Success

Finally, I was able to get Larissa an IEP to help her with her math. If she was being homeschooled I would have continued with our math but since she is in school she is expected to keep up with her peers.  In math she can not keep up with her peers. 


I don't know why she struggles so much in math.  They tested her and then asked me what her abilities are.  They wanted to know if she could count to 100.  Yes, she can count to 100 by 1, 2, 5 and 10's.  However, she can't tell you that 17 is less than 84.  This also showed in her testing.


They were somewhat confused though because she did have a good grasp of some math concepts, charting, measuring and such.  She does because at some point last year I threw away the math books and introduced her to carpentry and cooking.


She learned how to use a level....

about different screw bits......

how to measure.....

and how to write those measurements down.

She learned some applications of math.  We will continue to learn math applications at home.

In class Larissa was doing, addition, subtraction, multiplication, pre-algebra, etc. She wasn't able to get past the 1 times in class in spite of numerous teachings.  She got everything confused.  Numbers are like a foreign language to her.  She will not be an engineer but that is fine with me.  She has plenty of other options available to her.

We have it set up so that she will leave her class during math time and will get math instruction in the self contained classroom.  The rest of the day will be in her regular classroom. She will not miss any instruction in other areas.


Today was her first day and she came home excited.  She had a welcome card from the class and no math homework.  So much less stress!  She was able to finish the rest of her homework without tears.  She was excited to go to school this morning.  It is a shame that she had to get so far behind before they were willing to help her.  The way the system is here is that they offer help once a child is so far behind and are so frustrated.  I don't understand why they don't help kids when they are struggling so that they don't have to reach the frustration point.


On her sleep issues there really isn't a good answer.  the other day she came home feeling dizzy because she was so tired.  The next morning I couldn't wake her so I let her sleep in.  She slept until 10 and then went to school.  Right now the plan is for me to monitor her sleep.  If I feel that she needs to sleep in I can allow that and they will consider it an excused absence.  Also, if she is so tired at school that she is getting dizzy she can call me and I will go get her.  They weren't too keen on that part because they worry that she will take advantage of it.  I don't think that she will and if so I will address it then.


We finally have an appointment to see a sleep specialist at the end of the month.  It was hard finding someone who takes children for some reason.  I guess kids aren't supposed to have sleep issues.