Very upset..need some guidance (long)

[Guest guest]

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.