Third Grade Teachers Chatboard

Georgia On 9/06/15, Jen wrote: > Hi. I have an 8 year old boy I adopted when he was six. > He is socially behind. He had no exposure to reading or > anything good before us. He has worked VERY hard and > come a long way. (He even had to be taught how to use > the stairs properly at school) But he is struggling badly. > The school says tha...See MoreOn 9/06/15, Jen wrote: > Hi. I have an 8 year old boy I adopted when he was six. > He is socially behind. He had no exposure to reading or > anything good before us. He has worked VERY hard and > come a long way. (He even had to be taught how to use > the stairs properly at school) But he is struggling badly. > The school says that he will eventually catch up. Last > year at the end of second grade, they said he is showing > signs of improvement so they don't want to hold him > back. He is at about a first grade reading level. He also > never made it to subtraction in his math. They are now > diving into multiplication and division. He can't read the > word problems. He takes a lot of pride in learning and > genuinely want to. I got the call that he needs to be taken > to the doc to discuss ADD. Last thursday he was to be > doing independent work, and it was a division sheet. He > then laid his head in his desk and did not do any work the > rest of the day. He got a bad mark for the day. > (Understandable) And he says that he is frustrated > because he can't read the questions and they don't make > sense. He has cried and had major anxiety meltdowns. I > really think his adjustment with us has been too much and > he could benefit greatly from repeating 2nd grade and > gaining confidence while getting reading under his belt. > Any advice? I have an opportunity to look into > transferring him to a private school and seeing if he can > test into 2nd grade. And the class size is about ten to > one there. I feel like time is vital. The school thinks > holding him back is a bad idea. And he will probably just > struggle always. But his circumstances are unique with is > adoption during first and second grade. Help???

Jen, I taught both second and third grades for many years, so I've seen both ages and grades of students. A lot of parents are opposed to holding a child back because they fear the negative reaction of the child's peers when they realize their former classmate was held back. (The "old" class forgets after seeing them on the first day of school. It's no big deal to them.) If he's in a class in which he constantly struggles and needs lots of remediation or pull- outs he will really feel bad about himself. Your son's case is unique in that he already senses failure because he can't do what he knows he should be doing. If he were mine, I'd want him to feel good about himself and his abilities by letting him repeat second grade. He has so much more to learn than his classmates do! Let him see what success feels like at school, church, on the playground, and with friends. I admire you for what you're doing with this young one. Remember, some lessons can best be learned in the younger grades, like how to behave socially. Adding social studies and science grades to math and reading will definitely put him in overload! Not to mention the standardized testing in spring, if your state does that.

Aug 30, 2016

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K Georgia, your advice was right on target! Well said!

To the OP, how are things going by now? What decisions did you make?

On 8/30/16, Georgia wrote: > On 9/06/15, Jen wrote: >> Hi. I have an 8 year old boy I adopted when he was six. >> He is socially behind. He had no exposure to reading or >> anything good be...See MoreGeorgia, your advice was right on target! Well said!

To the OP, how are things going by now? What decisions did you make?

On 8/30/16, Georgia wrote: > On 9/06/15, Jen wrote: >> Hi. I have an 8 year old boy I adopted when he was six. >> He is socially behind. He had no exposure to reading or >> anything good before us. He has worked VERY hard and >> come a long way. (He even had to be taught how to use >> the stairs properly at school) But he is struggling badly. >> The school says that he will eventually catch up. Last >> year at the end of second grade, they said he is showing >> signs of improvement so they don't want to hold him >> back. He is at about a first grade reading level. He also >> never made it to subtraction in his math. They are now >> diving into multiplication and division. He can't read the >> word problems. He takes a lot of pride in learning and >> genuinely want to. I got the call that he needs to be taken >> to the doc to discuss ADD. Last thursday he was to be >> doing independent work, and it was a division sheet. He >> then laid his head in his desk and did not do any work > the >> rest of the day. He got a bad mark for the day. >> (Understandable) And he says that he is frustrated >> because he can't read the questions and they don't make >> sense. He has cried and had major anxiety meltdowns. I >> really think his adjustment with us has been too much > and >> he could benefit greatly from repeating 2nd grade and >> gaining confidence while getting reading under his belt. >> Any advice? I have an opportunity to look into >> transferring him to a private school and seeing if he can >> test into 2nd grade. And the class size is about ten to >> one there. I feel like time is vital. The school thinks >> holding him back is a bad idea. And he will probably just >> struggle always. But his circumstances are unique with is >> adoption during first and second grade. Help??? > > Jen, I taught both second and third grades for many years, > so I've seen both ages and grades of students. A lot of > parents are opposed to holding a child back because they > fear the negative reaction of the child's peers when they > realize their former classmate was held back. (The "old" > class forgets after seeing them on the first day of school. > It's no big deal to them.) If he's in a class in which he > constantly struggles and needs lots of remediation or pull- > outs he will really feel bad about himself. Your son's case > is unique in that he already senses failure because he > can't do what he knows he should be doing. If he were > mine, I'd want him to feel good about himself and his > abilities by letting him repeat second grade. He has so > much more to learn than his classmates do! Let him see > what success feels like at school, church, on the > playground, and with friends. > I admire you for what you're doing with this young one. > Remember, some lessons can best be learned in the > younger grades, like how to behave socially. Adding social > studies and science grades to math and reading will > definitely put him in overload! Not to mention the > standardized testing in spring, if your state does that.

Oct 30, 2016

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