Kindergartener with learning issues...HELP.

[SASM]

Hi,

This public school thing is completely new to me. DS (newly 6) had been through 2 years of preschool prior to K. We always heard the same thing "He's a boy...He'll catch up...There's nothing to worry about...Kindergarten teachers are used to kids of all levels, he'll be fine". Well...he's been in K for 4 months. He finally has a decent grasp on his letters (he didn't know any going in despite having a lot of exposure to the ABCs), but not all of them. He still has issues with numbers 1-10, let alone up to 31. He can barely count down from 5 to 1. let alone 10 to 1. He really has problems with letters and sounds and putting them together. We were working on the word "AT" for 15 minutes alone the other day. :( I've discussed focus issues with the ped and we are supposed to go back in 6 mos as she didn't find anything of concern when we went in for an eval (his K teacher was also concerned). I have addressed my concern with his K teacher in regards to the letters, sounds, & numbers issues repeatedly throughout the school year and she has finally requested a child study (YAY!!). I am sooooo concerned. I have a family hx of learning disabilities and have seen what can happen if they are not addressed.

I really do not know what else to do. We read to him, we have BOB books in Blue (cannot do them) and Brand New Readers in Red (WAY too advanced for him), we make sure that he has a snack immediately after school and give him some quiet time (or active time depending on his mood). When do you have the best productivity with homework? From experience, can you suggest any other steps that we can take through the public school system? Anything else that we can do at home?? We are already doing what his teacher has reccommended...time to take matters into our own hands.

TIA!! Sorry for the typos...DDs should be waking soon...trying to be fast. :)

[egoldber]

I think you are right at this point to ask the schools for an evaluation. They may not *want* to do it, because it is expensive. If they push back, I would consider having a private evaluation done.


When do you have the best productivity with homework?

This varies for us. Sarah usually does her homework after dinner, but even then that is often not enough time for her to decompress after school. Last night she had a playdate after school and it was rough on all of us LOL!!! so I let her do her homework this morning instead. She wakes early so this is not a problem and she is generally at her most fresh then. Homework will take 10 minutes with no whining instead of 30-40 minutes with LOTS of whining.

How much homework is he getting though? I would think that in K it should be almost nothing. Even our district, which I think gives a lot, has almost none in K.

As for the reading at home, is he enjoying it? If he isn't I would let it go, at least until after you have the evaluation.

[pinkmomagain]

Well it sounds like he is very lucky to have you as a Mom! It seems like you've had some inklings and concerns and you are right on top of things.

My dd has attention issues and some learning issues. I will say that we did an ADHD checklist around K-1 and didn't come up with a dx, but by 3rd grade she did present as ADHD. So definitely check in with the ped and keep your eyes open for it as time goes by and if concerned, push the issue again in the future. It seems like a good thing the school is willing to do an assessment on the learning issues. I don't have a lot of experience there, so I'm sure more experienced moms will chime in. But I will say, don't be hesitant to contine to speak up for your son.

Oh,and in regards to homework time, in our case dd needs to decompress when she comes home(30-60min) and snack. Then needs to be corralled into doing her homework. I can't wait too long after school or else she is too far gone in relaxation mode and it's close to impossible to get her focused. (Also, she's on meds for attention so we've got to get HW in before it wears off.)

GL!

[sariana]

When working with the public school system, fight for your rights. You do not have to wait for the teacher to suggest a child study. Contact the special education department directly and request an observation. Largely because of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), parents have the power when it comes to special education services. But that doesn't mean you won't have to fight for services. Be persistent, be demanding, be a PITA if you have to. The school district is required to meet your son's needs.

Incidentally, I am a former public school teacher and a huge proponent of the public school system. I don't intend to criticize the system. I just want to emphasize that you need to be your child's strongest advocate. Work with the school, but make sure you push for what your son needs.

[almostamom]

Having been both a teacher and a parent in student study team meetings, this is what I would suggest. Have your son's vision and hearing been tested by someone outside of the school nurse? That's the first thing I would do. That's one of the first questions I've heard from the "specialists" at student study meetings. It will may make the process go more quickly if you've already done those and can present the results at the meeting. Have something in writing from your son's doctor stating that she did not find any reason for concern at the recent eval. Many times I've seen the process essentially come to a stop while waiting for the medical statements to come in. What kinds of assessments has the kindergarten teacher already done in class (our kinder teachers used Dibels and the Developmental Reading Assessment)? The teacher should have those at the meeting, but make sure you know what they are as well so you have documentation of your son's progress or lack of progress. At the first meeting you should receive a pamphlet stating "The Parent's Rights" throughout the student study process. Read this and know what your rights are.

I have other ideas for things for you to do at home, but I have a sick munchkin today so I have to run. Please PM me.

Linda

[lorinick]

request a meeting in public schools they must meet with you within two weeks. And if they decide test they have 3 months to finish all the testing. I think at this point request one sounds right on target. I have a boy who is hard to keep foucesed and homework is done as soon as he gets home along with a snack. If we let me wait we have a hard time getting him to fouces. My eight year old is being test for lang/sounds but nothing else. He is on reading at the low end of the third grade, but just not hearing the sounds right. He is a A student in math and is very smart his teacher says. But he still has this issue and she recommended the meeting. I went and he will be tested. As a parent you decide what they do and have alot of feedback. good luck it's a hard thing to deal with I know.

[BeccaB.]

I agree with the previous posts that state that you should ask for the student to be tested by the school. I'm a teacher and in my state - Kansas - if the parent submits a written request for an evaluation, the school has 90 days to complete testing. You can ask to speak to the school psychologist for your building. Also if you haven't involoved the principal yet you might want to consider it. Because of the state testing for no child left behind many principals try to address issues like the ones your describing as soon as possible.


Rebecca

[SASM]

This varies for us. Sarah usually does her homework after dinner, but even then that is often not enough time for her to decompress after school. Last night she had a playdate after school and it was rough on all of us LOL!!! so I let her do her homework this morning instead. She wakes early so this is not a problem and she is generally at her most fresh then. Homework will take 10 minutes with no whining instead of 30-40 minutes with LOTS of whining.
This sounds like DS. The homework can easily be done in minutes if he could concentrate and not whine but he turns a very simple book into a 30-minute gymnastics routine all over me. :( And this comes after decompression time.


How much homework is he getting though? I would think that in K it should be almost nothing. Even our district, which I think gives a lot, has almost none in K.
1 or 2 very simple readers. Not much at all.


As for the reading at home, is he enjoying it? If he isn't I would let it go, at least until after you have the evaluation.
He enjoys the bedtime book but the homework is the struggle. The wordless books are fine, when he gets to tell us the story, but when he actually has to sound out the words...OMG...STRUGGLE!!!

[SASM]

Well it sounds like he is very lucky to have you as a Mom! It seems like you've had some inklings and concerns and you are right on top of things.
Thank you. I feel like I am being a PITA. :(

Thank you for your BTDT info...very good to know!

Oh,and in regards to homework time, in our case dd needs to decompress when she comes home(30-60min) and snack. Then needs to be corralled into doing her homework. I can't wait too long after school or else she is too far gone in relaxation mode and it's close to impossible to get her focused. (Also, she's on meds for attention so we've got to get HW in before it wears off.) GL.[/QUOTE]
Thank you!

[SASM]

Contact the special education department directly and request an observation. Largely becasue of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), parents have the power when it comes to special education services...Be persistent, be demanding, be a PITA if you have to. The school district is required to meet your son's needs.
Thank you! Very good info!!


I just want to emphasize that you need to be your child's strongest advocate. Work with the school, but make sure you push for what your son needs.
Thank you. :)

[SASM]

Having been both a teacher and a parent in student study team meetings, this is what I would suggest. Have your son's vision and hearing been tested by someone outside of the school nurse? That's the first thing I would do. That's one of the first questions I've heard from the "specialists" at student study meetings. It will may make the process go more quickly if you've already done those and can present the results at the meeting. Have something in writing from your son's doctor stating that she did not find any reason for concern at the recent eval. Many times I've seen the process essentially come to a stop while waiting for the medical statements to come in. What kinds of assessments has the kindergarten teacher already done in class (our kinder teachers used Dibels and the Developmental Reading Assessment)? The teacher should have those at the meeting, but make sure you know what they are as well so you have documentation of your son's progress or lack of progress. At the first meeting you should receive a pamphlet stating "The Parent's Rights" throughout the student study process. Read this and know what your rights are.

I have other ideas for things for you to do at home, but I have a sick munchkin today so I have to run. Please PM me.

Linda
Thank you! We have already hd the vision checked by a specialist and the audiology consult is next week. Good to know that we should bring along a dr's statement!! I am not certain which tool the teacher is using. I know from expereince that speech eval tools vary from state to state so I am sure that assessment tools vary here as well. Do you have any good websites for me to just familiarize myself with these??

Ohhh...I am going to try to PM you...I have a stubborn 16mo who is wiggling around my kitchen at the moment, so I could at least get the roommate DD asleep. :) TY!!

[SASM]

request a meeting in public schools they must meet with you within two weeks. And if they decide test they have 3 months to finish all the testing. I think at this point request one sounds right on target. I have a boy who is hard to keep foucesed and homework is done as soon as he gets home along with a snack. If we let me wait we have a hard time getting him to fouces. My eight year old is being test for lang/sounds but nothing else. He is on reading at the low end of the third grade, but just not hearing the sounds right. He is a A student in math and is very smart his teacher says. But he still has this issue and she recommended the meeting. I went and he will be tested. As a parent you decide what they do and have alot of feedback. good luck it's a hard thing to deal with I know.
Thank you for the BTDT info! I didn't know that they have to meet with us within 2 weeks! VERY good to know about the 3mo max to finish testing. TY!! Good luck with your son! Thank you again!!

[SASM]

I agree with the previous posts that state that you should ask for the student to be tested by the school. I'm a teacher and in my state - Kansas - if the parent submits a written request for an evaluation, the school has 90 days to complete testing. You can ask to speak to the school psychologist for your building. Also if you haven't involoved the principal yet you might want to consider it. Because of the state testing for no child left behind many principals try to address issues like the ones your describing as soon as possible.


Rebecca
Thank you so much!! Very good to know!

[egoldber]

He enjoys the bedtime book but the homework is the struggle. The wordless books are fine, when he gets to tell us the story, but when he actually has to sound out the words...OMG...STRUGGLE!!!

Honestly, then I wouldn't do it. The last thing you want to do, IMO, is make him hate reading. I would just read to him even more and not worry about the homework books.

[kransden]

I just tested about 20 kinders, many were english language learners. Normal kids counted from 20-50 without getting side tracked, many higher, only 2 over 100. I had to tell the one to stop and start again, lol I don't speak Chinese!! The native English speakers, knew the alphabet, but would get j,i,bd mixed up.

This may work for you. If you cut out squares of #s and make a game of it. My dd would show me a # and I would tell her what it was. Sometimes, I was "supposed" to get them wrong so she could correct me. Then I would ask her a #. This was fun and not stressful. Your ds may like that too - or not, every child is different.

[zag95]

Some really good advice from our educators out there. I don't have a child your DS's age, but here are some things I have done with older students:

get a simple book on CD and have him "read" the book following along in the print copy.

Play some games- Memory, Uno, Apples to Apples Jr, Candyland, etc, that might encourage counting and letter identification. Games are less threatening!


As PP have said, you have a right to have him tested and evaluated-I hope you have a positive outcome for your DS.

[Tondi G]

My son had trouble reading in Kindergarten. In 1st grade he ended up with a teacher who was retiring at the end of the year... so she didn't do anything beyond what she HAD to do. She kept telling us he was behind but that if we kept reading to him he would catch up and not to worry.... UM no we ARE worried! After the winter break we decided to put DS into some private tutoring. The one on one time was priceless. He picked it up SO quickly. It was apparent he just hadn't been taught by his previous teachers... he needed to understand phonics and sounding out. The tutoring was fun and he enjoyed going. With mom and home I was nagging and it was stressful for all of us... the tutor knew how to make it fun and more interesting. I can't say enough good things about it.... if you have the finances to get your kiddo a tutor I would do it in a heartbeat! MyDS is now in 2nd grade and is one of the best readers in his class and is doing really well all around!

Good Luck