I've spent the last hour or two preparing to meet with Dylan's teacher in the morning. I'm not really nervous yet. Actually, I feel pretty good about it. For one thing, it will be short. The meeting is at 7:20pm, and school starts at 7:45am. For another, I don't have a problem with the teachers, although they need to know about Dylan and we need to communicate often.
My problem is becoming the school. He needs more than what he gets in class. He's not understanding his schoolwork and there's no help for that. Instead, he gets recess detention for not completing his homework...yet it takes all evening. That has to stop. I get that other kids complete their homework and the unfairness of someone being permitted to not be punished for not doing it. But it's not that he's just not doing it. He's doing it and doing it and doing it, and he isn't getting it. That's not the same thing at all.
So on Wednesday, I'll meet with the 504 coordinator. Not looking forward to that for various reasons. For one, her answer is just take him out of French immersion. But it's just not a French vs English issue. If so, my efforts would to teach would work at least half the time and we'd be set. But there's something not getting through. And he's having issues in English-based subjects, too.
I'm ready. I think.
Our 5th grade teacher policy is that the child works on homework for 30 minutes. If it's not done, then it's ok. Just let the teacher know so that she can go over the difficult part with that child. Hours and hours of attempts at night is not an effective homework policy; I hope that your teacher makes adjustments.
ReplyDeleteThere is a lot of research on how much homework is appropriate (by age) if you need back up. Just let me know and I'll track it down.