Re: Very upset..need some guidance (long)

October 17, 2008

I have to add my two cents here also.

My son is 1o and in 4th grade.

Please know that you are not alone in struggling with this issue with your

sons resource room teacher. I am also having big issues with my sons resource

room teacher.

I seem to be having the same issue with the fact that they seem to be under

setting goals way underneath what my son is able to accomplish also as far as

his homework is concerned he hardly has any this year. His reading goals are

also set at level below where my son actually is. My son seems to have already

accomplished what the goal is last year. My son is also having issues with his

math. You see they are letting my child use a calculator. Instead of teaching

him how to do basic math in his head. I know for a fact he can do basic math

with out a calculator. If they only decided to actually teach him to do it.

I also have tried to set up meetings to sit down and talk with her also. So far

i have been brushed off in person twice now. I have talked to her on the phone

and agian got brushed off. I now have sent her an e-mail which I have yet to get

a response to.

Just so that you know I also got the same exact answer you did. That they teach

on the individual childs level. Well in my case my son is mainstreamed for

scisnce with the regular class. My sons one on one aide his suppost to be

modifying some of the work so that it is on my sons level. So they tell me. I

know last year they were doing this somewhat. With his spelling words. They only

gave him part of the list to do and took him aside and gave him an individual

spelling test.

Now the strange thing and the weird part of this to me is the fact here we are

in two different states and two completely different school districts with

different special ed guidelines. Experiencing two different situations but

similar.

Sorry I have no advice since I am a bind here also. Just thought I would add my

experience and share mine with you.

I am getting no where with my situation at all. I have even gone the route of

officially calling a full IEP team meeting with the whole team (which consists

of about 10 to 12 people). I still got nowhere. I was hoping to finally get a

response where I could actually get this woman to listen to me. Getting the

whole team together would be mess. It was suppost to get a response. But I got

none so far. Which makes me furious.

Good Luck with your battle.

Seems like just when we think we are on the right path education wise. The

school decides to pull a fast on us.

Jeanne mom to 10 yo (oral and verbal dyspraxia )

NH

From: kayce_the_nut <kaycespader@...>

Subject: [ ] Very upset..need some guidance (long)

Date: Friday, October 17, 2008, 7:45 PM

I'm copying & pasting an email from Cody's resource room teacher. I

emailed her & asked when Cody would be getting reading homework (1st

grade). My reason for asking is because I see what's coming home for

homework & it's so beneath him, it's upsetting. I've pointed out over

& over that my concern was that he wasn't going to be taught at his

level, but they reassured me that they teach at individual levels (I'm

sure they're lying now). Anyway, the upsetting parts about her

response are where she says " after Cody is proficient w/ blending

letter sounds " (how is that possible for a severely apraxic child??) &

that he can't rhyme pictures together by himself (obviously, we know

that if he looks at wall & ball, he will not say them correctly,

therefore they don't rhyme!!).

They don't know what to do with him & we really feel he's being robbed

of a proper education--not that I'd want to change schools..we' re in

So. Jersey--they' re all morons!). I just don't know what to do. It's

like I'm talking to a brick wall when I tell them my concerns.

Here is the email, please let me know honestly what you think--and if

you think I'm over reacting, that's okay to tell me!

Part of Cody's reading homework are the phonics pages in his packet

which are from first grade McGrawHill.

As I explained at Back to School night, Fundations is a multi-sensory,

systematic program to teach phonemic awareness, reading and spelling.

We have completed all of the letters, keywords, and sounds for each

letter. Mrs. Smalling works with me two days/week to help me with

Cody's speech sounds. Next week we will begin Unit 2 – tapping to

read and spell words. We will be working with CVC words with emphasis

on the short vowel sounds and word families. Cody has already

learned one of the first spelling rules. The qu is called a " chicken

letter " . The rule is that q doesn't go anywhere without u. Once we

begin with dictation, we will be spelling words with qu, like quit

and quiz. All of the spelling and dictation of words is done in my

classroom. Once Cody is fairly proficient in tapping and blending the

sounds for reading, we will begin reading stories that reinforce the

concepts he has learned.

Cody is also continuing to work on mastering his phonological

awareness skills. We have been doing several activities in rhyming,

which goes along with learning word families. Cody is able to

recognize words that rhyme or don't rhyme, he can produce a rhyme, but

is having difficulty matching pictures that rhyme. There are a couple

of activities you can do at home for rhyming.

1. Deck of playing cards – this is a great family activity –

pass out 2 or 3 cards – each person has to say a word that rhymes with

the number on the card.

2. Cut out pictures from magazines – have Cody match the

pictures that rhyme. You can also use common objects around the house

to practice rhyming.

Once again, I extend an invitation for you to observe one of our

Fundations lessons. Have a good weekend.

October 18, 2008

This is horrible. I'm glad you gave me your story. The worst part about

the whole " when he's proficient, we'll start reading.. " Is that my husband

& I worked all summer very hard with him & HE IS READING!!! (patting

ourselves on the back). I've asked for 2 years for help on steps to help

him read & no one ever got back to me, so we did the best we could & he is

reading on a 1st grade level (not advanced, just average, sight words & i am

sam type books). We are very proud of him (and us!).

My husband will help me write a letter this week (he's very good..eloquent),

and if we don't get anywhere, I will probably have the state DOE step in,

which might be a good step for you as well.

On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 10:29 PM, Jeanne <jamie199866@...>wrote:

> I have to add my two cents here also.

> My son is 1o and in 4th grade.

>

> Please know that you are not alone in struggling with this issue with your

> sons resource room teacher. I am also having big issues with my sons

> resource room teacher.

>

> I seem to be having the same issue with the fact that they seem to be under

> setting goals way underneath what my son is able to accomplish also as far

> as his homework is concerned he hardly has any this year. His reading goals

> are also set at level below where my son actually is. My son seems to have

> already accomplished what the goal is last year. My son is also having

> issues with his math. You see they are letting my child use a calculator.

> Instead of teaching him how to do basic math in his head. I know for a fact

> he can do basic math with out a calculator. If they only decided to actually

> teach him to do it.

>

> I also have tried to set up meetings to sit down and talk with her also. So

> far i have been brushed off in person twice now. I have talked to her on the

> phone and agian got brushed off. I now have sent her an e-mail which I have

> yet to get a response to.

>

> Just so that you know I also got the same exact answer you did. That they

> teach on the individual childs level. Well in my case my son is mainstreamed

> for scisnce with the regular class. My sons one on one aide his suppost to

> be modifying some of the work so that it is on my sons level. So they tell

> me. I know last year they were doing this somewhat. With his spelling words.

> They only gave him part of the list to do and took him aside and gave him an

> individual spelling test.

>

> Now the strange thing and the weird part of this to me is the fact here we

> are in two different states and two completely different school districts

> with different special ed guidelines. Experiencing two different situations

> but similar.

>

> Sorry I have no advice since I am a bind here also. Just thought I would

> add my experience and share mine with you.

>

> I am getting no where with my situation at all. I have even gone the route

> of officially calling a full IEP team meeting with the whole team (which

> consists of about 10 to 12 people). I still got nowhere. I was hoping to

> finally get a response where I could actually get this woman to listen to

> me. Getting the whole team together would be mess. It was suppost to get a

> response. But I got none so far. Which makes me furious.

>

> Good Luck with your battle.

>

> Seems like just when we think we are on the right path education wise. The

> school decides to pull a fast on us.

> Jeanne mom to 10 yo (oral and verbal dyspraxia )

> NH

>

> From: kayce_the_nut <kaycespader@...>

> Subject: [ ] Very upset..need some guidance (long)

>

> Date: Friday, October 17, 2008, 7:45 PM

>

> I'm copying & pasting an email from Cody's resource room teacher. I

> emailed her & asked when Cody would be getting reading homework (1st

> grade). My reason for asking is because I see what's coming home for

> homework & it's so beneath him, it's upsetting. I've pointed out over

> & over that my concern was that he wasn't going to be taught at his

> level, but they reassured me that they teach at individual levels (I'm

> sure they're lying now). Anyway, the upsetting parts about her

> response are where she says " after Cody is proficient w/ blending

> letter sounds " (how is that possible for a severely apraxic child??) &

> that he can't rhyme pictures together by himself (obviously, we know

> that if he looks at wall & ball, he will not say them correctly,

> therefore they don't rhyme!!).

> They don't know what to do with him & we really feel he's being robbed

> of a proper education--not that I'd want to change schools..we' re in

> So. Jersey--they' re all morons!). I just don't know what to do. It's

> like I'm talking to a brick wall when I tell them my concerns.

> Here is the email, please let me know honestly what you think--and if

> you think I'm over reacting, that's okay to tell me!

>

> Part of Cody's reading homework are the phonics pages in his packet

> which are from first grade McGrawHill.

>

> As I explained at Back to School night, Fundations is a multi-sensory,

> systematic program to teach phonemic awareness, reading and spelling.

> We have completed all of the letters, keywords, and sounds for each

> letter. Mrs. Smalling works with me two days/week to help me with

> Cody's speech sounds. Next week we will begin Unit 2 – tapping to

> read and spell words. We will be working with CVC words with emphasis

> on the short vowel sounds and word families. Cody has already

> learned one of the first spelling rules. The qu is called a " chicken

> letter " . The rule is that q doesn't go anywhere without u. Once we

> begin with dictation, we will be spelling words with qu, like quit

> and quiz. All of the spelling and dictation of words is done in my

> classroom. Once Cody is fairly proficient in tapping and blending the

> sounds for reading, we will begin reading stories that reinforce the

> concepts he has learned.

>

> Cody is also continuing to work on mastering his phonological

> awareness skills. We have been doing several activities in rhyming,

> which goes along with learning word families. Cody is able to

> recognize words that rhyme or don't rhyme, he can produce a rhyme, but

> is having difficulty matching pictures that rhyme. There are a couple

> of activities you can do at home for rhyming.

>

> 1. Deck of playing cards – this is a great family activity –

> pass out 2 or 3 cards – each person has to say a word that rhymes with

> the number on the card.

>

> 2. Cut out pictures from magazines – have Cody match the

> pictures that rhyme. You can also use common objects around the house

> to practice rhyming.

>

> Once again, I extend an invitation for you to observe one of our

> Fundations lessons. Have a good weekend.

>

October 18, 2008

My son is also in first grade. He was in public school last year and is now

homeschooled. He learned to read before he could make all the blends, and

is reading at a mid to late second grade level now. Coinciding with his

learning to read was also a huge boost in his articulation and speech

production as well as his language (he had a severe language disorder

before, now probably moderate and his apraxia is rarely an issue - recent

developments.) Seeing blends and words in print has helped him immensely

both with his understanding and his articulation. A printed word is one

more clue to help him get past an " apraxic moment " as we call his

difficulties now. When I am having problems explaining something to him I

can now write it and he will read it and it helps. Likewise when he is

scared somewhere without me, or frustrated with me, I can have him write

(with creative, but phonetical spelling) what he wanted to say and can't and

he can get his point across.

This sounds like a teacher with no creativity. One who only knows how to

teach by following the book or program to the letter. If child can't do

this, don't proceed.

What does the SLP say? Is there a sped coordinator at the school or

district level?

You should be proud of how far he's come with reading! Way to go mom and

Cody!!! If you want to work with him more I highly recommend the book,

" Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. " You can purchase it for $20

or less at Amazon or a bunch of other places, and if it doesn't work it can

usually be resold on ebay or homeschool curriculum resale sites. The method

they use to blend words really worked for my son. If I just had him repeat

a sound he couldn't do it. If I showed him a flashcard he couldn't do it,

but the book with it's dot and arrow under the sounds and the method that is

slowly worked to in just 15 mins a day, had him blending and even rhyming a

little with fluency.

He still struggles with rhyming pictures btw, and we work on that

regularly. He can pick out most rhyming words from written word because he

can " see " the end sound, even when the sound isn't spelled the same way.

I'm sorry you're having such a struggle. Keep up the good work and fight.

Let us know if you make any progress.

Miche

On Sat, Oct 18, 2008 at 5:07 AM, Kayce Spader <kaycespader@...> wrote:

> This is horrible. I'm glad you gave me your story. The worst part about

> the whole " when he's proficient, we'll start reading.. " Is that my husband

> & I worked all summer very hard with him & HE IS READING!!! (patting

> ourselves on the back). I've asked for 2 years for help on steps to help

> him read & no one ever got back to me, so we did the best we could & he is

> reading on a 1st grade level (not advanced, just average, sight words & i

> am

> sam type books). We are very proud of him (and us!).

> My husband will help me write a letter this week (he's very

> good..eloquent),

> and if we don't get anywhere, I will probably have the state DOE step in,

> which might be a good step for you as well.

October 18, 2008

I don't know if this will be helpful, but I thought I'd tell you about my

daughter. I sent her to a private Christian school for Kindergarten and 1st

grade. She has CP, walks with a walker and has very little comprehensible

speech. She uses a Dynavox for speech and to do her schoolwork.

Last year in the 1st grade, she was struggling and had tons of homework

because she missed class time when she had therapy, and her work took her longer

to do than the other kids. Every evening was dedicated to homework and she

didn't seem to mind, but it was stressful trying to complete all of it. We

decided to retain her for another year of 1st grade, so she could catch up and

not have to struggle so much. She was eligible for a 6 week program over the

summer at the public school and I turned it down because I wanted to give her a

break. We did a phonics program over the summer and she spent hours emailing

people. We also read several of the Ingalls Wilder books together.

Two days before school started, the private school closed because several

families decided they couldn't afford it any more. She started 1st grade in

public school in a regular classroom. She has a SPED teacher who spends two

hours a day in the class, helping her and several other children, and she also

has PT, OT and Speech.

After 6 weeks of school, I can tell you this has been the best thing that

could have happened. She has almost no homework. Each week the kids write in a

journal a few sentences and draw/color a picture to go with their journal entry.

In January they will start getting spelling words to practice. The only other

" homework " is to encourage them to read.

She spends hours per week reading to our cat, or to her dolls or to me. She

still has time to email people using her Dynavox and I think she is progressing

much faster than she did when she had so much darned homework every day.

So my point is, (and I do have one), the work you have been doing with your

son is probably better than anything they could send home. You know more about

how he learns than the experts at school do anyway. So keep doing what you're

doing.

If they are tying his reading goals to his speech, well that is just insane.

My daughter may never be able to verbally blend sounds, but she can certainly

read and understand them! If he has an IEP, you need to make sure that the goals

are separate for speech and reading. He can rhyme words without saying them, he

just has to show them what he knows in different ways, other than speaking. You

may need to amend the IEP, so that the goals are appropriate for him.

There is a phonics program that your son can do online that might be helpful.

It is called clicknkids and it takes about 20 minutes a day.(You have to pay

about $60 for it) There are 100 lessons and it doesn't require any speech. It

has been very helpful for my daughter, and helps you to give some structure and

order to the teaching that you do with him.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful in some way.