Help with reading and disagreement with school

Short answer: the school is wrong and you should look into another placement.

Two and a half hours a week is the rock-bottom *minimum* to actually teach him to read. After all, he should have had ten hours a week in Grade 1, right?

A placement in Grade 5 with a Grade 2 reading level guarantees failure and frustration. Not only does he have no chance at all of following the work, he is learning failure and counterproductive coping strategies — kids put in impossible situations copy, cheat, or act out.

If the entire school does not believe in actually teaching reading to a kid who can’t read, then you have an impossible fight on your hands. The learning support teacher should be fighting to keep him so he can continue his good progress; if she wants him out, no matter what you do he will not learn from her.

You say it’s a charter school. Time to look for another charter or even a public school. The public school would be legally obligated to test him and give him an appropriate placement. Now, itf the public school is dysfunctional that won’t help, but if you can find one that is working you can sometimes be very lucky.

Another option is private tutoring, which is what I do. (Private, genuine one to one, NOT the commercial centers) Expensive but it can make a huge difference.
I offer my tutoring outlines by email to anyone who asks, [email protected]

Thanks for the reply!

Right now switching schools is not an option for us as the school in our district has a realy bad EC Dept. However, in the state of NC charter schools are responsible legally just as much as the public schools.

I just don’t want to be bullied and want to be able to state my case without feeling intiminated. Any suggestions?

Also, how do you do one on one tutoring online?

Thanks.

It’s pretty clear that what they did before, worked; what they’re doing now, doesn’t.
The current classroom setting is certianly not being taught at his skill level, *and* it’s not giving him enough instructional time for reading.
Write a formal letter stating that you are requesting that he receive the same level of special ed teaching as he had last year; that this was consistent with his IEP, and that you did try this new level of services but he is a: not making progress (and therefore not meeting the IEP goals) and b: he is not learnign the classroom material either, and c: it’s having a negative effect on his attitude which you are afraid will soon be reflected in behavior. (Just syaing you’re concerned for his self-esteem isn’t going to mean anything - it’s got to be something objective… and something that they might be held accountable for.) Ask for an IEP meeting so you can change it to reflect his needs, and include that you expect a response (by phone or mail or email) within 48 hours, as each day that he is in this setting, he is not receiving the free, appropriate education they are legally required to provide him. And of course, you look forward to hearing from them and working with them.

Well, the school says that they now need to “clarify” what self contained means. Isn’t it possible to be self contained in one subject and not another? He truly does need to be self contained in reading. For some reason (I don’t know why) they are not wanting to do this. If anyone knows the answer to this please let me know.

Thanks!

Desperate Mom.

OK, go with what Sue says. She knows the legalities.

I can’t exactly tutor reading online (I do math sometimes, but for people who can read the emails.) I do send out my outlines/book in progress, and always welcome feedback and further questions.

[email protected]

My questions:

Is 2 1/2 hours too much for a child with a severe reading, writing, and spelling deficiency? With intense work a lot can be accomplished in considerably less than two hours a day. Your son needs accomodations. He cannot be expected to compete on a level field with those who read and have the ability to read far beyond his. If he is going to be in classes there must be some accomodations for his learning disability.

Do I push for them to continue this? Not if it isn’t working. The IEP is for him to grow to his potential.

Do I let them be the judge and continue to have inclusion with a 5th grade reading class? The IEP team which not only includes them, but also you and your son as well as any experts available to be on the team and help.

Is there a specific reading program I can request that he be on? Not in an IEP meeting. What must be developed is a sound plan to have his reading grow.

Note: we have a considerable body of evidence over the years showing 5th graders at a 2nd grade reading level being able to increase reading ability rather easily.

I hope these answers help somewhat, Ken Campbell (author of Great Leaps)

Two and a half hours a day would be appropriate if he cannot do any language arts in the regular classroom. If he only needs reading instruction and has good language skills and can dictate his writing assigments, then he needs pull-out for maybe an hour or so a day and accommodations in the regular classroom. He can access the regular class literature instruction through books on tape for comprehension instruction. I have a fifth grade student in that situation now who I pull for one-on-one reading instruction. My own 4th grade daughter is in the regular classroom at a NC charter school in spite of LD in reading comprehension due to the fact that her school does a good job of providing support, but they know little about remediation. You don’t want a child pulled unless they are doing something worthwhile.

Edmark is not an appropriate program for a child with a reading disorder. I’d suggest getting a quick education by reading the articles under LD In Depth/Reading on this site. Here are a couple to get you started:

http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/reading_approaches.html

http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/reading/mssl_methods.html

Also, I strongly reommend that you get the book [u]Overcoming Dyslexia [/u] by Sally Shaywitz.

All that being said, it is rare to hear of a reading disorder being remediated at school. It usually requires private tutoring. You might want to contact the International Dyslexia Association for qualified tutors in your area. As you know, NC requires passing state reading tests for graduation, so you have no time to lose. I happen to be in NC and do private reading tutoring, testing, and consulting, and while I am definitely not seeking business here (I have more than I can handle as it is!), you can contact me for a consultation if you need further guidance. My website is www.readingsolutions.org.

Janis

Well, what a mess now! I had another meeting at the school. They are now requiesting that his IEP be reviewed now instead of waiting until Decemeber. They also informed me that they no longer can provide services for him for writing and spelling as he tested 2 points above the allowed amount for that. However, if you can’t read and can’t spell how can you write? Don’t get me wrong…. he can write but his writing is very poor. He had a long history of seizures between the age of 3 and 4 1/2 and received OT for quite a long time.

Well to make a long story short I have contacted the state for assistance. This was my LAST resort but being that I am not clear on all of the laws and they are I felt I needed assistance. I felt like such the “bad guy”. I have felt guilty about doing this all weekend but I also love my son very much and really felt I didn’t have much of a choice. Am I doing the right thing?

Thank you all so very much for your responses.

Heather

Heather, did you see the post I wrote right before you posted tonight? Where in NC are you? You can reply by private message if you wish.

Janis

Janis:

I sent a private message to you. Did you get it?

Thanks!

Heather

Yes, I replied back and referred you to someone in your area!

Janis