I need HELP! Our daughter, who is eight years old and whom we adopted from Guatemala when she was almost two years old, has been attending a local Montessori school since she was four. She is now in second grade. She has been tested and has been shown to read at a kindergarten level and does math at a first grade level. We agreed to have her tested for learning disabilities, and it turns out that other than being slightly ADHD, she has an IQ of 76, which is mildly retarded. The school psychologist who did the testing has recommended that I start calling public schools in our area to determine what help they can give her. However, the public schools where we live are awful. And we are not happy with her Montessori education; the teachers pay all their time and attention to the more gifted children. Is it possible to homeschool a child with a low IQ? Where should I start? Any ideas are welcome. Blessings, Candace
Congratulations on adopting a special child!!! The beauty of homeschooling is that you can move at her pace. Maybe in 1 subject she might be at one level and another subject, another level and you can cater to that. She also might not learn the same way as everyone else. My dd loves audio books and will spout stuff out you would never think of that she listened to months ago. It can actually be funny some days. You can also go by what SHE wants to learn. If she doesn't LIKE bugs, why study them? 1st off check with your state. See what they require of homeschoolers and what you need to do in your state. Another great thing is that you guys might end up "bonding" closer because of homeschooling - my daughter and I have gotten a lot closer since we started (she was already in 1st grade starting to drift away from me).... and my son and I ..... well he IS a boy but we get along better than some I have seen. Ok - gotta run.... Halloween party here tonight and I need to get farm work done before hand
IMO the worst place she could be is public school. She wont get much of that one on one time. I agree with the previous poster about homeschooling at her pace. She wont feel rushed or stressed, plus she can take breaks when she really needs them. She can do what she needs to do and when.
I agree that students who might struggle in school have the most to gain from the one-on-one, tailor made, love-motivated education that is homeschooling.
Its very possible! IMO its prefered. My suggestion for a place to start is with books. Read to her. Go to your local library and pick out lots of easy reading books on an assortment of topics. Then just spend time with her reading for fun, for information and for getting closer together as mother and child. Marty
Here is a list of the vendors from the annual homeschool book fair we attend that have information/curriculum for kids with special needs: http://homeschoolbookfair.com/exhibitors/special-needs.html You may find some useful info there. It sounds like she does well with math; she certainly doesn't sound far off from where she should be. Many kids struggle with reading level [I've gotten to where I put little stock in them, myself]. I'd see what kind of learning style she best seems to relate to - hands-on, visual, auditory - and then branch out from there. Music is also something to consider using a lot of. So many kids learn things and retain them when they're set to music. Sing-n-Learn has TONS of educational music CDs.
Thank you everyone for the support and ideas. We don't know whether she should finish out the school year at the Montessori school or take her out over Christmas break and start homeschooling in January.
My vote is come out of public at Christmas and never look back! We school OPKs now, and this year a mama brought me her little 6 year old boy who supposedly has "issues". He was in a developmentally delayed preschool class, had speech therapy, IEP, the whole nine yards. He didn't learn everything he was "supposed to" in public kindergarten last year, and stayed in trouble all the time for aggression. The school suggested that he was somewhere on the autism spectrum, even. He's been with us 10 weeks now, and he's reading, writing, adding and subtracting, right where he should be. He's not the "sharpest knife in the drawer" so to speak, but he's learning in the one-to-one situation (actually, two adults to five kids). I'm not saying that he's in any way similar to your child, but what I'm saying is that the one-to-one situation is infinitely preferable to public school of any kind! PS talks a good show, about how the individualize. Baloney. Nobody can individualize like a mama can!
I vote to pull her out at Christmas break too! I agree with everyone about going at her pace, and reading books. Sometimes that is the best way for not just a child but anyone to learn. You will have tons of support from us here.
My job description is to specifically assist kids with these types of 'disabilities'. I'm not an expert and my opinion is based strictly on experience and observations. The school psychologist has told me that and IQ of 72 or lower is borderline mental retardation. Kids with an IQ of 76 are usually classified as below average or slow but not retarded. My experience assisting kids with low IQ has been that they really struggle with 'common sense' and 'reasoning' but are able to memorize things when they are told what to do. Kids with very low IQ's are able to memorize multiplication facts and other rules but they struggle with how to apply those rules to situations where the problem may look different. Another example, most are able to memorize rules like 'always begin the name of a person with a capital letter'. I wouldn't choose anything but homeschooling for a kids with any kind of learning problems. However, if you choose public school the key is to stay involved, make sure they school is doing what they are required to by law. I would not allow my kids to be put in an 'inclusive' classroom or 'resource room' for specialized help. Personally if I had to put my child in public school, I would only want them in a regular classroom with assistance or modified curriculum. From what I've seen, most resource rooms tend to become more like a daycare than a school.
Wackzingo, I worked on the multidisciplinary team in a school district for twenty years, and I saw some amazing things. Some amazingly good, and some amazingly bad. One amazingly good thing was this one kid -- we tested him three different times during his school career, and he scored 68 every single time. Didn't vary by even one point. His mom (who had adopted him through foster care - along with quite a few others through the years) would never allow him to be placed in a self-contained special ed classroom because "he the smartest kid I got" (he was - most of the rest she allowed to be placed in special ed classrooms), although she would let him go to the resource room for one or two hours per day for reinforcement of his regular-class lessons. That kid went to every kind of supplementary program that existed - after school tutoring, before school teacher helps, Upward Bound on weekends and summers, whatever was available. He graduated from high school with a regular diploma (okay, he was 20, but he did it, with tons of "extra credit" and "second chances" -- teachers loved him because of his unfailing work ethic and willingness to do more and do it again) AND went on to the community college. Of course, he flunked out, but at least he got a semester of the college experience, and went on and got a regular job at a grocery store. I lost track of him after that. But just to say... Then there's this woman I know. She's 27. She was classified in kindergarten as Mild Mentally Disabled and placed in a self-contained special ed classroom. Several years later, she was tested again at the regular time, maybe sixth grade or so, and they found that she wasn't really below a 70 IQ, but more nearly like 80 and therefore no longer eligible for the MMD classification and by all rights should have been put in regular classes -- but by this time she was so thoroughly "institutionalized" to special ed classes that they had to hunt like crazy to "find" (read: manufacture) a learning disability (defined in this state as an academic strength of 85 or better with an academic weakness of 70 or below in ANY area) so she could not be thrown into all-regular classes with no help whatsoever. She continues to this day calling herself "learning disabled" although she's actually in the 80-IQ "slow learner" or what used to be called here Educationally Handicapped range. She reads at about a 3rd/4th grade level on a really good day, her handwriting looks like a weak second grader wrote it, and she has difficulty double-digit addition and subtraction. One thing she has learned really really well, though, it to "work the system" and get whatever free programs are out there (except Social Security disability - she doesn't qualify because of her "high" IQ).
okay, I have to say this, when I was in school and they did the IQ test I was told it was "just for fun" and didnt count towards anything. So I played around with it, I didnt even get to the last page, because I was having such a fun time with the sentence order , Cracking myself up.. since it was just for fun! When they told us after picking it p that that was our"IQ test" I cried. I have never had it tested again and do not think its relavent. That said, I agree that teaching her at her own pace could suprise you! The joy of home teaching is that you can go at the childs pace however fast or slow they progress. don't hold her back , but encoruage her to do her best and be happy with any improvements. I also agree with taking her out now, why pay for sending her out when she is not learning anything there? I love Montessori learning styles but you have to be able to encourage a bit more learning at certain ages and with some kids it just doesnt work. Be sure and share her progress wiht us here! and feelfree to ask any questions!
TeacherMom, I don't think that was a real IQ test. It might have been an OLSAT or some other group-administerable "school ability test", but not an IQ. Stanford-Binet and Wechsler tests must be administered individually by a psychologist or psychometrist and individually interpreted in order to be valid, and those are the only two that are accepted as valid in most circles.
Psychologists are the only ones considered qualified to do individual IQ testing. Or psychometrists, which are specialists in testing/interpreting. The test companies won't sell to anybody who can't show the proper qualifications. Stanford-Binet and WISC/WAIS can't be administered in group settings. They're just not built that way. If everybody had access to them, they would quickly become invalid because everyone would know all the answers and come out "genius".... or they would know what answers NOT to give and would wrongly qualify for Social Security disability and other bennies they shouldn't truly qualify for.
of course that was back in the dark ages when I was a kid haha, so IQ tests were fairly new. It was Stanford I know that much, not sure about the rest of that haha,
Decided to home school daughet, too My daughter is 7 and still on a mostly prek level. I have been home schooling her; never sent her to prek or any kind of organized school. I recently had her evaluated at the public school for the purpose of receiving speech services. I requested a full evaluation,not just for speech. Last week I was informed that her IQ is 55. The psychologist said she suspected it to be lower, but the scoring only goes to 55. While somewhat taken aback at the actual score, the fact that she has a low IQ came to no surprise to me. My point is, I know first hand what it is like to home school a child with a low IQ and I am going to be very honest with you....it isn't always easy. I never struggled in school, graduating high school 4th in my class and from college with honors. It took me a long time to "program" my thinking to match with hers. We simply have different learning styles. The biggest challenge I have faced is shaking off my anxiety about whether or not she is learning. She is indeed learning but some subjects are taking a little longer for her to grasp. IQ only measures a certain type of intelligence, I think. My daughter taught herself to tie her shoes and learned how to navigate and find her favorite internet sites just by looking over my shoulder. She can also feed, bathe and clothe herself and prepare simple meals. The school gave me a proposed IEP, should I wish to enroll her. I was very pleased with the IEP over all, but turned it down because I still think home schooling is the best thing for her, for now. My advice? Find your daughter's strengths and build on that. My daughter does most of her work on the computer, because she has such an interest in it. We are working at a pace that is comfortable for her. Don't be afraid to give it a try. You can always look into alternatives if you decide it is not best for your family.
