Creative writing is the worst. He can write all day about information (especially rocks and minerals), but the moment his teacher gives him a topic to choose himself on something else...he can't do it. His mind goes blank and he's actually sat in class the entire period staring at a blank piece of paper while the other kids are doing their work. It's so bad that the teacher now gives him a topic to write about. He still struggles to write it, so my husband and I help him structure the essay so he has a plan to follow.
I noticed this myself when doing workbooks with him. He can tell me the answer straight away, but tell him to write it down, and it's like he can't remember what the words are. I have to repeat word for word what he came up with. That was when I realized something was wrong, that it wasn't normal for a kid his age.
Other issues he has:
-He writes his letters and numbers from the bottom up so his letters are often uneven in size
-His spelling is very bad and one of his worst subjects
-He erases a lot
-He needs lined paper or his sentences will not be straight
-He doesn't always use capital letters or punctuation
-He complains that it makes his brain tired
-He sometimes flips b and d and 9 and 6, but he does not have trouble reading them out loud
-He uses his finger for spacing, otherwise the words would not be evenly spaced
The advocate did attend the meeting and was helpful in getting him some measurable accommodations (before they were not measurable) in writing. However, I think he needs therapy for writing, especially when it comes to putting his thoughts on paper. I see the problem only getting worse as he gets older.
I guess what I'm really tired of is
1. going to the school for help
2. being told there's nothing wrong
3. getting a private assessment to say yes there is
4. getting only the bare minimum of help
We're on our third cycle since he started school. We have no good private options and homeschool hurts him socially, since it is difficult for us to arrange playdates.
Also, to answer spaghetti:
The school didn't do small groups at all this year. Also, they only have them for reading, not math. Also, he has been wrongly placed in a lower small group based on his behavior, and not his academics...and I was only informed of this a year later. The school even used the fact that he was SUPPOSED to be in a lower reading group (although he never was) as a reason why he wasn't gifted in math and science.
The stupidest thing I heard was that his math teacher said he couldn't be more advanced than 3rd grade math because "He had to do the multiplication facts in his head instead of knowing it rote" and "he got an question wrong the other day". I never made him memorize the multiplication tables because he's known how to multiply in preschool...why confuse him when he already knew how? He's always been able to do it in his head. And I don't get how missing a question is somehow indicative of not being advanced. I wish he had a teacher who actually cared.
Thanks to everyone who has been helpful in this. Sorry if I'm somewhat emotional.