Homeschooling and Special Education

amother

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 11:14 am

My 2nd grade has severe learning disabilities, an IQ of 70, OT issues, speech issues, etc. She is the 6th child we have homeschooled, and up until now it's been great with all the other kids. We have an OT and Speech therapist come to the house, so that's good. Except everything else is just not going well! I feel extremely unqualified to teach her and just can't keep her on task. (She doesn't have ADD or ADHD. She is actually a very calm, pleasant kid, with absolutely no behavior issues at all!). I just don't have the right tools to teach her and am totally ready to throw in the towel!

The local day school would never have any resources, so that's not an option. (And she would lose the 2 therapists she does have, who she has created a bond with.) Public school would be a bad choice for so many reasons.

So, I am stuck.. I have tried to read books, find websites to help. However, I am just at a loss at this point, and don't know what else to do!. Her IEP has been in place since last Spring, and other that slight amounts of progress, I feel like we've done nothing. (For example, we have only been able to cover 15 letters. She only knows about 6 of them really well! In math, ,we are still working on single digit number recognition, and she only really knows 1-5!)

Please help! I am so ready to give up!

SplitPea

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 11:21 am

Depends on your district but I know people who the district pays for a teacher to homeschool when there is no other option (I have a friend who is the homeschool teacher!) can she get a decent number of siet hours to help you teach/work with her.

What about hiring someone who is a siet or p3 to help in schooling her in their off hours. People are desperate for hours and might take less pay for a steady case.

A retired special Ed teacher or someone finishing their masters? With what you would pay for day school tuition you can probably hire some amazing resources to help you.

Are there any charter schools around that might be a better fit for her?

Does insurance offer anything.
My insurance offers 748 hours a year of Aba services.... This would be on too of whatever the district gives us!
Your daughter might not be autistic but there might be similar programs available.

It's probably time to think outside the box. (I know homeschooling moms do that daily) good luck and I really hope you find a solution.

TwinsMommy

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 11:28 am

you've got speech and OT, but what does the IEP have in place for the learning disability? Do you have a specific diagnosis for the learning disability--- is it dyslexia, visual processing, auditory processing..... what explanation can you get from evaluators for the low IQ---- does she have seizures? sounds like she needs a tutor who has lots of experience with elementary school kids learning at the preschool level--- specific experience with severe learning disabilities. Why isn't public school a realistic choice? They'd be able to give her a lot of one on one attention in a self contained classroom setting (with that level of learning I don't know that mainstreaming is an option). At second grade she should be adding double digit numbers, not recognizing numbers. She should be writing sentences, not just recognizing 15 letters. I feel for you--- it must be so hard!

I know she doesn't have autism, but here we have an autism scholarship where if I pulled my kids with autism from the public school I could get $20,000 a year from the autism scholarship which would help create a home program. For my kids who have autism, public school *IS* the right choice.... but I'm wondering in your state with SLD kids-- is there any type of scholarship program which would help you pay for lots of individualized tutoring in your home from someone who isn't YOU--- since you have other kids you're homeschooling and she needs a lot of individualized attention? If you want to share with us which state you're in....

granolamom

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 11:36 am

for an IQ of 70, I think you are doing great for second grade. not that IQ tells us the childs potential or that we should allow the number to limit our expectations and hopes but the question is this...is she learning? even slowly, that's ok. is she progressing at all? is she moving in the right direction? if last year she only knew the number '1' and now she knows '1-5', then that is reason not to give up.

as far as keeping her on task, I have that problem with my schooled 6 yo and my hs'ing 10 yo. neither of whom have attentional disorders. they just dont like to stay on tasks that are challenging or boring or just not aligned with their own interests. for my 10 yo, we've moved to a charlotte mason approach which is quickly morphing into an unschooling approach in all subjects other than math and kriah. my 6 yo is spacing out alot in school and I'm considering hs'ing him next year.

I agree with splitpea, maybe you can hire someone to come in a few times a week to coach you?

also, try asking on thewelltrainedmind.com or any other busy homeschooling forum. I'm sure there are parents there hs'ing children with learning disabilities, perhaps they have good resources to share.

amother

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 11:53 am

TwinsMommy wrote:

OP here: For a child with an IQ of 70, she shouldn't be writing sentences and adding double digits. Those are great goals for 2nd graders with normal intelligence! Public school is not an option, we shall leave it at that. (which is why I posted my question in the homeschooling forum since we are homeschooling, and I need to make that work!) I'd rather not say what state we are in. I have looked into state-funded tutoring, but we don't qualify as it is income based.

yaelinIN

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 11:55 am

I'm sorry to hear that you feel you cannot handle homeschooling this particular child because of her issues. I, too, would be frustrated at trying so many ways to help your child learn! I think you are doing a very good job for a child with those limitations!

Have you tried contacting NATHHAN? They are well known but they are a Xian group - I can find out from others if one has to be a Xian to use their services if you'd like. I would second Granolamom to ask at The Well Trained Mind's Special Needs Board. The parents there are helpful and kind.

Hatzlacha rabba and good for you for helping your child learn!

Last edited by yaelinIN on Wed, Jan 15 2014, 12:02 pm; edited 1 time in total

amother

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 12:00 pm

granolamom wrote:

OP here: Thank you for this! I though about where we were last year at this time, and she didn't know any letters or numbers, couldn't count past 10 (she can count to 55 now). So, I guess we are making bits of progress. It just certainly doesn't feel that way! Her IEP goals for the year are simply recognizing letters and numbers, and that was it. (aside from the speech and OT goals). It just feels like we aren't moving anywhere!

I'll look into those other resources!

amother

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 12:03 pm

yaelinIN wrote:

I'm sorry to hear that you feel you cannot handle homeschooling this particular child because of her issues. Have you tried contacting NATHHAN? They are well known but they are a Xian group - I can find out from others if one has to be a Xian to use their services if you'd like. I would second Granolamom to ask at The Well Trained Mind's Special Needs Board. The parents there are helpful and kind.

Hatzlacha rabba and good for you for helping your child learn!

OP here: I have seen the website, but I didn't know if it would be a good idea because of the religious aspect. If you could find out, that would be fantastic! Thank you!

Kugglegirl

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 3:32 pm

For a child as you described, I would start to do some functional academics. Recognizing words she sees in her environment- stop, on/off, Men/Women (bathrooms), if you have the kitchen labeled Dairy/Meat, hekshers that you use.

Recognizing the names of everyone in the family. In Hebrew and English if you want. Make a matching game with names & photos of family members.

You can get some nice picture recipes & practice recognizing numbers, counting & measuring through cooking.

Teach her games that the other children play. Using dice, counting, using 2 dice & counting is adding.

Practice using money & buying things. Use the one more dollar system & figure out how many dollars to give for a purchase that is 4.25, 6.95, 1.99 etc.

These kids often get stuck in the IEP on a very prelimnary skill & while she still needs to learn to recognize each letter, it should not hold her back from getting exposed to whole words & things she can do.

Isramom8

Wed, Jan 15 2014, 3:57 pm

If you have homeschooled five other children, I am sure that you can teach your daughter.

What are your eventual goals for this child?

My grandmother taught my uncle, who had Down syndrome, quite a lot of life skills, back in the 1940s when there were almost no supports.

Self care: He learned how to fully dress and undress himself, bathe himself, etc. Even when he was a young adult, he still needed reminders like, "Lather the shampoo. Rinse it all out." Eventually he did it all on his own.

Social skills: He learned to say hello to people, to be polite and say, "Good morning Mrs. Klein", etc. This is perhaps the NUMBER ONE most important thing to teach a child, because it affects how people relate to her.

Shopping: He learned shop alone for basic items. He didn't know how much change he should get but he knew how much money to offer.

Travel: He learned to navigate his neighborhood and others on foot and with public transportation.

Reading: He learned to read on a functional level.

Writing: Same.

Shul: He learned how to function in any shul. For a man this is essential for integration in the Jewish community.

Brachos: He learned to say a bracha before eating. It wasn't always the right bracha, but he said one. It's these little things that make or break inclusion in our society.

Think about what skills your daughter really needs as an adult, and develop a plan based on that. You have a lot of years to help her become as self sufficient as she will need to be. You can do this.

CRM

Wed, Apr 09 2014, 1:00 pm

My husband is a special ED teacher. I'll ask him. If you don't mind my asking, what is the DOD on the IEP (the determination of disability, or the diagnosis. It's laid out different in IEP's from each state). I haven't read all the posts, but it sounds like you're dealing with an intellectual disability. Varying degrees of strengths and weaknesses make it difficult to pinpoint what is best for your child, and only you know what that is. WE ARE EXPERTS ON OUR CHILDREN! But I will ask him what he recommends.

CRM

Wed, Apr 09 2014, 1:06 pm

Does anyone know what a 4th grade boy typically learns in Limudei Kodesh? I have been placed in a position with little choices. I may end up having to home school my kids because we are too poor to send them to the day school anymore. There is something fundamentally wrong with our chinuch system when any Jewish parent is faced with the option of public school or forced into homeschooling because the day school is ill equipped to educate the Jewish children in its community, or thinks that H-shem likes the idea that they'd turn a frum family away because they are too poor. Will things ever change?

Anyway, I don't exactly know what the 4th grade boys are supposed to be covering, and it seems to be exclusive information that I can't get a straight answer out of anyone at the school. Can anyone give me a run down? I'm assuming they start Navi. I've got resources on Mishnayos from Bava Kaama, but I'm kind of shooting in the dark here. (and then of course we start to teach boys and girls different curriculum right bout that grade, so I don't really know what boys are learning.) HELP!

yaelinIN

Wed, Apr 09 2014, 1:17 pm

CRM, what a 4th grader needs to know depends on what you want to teach him and what he wants to learn! Smile

But seriously, if you want to get an idea of what some institutional schools teach their children, Google similar schools to your ideal and look for their curriculum choices. You may choose something completely the same or radically different depending on whether this is a long term choice/decision or perhaps just for a year or two and then going back into the "system" again. If you need suggestions for schools to look up, please tell us what type of Jewish school you'd ideally send your child.

FYI, there is a conference that would be a great help to you that I am organizing. The Torah Home Education Conference, scheduled for Sunday, May 25 in either northern NJ or Rockland Cty. NY. More information is at Torah Home Ed Conference Registration Page.

Yael