@ teacher communication (aka help me not be septimus)

[rootbeerfloat]

DS (7.5) has always struggled about with writing/fine motor skills. He reversed numbers, struggled with b and d (and even mentioned this summer that "they look the same"), etc. While he can spell on a spelling test, when he has to write sentences, he still creatively spells a lot of the words and generally writes as little as possible. He reads slightly below grade level and is not an eager reader. Last year, we discussed our concerns with his first grade teacher mid-year and asked if he needed an evaluation, but she didn't think he did. His end-of-the-year grades were fine (mostly "met proficiency"), with the main recommendation to continue reading.

He starts second grade next Monday (!). I'm trying to decide whether to send his teacher a short email expressing our concerns. I don't want to demand testing at this point or be annoying, lol, but I'd like her to keep her eyes open, I guess. Is this reasonable? Should I wait a few weeks? Any suggestions for wording?

[jackie011]

As a teacher, I would prefer to get to know your child first, without anything being brought to the surface, KWIM? I like to do my own assessments and just chit chat with the kids before I delve into this sort of thing. You could, after a week or two, mention to the teacher that you would appreciate his/her honesty and encourage them to bring any concerns to your attention ASAP. It's always hard in the beginning, especially if a teacher does have a concern, because you don't know the parents and don't really know how some news will be received.

I vote wait just a little bit.

[katfco]

You have the right to request an evaluation even if the teacher doesn't think he needs one. However, creative misspellings and letter transposition are still common at that age.

I would give her a quick heads-up now, because they always do assessments at the beginning of the year, and it can help her to know certain things to look for.

[UMaineTeach]

I'm the kind of teacher who reads the whole file, so to speak, before the kids come. I like to know what I am getting and what level to start then at to not waste time ( the kid's or mine). I would like an email from you telling me anything you think it is important for me to know.

[rugbywife]

Jul 30, 2014 20:37:11 GMT -5 UMaineTeach said:

I'm the kind of teacher who reads the whole file, so to speak, before the kids come. I like to know what I am getting and what level to start then at to not waste time ( the kid's or mine). I would like an email from you telling me anything you think it is important for me to know.

This was me as a teacher. I also suggest to any parents at my school to let teachers know about anything that could help them better meet their child's needs.

[teflepi]

Request an evaluation. Could be due to age or could be something in need of early intervention. The earlier, the better if that is the case. If you lay out your concerns, following the proper steps (contacting upcoming teacher and express the issues and examples).

[thejackpot]

Since your son is so young, I would think a quick email about him would be fine. (I teach hs and 1/130 would be a blur until I meet him) You can also request testing but to be honest I don't think these are alarming. But there could certainly be more that you are seeing. GL. I cringe at the mention of back to school

[penguingrrl]

When looking through my daughter's end of year packet from 1st grade (a book the class made and has contributions from every single student) I saw a lot of transposed letters and numbers as well as some creative spelling. Based on that I don't think I would worry too much yet. It seemed like more kids were making those mistakes than not, especially since each kid wrote a full page.

[auntie]

Jul 30, 2014 20:22:43 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

DS (7.5) has always struggled about with writing/fine motor skills.


Have they done anything to help him around this? Was he offered RTI or Title 1 support? OT? Or perhaps a differentiated handwriting curriculum like "Handwriting Without Tears"? Have they offered assistive technology like an Alphasmart to allow him to keyboard?

He reversed numbers, struggled with b and d (and even mentioned this summer that "they look the same"), etc.


Letter reversal are NBD at this age, but closer to 8 they should be fading.


While he can spell on a spelling test, when he has to write sentences, he still creatively spells a lot of the words and generally writes as little as possible.


OMG. This was my kid in kindie and first. He could spell all kinds of things in tests, but not be able to read or write them an hour later in the context of reading or writing.


He often left out short vowels when spelling creatively. Turns out this was symptomatic of his poor phonemic awareness which was at the root of his dyslexia. He was in a private school that did a whole language approach which was the worst possible thing we could have picked for him.


He reads slightly below grade level and is not an eager reader. Last year, we discussed our concerns with his first grade teacher mid-year and asked if he needed an evaluation, but she didn't think he did. His end-of-the-year grades were fine (mostly "met proficiency"), with the main recommendation to continue reading.


Not her call to make. Here's the thing, if he's learning to read at a slower rate than his classmates, he will fall further behind. And then there's the notion of "grade level"- you may feel like "almost grade level" is OK until you find out that the majority of his peers are probably a few years ahead of their grade level. When DS was younger, he was an abysmal decoder, but he was bright and had a phenomenal rote memory. He could pass reading prompts based on the base knowledge he brought to the task. He could memorize simple books he'd had read to him once. He faked out a lot of people including his teachers and his psychologist.

He starts second grade next Monday (!). I'm trying to decide whether to send his teacher a short email expressing our concerns.


I'd send the email/note. Keep it short and to the point. State your concerns and that you are open to her contacting you with her ideas or concerns. I'd send it ahead of Monday.


I don't want to demand testing at this point or be annoying, lol, but I'd like her to keep her eyes open, I guess. Is this reasonable? Should I wait a few weeks? Any suggestions for wording?

If he's not caught up to where he should be by the end of the first marking period, I would start the ball rolling toward a multifactored eval through the school. You may have to subject him to RTI first, so it could be this time next year before you see meaningful individualized supports if he does need them.

Even if he does have more serious LD issues, with the right help he'll do well. 

[erbear]

Jul 30, 2014 20:37:11 GMT -5 UMaineTeach said:

I'm the kind of teacher who reads the whole file, so to speak, before the kids come. I like to know what I am getting and what level to start then at to not waste time ( the kid's or mine). I would like an email from you telling me anything you think it is important for me to know.

Same. It wouldn't color the way I saw him in a bad way, and it would save a few weeks of my testing different things out with him and stressing over how to bring it up with you. Better to start with open dialogue, IMO.

Agree that that's not super unusual at his age too.