? for Teachers...Is this too much?

[d_m_n_n]

I am a bit and not quite sure what to do.

My DS6 did great in his first semester of Kindergarten, but in the 3rd 9 weeks he began to slip and the last grading period he dropped off terribly. Therefore, he is behind his classmates. Our school is going to ability grouping next year (which I totally don't agree with, but that is a topic for another day ) so I am trying to get him caught up so he won't be labeled as "low."

We started tutoring with the remedial teacher at his school (2 days/week for 1/2 hour) and went today to Sylvan for his initial evaluation. If he were to go 2 hours/week there on top of his other tutoring, do you think that would be too much? I don't want him to go though burn-out, but if he is stuck in the low class, I think he will be doomed (his personality is that if he thinks something is dumb he won't do it and he never does a bit more than what is expected ...not a good combo for AG!).

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[Jasper]

Don't do Sylvan simply as a way to get him into a higher group at school. In fact, don't worry about his group at school at all!!! Instead focus on why he won't do things that he considers dumb and figure out how you can get around or through that issue!

[ibrowse17]

I would find out how they are going to determine each student's ability before anything else. That way, if you do go ahead with an outside service, you can choose a program that will help in those areas. Good luck

[BronxTigger]

If I read your post right, your child is getting 3 hours of tutoring a week during summer...when he's NOT in school. No, that is NOT too much, especially if he has fallen behind. During school, they get 6-7 hours/day....or 30-35 hours a week. This is only one tenth of that! He'll be fine.

What concerns me more (especially as a first grade teacher) is what is the root cause behind the sudden drop off. Did something change with his behavior? The teacher or teaching style? The topics covered? Did they go from teaching letters to words? Hopefully you can find out exactly what the problem is and address it. It sounds like the combination of using the teacher from the school as well as an outside group should be good. Good luck!

Additionally, it may be worth your while to plead your case with the school to keep him out of the lowest first grade class.

[Disneyatic]

We started tutoring with the remedial teacher at his school (2 days/week for 1/2 hour) and went today to Sylvan for his initial evaluation. If he were to go 2 hours/week there on top of his other tutoring, do you think that would be too much? I don't want him to go though burn-out, but if he is stuck in the low class, I think he will be doomed (his personality is that if he thinks something is dumb he won't do it and he never does a bit more than what is expected ...not a good combo for AG!).

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Will all of the tutoring be during the summer? I don't think that 3 hours during the week in the summer is excessive and working one on one may help him get past that "not doing things because they are dumb" block.
I think that is a typical reaction from kids, especially boys, if they are bored by what they are being taught or perceive it as "dumb" they tend to want to shut it down.
My best friend's nephew went to Sylvan and it did wonders for him.

[sisterdisco]

I didn't catch what state you are in but.....
I have a son w/ a learning disability.

I would write a formal letter to the principal of the school, asking for your child to be evaluated to see if he/she has a learning disability.

If things work the way they do in NY. They will do a FULL eval on your child, including vision and hearing. The testing will determine if there is a significant deficit in some area, or if not, they should be able to come up w/ small interventions that will help your child to learn.

The best thing, is that the school districts are very willing to assist in the early years to catch kids up.......gets much harder to get them help as they go to middle school.

Good Luck.

[Georgesgirl1]

DMNN,

I worked at a Sylvan for over two years as a teacher and a director. Believe me your child won't be overwhelmed. I had a 1st grader who came 8 hours a week last summer because he was very behind in school. He begged to come more because he loved the teachers and the program so much! It actually suprises me that Sylvan is not asking him to come more times a week, he must not be very far behind. If kids at my center were behind in school they came at least 4 hours a week. My goal was always to get them caught up and slightly ahead so that they entered the next grade confident before scholl started back.

As another person said, you need to also look at the root of why he started struggling.

Now as a classroom teacher, I would recommend Sylvan to any of my parents and if my own children struggle when they get to school age that is where I will send them.

Just my opinion as a teacher and former Sylvan employee.

Hope all goes well!

Kristin

[BronxTigger]

I agree with sisterdisco...but I'd wait until the fall, maybe even until December for a few reasons:

1) You are getting 3 hours of tutoring a week for 8-10 weeks...see if that is effective or not.

2) Your child will have a new teacher in the fall; many children (especially the way you described DS's work habits) react differently to different teachers. Maybe DS and his teacher were not "compatible" during K, and that was part of his drop off as the year went on.

By waiting a little bit, you can try some different interventions before going the formal intervention route. However, I wouldn't wait past December if his problems continue, because evaluations and any possible placements into programs take time. First grade is a critical year of academic growth, and if he is not making enough, he will likely be retained a second year in the grade. That is pretty far away though....first, see how he does with the 1 on 1 time this summer.

PM me if you need to.

[Dakota Rose]

I just wanted to agree with BronxTigger on finding out why he started to slip and fall behind. That would be a bigger worry for me than anything else. I'd probably also consider what else was going on in his life at that time, not just what subjects were being taught. I knew a child who was in a similar situation and it turned out that she started falling behind because seat assignments changed and she was put in the back of the room where she couldn't read the board.

[mickeys_princess_mom]

I just wanted to agree with BronxTigger on finding out why he started to slip and fall behind. That would be a bigger worry for me than anything else. I'd probably also consider what else was going on in his life at that time, not just what subjects were being taught.

This was my first reaction, too. I don't think three hours is too much, but I'd look back first to try to pinpoint the change.

[d_m_n_n]

Thank you all so much for your replies. I have tried to figure out what caused his decline, but all I could really come up with was that after Christmas Break he was o-ver Kindergarten. Getting him to school was a daily struggle. He went full day/alternate day (MWF one week/TTr the next week) so getting into a routine wasn't very easy. I think he liked his teacher pretty well, even though he would make a few comments about her ("She may look nice, but she's NOT") every now and then. (I volunteered enough in the class that I was somewhat of a fixture and she became very natural around me...I didn't think she was mean at all!! Firm at times, yes...but not mean! Trust me...he's seen meaner at HOME!)

I also think part of the problem is/was he wasn't developmentally ready for some of the lessons. Journal writing was a daily struggle for him which usually resulted in tears...he knows the sounds, but just couldn't get them down on paper. Then this would only annoy him more because he is a perfectionist and if he couldn't spell something right he was not happy. If it was a topic he was interested in (legos, Indiana Jones, etc.) he was ON FIRE!! If he didn't like the topic, he usually would have to stay in at recess to finish.

Sylvan did suggest bringing him in more, but I'm just going to start out with the two hours and see how it goes. If he doesn't show much improvement by the first conference time we will start adding more hours.

My nephew pretty much had the same attitude in school. He is a very, very bright kid (was successful at academic meets on the state level), but if he found an assignment useless he just wouldn't do it. Knowing what my sister had to go through, I think I'm in for a long 12 years!!!

[MsMin]

My son had many difficulties in K and often did not perform in school but it was most often the presentation of the material and personal motivation.
His K teacher wanted to hold him back b/c he was too young He was as you describe, he would tell me he wasn't going to write the letter T b/c his teacher knew he could do it. He could read and do his math with ease but didn't follow her instructions. I too volunteered a lot and was very active in the school; but, even if I asked him to do stuff, he seemed he was just burned out.
I did get the teacher to admit the only problem she had w/ recommending him for 1st grade was because he was a Dec. baby. That is when I told her he was born in March.
Kindergarten is a readiness thing and maturity but some children are just too bored and others are bright but are not ready in different areas. There is so much variability at that age. I've seen children score low on an IQ test but pick up later or the opposite, score very high in K but regress to the mean later--- it's not unusual it's just again the variability at that age makes the norms very broad.
If it were my child I would want a full eval if I was concerned about a problem. I would want a professional to administer a full academic battery. Ask for a full WISC -(Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children). This test will look at intelligence in many forms. The K-Bit is a brief intelligence test and only looks at a fraction of what a WISC looks at. Many learning problems show up on the wisc.
Unfortunately, sometimes even a school eval will neglect to go deep b/c of funding or limited staff. The important thing here is to get to the root of the problem so that you can address the issue. Too often teachers group children based on their observation and not psychometrics.
There are some books out there that can help too. Books on raising your child's intelligence (not emotional intelligence). I had a good one but can't find it on my bookshelf right now :/
Basically it helps a young child if you put things in the form of a question. It helps them to use the frontal lobe and often to increase their abstract thinking. (if I could put the book in 1 sentence )
Enrichment is always so so helpful at that age and can be loads of fun. As I mentioned, they wanted to hold my son back in K but he wasn't young like the teacher thought. By the time he got to college he was working, completed his CNA(certified network administrator) and was on the dean's list. He finished 5th in his class and is now a certified internal auditor, has his CNA and is a developer. The only thing I did was get another opinion and that wasn't an opinion of someone who was trying to sell me something. It is wonderful when a child learns to love school. Fortunately my son had a wonderful 1st grade teacher that made him love learning.
It sounds like you are doing the right thing but asking and exploring your son's options.
Feel free to PM me if you have questions too.