Teaching the 3 Rs aint rocket science

of course I agree on the need for improvement of services and that “edubabble” does not help. But, meaningful interventions for LD children is complicated. Teachers require meaningful training and then continued support until they have experience. Few districts really do this. Take a class, now go teach. Researchers and teacher training institutions (colleges) need to work together to lay out specifically what needs to be done and when. A medical model if you will. With this kind of difficulty the first treatment is _________. If there is not enough improvement then we go to _______________. Teachers need to wake up to the fact that it is not “trick” etc. that teach a child to read. It is an intensive, sequential research based program taught by an experience, well-equipped teacher (yes, rocket scientist).

Teaching kids with learning difficulties requires kindness, patience, compassion, respect, understanding and more time. Most schools can’t seem to get that part right. I think most parents would be satisfied with that instead of the schools making a federal case and over complicating a problem with junk science and conjecture selling it as fact and adding politics to the mix. If parents believed that their school was doing it’s best on behalf of their children, most parents would be thrilled and rave about the school. Schools that conduct themselves in an ethical and common sense manner get rave reviews from most parents. No one knows or can easily predict how well a student may do. Realistic expectations on the part of the parent, educators and student wouldmake life easier for all involved. A basic understanding of LD ADD ADHD for all involved. It is believed by some smart folks that LD ADD ADHD share certian CNS commonalities. Every brain is different as are people. People with these maladies usually have some things in common neurologically. 1. Lack acetacholine and other neuro-transmitters 2.Their brain don’t establish neuro-pathway as readily as others. 3. They have difficulty attenuating all the “noise” that is going on in their brains both internal and external. I wear a hat that helps block glare from my glasses to cut down on my brain’s workload. I do things to isolate my periheral field of vision. I feel this help and it ain’t rocket science. I agree the brain is too complex too ever understand all it’s mysteries but too much hocus pocus is injected into the LD equation by too many teachers who fell asleep at their last LD seminar. I could explain all they need to know in about ten minutes if they’d open their narrow minds. Then I’d explain a concept that they couldn’t pssibly comprehend and when they didn’t “get it” I’d ridicule them mercilessly and hopefully to tears so that they would have a clue as to how their LD students feel everyday.

My son is LD, has an IEP and is finally eligible for services. I don’t think I have received any kind of service from the school. What I have done is pay for a tutor who is not LD certified to teach my son how to read. This non LD certified teacher was a very competent teacher who taught him how to read. It took hard work on both parts and not one dime of federal money made this happen. Where is all the hard earned tax money we all pay into education going? I certainly do not see it put to good use teaching our kids. Teaching the 3 R’s aint rocket science!!!

Our story is the same as yours. this website gave me the tools I needed to teach my kids the impossible: to read, and it didn’t take that long. The money trail for ld kids is a long and crooked path. There is federal and state money combined that your kid generates. The best I have been able to figure out is that the bulk of it goes to administrators who sit and argue about what they won’t & can’t do at IEP meetings. If you multiply the # of folks around the table times the hours you all are there “discussing ” it is frightening. They aren’t supposed to funnel the $$ outside of the ld environment, yet many ld teachers are used to do all sorts of functions for the schools. I doubt someone is burying the funds in their backyard, but sometimes you just really have to stop and wonder- Where’s the beef?

Some kids lag for a few years and then they catch up.Persistence , love and patience are key. Don’t panic. Don’t rely on the school or expect them to do anything. My nephew’s school is great but they are the exception. Things like Math Made Easy, phonics most learning software are better than a teacher because they don’t ridicule they are really professional and they are inexpensive. Repitition is not rocket science but that requires time and patience. It’s interesting teachers take credit for success but blame failure on the student and his parents. There are some great teachers out there but most are there for the perks. Compared to most jobs it’s an easy gig. At my son’s school the teachers are out the door before the busses have left. He’s not LD but he’s had his share of harrassment. By his freshman year he grew into an intimidating sort, bigger and smarter than all his teachers and had a “don’t screw with me” air about him. Teacher and principals are very respectful of a 15 year old that could easily snap and pound the crap out of them. It sucks having to be that way but it sucks that we had to kick the crap out of those Taliban tyrants. Some schools are comprised with screw ups that are drunk with power. These types need to be stepped on hard.

You are going to have to do most of the teaching yourself. See if the school will provide teaching tools that are LD specific. I bet they don’t have anything like that. If they don’t, go friggin postal on them. Not having those sort of materials is
outrageous and outrageous behavior is grounds for a lawsuit. A school not having LD teaching materials is as outrageous not having ramps for wheelchair bound students.

I have three kids—one of which is seriously LD. We have had our fights with the school district with the LD one–we pulled him out part time last year and homeschooled him. Still, I have to say that overall my kids have had really good dedicated teachers. My LD son’s teacher this year spends an enormous amount of time with him as he really doesn’t learn well in a classroom setting. I could do without many of the administrators, however. Some of them really try to play dirty—although I called their bluff.

I also think for some kids repetition is enough and for others, like my son, it isn’t that easy to remediate reading. He has had private instruction plus tons of tutoring by his parents and this year a very good resource teacher (following on the heels of a very bad one—which is when I pulled him out of school) and he still isn’t at grade level.

Beth

Beth you are so right.
ALL of my son’s PS classroom teachers K-5 and therapists have been wonderfully kind and patient and are truely fond of him. HOWEVER he failed miserably still. He went into RSP 2 grade levels behind in the 2nd grade and would be easily 4 grade levels behind if I hadn’t intervened and set him to 1:1 private Lindamood-Bell tutoring for lips, v/v and OC9. He is still 2 years behind but he is can now gain ground quickly if he is in a small class with a systematic teaching curriculum.

We are pulling him out of PS and found a wonderful private LD school. He spent 1 day there and came home saying “Now THAT is a school I can really learn at!” They feel they can remediate and accelrate him. He will start with the 5th grade curriculum (he should have been going into 6th) in the fall and they hope that if he performs the way they think he will. He can skip into the 7th grade.