I think in general most parents are prone to denial. My child is someone all his preschool teachers thought was just fine, great in fact. His verbal skills had everyone fooled. He did not stand out as a child with a problem. Not by a long shot.
You could have knocked me over with a feather when the kindergarten teacher thought there might be a problem.
I really thought all the hoopla over learning all your letters in kindergarten was silly. It was more important that they learn how to play creatively. We expect to much from kids too early. Clearly he was bright.
I was completely wrong. I wish someone jolted me out of my denial earlier.
I really didn’t start to ‘get it’ until the end of first grade. I didn’t put him in vision therapy until 6 months ago (middle of third grade) which in hindsight seems ridiculous because I have known for quite awhile that he has a visual motor deficit. I just kept hearing it was controversial.
I have now learned that if the parent has even an inkling of a problem there usually is a problem. I don’t think most parents want to see their children’s issues. They have rose colored glasses which is understandable when you consider that many children have gifts that go along with the deficits.
With between 10-20% of kids in the upper grades (in New Jersey at least)being assigned to sped I don’t think you can say that early intervention is overdone.
well....
we can agree to disagree :)
And, honestly, my feelings center around the itty bitty kiddos where there is some leeway with time. Physical therapy at 28 mos vs 18 probably isnt going to make a huge difference
With our older guys there is that fear that they have passed the brain elasticity point and everything-reading, therapy, etc-will be harder. I have agonized over that one a lot!
I suspect what has changed my perspective the most is choosing to homeschool this year. The homeschooling boards take such a different approach-more laid back and individualized. There are stories galore of boys(ALWAYS boys) who didnt read until 9 or 11 and then just took off, catching up to grade level in 12-18 months.
Of course, one never knows when its something like that or a deficiency that will respond quickly to therapy.
But I feel more comfortable and calm with where ds and I are right now than I have in 5 yrs.
I just hope I can stay this comfortable :wink: My family is taking bets on how long homeschooling will last-the TOP entry is one month!!!!!!
It’s how it’s done that gets overdone I think. While some children have issues that would and could plague them through life, others are progressing by at their own pace. I have seen children confused by their letters in kindergarten that develop a firm grasp of their letters when somewhat older. Indeed, when I was a child we didn’t teach letters to 1st grade and we expect children to become fluent readers awfully young these days.
Extra attention positively paid to any child is a wonderful thing but dire predictions of doom and gloom can overwhelm families of young children. I’d like to see schools, including mine, embrace a ‘kinder, gentler’ approach to families and remediation. Schools these days are looking for a tremendous amount of comformity from their students who are all individuals with individual learning styles of their own.