Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Am I crazy? UPDATE

Hmm. You have a good point Grinity. By the end of the month school will have been in session for five weeks. Perhaps that is not too long to wait. I think my expectations are high because his teachers in K and 1st grade took the information given to them about our DS and used it to address his needs from the very beginning. They didn't do a perfect job, but it was good enough and our son seemed happy and learning. I guess I'm bothered by the overall vibe I'm getting from the teacher, so that is perhaps where my need for urgency is coming from. So I say to myself, if it's going to be painful, might as well rip that band aid off right now.

But, I am very concerned about being too pushy. Apparently he is fine at school if not a bit wiggly. It's at home where the total meltdowns occur.

My husband and I are leaning towards backing off a bit. We don't want our initial email to go unanswered so we will get answers to our questions, but we will let the year play out a little bit more before making demands. It certainly would be better for them to come up with a solution on their own after I gave them a not-so-gentle nudge.

Thanks again for your thoughts, everyone.

Eleanor05

I would ignore the teacher's email for now, (but do hold her to the 'end of the month' promise for bigger books)
and focus on the Principle, who has the power to move your child out of that room - full or part time.

It really isn't the classroom teacher's 'fault' that your child isn't in a place to benifit from what has always worked in the past. Every bit of training and experience is telling the teacher that their methods are 'right.'

Good luck,
Grinity

I have one final update to give to the group. It is very positive.

I spoke with the principal today and he made some real changes for DS. We are now enrolled in the on-line math class and can begin next week!! This is huge! The teacher had been avoiding my question because the school apparently dropped the licensing of the software for the lower grades and they were trying to work out a solution. They just made him a 3rd grader for math. SO GREAT!

They also sent DS to the reading specialist today to assess his reading again. They seem intent on getting an accurate picture of DS. They also are implementing a new differentiation plan for the whole school, and while it won't be everyday, I think we can live with it.

The most important update, however, is from our son. He came home yesterday and said that "School was great today!" I asked him what happened to make it so great. He said, "Nothing. I just didn't get in trouble today and nobody was mad at me!" My intuition told me something was amiss and I think just speaking up for him like I did made a huge difference.

sigh

Yippee to all of the above! You can make a huge difference for your child (and probably more) in school - and you just did.

To my mind, 'quite good' is better than 'perfect' in lots of ways!
Cheers to 'quite good!'

Enjoy,
Grinity

Excellent! That is such great news. So happy for you both.

Great news!

That is absolutely great!