Conference moira::parenting

    Cindy, this note really hits home.  I have a son, who is now 12, but
    has had a terrible time with reading.  Erik's problem has been a
    teacher who was out for six weeks when he was in kindergarden, and then
    a second grade teacher who liked teaching the girls better than the
    boys.
    
    He spent from the 3rd grade until the 5th grade in Chapter I (just like
    Title 1) getting help with his reading.  The biggest frustration was
    making sure that he was getting the help that he needed.  I got to know
    the supervisor of the Chapter I program very well, and every time that
    Erik was not getting assistance I was on the phone to her.  That
    teacher helped a lot and always called back to follow up to make sure
    Erik was receiving help.
    
    I would suggest finding out if there is one person who is responsible
    for the Title 1 program in your schools and work with that person too. 
    Call the principle and see if your daughter can get help after school
    in a one-on-one environment.  
    
    Self-esteem is so important.  You might also think about spending some
    time in the classroom observing what is going on.  I know some schools
    do pull out for the children that are assigned to these programs, and
    the other students can be cruel.  In our school system, pull out is not
    allowed and everything is done in the classroom that way all children
    are getting the same help.
    
    I hope some of this helps.
    
    You can contact me offline.
    
    Donna
    

You haven't complained about your child's behavioural patterns ... other
than reading.  If your child was truly ADD then you can bet your bottom
dollar that there would be more problems than you describe!!!!

There are a million other learning difficulties that could be causing this
kind of problem ... visual learners for example have a terrible time reading.
Not recognizing prefixes or suffices ... written in a different way ...
like with mixed case or all caps.   For example ... to the visual learner
dog, Dog, DOG are all separate words that have to be absorbed.  Run and
running are as related as dog and cheese ... it is not run with ning on the
end ... it's a different word!  They cannot break words into syllables,
which makes Phonics useless.

With all her friends reading by now, she probably feels left out and then
some kids are really cruel about these kinds of difficulties which could
explain the lack of focus.  She probably feels she's just stupid and will
never be able to read ... so why try.

Teachers have this fanatic desire to diagnose ADD these days ... If they
were ever presented with a truly add/adhd child, I think they'd change
their tune a bit.  Not that I don't believe it exists (there are some
people who don't believe in it at all!) but that teachers are simply
not qualified to even begin to make this diagnosis.

By all means, have your child tested for things like visual learning by
an education psychologist but tell the teacher that suggested ADD to take
a hike!

Stuart

I suggest you take a look at the learning disabilities notesfile
(ASABET::LEARNING_DISABILITIES).

    I am surprised to see no mention of a 766 core evaluation. Of course
    she needs a throrough assessment of her learning style and an edu plan
    that meets her needs.
    
    Or did something dreadful happen to children's rights when I wasn't
    looking ?

Isn't 766 a Massachusetts law?  Judging from the nodename, the base noter's
in Georgia.

    What is a 766 core evaluation?

    Hi,  Base noter here. . . .
    
    I had a talk with my daughters teacher yesterday.  I had requested
    the information on the evaluation that was completed last year, she
    said she had searched everyplace and could not find it.  She did talk
    to the teacher that did the evaluation, but an "SST" (special student
    team) file was never created.  Apparently there has to be a file for 6 
    months before the school has to do further testing.  Her teacher 
    suggested that she be tested for a learning disability rather than ADD.  
    Now we are back to block 1- We are doing the evaluation once again.
    
    I and my husband think that a lot of it is self confidence- yes she
    doesn't pick up things as easily as other kids and she knows it.  It
    seems that she feels like she is competing with her little sister (only
    16 months younger) in everything.  Her sister reads very well, for a
    1st grader, and tries harder at everything and is more conscience of
    everything she does. 
    
    Well, back to square 1!  
    
    Cindy   

    Cindy,
    
    If you think part of it is that her sister is catching on more quickly
    to reading, maybe you need to focus on things your oldest does well and
    enjoys doing for some one-on-one time.  One GT teacher explained to a
    friend who was very concerned about her son's reading was not so much
    that he is "slow" because he doesn't reacd, but that he has gifts in
    other directions and to use those gifts to encourage reading.  Her son
    is a tinkerer, and getting him a tinkering-type kit with simply written
    instructions for stuff helped quite a bit.  He most likely will never
    enjoy reading the way his younger sister does, but he is beginning to
    see that learning to read a bit more may open the door to things he
    does love.  
    
    meg

    re: -1...
    
    Too true, too true!  Strangely, my son's "reading light" really turned
    on over last summer.  Two things happened - one, we bought him a game
    boy for his 7th b-day, and he had to *read* the instructions to learn
    to play the games well.  Two, I started buying him the books *he*
    wanted from the Troll book club at school, book stores, etc., instead
    of the ones I thought he should have.  I completely ignored all those
    "prize winning" books I loved, and bought him stuff about Power
    Rangers, animals, Batman, etc., whatever he evinced an interest in.  
    
    Suddenly he began really reading. 
    
    The next thing I knew, he was perusing an ancient (i.e., from the
    '60's-70's) 4th/5th grade text on the American Revolution in the used 
    book store, and he just HAD to have it.  This old book, one on American 
    Presidents and his Kid's Almanac are his absolute favorites, and he'll 
    read them again and again.  Strange, but true.  Focusing on the child's
    interests does really helped.  That way, it didn't feel like
    "education" and "reading" as much as "enjoyment".
    
    M.

    Have you had her vision and hearing tested?  This will be done as part
    of a core evaluation.  Just make sure you have your little miss
    evaluated before school lets out for the summer!
    
    To the noter who wanted to know what a core evaluation is:  The school
    district evaluates your child in a number of areas, such as vision,
    language, hearing, spatial reasoning, etc.  The evaluation is a little
    different for every age group, I believe.  Our 4-year-old had a core
    evaluation in January.  She was tested by a child psychologist and by a
    speech/language specialist.  We were also urged to get her a complete
    physical checkup, which we had already done, and were also encouraged
    to get a consultation with a pediatric neurologist to rule out any
    possibility of physical problems with the brain.  
    
    It came out that our daughter (much like yours) is a very bright little
    girl who has trouble staying "on task" and who really has difficulty
    processing language so she can use it.  We're still getting "What that
    is, Mom?" for "What is that," etc.  So she's in speech therapy twice a
    week.  
    
    Slow reading can have any number of underlying causes.  In fact, a
    friend of mine told me the other day that her daughter is actually
    *farsighted* and needed glasses to read!  I don't think people realize
    what a complex skill reading really is and how long it can take a child
    to catch on to it.
    
    Good luck to all of you.