Horrible Day in 3rd grade! | ADHD Information
I know a woman who managed to educate her ADHD son in private school through 12th grade. She luckily had a private elementary school that was willing to work with her. Here is what she told me she did (in addition to the medication):
1. Got a private eval from an excellent psychologist that included recommended accommodations.
2. Took those recommendations to the school, which wrote out what is similar to a 504 plan for her son.
3. Got the schools to assign her son a note-taker (he'd zone out during class) for class notes and homework.
4. Got the schools to check or assign someone to check his backpack to ensure the texts and assignments were there before he left school.
5. Got various employees in the school to support him by calling her if he forgot something (the school required a blazer, he lost it and an employee found it and called mom).
Now, she said that the school did not do everything it promised, but it did enough to keep him in there.
Just some ideas of things you can request, especially since you are loyal, having gone there. Good luck!
jfalcon27, my son is 7 also, he has not been diagnosed, but I know he is ADHD. He had a tough time last year academicaly, I held him back because I knew putting him in 2nd grade would be a bad choice, he would be acting out, frustrated, not getting it.......I am so glad I held him back. I have been researchin natural ways to treat him and so far this year, he is doing great academically, his behavior just improved with Ograms marble system, and I will be recieving my 1st bottle of FOCUS in teh mail this week......so no, our kids are not doomed for the rest of their lives with drugs. I understand some NEED meds, but I am doing all I can to keep mine off them.
Staceyann.....I feel for you! I don't have too much to add that has not been said, I am dreading 3rd grade for my boy, I know that!
you may want to try keeping an extra copy of everything at home too.StaceyAnn wrote:
He is on Concerta 36 mg. and it doesn't seem to be helping with his concentration, the teacher keeps sending me emails about him not paying attention....
Welcome StaceyAnn. In addition to all the good advice you have gotten so far, I would also recommend that you have your sons meds reevaluated. The chid should see maximum benefit from the medication which includes being able to focus so he could concentrate. Every child responds differently in terms of medications and dosing and your child may need a change in the meds or the dose. Good luck and keep us posted
Luvmykids0238965.7961921296My daughter was in third grade last year, and it was very difficult for her. The teacher began the school year with very unrealistic expectations for all of the students, let alone the ones with special needs. Homework took hours each evening, and books and assignments were often forgotten. I got the feeling that she was receiving no attention from the teacher at school, as everything that should have been completed there was coming home with her. Our daughter hated school. We finally received a nasty note from the teacher, insinuating that we were irresponsible parents because our daughter had not completed one of about 5 assignments the night before. On the same day, our daughter complained that the teacher had yelled at her!
We discussed these issues with the teacher, and basically got nowhere. She did not feel that she had been inappropriate with the note, and no, she did not yell at the children. We then went to the school's principal, asking that she be moved to another classroom. We got nowhere again. He did not even talk to our daughter about these issues as he had promised. He even accused us of planting ideas in our daughter's head that caused her to not like her teacher or the school!
Furious, we finally went to the assistant superintendent of schools. She went to our daughter's school within a half hour, and talked with her first. She also read the note in our daughter's planner, and agreed that she would have been upset by this also! She talked with the teacher and the principal, and our daughter's math homework was reduced to a more manageable level. She was given additional time to complete tests. She also discussed with the teacher ways of getting my daughter to focus without being so harsh with her. If my daughter did not complete an assignment, or had forgotten a book, she was allowed to remain inside at recess to complete the work if she chose to do so. This had been a major issue, as the teacher felt that this was also "irresponsible." The assistant superintendant continued to follow up with all parties involved throughout the school year (we think that this lady is a saint). My daughter's grades improved, as did her relationship with the teacher. The principal is still overly friendly with us when we see him at the school
. Sometimes, it pays to complain!
My son's teachers have always warned me that this would be the year that my son would have trouble. He is such a bright little kid but soooooo unorganized and the teachers expect them to take more responsibility this year. Today he came home with his assignment book with his assignments for the week. Spelling words are do tomorrow.......oops...he forgot his spelling book and spiral. Geography vocab test tomorrow......oops, her forgot to bring that home too. Picture money was due today....I showed him where it was in his folder and reminded him to turn it in. Guess what I found in his folder when he came home from school????? (his picture money!)
I wanted to run up to school and fetch his books but his teachers made us all sign a "no rescue" form. They said that is the only way they will learn. What about us poor parents??? I was so upset with him I grounded him from video games (his favorite thing) for the day. He is on Concerta 36 mg. and it doesn't seem to be helping with his concentration, the teacher keeps sending me emails about him not paying attention....I am at my wit's end!!!
THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME VENT!! Hopefully it is just one of those days!!
We tried the "no rescue" deal for the first semester of the school year in the 4th grade and the result was mostly Fs (except areas like computers that had no homework). By time we got through the testing and got an IEP, my daughter claimed she liked the Fs because she figured taking the whole grade over would be easy because she did it already.
We ended up with an IEP that included a behavior plan that gave rewards for keeping on task and getting homework done. The IEP also removed the requirment for independence and had the teacher make sure my daughter recorded her homework assignments each day and have the teacher check it. We were also given a set of text books for home. She is supposed to get more independent with time in out IEP.
Where this is going is... Try a positive reinforcement behavior plan for bringing home the work (like ogram's marble system, not purely negative reinforcement). Do not let constant forgetting lead to a failed year. If it does not get better, you might request accomodations based on the ADHD. Depending what type of doctor you son sees, the doctor might write up a list of apporpriate accomodations. These should include a behavior plan, possibly books at home (I think there is a list on an education thread).
hey stacyann i can sympathize with you i have a 7 yr old son in second grade and he's on 27 mg of concerta he was doing fine with it last year but since he strted 2nd grade he's been acting out disruptive in class refuses to do his work and forgets to bring his homework home i'm starting to think he might actually be reapeating this grade at the rate he's going we've tried working with him one on one but i'm afraid that his dosage will have to be changed are we doomed to to have our kids on drugs forever ?Oh boy, "no rescue" is not going to work with an ADHD child. It will not teach him to be more responsible; he has a neurological condition. Personally I would not punish him for this stuff. This is a problem with the school. Do you have a 504 or IEP? Have you had him privately evaluated? If not, I would have him evaluated, send the report to the school, and request a Comprehensive Evaluation in writing. In the meantime, I'd blatantly disobey the "no rescue" form and rescue him. And why not respond to the note about him not paying attention with a note of your own stating that he had ADHD, provide an attachment explaining exactly what ADHD is with the "concentration" stuff highlighted, and give a suggested list of accommodations? Oh, and thank him/her for his/her concern.Thanks guys for the thoughts and suggestions. My son goes to a private school and no special ed services are offered. I love the school....I went there as a child and we just love the kids, families and teachers. I'm just worried that we might not make it there much longer.....
We have a conference scheduled with the teacher next week. Hopefully after speaking with her she will be more understanding
Stacey
HAVE A HW FOLDER IT HELPS OUT WITH ORGINIZATION. i THINK KIDS ON IEP'S NEED A 2ND SET OF BOOKS FOR HOME. HOW DO YOU GET THE SCHOOL TO DO THAT. My son's school's PTA bought a classroom set of texts, so each child can keep their issued texts at home. In addition, each teacher has a website, where homework assignments and upcoming tests and projects are posted daily. There's no confusion. There's no forgetting. My son is in seventh grade. Gee whiz, I wish more schools would wake up to this!!!