“I’m seeing something in the education world I’m not really thrilled with. Maybe because it’s my favorite subject- math? 😉
Both of my children have struggled with math. It doesn’t surprise me at all. Their parents did, so it would be understandable that they would. But the reasons they have struggled are different.” Read more. . .
An update of where we are now with our son who wouldn’t go to school last year. Read more. . .
“If you too have a child with Special Needs and struggle with this, I would invite you to join me. Let’s change our thinking. The worst may happen. But worrying about it isn’t going to help anyone. Let’s learn to take the “blips” in stride and leave tomorrow to worry about itself.” Read more. . .
School is back in session and the dreaded “Homework” has begun. There is not much in my house that brings tears faster (both from me and my children). So I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Your kids don’t have to do it. . . At least in Elementary School. Or rather that is my opinion and the opinion of a lot of teachers I have spoken to. Let me explain.
In our home, we have learners with disabilities. Dyslexia, Autism, ADHD, Dyscalculia to name just a few.
When my kids were younger, we spent almost every day immediately after school going to therapy. We would get home just in time for dinner and bed. There was no time for them to do homework, let alone time to play and be children.
If we had a rare afternoon off I wasn’t about to make them do homework instead of taking the time to play and have fun. I did have them read for 20-30 mins a day either in the car to and from therapy or in bed at night before they fell asleep.
We have added into my son’s IEP at various times that no homework or extremely limited homework will be issued. It is a legitimate modification for students in their IEP’s.
Do kids sometimes need extra practice? Absolutely. But, to quote a Special Education teacher I know, “If they didn’t get it at school, they likely aren’t going to get it with 30 minutes of homework either.” They are going to need direct instruction. And I don’t know about you, but when it comes to Common Core Math? I can’t help them anyway.
Is it going to be a positive thing for your children or a negative one? Are they behind in a subject or on target? Is the amount of homework reasonable for your child’s age and personality? These are all things you should take into consideration.
So do yourself and your kids a favor and weigh the benefits of homework at your house.
“We are in a messy middle trying to figure out how to make school work for my 12 year old son with Autism, ADHD, Dyscalculia, a sleeping disorder and a few other things.” Read more. . .
But still, those words burned into me. “He doesn’t fit into our community.” Those words are daggers to a Mother’s heart. They all agreed with this statement. We unanimously agreed to change his school placement. I had won, but I walked out of school heavy hearted. Read more. . .
I was scrolling through my Facebook feed this weekend and a particular post stopped me in my tracks. It said- “What did you do this weekend?” A perfectly innocuous post. Read more…
“Each state, school district, and medical department specializes in their own unique maze of Hell.” Read more…
With all the recent shootings, how we can keep our children safer is frequently a topic of conversation. If we could, as Mother’s we’d wrap them in a bomb proof bubble. Unfortunately for Mom’s everywhere, that really isn’t an option. I want to show you a hole I discovered in a lot of schools safety plans. Read more…
“Where does that leave parents? Where does that leave vulnerable children? This needs to be part of the discussions being had about Medicaid. This needs to be part of the discussions that we as American’s have about helping our neighbors when they can’t do it alone. It shouldn’t be this hard to help a child. Especially when all the research shows that early intervention is the most successful.”
