she then said that she needs a record of his handwriting for his IEP to show what progress he is making, and if he is rushed in the morning and not finishing, that is not a fair record.
Honestly, this doesn't sound like a good way to assess handwriting progress - it just doesn't make any kind of sense to me.... to assess handwriting progress you'd want a time-controlled writing sample that includes opportunities to evaluate spacing, upper-vs-lower case, letter formation, pencil grip and pressure on paper, spelling etc. I don't see how using writing examples from his math homework can be used for that... but hey.. maybe it's like word problems on steroids? For first graders???? (sorry for the sarcasm lol).
I'm debating sending in a note saying that she can use the Singapore Math and any other work he's doing in class as a "record", and I will not be having him do first grade math at home anymore.
Does he already have an IEP and she's saying she's using this for measuring how well he's meeting IEP goals? If that's the case, I'd call an emergency IEP meeting and request that math worksheets not be used for a handwriting exercise or assessment tool. I'd also ask for clarity on handwriting improvement expectations - is it reasonable to expect improvement? Do you see signs of frustration with written assignments outside of the math that's sent home?
And I can't remember - has your ds had an outside eval? It sounds like it's going to be important to tease out specifically if this is dysgraphia, if you're dealing with having handwriting goals included in an IEP. I'd want to be sure they are appropriate and not reaching for something that's not realistic as an expectation, and I'd also want (if it is dysgraphia) to get accommodations in place for scribing/keyboarding/etc.
polarbear
