Private School Help Please! Desperate

I am so sorry to hear that. Our math teacher resigned also, but my child is in public school. I have a math tutor for my child and she is using math-u-see( 3 days a week) and I am using Barton for reading (3 days a week). I am quite happy with the outside programs we are giving her, as public shool is not meeting her needs. There are a couple ld schools in my area, but I really like the one- to-one she gets with tutoring. I had bought the math-u-see program for my tutor to use and she likes it. She works well with my child and helps with her saying math vocabulary, as I know in the school setting my child wouldn’t get that. Go in and view the schools. I wish you well-

Now is the time a lot of private schools (including the special ed ones) are holding open houses, so try to do a Google search for private schools in your area.

It sounds like the school, despite its good intentions, is on the verge of not serving your child well. Departing teachers, two-recesses and no homework are all not good signs. IMHO, you need to “jump ship” as well. Public school may have to be the alternative until you can find a good private school for kids w/LD. If you can find an accommodating regular private school, that may work also. If I would research the prospective schools as much as possible. Good luck.

I have the feeling that now is the time to “jump ship” before it’s too late. I feel like if he sticks with this school he will be in even worse shape than he’d be in if he were in public school.

I did find a school that is a regular private school but has a program for children with LD’s. He’s going to spend the day there on Tuesday to see how he likes it and have some testing done. They said they were going to do the Wilson testing on him. I’m not sure what that is but the lady was very nice and said it was a popular method of testing (not her exact words). I know several other kids who go to school at this school and love it and their parents love it too. It’s also $20 less per month and I can drop him off earlier and he can stay later for tutoring.

I pray that this works out. This school has been around for a long time so I feel better about it.

Sounds like a good decision.

I have worked at two small private schools for LD kids. The first one didn’t last. They didn’t stop paying us (but it was a creative arrangement that included housing, tuition, and a $500 monthly stipend rather than a salary), but they did mess up credentials and paperwork, and several teachers *did* leave midyear for one reason or other. People who start schools are often dreamers & idealists - if they don’t get a few accountants on board with them, they’re pretty much doomed.
Visit the school. Inquire about their mission statement and how they pay for things. And be grateful that you do have options.
(At the second school there were almost always a couple of students accepted midyear, even though we were “full.”)

Wilson testing refers to the placement test for the Wilson Reading Program which is an Orton-Gillingham based program. I’d probably ask for some references from some of the other parents of dyslexic children before deciding on any school. And if there was a gap in time, I’d definitely recommend homeschooling over placing your child in public school temporarily. That is too many changes in one year!

But yes, I’d take him out of the current school before I had to make the next payment.

Janis

I ‘m unable to homeschool because I have to work. I wish I could. He went to one of the private schools to sit in today and he cried when i left then i cried all the way to work. I didn’t let him see me upset because I didn’t want him to worry all day. The secretary called me twice to let me know he was ok. She said he’s doing well.

Yesterday, at the school we’re having the problems with, I was told by 2 children that the did “a little math on the board and science” and other than that they made origamie (sp?) and paper airplains and decorated the room ALL DAY! They aren’t learing anything. It’s like I’m paying for daycare. I feel like I’m getting scammed.

{{{hugs}}}

At least you know… and you’re dealing with it…
It’s probably not a deliberate scam (though it happens - there’s a hopefully infamous “academy” that keeps popping up with different names, same folks behind it)… but I’d be outta there.
How *was* the school?

In the beginning the school “seemed” great. But my son was tested yesterday and his reading skills are still at a 2nd grade level at the 9th month. That’s exactly the same as it was last May when he was tested at the end of the school year which reinforces that they’re not doing much of anything. He visited another private schoo yesterday (I know several people who send there children there) and he did great except he kept wanting to know when recess would begin and when they went to recess he didn’t want to go in. I told them that’s because all they are doing at his school now is playing all day.

Sounds like there would be a period of adjustement :-( but - once he was actually *in* the classes and more in synch with what they were doing, it wouldn’t be as hard to come in from recess.

YOu getting rain or snow? We’ve just begun the white stuff…

I just spoke with the reading specialist and he was very optomistic about my son. When he starts at the new school he will be with the reading specialist 3 days a week during 5th period and will be working on the Wilson program. The specialist said he is confident he can get my son up to speed.

He will adjust. He knows that he’s going to have to work much harder here and he’s ok with that. It will be tough at first but we’ll get through it.

I really appreciate all of the support on here. Thanks to everyone.

[quote:481c5a21d0=”brandonsmom”]I sent my son to a private school this year designed for children with learning disabilities. He has “specific” LD’s in math and reading. School has only been in 4 months and teachers are falling like flies. 4 teachers have quit already. No notice……just walked out. From what I understand they’re not being paid. 2 of them I know were the best teachers there and had plenty of experience. The tuition is $12,000 per year but I only have to pay $400 a month because the director said she gave me a grant. This is a new school and this is the first year it’s been open. This is the 4th location they’ve been in since they started so they’re bouncing around like a bunch of bouncy balls. The director is now teaching my child and I just found out that she doesn’t even have a teaching degree. They’re hardly doing any work. They’re taking 2 hour recesses! No homework EVER!

I need help. I want to send him to another school but how do you really know if it’s “lagit”. Should I go with a well known private school that has a special program for children with LD’s? How do I go about researching these schools to figure out which one is best? I also thought of going ahead and sending him back to public school and allow him to be in resource if there is a waiting list for the school I choose so I won’t be paying her for nothing.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.[/quote]

My son has been back in public school since January…….he has ALL B’s on his report card….wooo hooooo! That private school was a complete disaster! He hasen’t even given me a hard time about doing homework once! I’m so excited…he’s still in resource and still has a ways to go on his reading but at least he’s willing to learn now.

That is very good to hear! Is he getting private reading therapy? If not, I would pursue that as he probably won’t get what he needs in that area in public school.

He isn’t right now. I’m looking for a tutor though. He was tested at the private school for reading and was at a 2.9 level. I had him tested again and he’s really at a 4.0 - 4.5. That made me feel a lot better and much more hopeful.

That’s a really big difference. What tests were used to test him each time?

The Wilson program said he was at a 2nd grade level. He was tested in public school by however they determine the Accelerated Reader program and it said he was reading at approximatly a 4th grade level. The problem he seems to have is he can read the words…no problem. He can’t remember what he’s read even when he reads it out loud to me.

Wilson is a LOT more trustworthy. The higher rating may be more pleasing to your feelings, but unfortunately the lower one is probably nearer the truth.
There was recently published an interview with a specialist who voiced what a lot of us have thought and observed for years: low comprehension is very very often tied to fundamental problems with single-word reading and decoding.
The child may *seem* to be reading the words correctly, but closer investigation shows gaps that were hidden by coping skills.

Two common patterns:
(A) The child has memorized a large list of words by sight. Unfortunately as the vocabulary gets larger and larger, the search process of comparing each printed word to each shape in the memory banks becomes slower and slower and more and more laborious. You often see the “constipated reader” who grunts/shouts out each word after a pause, under huge stress. These kids are spending so much time and energy and stress and worry on searching, searching for something that they have memorized that kind of looks like the word on the page that there is no time or energy left to pay attention to the meaning of the words.
(B) The child goes fast and fairly smoothly and with great confidence. Unfortunately when you actually *listen* to what he is “reading”, you find that he is skipping over words, re-ordering words to fit his own (usually simplified) patterns of grammar, omitting or replacing endings, replacing connecting words practically randomly, and frequently replacing longer words with ones that are wildly different in meaning. Take a sentence that is actually written “The prince rewarded him for his exceptional courage” and when it is “read” as “The princess returned him from its extra country” you see that comprehension is going to be less than zero — what the child thinks he comprehends is almost certainly wrong; for example even if there is only one error on a “little” word, think how much trouble a boy would get into if he misread the notes “here is a present for your girlfriend” and “here is a present from your girlfriend”.

In both cases, the comprehension is NOT the root of the problem, even though yes, the child is passing *simple* word reading and phonics tests and is failing comprehension tests. Rather, the problem is that the phonics and word reading tests are too basic and are not testing what the student really needs to know to get beyond Grade 2 level (this is the most common cutoff for guess-and-hope readers.)

I haven’t used the AR placement tests personally, but I get the impression from reading that they can be passed by a good guesser. This is why they are not trustworthy. (darn).

Good luck and please ask for any help you need.

I’ll just confirm what Victoria said. The Wilson tests will identify his decoding skills accurately. The AR level is not meaningful to determine reading skills or deficits. He has a decoding problem which will cause him greater difficulty over time if it is not addressed.

One more thought, he might be a candidate for REWARDS Intermediate which reviews advanced code and works on decoding multi-syllable words.

Thanks for the information. Can someone help me with this? When being tested with the Wilson test he got all of the words correct all the way through the 6th grade level. Can someone please help me by giving some suggestions on how I can help him with his problem in understanding what it is he’s reading? Thanks for all the information.

Start with connected test that is *easy* for him to read — books on a mid Grade 1 or beginning grade 2 level. Real books with text, not commercial junk with all pictures ond one sentence (that does not practice reading, but picture guessing, counterproductive.) I start with old basal readers for the lowest level, then good children’s novels with few hildren on up) when the student is ready — and not until he is ready. Have him read a page and you read a page alternately. After each reasonable break — page or paragraph — *talk* about what you have read, in a natural way: meanings of words, meanings of expressions, what you have just discovered, why people act that way,l what he would do in that situation, and so on. Gradually you and he build up an interaction with the book.

Thank you SO much for the suggestion. We will be going to the library tomorrow night. Again, thank you.