Hi Everyone,
I just wanted to vent, to explain my frustration with my son's school. I've come to the conclusion, that my son's school, (Bolingbrook, IL) is really just a baby sitting exercise. There is not much learning that goes on there. My son will be attending 3rd grade, and it is ME that does all the teaching. The schools are there to administer tests. let me tell you my story.
My son, is a very smart and talented kid, however, for some reason, he was just one that did not grasp the whole reading concept. Despite the repeated efforts of exposure, and practice, reading was just not something that came easy to him.
Upon attending his first public school, in 1rst grade, he was having trouble. However, the teacher was giving him A's, and I was not aware of the extent of the problem. During parent teacher conferences, she acted confused, as if she did not even understand what student she was talking about. It was obvious, that she was inexperienced, or not caring, or both. So I tried to do what I could with my son at home.
At home, I noticed, that he was just not getting it. So I went to the school, very friendly like, and inquired about additional resources for children having difficulty reading. They assured me everything was fine, and that based on test scores, my son was with his class, and others of his age. I found that to be strange. But then again, I figured, they are comparing my son against 100s of kids, as opposed to just one, like me.
He finished out 1rst grade with all As, but again I was suspicious. So I spent time with him at home, basically doing drills, etc..
Here is where the fiasco comes in. One day, 2 months into the next school year, I get a letter, or not even a letter, a contract that says, a reading contract, "as my son’s parent, I promise to read to him every day"
I found it to be strange, so I inquired the school what this was about. After five phone call attempts, finally, the vice principal returns my call, and gets on the phone, and explains to me how my son had been selected to be in a special class, and that she would know more details at a later time.
I of course, was infuriated, that they were taking my son out of the regular class, to be put in some special class. So I inquired again, about the “intervention “ program.
Instead, I got another letter, very legal, explaining that a meeting would be held to discuss my sons reading ability. A social worker was there, a psychologist, his teacher, the reading teacher,and vice principal. The letter was very unfriendly saying basically, how important it is to show up, and how the school reserves the right, to cancel the meeting if I show up with additional people without their knowledge of it. I had sign off on the attendees. I thought this was strange.
At the "intervention" meeting, finally, they come clean, and basically admitted to me how they lied about his test scores and progress in the 1rst grade, and how an intervention is needed. The meeting went very poorly.
I asked about resources for my son, and these so called experts, came up with the obvious, siting how I should just read with my son, and put letters on the refrigerator, etc.. I responded with, "no duh" kind of an attitude, and told them I wanted to move on from basics. That obviously something needed to be done differently than in the past, since in this case, my son did not learn to read by exposure alone.
I think hindsight, that stupid meeting was just for the school to asses us, his parents.. And why the letter was stupidly written, to make sure we show up. They did not realize that I was a parent that had continuously tried to contact THEM!! And it was them that was non-responsive.
I asked them about this "intervention" program, and they just did not have their act together. They could not tell me anything about it, when it happened, (ie, every tuesday?? or what??) and it was obvious that it was not organized. How in the world they expected to help through this program is just mind boggling.
I asked them if my son could be assessed specifically, so we could address the task at hand. They gave me a bunch of lip service about waiting waiting waiting to see how things turn out.
The way I looked at it, they already lied to me in the first place, negated my intuition about his reading skills, telling me how in school, he is apparently different than at home. (at home he was lacking, but at school they lied to me, and told me he was a good reader, up until they switched gears with this stupid intervention program)
I was already disappointed, and did not trust them. And I said, had I known, I would have done something sooner, rather than waste a whole year, with my son struggling. Now they want me to wait MORE before they would even assess him??
Instead, I gave up on them, and went to Sylvan. I plopped down $3K, and they assessed my son in three hours. They had a game plan to get him up to speed, which they did in two months.
I told the school to stop their program, since in this case, it was doing more harm than good. They got all mad at me, for declining the schools help. I just responded, "you guys are unable to even communicate to me his status, and the intricacies of this reading intervention program. My calls go unanswered, and when finally someone decides to tell me what is going on, they act they are in a hurry to get off the phone.
They argued with me, telling me how I am not a teacher, and how I don’t have the authority to assess my son on my own. I proved them wrong, and they were upset.
So now I know, to teach my son myself. My kid has mastered the skills, and they go to the public school just as confirmation of what they already know. He blows his classmates away. My standard is excellence, while their standards are special ed.
The teachers at that school are lazy, and they do not care about the damage they are doing by ignoring the kids. Even worse, they go out of their way to lie to parents, so that the parents will go away. All the while, the kid with a problem, is actually getting worse, as a result of their lies.
This case was particularly bad, because they did not have clue about how to help my son, and they knew it, but negated my efforts. They actually were offended, that I went out and got my son real help. In the process, I became a good teacher as well.
Since then, I have purchased a reading curriculum book, and it was written for teachers. I am amazed at the low benchmarks that are sited. (ie, until a child is below the 25%, there no need to communicate with the parents)
I am simply amazed. I am lucky that I am able to teach my kids, as I have my own company. What about all those people that are on a fixed income, and cannot afford to teach their own kids, because they have to go to work?? Or they can not afford private school?? They are relying on public schools, some lazy state worker, to do their job. Its not going to happen. Its scary.
