Hi, I apologize this is going to be so long. My 8-yr-old daughter is significantly CAPD (as well as other learning challenges as a result of the CAPD). We live in a small city (300,000-400,000); the public school system is very undesirable in our city (and their special ed even more undesirable!) and so we have sent out daughter to a private school since she entered kindergarten. This is not a school with a mission of helping LD students. It is strictly a private school. There are no schools in our city for students with average to above-average IQ’s that are learning challenged. Thus far we have been very fortunate in that my daughter’s teachers for the last two years have been very understanding and accommodating to my daughter’s needs and learning style. However, we are aware that this about to change as she enters the next grade in the fall. We have been providing my daughter with private language therapy and academic language tutoring at the school daily. Her past teachers have been very supportive of our efforts (as well as our financial efforts) to provide our daughter with the extra help that is required for her learn. However, her teacher for the next school year has informed us that the extra therapy and tutoring will not be necessary as she will “get what she needs” from the teacher within the classroom environment. And, besides, it’s not reasonable for her miss out on “important” classroom (implying that the tutoring is not necessary!) time while in language therapy and tutoring! (You can see that I’m off to a rocky start already!) I’m going to do my best to “teach” her future teachers about learning challenges and classroom accommodations, as well as demonstrating the importance of remediation and academic language tutoring. This will not be an easy task since most of the teachers at my daughter’s school have the attitude that they are “well above” the realm of teaching students with learning challenges. However, the school is losing many supportive families due to this attitude; and the administration is in a panic mode currently, and I feel the time is right to be firm and uncompromising about my daughter’s challenges and needs (as well as all learning-challenged students at this school) and demonstrate and educate how the school can be more accepting and accommodating for these students (most of the learning challenged at his school are very bright and creative kids but simply do not learn by way of the “traditional” teaching and learning methods). We have chosen to stay at this school (for the obvious reason that we haven’t any other choices except public school), but I am fully aware that I must “educate or train” both the administration and my daughter’s upcoming teachers. Does anybody have any recommendations or resources (books, websites, etc.) that would be helpful in educating myself as well as providing practical and positive steps in my attempt to take on this monumental task? I have to meet with the head mistress and her assistants next week; and I’m not sure where to begin. I need to be very clear and concise about expectations; although, I don’t want to be intimidating and have her take defense and refuse to support me in “training” some her faculty re LD and classroom accommodations. I’m beginning to feel as though we are living back in the “dark ages” with this school in terms of them coming to grips with this issue. Help! Thx. Susan Hutton at [email protected]
Some thoughts...
If the school is losing supportive families, then it’s in a political turmoil and that means next year will probably not be a particularly good one for a lot of people. You might consider public school or even homeschooling while their tugs of war sort themselves out — and while you figure out if this is going to turn into a worse option than even public school. They might be really sensitive right now to people “telling them how to do their jobs.” They might also be having discussions and/or meetings about their mission as a school, and just what kinds of kids they want to be serving — whether they want to “deal with” kids who need things like accommodations. You might want to try to sell them on the idea that they could bring in a lot of grateful, supportive families if they would learn how to turn their school into a place where lots of different kinds of learners could be successful *and* be challenged. You may pick up right away that gee, their new mission is to be a rigorous and exclusive no-nonsense academic setting. (Or, their resistance to what you’ve been saying to them may be more based on a desire to keep things SIMPLE in this time of transition.) Academic rigor and challenge *can* be done in a way to meet the needs of kids with learning “differences” and challenges and whatever, without compromising the education of those lucky kids who gobble up a “traditional” academic curriculum (of course, who knows which “tradition” any one person’s talking about).
If they are terrified of somehow not appearing “competitive” enough for their needs for status, think about spinning meeting different kids needs as more of a “using new technology to open all new doors so all kids can learn better.” The technology can be the latest and greatest computer software — or books on tape or videos that keep learning from being stuck in the black-and-white print era.
Check out this site’s LD InDepth and also check out http://www.allkindsofminds.org for ideas and articles to offer them — things like the Ellis article on learning vocabulary terms (and how quality is so much more important than quantity, and copying the defintions to terms over and over really shouldn’t be confused with learning anything). Innovative, hands-on projects could be designed to play to kids’ learning strengths — and still call on lots of solid academic growth.
Re: How to deal w/ private schools & LD
I would homeschool and hire private tutors to help. This would channel your time and energy (not to mention money) directly to your daughter. Private school tuition money will buy a *lot* of good therapy, even if you have to fly out of town to get trained in it yourself.
We took our LD daughter out of private school and homeschooled for 3rd grade. During that year we did vision therapy, PACE, and a Phono-Graphix intensive for less than the cost of one year’s private school tuition. Our daughter made huge gains and our family became much less stressed. (This year dd is in a public charter school mornings and homeschools afternoons.)
Prior to homeschooling, I spent a lot of time at the private school volunteering. Although dd’s teacher was sympathetic, the school administration and other faculty had no insight into learning disabilities and were not at all interested in educating themselves about LDs. In desperation, we considered sending dd’s teacher halfway across the country for some professional training in Lindamood Bell (at our expense). However, I soon realized that, even if her teacher had the right king of training, dd would be only one of 28 children in the classroom. We decided to spend the money on good curriculum materials and training, so that I could work with dd one-on-one.b This was the best educational decision we ever made!
Every family is different, so I’m not saying this is what you should do. There are, however, many families who homeschool LD children, and LD children often thrive on homeschooling. If you haven’t considered it, I would suggest going over to the homeschooling boards at http://www.vegsource.com and networking with other parents in your situation.
My own experience with a private school was that they were set on their philosophy and approach, and did not want to modify anything to meet the needs of LD children (which they didn’t even recognize as LD in the first place!). If you want to work on changing the school, my advice is to have a backup homeschooling plan in place so, if the changes don’t work out and the stress becomes too much for you, you have a way out.
Mary
Re: How to deal w/ private schools & LD
I like Mel Levine’s Educational Care Book a lot. It has helpful suggestions for meeting the needs of children with learning differnces in the classroom.
I teach in an independen school where many of my colleagues also feel they are above the need to meet the needs of children with learning differences. some have a sink or swim attitude toward these children but others simply don’t know what to do differently.
There is also a fear that we would be “compromising our standards”. Are you sure the administration is in a panic mode or receptive to change? The call to change needs to be sounded from the top down. If you can get the administration interested, they can work to bring the teachers on board.
good luck.
Re: How to deal w/ private schools & LD
Hi,
You said your child had helpful teachers in the past… I would have a discussion with them and possibly have them present what methods they used to help your daughter in the classroom at your meeting next week if they are supportive of what you are doing. It may be that next year’s teacher doesn’t understand the specific needs of your child. A lot of adaptations needed for one child would actually benefit the whole classroom. I would try to have
the curriculum be multi-sensory based. Steps like these however take a partnership of the school administration, teachers, students and parents.
In your meeting I would take specific examples of what you child needs, what the tutors are providing, and what you would like. Go in with a “wish list” that is supported by others as to why it is needed and how the accommadations will affect the time the teacher will need to change her lesson plans/teaching style etc.
Only you know your child. Homeschooling/ FT tutoring are options to consider. It sounds as if the school is not going to be recptive
good luck.
Susan,
If you go under LD in depth and processing problems, there is information on classroom accomodations for CAPD. That might help.
I don’t have any great suggestions for the private school though. I think it is fairly common for them to not want to deal with LD students. I have two of my three children in parochial school and the school would not even consider taking my LD child. Of course, the school has more applicants than it can accept, which is not your situation.
Beth