With IPRC coming up again I have tried for three year to have a complete exemption from french. I have suceeded in only having him not marked, and not having to do written work. It was stated by physcologist that he was not to write in french and would be better off not in class. As he will be in grade 6 next year they will be more written work. They have 75 minutes of french each day and during that time social studies are taught in french as well so he has not had any this year or last year.
I explained that he would be missing alot of important work and the chances of him getting in trouble in class by being bored was great. This year he has been talking in french class and getting in trouble for it and it really isn’t his fault.
Their exuse for keeping him in french are
- their is no place to put him during that time as resource doesn’t always coincide with french. This year he was out for about half of french class.
- if they are teaching him language and math then pull him out during french for more language and math that would be too much.
Does anyone have any ideas?
Re: second language
Our middle school has a time out room where students go
to talk over their misbehaviour with the time out aide - who
usually is a very popular young male teacher.
The only way I could get any help for my dyslexic
son this year was to buy a computer program and set
him up on a computer. And the only open place where
there would be an adult present (the law in this state)
was in the time out room!
So my son goes to the time out room to do his computer
program. My friend’s aspergers son goes there also
when he gets overwhelmed in class.
It is kind of becoming a catch all for square peg students
as well as misbehaving students…. which concerns me
on one level but it all works out as the Mr.P is an engaging
and understanding young man and makes it work.
Other places we talked about was the library, the computer
lab and another resource teacher’s classroom - but for various
reasons they did not work out.
I would think if your son had a computer somewhere he could
work on stuff he needs help with it would be a good solution.
But be warned it took me from October to March to slowly
move the school to be able to take this step.
Anne
Re: second language
thanks for the help guys
they made a point of saying he already is out of the class for 135 min a day if they take him out for the 75 min of french he will not hardly be in class.
I would like him to be taked out during the 75 min of french. But what do you do when the class is doing language and math and he is in the class.
I have no easy solutions , he is already opposed to the amount of time he is away from the classs.
Working independently doesn’t really work either he is not motivatied enough to work on his own.
Some thoughts on dyslexia and foreign language acquisition
Hi,
I am the mother of a severely dyslexic teenager, who also has ADD. He has never done well in school Spanish classes, despite the fact that his father and I both speak Spanish as a second language and strongly believe in the importance of having a second language. We lived in Mexico when he was six to nine years old and believe it or not, he picked up more of the oral language than his verbally gifted sister. He could hold entire conversations in Spanish, and still retains a good understanding.
High school Spanish was a disaster, with the emphasis being on reading and spelling: one teacher in a class of 20-30 kids cannot possibly impart the oral language skills needed for speaking.
He is now in a private school for kids with LD, but for those of you struggling with the public school system I’d offer these suggestions:
Dump the high school foreign language courses and dig around until you can find someone who speaks Spanish, preferably a native speaker (many high school teachers have a less than proficient command of the language anyway). Get the two of them together and talking. The immediacy of the words will stick in your kid’s mind much longer than a teacher’s voice will. Keep at it, and tune into a Spanish language tv or radio station and ask your kid if he or she can make out any of the words. It’s a challenge, but if they listen hard they’ll be able to pick out the occasional word, and eventually, sentences. Spend a year or two doing this a couple of times a week, keeping a detailed log which you can then write up as your own record of your child’s Spanish lessons, a la homeschool style. Believe me, he or she will have learned far more Spanish this way than any honors student.This kind of self-motivated study will look far more impressive to any college admissions officer, and besides, how many people who took the requisite two or more years of foreign language classes can actually hold even a simple conversation ?
Re: Some thoughts on dyslexia and foreign language acquisiti
Although I did not grow up in similar circumstances, I have completely assimilated verbaly with spanish. I work in the construction industry in souther california, and any given day I can spend up to 50%-80% of my day speaking spanish. I never write it. I never read it. I could go on and on as to how huge a help it is to be able to converse and understand spanish as a second language. There is no doubt that the immersion theory you speak of, or describe is what works (at least it sure did for me). I had a good teacher in high school, but what worked best was when he would not allow us to speak anything but spanish in class and encouraged us to at least try. Practical application of the language has made all the difference in the world. I have made speaking spanish one of the best “tools” I use on the job site, and it has really been a huge help to me. Just my .02 of opinion here.
Andy
My 14 yo brother does not attend French or Health. It would be impossible for him to keep up.
There must be some place for him to be when he would normally have French class. Is he in a school with more than one grade? Maybe if he is in a Middle School with 6th, 7th, and 8th grades he could go to the 7th or 8th grade resource rooms. At the very least he could work on his homework and have someone there to help him.
K.