developmently delayed 6 year old... suggestions please

[shadowpaints]

ok, so my 6 year old daughter, Mackenzie is developmently delayed slightly because of slight autism. here is my concern

she is in first grade. she participates in her regular class, and in special ed and speech.

every night for the last month, she brings home 3 pages (front and back) of math . its subtraction and adding mostly and now they are throwing in learning how much a penny is also dimes and nickles too.

i understand that math is important i really do! BUT im a bit upset about the fact it doesnt seem that they have been working on letters at all since the very beginning of the year.

Mackenzie can only write a few letters legibly. i try to work with her on her letters on the one day a week she doesnt get homework. on fridays they send 8-10 pages of homework front and back !!

right now we spend on average 2 hours on home work.

what should i do ?? i feel that its way too much to make her do 2 hours of homework a nite and have her read the booklets they send home AND have her work on her name!! (and other letters)

please help! she is already overly frustrated with the amount she gets now!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

My niece had to be able to write her name before she could "graduate" Kindergarten, and they have a lot of Math homework too. I have no clue what would help, other than maybe having her placed in special classes for those with learning disorders, or have her held back a year and hope she catches up? Sorry I can't be of more help

 

[Camelot Farms]

Does she have an IEP?

If not, she should be eligible for one.

If she does, can a lessening of homework be worked into the IEP?

 

[shadowpaints]

she is on a IEP. i do NOT feel that holding her back would help at all.. so that is not a option right now simply because her teachers and i talked about it last year in kindergarten.

ill have to check and see when her next IEP meeting is.. we usually have 2 a year

 

[HeatherLynn]

I never heard of that much work coming home. I am friends with several elementary teachers and I can promise non of them send home that much. When my son was in first grade in public school we usually had a 30 min reading assignment to do with us. On the weekend we would have any unfinished worksheets or special worksheets. I home school now and I could not imagine the frustration that much school work every night would bring for any child much less one that is struggling to keep up. Honestly if she cannot write all her letters yet then I don't know how she could possibly survive first grade. There is so much new stuff she really does not have the time to go back and focus on these. I would set up a meeting with the teacher. I know one of our ballet moms had a similar issue and she resolved it through a couple meetings with the teacher.

 

[noodleroo]

In some schools, they have teachers that work with special needs children right in the regular classroom, kinda like a tutor that sits with them and helps. You might talk to administration to see what's available...

 

[annaraven]

The IEP needs to be amended to reduce the amount of overall homework AND you need to add the writing goal to this year's IEP. Contact whoever is your coordinator to schedule an amendment meeting and get this done now. Don't let it slide.

Good luck!

 

[shadowpaints]

i just finished writing a letter to the teachers ( her 1st grade teacher special ed and her speech therepist)


i will call in the morning and see if i can get a amendment meeting going!

thanks for the help guys, mackenzie lost her service coordinator last year and i have no idea about this!! GAH

 

[Ema]

communicate with the teacher and let her know that while that much homework might be seen as ok for other students it really isn't for your child. Tell her 2 hours per night is too much work. My daughter in grade 2 has reading every night which is 20 and sometimes she might have math because she did not finish it in class, maybe 20 to 30 minutes tops.

Ask her if maybe she can just break it down and your daughter can do a little on the weekend too. Practice makes perfect.

Once you get the results you want from the school, take that extra time and do letters etc, with your daughter.

My daughter couldn't even read when she got to grade 1, she wrote her letters all backwards and even numbers, in the year she was in grade 1 they taught her to read, and focus more on whats in the page. she has issues where words and numbers seem to appear scrambled to her, this year she is doing much better. But I can tell you I never gave her a break from it during holidays or summer, each day she would spend 20 three times a day doing something that was school related though she would not have known it at all and I can honestly tell you it worked wonders.

the key is to make it fun... right?...lol...

I agree do not take your child out of the class and place her elsewhere, there is no reason for that at all. If the teacher is not willing to meet you half way speak to the principal and if the principal is less than helpful contact the board of education. trust me you will get what you want.

 

[debilorrah]

Shadow, slight autism is usually referred to as Aspergers. Has she had this diagnosis?