Teaching independence

Perhaps he is having trouble staying on task in the classroom to complete his work and she has to stay on top of him to do so? Is that what she means by being independent? Perhaps the use of a small egg timer would help him stay on task for the duration of a project or paper and he would get a check on a chart on his desk. When he has so many checks he would get a prize.

With my sons expressive language disorder, he finds higher level cognitive words confusing. (i.e. Why and How confuse him) So when he has to write answers to questions, she needs to reread the questions to him, using different question words. Although this is in his IEP, she fights it every step of the way, saying his work is being modified, not accomodated and thus, not really doing true 2nd grade work. I say, as long as she writes the questions so he can understand them, he does fine.

My NLD son is in 5th grade and still can’t write “independently” if you campare him to other 5th grade students. Should he still be in 2nd grade because of that? I sure don’t think so, and neither (fortunately) does his IEP team. He will probably need more help than the average child all the way through school. But he is learning well, and his writing is improving. Repeating a grade wouldn’t solve the problem.

Karen

My son is in third grade and still needs all that help. He doesn’t know the meaning of doing writing independently. Still, with a supportive teacher (hand picked by me), he is doing well. He just got his report card with all B’s and one C.

BTW, his teacher gave him extensive support for the first half of the year. His grades now have been earned without her support. His one C is actually for language arts in the resource room—this is where the writing comes out!!!

I think the teacher is comparing him to nonLD children. My older daughter was far more indep. in third grade than my son is.

I would never let them hold him back for lack of independence.
Beth

I think it is indeed a bit premature for such a decision. I teach Resource Center and have students in grades 2-5. There is NO WAY that I would ever make such a decision this early on in the school year…yes, I consider this early on still. We are only half way through the year and some kids don’t get into their stride until now! AS far as leaving your child back because of independent work for the 3rd grade, many students have difficulty adjusting to 3rd grade because of this,with or without learning differences. I thought that was why we have them in our special classes, to help them learn skill to adjust as well as to learn? I think that there could be a kind on memory trick to help your child learn about HOW and WHY words. I know of many kids for instance, who have great deal of difficulty with math problem solving. When they are told exactly what key words to look for and how to use them , it helps tremendously. I am not sure what you could use, but hopefully you or the Child Study Team’s Leaning COnsultant can come up with one if this teacher cannot. That is what the LDTC is there for (Learning Disabilty Teacher Consultant…not sure what your state calls them). Please do not agree to let him stay back for THAT reason alone. He would continue with the second grade expectations for another year, and may not be able to work as independently even after that. SOme of my kids need more guidance than others, and more help with independent work, but I would never dream of retention unless ther was more at stake and an additional year in school would help.
As far as fostering independence, is the work too hard she is giving him? Is there a lot of distraction in the room (visual - such as bulletin boards, decorations, or auditory - noisy class or hallway- another teacher in the room) Sometiimnes the distractions cause the kids to need more redirection. If this is the case, perhaps the teacher can fix the problem. If there are other kids in the room and he is distracted by the lessons they are recieving, that could also be a problem. Then his desk can be placed so that he cannot see, or hear the lessons.
I hope that the teacher is able to reacces the situation and find out if even she is making him dependant on her for constant praise (she could praise him at time intervals until he completes the work indep.- eventually phasing herself out altogether to allow more independance).
Anyway, a long letter to say that I agree with you. Let us know how it all comes out…remember you do not have to agree to anything that you are not comfortable with!
Cat

I think it is absurd to expect ANY 3rd grader to work independently, particularly one with learning difficulties. My 7th grader still needs some prompting. What good would it do to just ignore his need?

May I suggest that as you look toward 3rd grade - don’t let them bulldoze you - that you take a good look at the teachers that are available and get him with one who will cooperate with you and your son.

Good luck.

Working at home and working at school are two different things. That he works independently at home doesn’t mean he can work independently at school.

but here’s what i would do. I’d make a time to go in to his classroom and observe. Sit quietly in the back of the room - the normal activity of the classroom will soon resume around you - as if you’re not there. Observe your son. Is he distracted by other children? By the noise of many children? What’s going on that seems to make it difficult for him to work without one on one from the teacher?

Or maybe you’ll see she’s exaggerating.

It’s downright odd that she insisted on this in the face of other school employees saying it’s too soon. Usually those birds of a feather flock together.

You might also spend some time observing in a 3rd grade classroom. See how much more independence is really needed.

Some kids need ‘study carolls’ to work independently in class. I had a student once who carried his own ear plugs around with him. If you know what the problem is, you can usually figure out a solution to it.

Good luck.

The teacher my son has this year is a first year teacher. She taught part time last year, but from what I gathered from former students parents, she was out of the classroom more than in it.

At the beginning of the year, she was all gung ho on helping, until she saw that he needed help. Since that time, she has been fighting us tooth and nail to place him in the resource room. While we tried it last year, it was a dismal failure, and we refuse absolutely and firmly. (Several problems with the resource room…1) The special ed teacher refuses to help him, stating he can do the work alone….while giving all the other students in the classroom special assistance. 2) Special Ed teacher punished my child for crying in class because he didn’t understand something. Called him a demon child, and generally made him feel like a failure. 3) Rest of the class is 1 to 2 years behind in classwork, while my son can do grade level work with assistance.)

The problem seems to be with this teacher, and her willingness to help students individually. I know she will eventually come to realize that not all children are “cookie cutter” children, and that they each have their strengths and weaknesses, but for now, its frustrating to see her faults being taken out on my son.

And more to the point, you’d want to risk him repeating in her class?

The fact that she is a first year teacher explains alot. She is undoubtedly overwhelmed with preparing for her class, without wanting to take on adaptations, or extra time helping. I sure wouldn’t want my child with that spec ed teacher either - I’ve had one like that, thankfully he retired.
Repeating would be out of the question. I would try to help with modifications that would make his in=school work easier to do independently.

Another thought is a personal fm system, if you find by observing the class that he is easily distracted.

Sue : If he repeated 2nd grade, he would not have her as a teacher. And basically its a non-question with him repeating. If the school chooses to have him repeat, and he is passing all his classes with mods and accommodations, he will be pulled out and either go to a different school, or get homeschooled.

Laura: We had requested an FM device over 4 months ago. It arrived right after Christmas. So far since it has been in the school, he has gotten to use it 4 days. (We did miss a week for a funeral, but still, 4 days out of 3 weeks). And even thouse 4 days couldn’t be used as a gospel on how he would act with it, because it was malfunctioning. He had alot of static (which they school says is normal, and the audiologist says is not) and then he was losing audio. So everytime the teacher would talk, he would hear maybe 3 out of 5 words. They have promised to get another one, but as its taken 4 months already to get the device, I am not holding my breath any time soon.

Or the teacher was wearing the mike too close to her neck and moving too much with her arms and kept brushing it. There can be static but that usually occurs when they need new batteries and there is either a loose connection or the teacher is moving around too much and her clothes are rubbing against the microphone.. I use one in college and I love it..