For several years, I have dealt with special classes. M and K have both been diagnosed with learning difficulties (or disabilities). The main problem has always been reading but there are some other issues as well. As Johnny and Joley get older, I am watching for those early signs of difficulties in them. I want to be able to ward off any issues before they start or, at the very least, get them help as soon as possible. Johnny is my main concern here as he gets ready to enter Kindergarten. He is going to be in a private school and the expectations are pretty high.
When the older kids started showing decline in their reading grades, I was clueless on what to do. Do I read to them? Do I get a tutor? Do they need a reading intervention program? What do we do to help them?
It took several tries to come up with a plan that worked for them. Each kid had a different set of difficulties that needed to be addressed. They both ended up in classes that helped them out, thank goodness. Now, both of the kids are doing well but they still need to work hard to stay on top of their reading and their grades.
Back to Johnny. He is not showing the signs the other kids displayed at a very young age. He wants to read. He already recognizes some sight words and is learning addition and subtraction. He is ready and rearing to go to school. I am so happy that it looks like the days of learning disabilities are behind us. If they aren’t though, that is okay. This time, I am more prepared to tackle anything that comes.
Do your kids have any learning problems? How did you handle it?
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Greg Mischio says
Have you ever had your children screened for vision problems? I’m referring to ones that are beyond the typical vision screening process. Check out http://www.thevisiontherapycenter.com. Watch the video and download the learning and vision guide. May be helpful! Good luck!
karen M says
our grandson “big guy” had trouble with organization and fine motor skills, he is 17 now and you still can’t read his writing.
He was finally diagnosed in junior high, we kept after the school to test him for some of the quirks we recognized. They kept coming up with a different reason for the quirks. We were referred to an autism center and finally got our answers.
We sure did learn a lot about verbal, visual and facial cues. Didn’t realize that verbal cue he would miss most of them, and had to write things out so that he will remember to do things in a certain order. He still struggles with facial cues, not sure when to keep quiet, or when recognize faces of people he knows and knowing when someone is bored with him talking so much.
After that we learned a lot about IEP’s, 504 plan and his rights for an education. He is a senior this year, has accomplished a lot in the last few years, back to the honor roll after his 504 plan in place, became an Eagle Scout and is now attending a summer college class.
Our oldest son had trouble reading and I found that I could get him to read if they were comic books, ya go figure, now he reads books and enjoying reading.
Stefany says
That is great Karen! IEPs are so much fun, huh? 🙂
Our oldest had an IEP that I had to fight to get for her. Over the course of 3 years, we worked on those “problem” areas. Starting high school, she was able to drop her IEP and keep up with classes. It was awesome to see.
Debby Pucci says
Our daughter had issues. Actually her kindergarten teacher wanted to hold her back. We didn’t do that. Then she had issues with doing homework. We got a tutor who helped her.
She didn’t have the skills to know what came first, what to do next and how to finish her homework. Then in middle school a teacher recognized her problems. They couldn’t tell us she needed help we had to ask for help. (they get sued by parents if they say the wrong thing) So what they did was have a helper in her class who would work along with the teacher to put things on the board for those who were needed to see things visually.
It worked out great and she did a lot better. This way they didn’t put them into slower classes so the other students never really knew who was getting help.
Stefany says
I love when teachers are willing to go the extra distance to help kids and it is so much better when the kids aren’t in “special” classes. I am glad it worked out well for your daughter!
taylor marves says
Glad that you found something that worked for your children. My son is four and right now our biggest problem is that he has no desire at all to go to school. Also there is some concern that he may be color blind but the doctor wont test for it until he is older.
Stefany says
We were worried about that as well with Johnny. He ended up not having color blindness but they did test him in preschool and at his Kindergarten testing. Good luck getting an answer!
Stefany says
Oh, one more thing… Johnny was more willing to go to school after preschool. Before that, not at all! I hope it gets easier for you and your son.