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Reply from Principal. Looks like I take the next step.
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<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 251919" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>Shari, I forgot your school year is almost over. That means you really have to insist that meetings are set up NOW so everything is in place for difficult child for next year, with consensus on what is done for him. Do what you can do set this up.</p><p></p><p>In the meantime... you have difficult child at home for some of the day. USE that time to make sure he gets access to curriculum material that YOU provide. YOU fill in the gaps, quietly if you must. We went through similar things, although with us it was difficult child's school avoidance and extreme anxiety mimicking repeated gastric illness, not the school sending him home.</p><p></p><p>Because I knew difficult child 3 found being at home was more restful (who wouldn't?) I didn't want to set up a conditioned response where he would try to get himself sent home (either for bad behaviour or 'being sick') so I made home as school-like as I could, and insisted that during school hours, he MUST do schoolwork. And that was when we discovered just how little he had ever learnt, even when he HAD been in school. One of difficult child 3's severe deficits was Geography - at age 10, he had no idea how to find any country on the globe, he had no idea where we lived (couldn't find Australia, the US, Europe, Africa). We'd go for a drive in the afternoon and he would ask if we had left the country. At school a couple of years earlier he had written a report on Japan, but he had no idea where it was and it was as if he had never written the report. So I began with Geography, but all I could find was "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?"</p><p>It turned out to be a stroke of genius. There is a connectedness to that game, which did for GFG3what none of the classroom learning had been able to do. It gave him the entire concept of the world and how it fits together. From there, he was finally able to take in any other information about the world (as in news) that filtered into his consciousness.</p><p>And it was so easy for me to do - I just set him up with the game, showed him how to do it and left him to it. Sometimes he needed help to get past a problem, but generally he managed on his own.</p><p></p><p>Other computer software hewlped him learn in other areas. Maths & logic was taught by using various Zoombinis packages. There are various talking DVD packages (Arthur, for example) which helped a lot. I have some Maths software packages which are basicdrill but with some interesting twists. And there are documentaries on DVD, some TV programs during school hours are designed for schools to screen to aclass - I plugged in to those as well. PLus when I had the energy (or we had to go out somewhere) I'd plan a small excuriosn, to a museum or zoo perhaps, or sometimes (because of where we live) we'd just stop on the side of the road to explore the river, a patch of temperate rainforest, the mangrove swamp, the tidal flat, the beach - it all plugged in to the need for connectedness and hands-on.</p><p></p><p>All this has meant that we've privately worked on filling in the gaps in difficult child 3's education, and not only helping him catch up but to also pass his peers. In the home environment he actually learns far more than he learns in the classroom. </p><p></p><p>When I was a kid at school, I lacked confidence in Maths. I also was an avid reader and needed to read SOMETHING to ward off boredom. I remember a few times when I was bored and had forgotten to bring a book, I read my Maths textbook. I read ahead, not bothering to do the problems but just read the information at the beginning of the chapters. But the outcome - when it came to do that work in class, I already was partly familiar with it and found the work was suddenly very easy. It boosted my confidence and I went from doing badly at Maths, to being top of the class.</p><p></p><p>Computer software makes life even easier these days. You don't have to spend thousands, either. A really good revision package I bought for difficult child 3 which covers most high school Maths, cost me A$70. We spend A$90 a year to access a detailed, complete, Maths curriculum that is very similar to another system I won't name that costs many thousands. I also do the packages myself so I am familiar enough with them to help him. I have found it good for me to exercise my brain, and I wish I'd had these when I was a kid; I'm understanding it all so much better now, and I can easily explain things to difficult child 3 that years ago I also struggled with.</p><p></p><p>So fight this, get difficult child back to school at least for next year. But in the meantime, use the time he is at home to help him over his academic hurdles. Don't let the so-and-so principal succeed in keeping your son down academically.</p><p></p><p>The best revenge is success.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 251919, member: 1991"] Shari, I forgot your school year is almost over. That means you really have to insist that meetings are set up NOW so everything is in place for difficult child for next year, with consensus on what is done for him. Do what you can do set this up. In the meantime... you have difficult child at home for some of the day. USE that time to make sure he gets access to curriculum material that YOU provide. YOU fill in the gaps, quietly if you must. We went through similar things, although with us it was difficult child's school avoidance and extreme anxiety mimicking repeated gastric illness, not the school sending him home. Because I knew difficult child 3 found being at home was more restful (who wouldn't?) I didn't want to set up a conditioned response where he would try to get himself sent home (either for bad behaviour or 'being sick') so I made home as school-like as I could, and insisted that during school hours, he MUST do schoolwork. And that was when we discovered just how little he had ever learnt, even when he HAD been in school. One of difficult child 3's severe deficits was Geography - at age 10, he had no idea how to find any country on the globe, he had no idea where we lived (couldn't find Australia, the US, Europe, Africa). We'd go for a drive in the afternoon and he would ask if we had left the country. At school a couple of years earlier he had written a report on Japan, but he had no idea where it was and it was as if he had never written the report. So I began with Geography, but all I could find was "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" It turned out to be a stroke of genius. There is a connectedness to that game, which did for GFG3what none of the classroom learning had been able to do. It gave him the entire concept of the world and how it fits together. From there, he was finally able to take in any other information about the world (as in news) that filtered into his consciousness. And it was so easy for me to do - I just set him up with the game, showed him how to do it and left him to it. Sometimes he needed help to get past a problem, but generally he managed on his own. Other computer software hewlped him learn in other areas. Maths & logic was taught by using various Zoombinis packages. There are various talking DVD packages (Arthur, for example) which helped a lot. I have some Maths software packages which are basicdrill but with some interesting twists. And there are documentaries on DVD, some TV programs during school hours are designed for schools to screen to aclass - I plugged in to those as well. PLus when I had the energy (or we had to go out somewhere) I'd plan a small excuriosn, to a museum or zoo perhaps, or sometimes (because of where we live) we'd just stop on the side of the road to explore the river, a patch of temperate rainforest, the mangrove swamp, the tidal flat, the beach - it all plugged in to the need for connectedness and hands-on. All this has meant that we've privately worked on filling in the gaps in difficult child 3's education, and not only helping him catch up but to also pass his peers. In the home environment he actually learns far more than he learns in the classroom. When I was a kid at school, I lacked confidence in Maths. I also was an avid reader and needed to read SOMETHING to ward off boredom. I remember a few times when I was bored and had forgotten to bring a book, I read my Maths textbook. I read ahead, not bothering to do the problems but just read the information at the beginning of the chapters. But the outcome - when it came to do that work in class, I already was partly familiar with it and found the work was suddenly very easy. It boosted my confidence and I went from doing badly at Maths, to being top of the class. Computer software makes life even easier these days. You don't have to spend thousands, either. A really good revision package I bought for difficult child 3 which covers most high school Maths, cost me A$70. We spend A$90 a year to access a detailed, complete, Maths curriculum that is very similar to another system I won't name that costs many thousands. I also do the packages myself so I am familiar enough with them to help him. I have found it good for me to exercise my brain, and I wish I'd had these when I was a kid; I'm understanding it all so much better now, and I can easily explain things to difficult child 3 that years ago I also struggled with. So fight this, get difficult child back to school at least for next year. But in the meantime, use the time he is at home to help him over his academic hurdles. Don't let the so-and-so principal succeed in keeping your son down academically. The best revenge is success. Marg [/QUOTE]
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