That's not a sign there's anything wrong with the kids, that's a sign of VERY bad teaching! Your son is probably missing some basic building blocks in reading. When you begin teaching him to read, I'd recommend starting him at a very basic, easy level and then just move forward as fast or as slow as you need to. It'll be confidence building for him, and you'll catch whatever gaps there are in his learning. That's ridiculous. They used to say that to my mom, too, and I just finished tutoring an 8th grader in Algebra today. My math is just fine, for all that I'm also a painter. Oh, and I got the same thing with my daughter - that I should steer her away from maths and sciences, because she's so "artistic". Yeah well, the kid may love writing poetry, but science is her favorite class and she wants to be a doctor. There's NO way I'm telling her she can't be a doctor, she has to be an English major, just because she happens to be good at writing. You're absolutely right! If you aren't having problems with him at home, it's ridiculous to consider drugging him. Besides, there's NO way the teacher is qualified to make that kind of judgement. You'll be able to see for yourself when you begin teaching your son if he has any real attention problems. But I'm guessing any kid who can build a replica model of his school out of Legos, has got a decent attention span. Besides, recent studies are beginning to show that a lot of kids "outgrow" their ADD. It's not a disability, it's just they're a little slower with the brain development. (In other words, they're perfectly normal - we're the ones who're trying to force them to grow up too fast.) Here's the thing - learning disabled does NOT mean slow. In fact, children can be both gifted AND learning disabled. I have one of those. My son has an IQ that's been measured as above the 99th percentile. He's very, very smart, and it shows in many ways. The kid's got an analytical mind that's better than mine - he sees right to the heart of things. He's also learning disabled. That means when the tester gives him a pencil and tells him to put the tip of it in a small circle, he's as likely as not to miss the circle entirely. His eyes won't tell him where his hands are. He also can't skip. He used to fall on his face whenever he tried to run. His learning disability also means that he reads slowly, and it takes him a lot longer to get through a book than the rest of us. And it means that he sometimes mixes his words up when he speaks, and he'll ask us to put the table on the book instead of the other way around. He needs help writing, because he jumbles his words. Don't rule out testing - it can be a big help to you as a teacher, to know exactly where your child is weak and where they're strong. However, I would go with private testing. I wouldn't trust your school, with anything. And you're quite right to want him out of the LD class! Too many of those programs have become dumping ground for "problem" students. Heck, why bother with the last month of school? Is there any way you can just pull him out now? You wrote that he's crying every day at school... I doubt he getting much benefit from being there. You and him could have yourselves a nice little vacation, for the rest of the school year. Enjoy your new adventure!
I second...er, uh...fifth??? the notion that math and art can go together. I scored high in all subjects (including calculus) and I draw, sculpt, write, sing, etc. My dd11 is even more sensitive and artsy than I, and her best subject is math. People are who they are. And if you find that your ds is having some attention issues you can try a bit of caffiene (it stimulates the brain just as the meds do without the damaging side effects)....or....just wait until he is able to focus to do his lessons, which is what I did with my ds. My ds also has Tourette Syndrome. Everyone's always got somethin', huh? :lol:
I'm one of those people. And to be honest most people don't understand or even want to understand. It is a bit of a challenge but I have worked with it and things did get better. The biggest issue that I have found is PS doesn't want to test "smart" kids for learning disabilities. They are smart, they can't possibly be having a problem. LOL
If math and art can't go together, where do all the architects come from? I went to architecture school which is tons of design/art classes interspersed with tons of math classes.
Or they discard the "smart" part of the test results, as if the "disabled" part is the only bit that matters. :roll: I tested as Gifted/Learning Disabled when I was in Grade 4, because I was failing my year (Again! I'd also had to do first grade twice.). The school immediately put me in the LD class, which upset the LD teacher who said to the principal (during a meeting my mom was at), "I don't want this kid! She's a bookworm. My class is for little boys with behaviour problems who can't read." That was the Public school board. My mom pulled me out of there and somehow got my little un-baptized Quaker self into a Catholic school. :lol: It was a big improvement! And FWIW, I eventually earned myself a scholarship to a nice private school and graduated first in my class. So I owe my mom a lot!
Oh my gosh. He sounds like a BOY! Crazy!!!! How dare they be children and not fit the mold! Throw meds at them...zombie them out. Forget letting them create, learn and explore. Oh, and BTW the right-brained thing and artsy fartsy not being good in math is a total misnomer. My oldest is EXTREMELY creative. She does art almost all of her free time, something creative, almost always. BUT...she's also a complete math whiz. She picks up stuff so easily now - it was a struggle to start...but she told me this year that she's starting to see the "art" in math. LOL Your son sounds so completely NORMAL to me. (((HUGS))). My son would probably be labelled and they'd want to drug him too, so I feel your pain. But the reality is that he is like just about every boy from the age of birth to about I don't know, 80? Restless, have to be moving, brain always working, fingers not so much? LOL My husband is STILL like this - but he's a genius! Anyway (((HUGS))), you're going to be amazing at this.
Brooke I find this works best if it is warm cafine, with cold, like soda it tends to my ds hyper. If I give him coffee he will focus and be calm. He gets wound up and looses focus a bit now and then if he has a bad day, not as much as in his younger years but we found coffee with cream and a tad bit of sugar helped alot.
So I've spent days/weeks reading every stitch of info I could find about homeschooling. I think I found a decent option. Its caller K12. Aka virtual school. For a couple hours a day my son and I sit on the computer (which he loves, youtubing animals is his favorite ). The curriculum is already there, we just log in and do it. He gets assigned a teacher who we can contact when ever we need to and she also does conferences every few weeks to see how our progress is. Other than that its all he and I. I am getting an annual pass to the museum of science and industry (mosi) for feild trips as often as we want. Also the local zoo (lowry park zoo). I live a mile from a huge park which will be our P.E. I'm an art nut and have supplies up the Ying Yang. I'm enrolling him in a martial art that is extremely kid friendly. Our library has kid days, our park has pool parties...I can't wait. I register him up July 28th and the adventure goes on from there! He can also take extra classes if he wants. Like Spanish which he really wants to learn. I know how to ask for a beer and the bathroom...you know..the really important stuff. It would be nice to know more. We are both extremely excited!
Congrats! It is a huge decision, and if you have any problems come back and ask lots of questions. There are ton of ladies around here who will help you out with everything.
Hi there! First of all, I'll echo what others have said: you are NOT a failing mom, eveidenced by the fact that you have noticed the problem AND are trying to fix it. I understand what you are going through, I'm kind of in the same boat as you are. I have made the decision to homeschool after the summer, since I have had enough of the public school system, and my son coming home telling me "Mrs ___ just tells me to be quiet when I want to ask a question"". My advice, read lots of books, read all the encouraging posts on this and other forums, and dive right in. Like one friend told me "your kids are in elementary school, they're young and flexible, just ry it out a year...if not, you can always go back".
I have graduated 3 kids from homeschooling. I learned right alongside my kids. An easy to use curriculum for the lower grades is ACE (Accelerated Christian Education).
I haven't read all the replies so I may be repeating some I promise you that you CAN do a much better job than any public school. I am in my 19th year of home education and still love it! All 15 of our children were/are home educated. I very highly recommend that you get The Successful Homeschool Family Handbook by: Raymond and Dorothy Moore. It helped me so much when I first began. I also highly recommend A Charlotte Mason Companion: Personal Reflections on the Gentle Art of Learning by Karen Andreola. Another good one is Educating the Wholehearted Child by Clay Clarkson and Sally Clarkson
