My dau is starting 6th gr next week and we are having a problem deciding which math group to place her in. Right now she is scheduled in the resource math (lowest group) which is at a SRA level 4 that the teacher said was equal to 4th grade math. My dau successful completed reg. 4th and 5th grade math and it was decided at the last IEP that she be placed in 6th gr. math with help. Now there is an additional kink in the armour…the 6th grade math curriculum changed last year and is now more critical thinking and word problem solving not the regular math book either. This method is done by Britannia and my dau 5th gr. teacher doesn’t feel this is the right approach for her. As the 5th grade teacher said-“It is real world math problem solving.” My only other alternative is a higher level resource math but I’m not sure. My dau is with a group of kids all on IEP that are mixed into the regular classroom with an extra teacher. She will get the extra help when she needs it but they don’t do that with math because most of the rest of the kids couldn’t do the math. I’m very torn what to do because the social aspects of middle school…Would appreciate some feedback! Thanks!
Two extremes to avoid:
(a) The one you’re being offered — do the same thing over and over again until you’re sick of it and never want to see or hear math again; stall out at an early grade school level for the rest of your life. A lot of *non*-disabled kids I try to work with at college are stalled out at Grade 3 to 5 math, because this is all their schools offered, repeat the same ritual forever.
(b) Throw off the deep end of the pier into officially “grade-level” work (which again most *non*-disabled kids are failing) without any support and without the background skills needed for success.
Neither of these is any good.
Personally, I am in favour of problem-solving and real-world math; IF it’s well-taught, this is the only thing that will do any good in the long run of adult life. BUT if it’s a sink-or-swim situation, most kids sink, and most teachers sink and don’t really teach the program, so the kids get a half-assed curriculum that is worse than hnone at all.
If I were you, I would get copies of the material and try the first chapter out with your daughter, and see how much of it she can deal with. If she can’t even read the first page, look for something else; if she can do 80% of the review material in the first chapter with only a little reading help (beware of answering too many questions for her), then put her in the class.
If you need something else, stand on your rights, point to the IEP, and demand a reasonable Grade 5-6 book and some tutoring time (3 hours instruction per week is what regular students get). You might order Singapore Math and/or Saxon math, which many people here like (not personally familiar), buy the book yourself, and offer it to the special ed teacher or tutor as additional help — a *good* teacher would jump at the chance to use something appropriate.
If she can cope with the new book, point to the IEP, stand on your rights, and insist on some extra help. Or, if you are fought out, provide a private tutor or schedule your own tutoring time two hours a week.