Budget buster- tutoring

[MomToOne]

I do have a question...if the school wasn't terribly interested in testing, why are you? Schools are EXPERTS at seeing the signs of students with issues.

Myself and I believe several other PPs would disagree with this statement. Teachers consistently tried to dismiss my child's problems, which unfortunately are very real. Testing showed significant problems. Teachers are not experts on all the different types of learning disabilities - not that I expect them to be - so they can often miss (or dismiss) certain issues. What a parent is seeing during homework and at other times needs to be listened to by the school, and taken as seriously as what the teacher is/isn't reporting.

 

[hambirg]

After the reading the last few pages, I wanted to add something else. It's been my experience that sometimes there is nothing wrong with the child, even if they are performing poorly. I am not discounting the parents that said they knew something was not right and were told by some teachers that everything was fine. I am all for testing. There is no harm in finding out for sure. If a parent came to me and wanted their child tested, I would go along with that. After all, who better to know that child? BUT sometimes there is really nothing wrong also. My SIL was convinced that my nephew was ADHD (along with having asthma, allergies, all kinds of things he never had. I swear she has that Munchhausen thing.) She convinced his doctor to put him on meds. That poor kid was sooo lethargic. They eventually took him off, and guess what? He's 14 now and he's fine. . .no problems. . .at school. . at home. . .etc. My son had a 1st grade teacher that thought he might be ADD because he had a hard time paying attention in class. Well, I convinced her that he didn't have any problems attending to things he was interested in. He wasn't motivated by schoolwork, but he could pay attention to sports and video games til the cows came home! Sometimes it really is a motivational issue, especially with young boys. He's in 4th grade now and doing fine. He's still not all that interested in school, but understands that he has to do well or no more playing football. . .so he does well.

One more thing, other teachers please chime in on this, sometimes I think the things they are trying to push in school are developmentally inappropriate. I taught 4th grade and my state had the lovely WASL. I don't know who the heck came up with this piece of work. . .but some of it was nuts. I would have much rather seen some kind of standardized, progressively stepped test (think SATish) than this thing. There is nothing wrong with pushing for high standards, BUT they have to be appropriate. You wouldn't expect a 4 month old to walk no matter how many hours you spent trying to teach him!!! Simply put, some kids are simply not there yet, but will come into their own at the right time. My memory is foggy on this. . .but there was a study that showed by the end of high school, early readers weren't necessarily ahead of the non-early readers. Physically some kids sprout early, but in the end it all kind of evens out. . .same idea.

 

[fac]

I haven't finished reading. I agree with a poster who mentioned those learning centers are not equipped to hep kids with learning disabilities.

We went through this path before. Between Sylvan Learning Center and private tutor, I chose Sylvan knowing that their tutors were paid less than a private tutor, but I was brought in by their methodology. paid over 5000, saw very little improvement because at that time I didn't understand learning disability even she already had an IEP. She also had a private tutor.

Last year she only had a private tutor. The private tutor was a special ed teacher in the same school. She improved a bit. But many of the special ed teachers I spoke to have very low expectation of the students. Even in the very "good" school district that I am, I found those special ed teachers I met didn't understand disabilities. (Long story, I am not going into it). In fact, what I found out was that because the teachers were not allowed to tutor kids in their own class, they would be referring kids to each other.

This year I am going to hire a regular ed teacher.

If you do want to get the school to eval, please start all the record keeping, i.e. use a big binder to keep your letters. Put your request in writing.
If you do not agree with the school's eval, you can always request an independent eval on public expense. Read some more if you have to go this route.
The Speech pathologist tested my kid to be average on everything, i.e. no services, however, when I took my kid for different evals, all came back to tell me she was below average and now the district is offering her reading, speech etc. What a joke!! You have to know that you know your kid better.

 

[fac]

It was $110 for the testing. There is no way I would be running to have him tutored it he got a B. The grading scale at his school is so strict that anything below a 70 is failing He has a lot of areas that he struggles in not just one. It is just too much for me to handle alone. DH works 70 hours a week. Most of the time he isn't home until about an hour before DS goes to work. I've been researching ADD online and it is starting to come together. He has a lot of red flags. Alot we thought we just because he was an only child but now I realize those things in addition of some other signs he's shown point towards a LD. He has a really hard time focusing. Once we can get on top of that I think things will progress speedily.

put your request in writing and escalate. When I first started, the principal turned me down, I called and wrote to the superintendent.
Don't just focus on ADD, APD (auditory processing disorder) has similar symptoms, look at Speech eval, OT and neuropsychological eval.

 

[fac]

I do have a question...if the school wasn't terribly interested in testing, why are you? Schools are EXPERTS at seeing the signs of students with issues. Eight year old boys do NOT have the world's longest attention span. You mention ADD--this is NOT something that a school or a learning center can test for, and it is not a learning disability. It can ONLY be diagnosed by an MD.

Are you serious?
In my experience with a "good" school district here, the administrators are ignorant of the regulations, the sped teachers didn't even understand disabilities.

There may be good teachers, but PLEASE do not count on the schools to be the expert or have the best interest of your child in their hearts.

 

[fac]

Myself and I believe several other PPs would disagree with this statement. Teachers consistently tried to dismiss my child's problems, which unfortunately are very real. Testing showed significant problems. Teachers are not experts on all the different types of learning disabilities - not that I expect them to be - so they can often miss (or dismiss) certain issues. What a parent is seeing during homework and at other times needs to be listened to by the school, and taken as seriously as what the teacher is/isn't reporting.

same case here, I began to talk to the school since k, they dismissed me time and again. Asked me to wait, and wait, and wit, "she is too young", "she might out grow it" they told me. "Some kids just need to take time and I have seen kids suddenly able to learn when they grow older" was that the principal told me at end of 2nd grade. I went to the superintendent. She was in special ed since 3rd, 4 years later, she still is.

You know what, the teacher only sees the kid for that year, when the kid moves up, it becomes someone's problem. After trusting the special ed system for 3 years, at least in my experience, I found out that the teachers set very low standard for the kids.

 

[Soarin_04]

As an educator, I love it when parents get involved in their child's education because let me tell you -- it's not as common as you think.

Second, you've gotten some great advice on here. Go with it. Now, I'm going to add to it...

See what the school's testing reveals, but also, you may want to go to a private specialist -- developmental psychologist, for example. A friend had her daughter tested and was told she was on target. She knew that couldn't be accurate. All those red flags? C'mon. Plus, you know your child best and you know where there's just a little something amiss. A developmental ped told her the kid had ADD, helped her with meds, got her an IEP, and even helped with a behavioral plan. Her daughter's an A student now.

Tutoring. I used to tutor professionally. They can't predict or even estimate the hours. That's a total load of bunk. See if a local college has a tutoring center on campus. Normally, they're staffed by GAs (graduate assistants). GAs are always hurting for money (BTDT), and are either working on their Masters or Ph.Ds, and if they're tutoring, it's in education. Some may even have their undergrad degree in special ed. Offer a GA $20 or $25 a hour. No tutoring center? No worries. Call the college's department of education, talk with a professor who specializes in secondary education (high school), and ask him / her to recommend someone. Again, it'll be cheaper and just as effective.

You may even talk with the GA / professor about connecting with your son's teacher/s to (a) gain access to the curriculum/a, (b) get insight into which areas he needs help with, and (c) illustrate to the school that you are seeking outside assistance (some call it "brown-nosing" but I call it being a responsible student / parent). You'll need to sign a waiver / write the district letting them know you're giving that person permission, however.

Good luck.

 

[mjkacmom]

My son had a 1st grade teacher that thought he might be ADD because he had a hard time paying attention in class. Well, I convinced her that he didn't have any problems attending to things he was interested in. He wasn't motivated by schoolwork, but he could pay attention to sports and video games til the cows came home!.

I'm sure your ds is fine, but one characteristic of ADHD is hyperfocusing on things that interest them. Video games, spongebob - ADHD kids love these things.

 

[dimimi]

I'm sure your ds is fine, but one characteristic of ADHD is hyperfocusing on things that interest them. Video games, spongebob - ADHD kids love these things.

I was just getting ready to type this. Is a huge characteristic of an ADHD child. I teach high school special education. Every year we have several 9th graders whose parents think they should try to not use their medication. The kids really have a rough time and usually end up back on their meds. IF the child is truly ADHD, medication can help and is needed for success.

 

[stichy]

DS was supposed to start with Huntington on Monday. He's currently sick with who knows what. We've decided to push back his start date since he is sick. I called and we are going to start in October and just pay for the month of October at this point. We meet with the school's intervention team on Monday.

 

[MomToOne]

See what the school's testing reveals, but also, you may want to go to a private specialist -- developmental psychologist, for example. A friend had her daughter tested and was told she was on target. She knew that couldn't be accurate. All those red flags? C'mon.

Also don't necessarily trust the school system's interprettation of test results. The first round of testing on my daughter (Woodcock-Johnson) was interpretted by the person testing her as showing she was average. On the low side of average, but in the average range. And if you look at just the composite scores, that was true. But when I dug at the individual test scores, and read up a lot on the topic, I realized she had a lot of what is called "scatter" in her test results (a wide range in the subtest scores). That alone can indicate an issue. Further speech/language and APD testing is where the problems were finally confirmed and quantified - Woodcock Johnson was just not the right battery of tests in my daughter's case.

 

[Gretchen]

I asked for LD testing last year through the school. We got the oh he doesn't need it song and dance. So we are trying again this year. His ped has offered to write a letter to the school saying she recommends he be tested. We have a meeting at the school on Monday to talk to the intervention team. He's getting tested this year. If I can't get the school to do it then we'll just pay for private testing. Our insurance covers some of this cost. Also our doc is really careful about rxing meds. She requires additional testing above and beyond the norm. We are lucky to be in a position right now that we can afford all of this.

In our state you need to request testing in writing--it's the law, they must do it. Then if you do not concur with their results, you can request in writing that he be tested privately-and the school district pays.

I didn't notice on the thread if you are public school and what grade. My son is classed LD, has an IEP and get tutored after school for free through the local women's club.

Don't do anything till you've had him tested. Put all your requests in writing. Go online and look at the laws for education in your state. See if your ped will put another mom of an ADHD kid in his practice in touch with you. It makes a world of difference when you can talk to another parent in this situation.

Find out what the standards are for grade level and what that means in the real world.

After you've done all this and still feel like you need to have him privately tutored, do not go through a corporation. Ask around and find someone. Sylvan and the others are businesses, they are out to make money, pure and simple.
Good luck-

 

[IDoDis]

I am a special ed teacher who has had a few students over the years go to Huntington or Sylvan which are essentially the same. Not one time had any of those students made gains in those programs.

I also had a friend who sent her son to Sylvan who did not have a learning disability and while she said he made some progress with his reading over the year, it wasn't anything he wouldn't have made just reading at school and at home. A year and $5000 later, they pulled him out of the program. He hated it, too. He said a lot of it was done on the computer with no tutor.

And yes, they do start your child out much lower than their tests will indicate. Then after a few weeks, they can say that he moved up from such-and-such level to a new level.

I used to have the mindset that any extra tutoring was better than nothing. So when parents asked for feedback on whether or not they should send their child to a learning center, I told them to go ahead. Now, I no longer do that because every single time it has been a waste of money. After 18 years, I've never ever seen one success story.

The teachers who work at these learning centers are only getting a small percentage of the money you are paying. The rest goes to pay for the building, advertising, management, etc... Why not cut out the middle-man and get a certified teacher that can work 1:1 with your child? That would be the best thing you could do. I can't imagine it costing the same or more because in a regular tutoring situation, you could get better results with 2 or 3 hours a week of tutoring time. That learning center is pushing more hours for the tutoring only so that they can make more money. You will burn your son out and it may end up making him more frustrated and hating school.

Save your money. You may convince yourself that he is making gains because you want to justify the $$ being spent, but in the end you will see little value for what you are spending. Also, if he does have a true learning disability, it is not going to be a quick fix as they make it sound.

 

[irishsharon]

Hi I just had to jump in and urge you to get the private tutor. My DS is also 8,he has ADHD and has had problems with reading and math.His tutor works in the school district and has always worked with DS teachers to be unified on what they are teaching.My DS is now reading at the same level as the other children in his class(best of all he LOVES TO READ!!!).We stared tutoring for an hour a week a year ago,we now are working on math and have great expectations that he will also be caught up by the end of the school year.We know that any more than an hour is WAY TO MUCH for our son.We tried a program called Brain Balance and spent $7000 we did not have,it did not work! I am glad I did the program because I would have always wondered and had mommy guilt that I did'nt do everything to help him.However I did not know about the DIS back then and I"m sure my fellow Dis'ers would have told me to save my money for the tutor! Good luck

 

[sl_underwood]

I havent read all the posts here but I would recommend a private tutor, rather than a service like this one. Both of my teenage daughters tutor. My oldest tutors privately and charges $10 an hour. She is a high school graduate and in her first year of college. My younger dd tutors for free at our local library. It is a volunteer program our library set up a few years ago and it is working well. I would also like to add if your child has a disability, a tutoring center is not the best choice. I have a child with disabilities and I have seen him struggle with traditional learning. We have found he learns best with hands on and movement. We have made up games to teach pretty much everything. Yesterday, we were practicing adding and subtracting with flash cards. Rather than have him just sit and answer. I taped flash cards to the side of my refrigerator and he would shoot the answer with a nerf gun. This is how he learns best. When we are working on spelling, we might be jumping rope or on the trampoline. The best tutor is going to be a person who understands your childs needs. Finish the testing, then find a person who has experience in dealing with those issues. They might be able to make tutoring a fun and exciting experience. My guess is 2 extra hours of school will just make him hate school even more.

 

[KKB]

Myself and I believe several other PPs would disagree with this statement. Teachers consistently tried to dismiss my child's problems, which unfortunately are very real. Testing showed significant problems. Teachers are not experts on all the different types of learning disabilities - not that I expect them to be - so they can often miss (or dismiss) certain issues. What a parent is seeing during homework and at other times needs to be listened to by the school, and taken as seriously as what the teacher is/isn't reporting.

But BY & LARGE, the schools ARE the best experts in this regard, particularly the special education teachers. I am NOT saying that parents aren't good judge--but they do not have many other children to compare behaviors to (much less years of many children)...and are generally not as informed. Yes the internet is a wealth of information, but just as the internet should not take the place of an MD, nor should it take the place of an educational psychologist (one who administers tests for LD, SpED, etc.) As a teacher I have seen many parents who are SURE their child is ADD...gifted...autistic...etc. and they are they are just NORMAL (there is a WIDE range of normal)
I had a neighbor with 2 boys, 5 & 2 at the time. The mother mentioned she thought the 5 year old was hyperactive & should be tested for ADD. We had spent much time together & I said NO, he was just a very normal active 5 year old boy. I didn't blame her--young boys particularly are very active & generally do not focus long. But she had few other 5 year old boys to compare to--I had seen hundreds!
YES, as parents we definitely need to be our child's first & best advocates. And it is important to be informed. But we also need to trust those that are experts in the field.
To OP...you have never shared with us why you are seeking testing at school. You mention ADD. I am curious--exactly what behaviors/observations have led you to push for the testing. I am not questioning your judgement--parental observations are an important part of the process. Just curious.
I again encourage you...see what the school testing says. Try a much less expensive private tutor that can provide one-on-one SHORTER individualized sessions.
Good luck to you & your child.

 

[fac]

But BY & LARGE, the schools ARE the best experts in this regard, particularly the special education teachers. I am NOT saying that parents aren't good judge--but they do not have many other children to compare behaviors to (much less years of many children)...and are generally not as informed. .

While there may be exception that some schools are good, but I have to disagree that the schools are the experts. After "trusting" the school for several years (again, we are in a very "good" school district), I learned about disabilities as much as possible and as fast as possible, only to find out the district/school administrators are a bunch of idiots(many of the teachers, if not all, are ignorant of the regulations and disability, but I am going to give them a pass), I found out the same when I joined the various trainings. I always caution people not to trust the school, but their instincts, don't trust the school evaluation, but evaluation from their own evaluators.

 

[hambirg]

I'm sure your ds is fine, but one characteristic of ADHD is hyperfocusing on things that interest them. Video games, spongebob - ADHD kids love these things.

I understand that, but that applies to all kids(and adults) as well. I didn't fully explain all the details, but basically he didn't have any other symptoms other than he didn't pay attention sometimes. "Sometimes" was usually circle time. . .so I observed. I clocked it. . .47 minutes sitting on a rug. Roughly 3/4 of that time was spent explaining and counting by 5s to 100. Well, my son already knew how to do that. I was not surprised that he started to tune it out, as well as about 5 other kids that were engaged in various distractive behavior. The teacher was a 1st year teacher and some of her methods were a little off for the grade she was teaching (she would assign roughly an hours worth of homework every night). My son was beginning to dislike school. She had talked to other parents as well, and they were coming to me because they knew I had taught. They were confused because the kindergarten teacher had never brought these things up. She was just finishing up her PhD. She was very good. . .I would say an expert for that grade level. She ran a fairly loose classroom and ascribed more to the Montessori type self guided learning. It was an adjustment for these kids to move into a rigidly structured room, where the teacher was unrealistically expecting perfect behavior. She hadn't done any assessments yet and was teaching to a level below where most of her students were at. I think that most of us that have ever taught know that is a recipe for disaster. Especially with 6-7 year olds!

Anyhoo. . .I am all for helping kids succeed, doing assessments early, getting to the bottom of any potential problems and developing a plan of appropriate intervention. BUT I also think it's a disservice to kids to automatically label them ADD/ADHD, when in fact, the problem may not lay with them at all. The big picture needs to be taken into account. Just as an example, my last year of teaching 4th grade, I had a boy that had some really disruptive behavior right off the bat. Early assessment reveled that he was only reading at mid 1st grade level. I pulled him aside and told him what I knew. I was going to have him go with our sped ed liaison for some help with that. I would never call on him to read aloud in class (social suicide for him), and that I thought he was a smart kid. . .one of my brightest kids in math. I suspected that he might be dyslexic and he was mildly. I also told him that doesn't give him a pass or mean he's stupid. It just means that his brain works a little bit differently and he was going to have to work harder because of it. Just knowing that I wasn't going to call on him to read aloud completely eliminated his disruptive behavior. he got the help he needed and he made some really great gains that year. But I think most importantly he didn't have to think he was stupid anymore.

I understand the PP that said some kids do much better on meds and don't do well when they are off them. I have seen that too. They really can help kids that genuinely need them. But I have also seen where they don't help and kids that are on them when they don't need to be. If your kid is falling asleep after they get their meds, than that isn't helping them learn at all. I have known teachers that push hard for students to be on meds, solely because they are behavior problems. . .they are much better behaved when the are stoned or passed out. I don't think poor classroom management is a justification to medicate kids. I also don't think it's ok to medicate kids if other things like emotional problems haven't been ruled out. Unfortunately, I have seen that quite a bit. Things like sexual abuse will mirror the symptoms of ADD. JMHO.

But back to the OP. . .you need to be patient and really find out if your child is ADD/ADHD/LD. Whether you go through the school or have them tested by an outside expert, you need to find out what you are really dealing with before an appropriate plan of intervention can be determined. It's like spending thousands of dollars to treat your child for ulcers, only to find out they are lactose intolerant. It might make you feel better that you are doing something, but in the end you wasted a lot of money and have done nothing to help your child. Really think about that! Do you want to help your child, or just make yourself feel better? You have gotten lots of good advice here, from all sides of the spectrum, people that have worked with literally hundreds of kids over the course of their careers and parents that have gone through this on an individual level. They all have given important things to be considered. And I think in the end, have said pretty much the same thing. You need to have your child tested by experts, find out what the problem is and then decide what is the best course of action.

 

[palavra]

While there may be exception that some schools are good, but I have to disagree that the schools are the experts. After "trusting" the school for several years (again, we are in a very "good" school district), I learned about disabilities as much as possible and as fast as possible, only to find out the district/school administrators are a bunch of idiots(many of the teachers, if not all, are ignorant of the regulations and disability, but I am going to give them a pass), I found out the same when I joined the various trainings. I always caution people not to trust the school, but their instincts, don't trust the school evaluation, but evaluation from their own evaluators.

Of course classroom teachers and adminitrators are not equipped to evaluate or even suggest a disability by name.We aren't trained doctors. I am a teacher, and our adminstrators have expressly forbidden us to tell any parents that we think their child might have a disorder or learning disability. We can suggest testing if the parents bring it up. You are your child's first advocate because you know him or her best.

 

[sookie]

It is my understanding that if the child is diagnosed with adhd, then they have to do the other educational testing to rule out learning disabilities if you ask. In addition, they have to provide the additional help if testing shows that the child needs it. GEt him on a 504 plan.