my son is ending up his sixth grade year at a private special ed school (a division of the lab school of washington) where he’s been for 4th, 5th and 6th grades.
he attended a private Friends school from pre-k through 3rd grade and had problems with organization and dysgraphia (as diagnosed in 2nd grade by a psychologist who did a wais - perf IQ 136 - and a w-j where he was at or above grade level in everything), was feeling stressed out and hating school and so we took him out (against the recommendations of the school) and placed him in the lab school where he could have a smaller class size (4-5 kids) with more individualized instruction.
while at Friends school, he was always meeting expectations in his math class exept for the last quarter of 3rd grade when he fell behind in math calculations.
when he went to the special ed school the fall of 4th grade he was tested and found to be in 1st percentile for math fluency and overall below grade level in math. after 2 full years (4th and 5th grade) despite apparent acquisition of skills in the classroom, his scores on the math portion of the w-j either stayed the same or decreased. in 6th grade, the teacher refused to let him use a calculator and spent half of the past year teaching him new ways to learn his math facts. he, again, for the third year in a row seemed to master these in the classroom. they moved on to fractions, geometry and basic algebra all of which he was able to master in the classroom and his w-j tests and key math showed him to still be slow (math fluency now up to 2nd grade level) but now overall only a grade level behind. otherwise he is doing very well at his school and at least two grade levels ahead on his w-j in all other areas (except fluency which pulls his overall scores down to exactly 2 gradel levels ahead).
we and he feel he’s outgrown the school socially and academically (except for math) and are looking into the public schools (notoriously bad in our city - even the mayor wouldn’t send his kids) as well as the private schools. so, he had to take the Independent School Entrance Exam for the private schools and we just got back the results - 85% verbal reasoning, 70+% reading comprehension, 26% quantitative reasoning and GET THIS 1% math achievement!!
So, after 3 years in a private special ed school (at over 20,000 dollars a year), he probably won’t be able to re-enter the private school he left because he knows no math (and remember when he left he was doing okay in math in general).
of course, he also now hates math because he’s spent 3 years focusing on his area of weakness in math, has been refused a calculator (whish is mandatory at the private schools to which he’s now applying) - so what do we do next?
of course, we’re going to get a math tutor for the summer and the school year - but what approach?
at this point, i’m frustrated and self-critical abouttaking him out of a school where he was at least learning math (if not the arithmetic facts).
any ideas?
he’s having a full neurological eval/testing done by a pediatric neurologist at the Kennedy Kreiger Institute to give us a full picture of his strengths and weaknesses - which hopefully will be helpful.
thanks
A few thoughts
Did Lab School try the LMB On Cloud Nine approach, which auditory mom spoke of? If not, I’d check out the LMB center, which is not far the Lab school. Perhaps he could do an intensive summer program there. You could also try re-enforcing it with Quartermile math, a computer program, for ten minutes a day at home, and Mathshark or Flashmaster to use on longer trips in the car.
The school thing will be hard—for PS you essentially have a choice of Hardy or Deal, depending where you live. I personally am too worried about drugs, gangs etc. to send my kids there, but I certainly do know people who have—it helps if you’re sure your ds won’t be terribly swayed by peer pressure. (Couldn’t count on that with mine!)
I see a number of problems with getting your ds into private school: one, it’s very late and two, the math reasoning score is also low. DC private school are very competitive and frankly have no reason to take a dc with learning problems absent compelling reason (e.g., to be cynical—prospect of big donations, child of important government figure).
An alternative you could consider is trying the parochial schools, if this doesn’t bother you (many dc in Catholic school in DC are non-Catholic because of the state of the PS). They are far more likely to have openings come up over summer—although seventh grade can be one of the harder grades to get into because of the influx of dc from DC’s not so bad elementary PS. Near the Lab school area are our Lady of Victory, Holy Trinity, and Annunciation. I am not sure what the policy of each is, but I do know at least some of them allow the use of a calculator. In recent years, the Catholic schools in DC have added resource teachers. The tuition is much cheaper at these schools, so you could swing the LMB over summer, and possibly continue with it a few afternoons a week once school begins.
You also could look into the two private Episcopalian schools—St. Patrick’s and Washington Episcopal (in Bethesda). Since these end in 8th grade, they often have openings as students leave for private schools that do middle school plus high school. Both schools have a reputation for being willing to work with dc with learning problems. They are both in the $17,000 range. Two very alternative private school choices would be the Waldorf School and the Oneness School, both also in Bethtesda. Much farther afield is the McLean School in Potomac.
Finally, you could consider Kingsbury as an alternative to Lab and see what they can do for his math. But if your ds has outgrown Lab socially and for non-math academics, I don’t think Kingsbury would be what you’re looking for.
Re: where to we go now?
Are you sure that test score is an accurate measure of his knowledge? First percentile sounds like a “shut down” due to frustration or something… or speed being the main factor. I think you could make a good case for it being invalid, especially with some of the other information that says he’s gained ground. In your location I’d scrabble pretty hard for a decent school.
Re: where to we go now?
Thanks for all of the tips. I do think the test score was lowered by anxiety (rushing through, missing pages of questions, etc). I’m pursuing intensive tutoring (that will continue through the school year) and the quartermile program. i’m feeling more hopeful! :D
My child is also in 6th grade and has problems with her math facts. We are trying “on cloud nine” with our tutor this summer. It is a different approach and hopefully it will stick. We are using “saxon” otherwise and has helped alot, but those facts just aren’t sticking , we will be going into the 4th grade math level and I know she will get stuck with division, so hoping adding the “on cloud nine” program will get us through.