During a meeting with my daughter’s teacher last week, she told me that a spiral curriculum (used in our school, of course) is “the kiss of death” for a child such as my daughter who requires a lot of practice and needs to master a lesson before moving on to the next one. What typically happens, this teacher said, is that when the class revisits the lesson 6-8 weeks after the first introduction, it’s “like she never learned it”.
These comments followed my explanation that C. had been achieving great success doing Kumon, which follows a logical cumulative sequence of topics, provides abundant practice and applies formative assessment to ensure mastery at each level. The classroom teacher agreeably observed, “Oh, that’s good” before she made the comment about spiraling. And the resource teacher, also present at this meeting and apparently trying to demonstrate how helpful he would be this year, told me he’d be happy to talk with the tutor anytime if it would help.
[The sound you don’t hear at this point is a suppressed scream from mom.]
This is the second year that I have explained to the school about the type of instruction that enables my daughter to excel. And, apparently, this will be the second year that they will inform me they will not change the way they teach my daughter. Worse yet, this year the school is implementing a new constructivist math program, complete with group discovery and spiraling that I expect will only impede my daughter’s learning more than ever.
But, here’s the kicker. My daughter has an IEP! Isn't that supposed to ensure that the school provides an individualized education plan that will meet the specific learning needs of the student????
[Another suppressed scream.]
I’m not sure what I must do to make the school teach my daughter in a way that works for her. I can be more forceful in explaining to the IEP committee that the school should use methods employed in direct instruction and precision teaching because they meet my daughter’s specific learning needs. Maybe I can try having them incorporate mastery at each step within the IEP goals. Really, they should just pay for her Kumon and be done with it.
To me, this crazy situation is just another example of how it’s frequently the parents taking up the slack when the illogical methods that pass for “quality education” let our children down.
Tex,
ReplyDeleteI feel for you, I really do. A friend of mine whose son has an IEP just went around and around with the IEP committee regarding direct instruction. Their solution was to medicate him for his inattention problems.
He has had some wonderful aides, but their hands are tied. Their role is to get the kids with IEPs to work more independently. Our elementary school wants kids to play an active role in their education...hands on, discovery, you know, do it yourself. This is the death kiss for kids with learning disabilities.
Is your daughter the one with the auditory processing problem?
I think you're going to have to keep pushing. They'll still look at you like you're from Mars and the first person ever to bring it up (I have often gotten that look), but you have to keep pushing.
ReplyDeleteTheir role is to get the kids with IEPs to work more independently.
I have to agree with this. This seems to be the focus above all else, including the teaching of foundational skills, something they'll need to actually be independent.
I feel for you, too. When my LD son was in middle school I realized that most things being taught to him were an incoherent mess. The school was also implementing new reform curriculums that were lost on many LD kids. I had to commit to afterschooling him at least 5 times a week. But who has that time?
In talking with other parents whose kids have IEPs, I've learned that all they do is push and push.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that concerns me is the self-esteem issues of LD kids. The fact that you have your daughter in Kumon is a major plus in boosting her confidence in her abilities. It has helped my son tremendously.
It is sad to say, but honestly, my school looks at tutoring as just a given for some kids. The motto is kids should be responsible for their own learning. I guess they think this promotes independence. It is whacky!
--for a child such as my daughter who requires a lot of practice and needs to master a lesson before moving on to the next one
ReplyDeleteALL CHILDREN NEED THIS. ALL HUMANS NEED THIS. THERE ARE NO PEOPLE WHO LEARN WITHOUT PRACTICE.
Sorry for yelling, but the teacher's idiotic idea that somehow, only someone SUCH AS your daughter would have problems with this is part of the problem.
Even Mozart and Newton learned by practice. They were just wired so that they were capable of doing that practice at the age of 3, 4, 6, 12, and doing it faster and more intensely than us mere mortals can. But the notion that they didn't need to practice is corrosive to teaching, because it means the teachers have given up on doing their job.
What I basically did is specify a direct instruction curriculum that was taught in the Resource Room.
ReplyDeleteSo the Resource teacher pulled him out during math and taught the direct instruction. This served two purposes: 1. he received the correct instruction. 2. he wasn't subjected to the wrong curriculum.
I know this sounds crazy, but I would just have the resource room teacher manage the Kumon program. I know this means you still pay for it, but then you don't have to afterschool.
Sometimes a student will feel that they don't want to be in the resource room instead of the classroom. This is really the drawback to this system.
The fact is that a classroom teacher will modify instruction and assignments, but they won't teach two different currica.
Anne Dwyer
Yes, my daughter has APD.
ReplyDeleteThey'll still look at you like you're from Mars and the first person ever to bring it up (I have often gotten that look), but you have to keep pushing.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I have been told, “But, NO ONE ever asks for that.”
ALL CHILDREN NEED THIS. ALL HUMANS NEED THIS. THERE ARE NO PEOPLE WHO LEARN WITHOUT PRACTICE.
ReplyDeleteEXACTLY!!!
However, this year I’m trying to keep my narrative with the school and with other parents focused on what MY kid needs. I’m waiting to see at what point anyone will agree that other kids need the same things, basically.
I know this sounds crazy, but I would just have the resource room teacher manage the Kumon program.
ReplyDeleteWow, this idea sounds interesting! I think I could go for that.
my kids home work tonight (which I wrote nasty things on - then scanned it in and use photoshop to remove - to reprint it so my kid can hand it in) entailed ...
ReplyDeletedrum roll ...
FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS TO WRITE EACH NUMBER.
(ok some comment here - my kid will LITERALLY follow the directions - earnest to do so too)
2. Skip count 87 times by tens.There are 5 ones. The number is _________.
4. Skip count 99 times by tens. There are 9 ones. The number is _______.
I've given my kid 3 pages of Singapore 2b review to do and those are stapled to her original homework with the aforementioned questions crossed off in red permanent marker.
My kid does well with Kumon too and did well with Saxon / Singapore blend over the summer.
Now if only during the school day her time wasn't being wasted (then again, maybe its not - maybe they are doing Addison Wesley in the classroom and sending home the TERC 2).
I would love for a reformist to explain the logic of the above problems given that the other 4 problems were :
Skip count 3 times by hundreds. Skip count 2 times by tens. There is a 9 in the ones place. The Number is ___________.
I've considered going to the Board of Ed and skip counting 87 times by tens, because THATS WHAT FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS means to a child.
It would make a great youTube video, because when I was still counting and the timer was up on my public comment allotment I am sure the BOE president would say, could you hurry up or get to the point ...
which would be the point.
I feel your pain. We've fought the same battle--Megan has ASD with big-time receptive language/processing problems. Her receptive/listening skills are at the 1-2% for her age. Her reading comprehension is probably at about the 10-15% though she decodes well. We fought through Everyday Math from grades 1-4. The only way to escape EM in our district is to fall so far behind that you get put in an "instructional" math class which uses a SRA curriculum. So that's where we are now in 6th grade. I try to also teach with Saxon at home but we haven't done any of that lately given the increased middle school homework. We did KUMON for awhile but the tuition kept going up and up and I couldn't talk the instructor into letting her progress faster; she just kept repeating stuff she knew (and finished within the recommended time) and I started to feel like I was being ripped off. The usual spiel you'll get is that the IEP can't specify a specific curriculum. I've tried to get them to do Saxon with her without success. They probably could with only 8 kids in the class! Megan hasn't met the ever-decreasing state standards in Math since 3rd grade. Unfortunately the only way I could try for Saxon again is to have her testing results get worse and worse. With the big emphasis on the "explain your answer" and long verbal responses to Math questions on the State tests I don't see her meeting standards. Those and any word problems are the killers.
ReplyDeleteThe classroom teacher agreeably observed, “Oh, that’s good” before she made the comment about spiraling.
ReplyDeleteThat's where we are this year.
This year's math teacher is a real GUY; he's a lot of fun -- and very funny.
But he has an almost profound sense of non-alarm about the fact that MY KID DOESN'T KNOW ANY MATH.
The non-alarm thing started to hit me last year when I went to a Board meeting that was like a Happy Hour without the drinks.
Everyone there was beaming at everyone else, congratulating everyone else ("Thank you for that excellent report, Jane" "You're very welcome, Joan") that I felt like a urchin with her nose pressed up against the window, looking inside the big house at the rich people gathered 'round the Christmas tree singing carols.
Here I am, basically in crisis desperately trying to learn enough algebra & geometry fast enough to keep my kid alive in math, and they're having a party.
It was bizarre.
Hi, Anne!
ReplyDeleteHi, Catherine.
ReplyDeleteI lost my ability to comment as a blogger, so I just do anonymous and sign my name.
Did I mention that I am now officially adjunct faculty at the local community college?
And that I am teaching basic math and prealgebra?
And that I gave my basic math students a quiz on the very first day where I timed them and check their accuracy on 50 math facts?
And that they are getting word problems from Math 6, Singapore Math and my 1898 grammar school arithmetic book instead of the 'real world' problems in their textbook?
I'll let you know how it goes.
Anne Dwyer