tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-387198109362446022.post808002873737009814..comments2010-11-05T17:15:41.694-06:00Comments on Life After Our Ukrainian Adventure: Halloween and School BluesTerry, Tara and Emmahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12353237563847027676noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-387198109362446022.post-76619313808526694922009-11-05T06:58:04.114-07:002009-11-05T06:58:04.114-07:00OOOOhhhhhh! We've so been there and done that...OOOOhhhhhh! We've so been there and done that. It is incredibly frustrating. Unfortunately, if we as parents don't advocate for our kids, no one else will and they just get lost in the systme. <br /><br />So what DO you have to do to get her some extra help at school? If say, you were somehow able to get a "label" for her of something like Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) or Alchol Related Neurodevelopmental Delays (ARND), or perhaps some other private sector obtained learning or developmental diagnosis, would she qualify for services then? Here in the USA, special needs kids can also qualify for tuition waivers or scholarships for private schools where they may better be able to meet her needs. Is there anything like that in Canada? What about private tutoring for her?<br /><br />One thing I would do is find out how long the school expects kids to work on homework each night and then spend ONLY that amount of time working on it. If you only get one problem done, send it back that way with a note attached that this one problem took her the specified amount of time to complete and what you had to do to help her with it. Do this every single day. If what she does get done still isn't correct, oh well. Send it back that way anyway. What they're seeing now is that she can do this stuff. What they aren't getting is how long it's taking her and you to do it. This is what we had to do in order to get the school to listen to us on the homework issues.<br /><br />Another great learning resource we've found is time4learning.com. It's pretty much a home based curriculum done on the computer. The kids love the games, you can repeat them as many times as you need to, and you can start them at any level, too. I started my son at a pre-k level when we first started it. He struggled through those, and then through the K level, and is now working on 1st grade, even though he's in 3rd grade at school.<br /><br />Also, if you haven't already done so, I would definately have her screened for ADD. Unfortunatley, this is a pretty common component of unseen prenatal alchohol exposure. :-( Prior to treatment (yes, stimulant meds) Joseph COULD NOT complete even the simplest of tasks. He COULD NOT follow even simple two-step commands. Oh, my word...having him empty the dishwasher was like torture. He couldn't stay focused long enough to remember where anything goes in the kitchen...which meant everything was put in the wrong place. It was extremely frustrating. Getting treatment for ADD has made a world of difference for my Joseph. He can now stay focuesed on a task long enough to start to understand and grasp it. There are still some struggles and it still takes a few repeptitions, but at least we're moving forward and most of the concepts are sticking. We've seen huge improvements in both math and reading. Yeah!Dianahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08444891084585965661noreply@blogger.com