need great websites to help teachers teach my son

Are they asking you for this information? I personally appreciate SHARED information, however if you approach them as though they are ininformed and need help from you, then you could alienate them w/o intending to.

I think, if you have an LD child, this is the best board out there and more active than many. The articles posted on the site are just great and are very educational. I would offer this site and stop there. I might also add that I would present it more in terms of “have you ever checked out this really cool LD site that is full of information for educators and parents? If you have a chance to, please let me know at our conference how you liked it.”

You bring up a very good point. I hadn’t thought that I would alienate them, but they could interpret it that way. My son attends a private school with no LD services at all. I asked for this meeting and the principal graciously agreed. Most teachers want to help the kids but are very unfamiliar with learning differences and how to address them in the classroom. I thought a list of resources may help them not only with my son, but with other students. Thanks for your thoughts!

Erin, Anitya is right. One thing you are an expert on is your child. Perhaps the best insights you can bring are specific ideas about how your child learns.

For instance, my child is a kinesthetic learner (with some auditory abilities). I have seen how he could not grasp a the formation of certain letters unless he traces his finger across them, we are doing visual perception work and he often has to trace the shape with his finger before drawing it. His interactive metronome instructor picked up on the fact that she sometimes will need to move his hands and feet for him in the beginning until he feels the right way to do it etc…

I intend to ask the teachers if they have used touch math and what they think. I don’t know much about it, just what I read here. I am interested in finding out what they know about it. The question is really very specific to my son’s specific learning style so it should not be threatening. I also plan on bringing up a few ideas that are specific to the way he learns.
I really want them to understand his strengths and weaknesses. I know I have to be clear on concise. (I have a tendency to go on and on) I will also explain what I have done with him over the summer and let them know that I want to be as involved as possible in helping him to achieve all his goals. I want them to realize that I am here to pitch in. Use me, Please.

So this is my plan. I am really nervous!

Sounds wonderful!! Why not type up the links, with a short blurb about the kinds of information on each site.

Erin’s situation is fine. She did not give enough information in the first post to explain. If this were simply a case of her child going to a new grade level and her wanting to educate the receiving teacher, I advise appropriate caution. In public school you don’t know how much teachers may already know. This, by the way, is in reponse to her idea to provide website links for their educational reading pleasure. I got the impression she was assuming they were all country bumpkins who knew little to nothing. Indeed, after a few years in public school, most teachers become pretty good, not to mention the required course they take for their credential. I advised caution so she would not come across as telegraphing the assumption that she knows all there is to know about LD and they, of course, know nothing. Not the way people like to be treated.

Erin clarified that her child is in a private school and they are eager for information because they don’t typically teach LD youngsters. Great!

The notion of knowing your own child was not what I interpreted as the issue. Yes, it is true, but she wanted to educate the teachers about LD and recommend websites. That is slightly different from sitting down with the teacher to share “what works” with a difficult to manage or teach child. In those cases parents and even last year’s teacher can offer many ideas to help this year’s teacher start off well.

FAT City is a great video that can really give the teachers the gut-level comoprehension of the issues behind a learning disability.

Even if they’re eager to learn, it really takes time to assmiliate and understand the issues, so do be careful not to overwhelm :)

I was talking about asking question about specific programs/websites that are specific to you child.
My only point is that when it is phrased as you sharing knowledge about what works with your child it can be less threatening.