So we've hit middle school big time. It's only day 4 but I have some thoughts already that I need to share, and not sure if I want to be that parent or just wait it out to see if anything gets better. Soooo a little background. Perry has been in a resource room since 2nd grade when he was officially diagnosed by Cincinnati Childrens Hospital with a language based learning disability. His 3rd and 4th grade years have been by far his best 2 years of school so far. Both years he had great teachers who worked with his abilities and gave him the room and the help to learn at his own pace. It was 2 years of passionate teachers who were excited about milestones Perry would reach. Then the dreaded intermediate school. His teachers were fine, but it was then I started to be uncomfortable with the whole "resource room" concept. Now the kids are majorly segragated from the rest of their peers. They are not integrated really at all that I can see, his curriculum seemed almost too easy, but if it was to be made any harder he'd become frustrated and not succeed really. So we suffered through. I will say his reading got way better, he seems to like Math a little more, and he made it through the prison type school building really unscathed.
Now we are in a new building. His main class is not after all in the trailer out back. He does have 2 class's out there but he doesn't spend the majority of his day in a trailer out back. So I pick up his schedule, and see he's part of the Heroes team. See others who pick up their schedules and they too are on the heroes team and I think oh cool, maybe now they will be a little more integrated. Then I go to Open House, and they direct us to a room where all the Heroes team is meeting to meet teachers and hear about curriculum. So we go in there not a single teacher is Perry's teachers, and they go over curriculum that I know won't be anything he'll be learning, and if he was required to meet the expectations they are speaking of he'd be doomed. Although the Science Fair sounds like a good time, and some of the other projects they discussed sounded like a fun way to learn. Oh but wait he don't get to do that. We make our way to his homeroom after the lengthy schpeal that did not pertain to us AT ALL (great idea). Meet his 2 teachers, get a breakdown of his curriculum, that doesn't involve any text books or projects see his locker and leave.
So on day 4 of year 3 of school that is no longer the elementary school, I find myself questioning Fairfields resource rooms after elementary school. Or really after 3rd grade since Perry's 4th grade year was not typical, but turned out way better than it would have been. So even though they are special needs does that mean they don't get the excitement of covering a new textbook with a grocery bag, or get to have their parents help them with a science project? Understandably most of the kids in his class would lose the textbook on day 2 or would have to have 2 of them one for home and one for school. But why on earth are they part of team of other students they will never see, with teachers they will never be instructed by. Not only that but the teachers he has are on different teams??? Whaaaa? I'll give it a week or 2 more and then maybe if I still feel they could do better maybe I'll make them? Discuss.....your comments are welcome. And just like the trailer education Perry could care less about any of it, he doesn't know any different.
