* * * * *
Learning Disabilities
After six weeks or so of school, homework [1] marathon [2] sessions [3] and
plenty of wailing and knashing of teeth, it is apparent to me that Spring
[4]'s kids put the “fun” in “dysfunctional” when it comes to education.
Spring has held countless parent/teacher conferences (even after numerous
reminders they still didn't get it that she worked at night, which didn't
help matters at all) attempting to resolve the situation but it finally came
to a head. In short, they have a major learning disability that the local
elementary school is ill prepared to deal with.
A few weeks ago Spring had them tested at Sylvan [5] since she was concerned
over their academic standings at school. The results were startling (at least
to me, I think Spring expected as much): they were too smart.
Yup. Their disability is being too smart for the educational system to deal
with.
The Younger, in 2^nd grade, was at a 5^th grade reading level (combination of
current vocabulary use, reading skill and reading comprehension). The Older,
in 3^rd grade, scored at an incredible 11^th grade reading level! No wonder
they were having so many problems at school—the work was way below their
level. And it certainly didn't help that they switched shools only two months
before summer vacation to a state heavy with standardized tests from a state
with year-round schooling.
It's a real mess.
So it was last week that Spring decided the best course of action was to
remove the boys from school and home school them. No more hours of fruitless
homework, no more wailing and knashing of teeth, and no more dealing with
overworked and underfunded teachers (I'm being kind; Spring has less of an
opinion on their former teachers).
Today was the first day of home schooling for the boys. I think it went well,
but we shall see how it works out in the longer term.
[1]
gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2003/04/01.2
[2]
gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2003/04/02.2
[3]
gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2003/04/07.1
[4]
http://www.springdew.com/
[5]
http://www.educate.com/
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