Hello everyone,
I was so glad to have found this board. I don’t feel as alone anymore. My daughter is in kindergarten this year and is learning disabled. I am not sure if i should keep her in school or homeschool this year. Her teacher has no experience with children like my daughter and tends to focus on her failures. I’m feeling angry, upset, etc. I’m also feeling like a failure as a parent because i feel i didn’t do enough for her in terms of teaching her the basic academic skills. We live in a very small rural town and if i were to pull her out of school i’m also afraid of the backlash of the community. i very confused lately. I just needed to get this out and know that there are other parents here that are going through the same things. It seems as if she is the only one in her very small school that has any problems. He teacher has already said she will be held back because she simply is not “getting” things. she has finally learned her colors, but numbers and letters it seems are far away. Are there any programs for children with LD when it comes to teaching letters and numbers and other basic skills. I have tried the workbooks in the school store, etc.
I think i’ve said enough,
Amanda
Re: kindergarten
The most efficient approach is to address sensory/motor issues first, then cognitive skills issues, and finally academic remediation. Unfortunately, schools focus almost exclusively on academic remediation, and that is what you are focusing on too. Usually, when there is a problem learning academics, there are underlying problems with sensory/motor development (vision, hearing, motor skills) which in turn cause deficits in cognitive skills development (memory, sequencing, reasoning).
You can get some free evaluations from the school district, although sometimes they make you wait until grade 3. Try going to the “LD in Depth” section of this website and reading the articles under “assessment” and “IEP”. I would probably ask for a complete speech and language assessment, and an occupational therapy evaluation for starters.
Your medical insurance may cover some evaluations also. Unfortunately, GP’s and pediatricians are seldom very knowledgeable about what to ask for.
I am not familiar with small town life, but find it difficult to believe there would be much backlash. Removing a child from school in order to homeschool does not have to be a contentious issue. You can be very kind, courteous and non-blaming, and just explain (if you feel the need to explain) that your child doesn’t seem to learn in a classroom setting, and you think she would benefit from some one-on-one work with you at home.
There are many things you could do at home with your daughter that she couldn’t get in school, including some therapies. Your best bet is to do some research on the net. The “Special Needs” board (one of the homeschooling boards) over at http://www.vegsource.com would be a good place to start.
Mary
Re: kindergarten
Try other approaches and don’t load her up with too much. Does she know her colors? Her shapes? Those are the first things we teach. If she knows them, then it’s fine to move on with letters and numbers. But I’d do just one of those - not both at the same time. Can she count to ten? Start with numbers. Have her counting to ten and after she can do that, count things. Do the symbols 1,2,3, for the numbers last.
When you teach the symbols, do fun things. Make them out of play dough and shaving cream. Sky write them.
In a small rural community, there aren’t any homeschoolers? Do any of the area churches have church schools?
If you pull her out tell your friends and neighbors that she just wasn’t ready for kindergarten yet.
Re: kindergarten
Amanda,
Has your daughter been tested for learning disabilities? Kindergarten is not too young to be tested. You are her parent and so are the best judge of whether there is something to be concerned about. Schools and pediatricians often give well-intentioned but usually erroneous advice that a child exhibiting the kinds of difficulties your daughter has will “grow out of it.” A child exhibiting more than mild problems is unlikely to grow out out of them and needs help targeted to his or her specific needs. I believe the school must test if you ask for it. Alternatively, you could obtain private testing, although it is expensive and you would likely have to go to a more metropolitan area to find the right kind of professionals. In an ideal world, your daughter would be examined by a pediatric neurologist and an occupational therapist, and perhaps other specialists, depending on what the initial testing shows. She would be given an IQ test appropriate to her age, along with tests of academic ability and achievement. In that way, you would be able to see her strengths and weaknesses and use that information to give her help targeted to her specific needs. The good thing is that she is very young and early remediation is the very best approach for children with LD, so you are definitely on the right track.
Andrea
Re: kindergarten
If you are faced with having a teacher who seems to not understand, I’d def. pull her out. It is only K afterall and it would be easy to just say she was too young. I can’t imagine anyone giving you grief if you are careful not to blame the teacher. (although it certainly sounds like she is part of the problem). You could do a lot more with her one on one.
You do need to try and figure out what her underlying issues are. For example, my son has auditory and visual processing problems as well as sensory integration issues. Once you know what you are up against, you can get ideas about how to work with your child from here and other sources. Request an evaluation in writing through the school or go on your own using insurance or self-pay.
My son was identified as speech impaired at age 3. He had a very good K situation but clearly was behind. We moved and ended up in a far less desirable situation. We have since done a lot of work on our own. I wish we had done more when he was in K. We didn’t start working intensively with him until he had finished first grade as a nonreader. He is now in third grade and is reading at a mid second grade level, after lots of intervention from us.
One thing I would have def. done in K is enroll my son in gymnastics. He is taking it now—it helps with sensory-motor development. He did take swimming lessons which is also good for sensory-motor development.
Beth
Re: kindergarten
I pulled my six year old son out of kindergarten after the teacher stated she
wanted him on drugs. It was a hard thing to do since I was very involved in
the school, my twins were in fourth grade, I had been PTO president for
two years and on a school district committee where I worked with the
superintendent on a regular basis - in fact he walked up behind me and read
over my shoulder while I was filling out the withdrawal papers!
I told everyone that I pulled him out in order to get a better handle
on his deficits. And that is what I did. I had the option in the spring to
put him back in kindergarten with a wonderful teacher and he did fine.
By third grade the school had him pegged as Specific Learning Disability in
Reading and Writing (or as his neuropsychologist labeled him - dyslexic -
school-ese and medical-ese speaking two different languages).
I would pull her out and start looking for answers - reading all you can
get your hands on and investigating your options regarding testing. Trying doing
a web search for your state and learning disabilities. If you have a state association you will find they have a wealth of free information and referrals.
A word of caution - we were first steered to a doctor who I have since found
out is very questionable - word is if you want a certain kind of diagnosis he will find it for you. This doctor played right into the kindergarten teacher’s hands, ADHD and drugs. We knew something was off about that. Next doctor said, ‘No, no, no! This child is not ADHD.’ Be careful and listen to your gut instinct. You know your child
best.
Anne
Oops, I meant I’m confused!