Yes, they are the

oldest kids in class, but they are very confident.

Mg

[Guest guest]

Just to add to this - we considered holding our son back but choose to

enroll him in kinder at 5 years old to get the services through the school.

Otherwise he would not have received as much time in speech b/c insurance

(in US) only covers a small number of visits.

Gwyn

> **

>

>

> Carmen, how old is your child? If you are unsure of what to do in the

> fall (mainstream or self-contained) why not let your child play an extra

> year? I think many people send their kids to school too early. As an

> educator, it's heartbreaking to see an overplaced child pulling out his/her

> hair on the rainbow rug, trying to keep it together. My best friend (with

> an autistic daughter)and I (non MDS) both let our older children play an

> extra year and the results are amazing. Our children have emerged into

> leaders. Yes, they are the oldest kids in class, but they are very

> confident.

>

> Mg

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Thanks for all of the replies! Your experience and your suggestions are helpful!

My daughter Sydney is 5 she will be 6 in November. She is currently in the pre-k

inclusive program at our local public school. From what I've been told holding

her back a one year in this program is not an option. We have also discussed

getting an aid for her if we mainstream her for kindergarten and we have been

getting a lot of resistance about that so I don't think we will likely be able

to get an aid for her.

I'm torn because I feel like she is somewhere in the middle in terms of her

abilities. I think she would benefit from a mainstream class with a pull out for

small class instruction during the day, but I'm scared about her wandering off

or not transitioning smoothly throughout the day. I feel that an aid would help

with these things as well as help keeping her on task.

On the other hand, although I see some benefit to the small self-contained

classroom I fear it may not be stimulating enough for her and the school that

our district uses for that classroom here in our county we are not really

thrilled about the school at all.

I am just trying to figure out some other options if there are any. I don't want

her to be totally bored or regress but I also don't want her to be in an

environment where she struggles so much that it is not beneficial either. I'm

just not sure what to do.

>

> > **

> >

> >

> > Carmen, how old is your child? If you are unsure of what to do in the

> > fall (mainstream or self-contained) why not let your child play an extra

> > year? I think many people send their kids to school too early. As an

> > educator, it's heartbreaking to see an overplaced child pulling out his/her

> > hair on the rainbow rug, trying to keep it together. My best friend (with

> > an autistic daughter)and I (non MDS) both let our older children play an

> > extra year and the results are amazing. Our children have emerged into

> > leaders. Yes, they are the oldest kids in class, but they are very

> > confident.

> >

> > Mg

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

What you are going through is completely natural! I had the same exact

fears and thoughts. You will find what is right for your daughter and you

can always make adjustments throughout the year. I considered taking Mark

out of kinder after 2 months but gave him another few weeks to adjust; I'm

so glad we stuck through it as he made that positive turn. If you feel like

she needs an aid then fight for that. Do not let the school district tell

you that you need something when you believe the opposite. Research all of

your options and if you need support when you go into your meeting then

bring someone who is experienced. I'm not sure where you live but where we

live we have a lot of support - training, people to attend the meetings

with us, etc.

http://www.wrightslaw.com/ is a great resource.

> **

>

>

> Thanks for all of the replies! Your experience and your suggestions are

> helpful!

>

> My daughter Sydney is 5 she will be 6 in November. She is currently in the

> pre-k inclusive program at our local public school. From what I've been

> told holding her back a one year in this program is not an option. We have

> also discussed getting an aid for her if we mainstream her for kindergarten

> and we have been getting a lot of resistance about that so I don't think we

> will likely be able to get an aid for her.

>

> I'm torn because I feel like she is somewhere in the middle in terms of

> her abilities. I think she would benefit from a mainstream class with a

> pull out for small class instruction during the day, but I'm scared about

> her wandering off or not transitioning smoothly throughout the day. I feel

> that an aid would help with these things as well as help keeping her on

> task.

>

> On the other hand, although I see some benefit to the small self-contained

> classroom I fear it may not be stimulating enough for her and the school

> that our district uses for that classroom here in our county we are not

> really thrilled about the school at all.

>

> I am just trying to figure out some other options if there are any. I

> don't want her to be totally bored or regress but I also don't want her to

> be in an environment where she struggles so much that it is not beneficial

> either. I'm just not sure what to do.

>

>

> >

> > > **

>

> > >

> > >

> > > Carmen, how old is your child? If you are unsure of what to do in the

> > > fall (mainstream or self-contained) why not let your child play an

> extra

> > > year? I think many people send their kids to school too early. As an

> > > educator, it's heartbreaking to see an overplaced child pulling out

> his/her

> > > hair on the rainbow rug, trying to keep it together. My best friend

> (with

> > > an autistic daughter)and I (non MDS) both let our older children play

> an

> > > extra year and the results are amazing. Our children have emerged into

> > > leaders. Yes, they are the oldest kids in class, but they are very

> > > confident.

> > >

> > > Mg

> > >

> > >

> > >