Maggie doesn't drive. When she was approaching the age when kids are allowed to take drivers' ed, I couldn't put my finger on the reason why we weren't going to allow her to get behind the wheel. After the psychological evaluation she had recently, now I know why.
If your brain processes things slowly, it's hard to take in all the things you see when driving, consider not only what's happening but also what is likely to happen in the next several seconds, then make decisions about what to do with your couple-of-tons of metal, and then do it. And that would be even harder when there's extra traffic or when you're driving in an unfamiliar area, trying to watch for stop signs while navigating unknown roads to your destination.
After our IEP meeting, I've been wondering if there's something that can be done to help Maggie increase her processing speed. The IEP which the school offered doesn't really have anything designed to achieve higher processing speed. The remedial reading, writing, and math they're offering look to me as if they're trying to help her catch up to closer to "where she should be" according to the school's timetable. When I look online for information about increasing neurological processing speed, I am skeptical. Someone provides a service that purports to help increase a student's processing speed. Will it work? Or are they hawking a service that will line their pockets? How can we know?
Too often, I've seen "tests" which purport to measure a certain aspect of a person's ability. The test is supposed to represent/reveal how a person performs in one area of thinking. Then the person is trained and drilled and drilled and trained. The person improves his score on the test. But (!!!) does that mean the person has actually improved in thinking ability or reasoning ability or brain speed? Or does it just demonstrate that the person has trained his brain to do a particular task quicker? I found an online exercise for "increasing your brain's processing speed." But I'm suspicious as to whether practicing this exercise will actually increase the speed of neurological connections in any area except the one which has been rehearsed and drilled.
So what's the solution? Do we just keep plugging away with the kind of activities and books we've been using? Do we assume that trying these therapies might actually change Maggie's brain speed instead of merely speeding her up on the exercises? Will increased speed in one task generalize to increased speed in hearing & decision-making & academics & overall problem-solving? Or will this kind of therapy just take time away from activities that might be more interesting and beneficial in the long-run?
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Monday, June 18, 2012
Sunday, June 03, 2012
IEP Meeting -- Where's the Bar?
So, at the IEP meeting, the testers explained where Maggie scored in comparison to other kids.
They told us that her reading level was 8th grade. When I was testing her reading level a couple of months ago, I determined 4th or 5th grade.
They told us that her math level was late 6th grade. She's managing in the 4th-grade Saxon book. She's about 3/4 of the way through. We've been on it for over two years now. And the school folks are telling me she's scoring two years ahead of where I think she is.
On the one hand, woo hoo for Maggie that she's doing okay.
On the other hand, what does this say about the kids at the school, if what I call 4th-grade work is what their teachers call 7th-grade work?? And what does this say for the society that these kids will be part of?
They told us that her reading level was 8th grade. When I was testing her reading level a couple of months ago, I determined 4th or 5th grade.
They told us that her math level was late 6th grade. She's managing in the 4th-grade Saxon book. She's about 3/4 of the way through. We've been on it for over two years now. And the school folks are telling me she's scoring two years ahead of where I think she is.
On the one hand, woo hoo for Maggie that she's doing okay.
On the other hand, what does this say about the kids at the school, if what I call 4th-grade work is what their teachers call 7th-grade work?? And what does this say for the society that these kids will be part of?
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
IEP Meeting
Tomorrow morning is the meeting.
I wonder how many parents go into an IEP, having taught the kid for many years? What will the school folks do with a parent who has strong opinions on curriculum, what works, and what doesn't for this particular kid? Will they understand that I care more about learning than about succeeding with grades? Will they care about my observations and my thoughts on where she is with regard to Piaget's stages and/or her developmental level with regard to classical education?
What if I'm too opinionated?
What if I'm too demanding?
What if I'm not demanding enough?
Good thing Gary's planning to go too.
I wonder how many parents go into an IEP, having taught the kid for many years? What will the school folks do with a parent who has strong opinions on curriculum, what works, and what doesn't for this particular kid? Will they understand that I care more about learning than about succeeding with grades? Will they care about my observations and my thoughts on where she is with regard to Piaget's stages and/or her developmental level with regard to classical education?
What if I'm too opinionated?
What if I'm too demanding?
What if I'm not demanding enough?
Good thing Gary's planning to go too.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
School Tour
Kids tour colleges they're considering, right? It's not as common to tour high schools, largely because most people don't consider the options and then make a choice. Well, Maggie and I toured our local public high school yesterday.
There are a lot of nice things about it. Most of the classrooms have many huge windows! I also like the block scheduling they use: instead of 8 classes per day, taken all year, kids take 4 classes per day and finish the whole course in a semester.
There is a policeman who spends his days at the school. I have mixed feelings about that. It's creepy that it's considered necessary. And yet, if it is necessary, I guess it's good he's right there.
The guidance counselor has worked with homeschoolers before. He's worked with special-needs kids before. He's never worked with a special-needs homeschooler transferring in. So if we do this, we're breaking new ground. He also reminded me that Maggie could take one class at the high school if we preferred that over full-time enrollment. That's something to consider, although the transportation would probably be a problem.
The hallways are full of posters promoting environmentalism. (And no, I ought not be surprised. My logical head knew it would be that way. But I was still surprised by how many posters!)
There's no microwave in the school cafeteria for nuking lunches. Either buy lunch there (which doesn't look like a good plan, from what we saw on the menus) or take a cold lunch.
Classes start at 7:25. In the morning! The school bus picks up at 6:30. This would mean Maggie should be hitting the hay around 8:00 if she goes to school next year. Yikes!
The hallways and the classrooms seemed bright and cheery. But not in the special-ed area of the school. No windows in those classrooms. Small rooms. Darker rooms. Drearier hallway. That seems wrong.
Maggie and I are both finding ourselves in this weird Land of Unknowing. On the one hand, we're talking about next year as if she's going to school -- what classes she'll take, what to do about lunch, how she'll figure out her locker combination, etc. And yet we're also assuming that we'll go on with homeschooling -- looking forward to APT next fall, considering which curricula we'll use for various subjects, thinking about fieldtrips and volunteering at the library, etc. It's strange to be expecting both mutually-exclusive things to happen. Hopefully we'll know a lot more after next week's big meeting.
There are a lot of nice things about it. Most of the classrooms have many huge windows! I also like the block scheduling they use: instead of 8 classes per day, taken all year, kids take 4 classes per day and finish the whole course in a semester.
There is a policeman who spends his days at the school. I have mixed feelings about that. It's creepy that it's considered necessary. And yet, if it is necessary, I guess it's good he's right there.
The guidance counselor has worked with homeschoolers before. He's worked with special-needs kids before. He's never worked with a special-needs homeschooler transferring in. So if we do this, we're breaking new ground. He also reminded me that Maggie could take one class at the high school if we preferred that over full-time enrollment. That's something to consider, although the transportation would probably be a problem.
The hallways are full of posters promoting environmentalism. (And no, I ought not be surprised. My logical head knew it would be that way. But I was still surprised by how many posters!)
There's no microwave in the school cafeteria for nuking lunches. Either buy lunch there (which doesn't look like a good plan, from what we saw on the menus) or take a cold lunch.
Classes start at 7:25. In the morning! The school bus picks up at 6:30. This would mean Maggie should be hitting the hay around 8:00 if she goes to school next year. Yikes!
The hallways and the classrooms seemed bright and cheery. But not in the special-ed area of the school. No windows in those classrooms. Small rooms. Darker rooms. Drearier hallway. That seems wrong.
Maggie and I are both finding ourselves in this weird Land of Unknowing. On the one hand, we're talking about next year as if she's going to school -- what classes she'll take, what to do about lunch, how she'll figure out her locker combination, etc. And yet we're also assuming that we'll go on with homeschooling -- looking forward to APT next fall, considering which curricula we'll use for various subjects, thinking about fieldtrips and volunteering at the library, etc. It's strange to be expecting both mutually-exclusive things to happen. Hopefully we'll know a lot more after next week's big meeting.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Interactions with the School
So I've been trying to ask for a few years what the special-ed program at our local public school is like. They wouldn't talk to me until we had Maggie evaluated. Okay, so when I tried to make an appointment this spring for an evaluation, they first told me they couldn't even evaluate her until I enrolled her. After my spending hours of reading statues and regulations and preparing to show them what their legal duty was, they figured it out on their own that I was right. So we began to set up the evaluation.
Now I know why there are legal time limits on how soon the school is required to get this finished.
It was weeks before I heard back after they mailed the letter saying there would be an evaluation. I had to call them several times, asking why I hadn't heard from them. (And if you know me, you know that I always wait too long, always give people the benefit of the doubt for their pokey response-times.) Now I'm trying to make an appointment for a tour of the school. And nobody is responding to my phone calls.
If this is the kind of response (or lack of response!) I'm getting as a school-shopper, what kind of response will I get once we've decided to enroll a kid? Don't salesmen usually put on their best behavior, their quickest response times, their nicest charms, when they're trying to gain a customer?
Now I know why there are legal time limits on how soon the school is required to get this finished.
It was weeks before I heard back after they mailed the letter saying there would be an evaluation. I had to call them several times, asking why I hadn't heard from them. (And if you know me, you know that I always wait too long, always give people the benefit of the doubt for their pokey response-times.) Now I'm trying to make an appointment for a tour of the school. And nobody is responding to my phone calls.
If this is the kind of response (or lack of response!) I'm getting as a school-shopper, what kind of response will I get once we've decided to enroll a kid? Don't salesmen usually put on their best behavior, their quickest response times, their nicest charms, when they're trying to gain a customer?
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