a_mothers_story

Here is the thing I am told, as long as we can read what your child writes and we can figure it out it will not be counted as wrong???What is that?  My seven year old wrote " I yousto pack my lunch"  and was not corrected for this she had a big smiley face saying good job???  She had one correction on that paper and it was for not making a capital letter at the beginning of one sentence.  She had two other words that should have been capitalized.
 

A MOTHERS STORY OF HER STRUGGLE TO HAVE HER CHILD EDUCATED

Having a child came very hard for me but when it finally happened, after three years of fertility treatments I was the happiest I had ever been. After a few years her father, my husband who is afflicted with both diabetes and epilepsy started to have such high and lows his temper would be out of control that we had to divorce. Giavonna, my daughter was only 1 ½ when we first separated. Through the following years Gia seemed to be a happy child although we had some difficult years.

She started kindergarten and I was told she was more then ready for first grade; she was one of the youngest and one of two of the smartest in her class. So that is what I did, I put her in the Stow schools first grade. After a month or two I had a teachers conference, the teacher asked me if she was ever tested for reading. I said no, so she suggested I sign papers to have that done, she saw that Giavonna was having trouble. Her test came back that she qualified for Title One; this is a reading program to help students. Unfortunately the schools do not have the money to pay for substitutes and her teacher had a problem pregnancy from what I was told so she only spent 5 – 8 days in classes for the whole first grade year.

By second grade I was becoming more and more concerned about her ability to read, I watched her cousin that is 3 months older then her go through Gia's books without any problems at all and gia could barely make it through the first sentence. I asked for another conference, Gia had the same teacher as first grade. This was when Fishcreek started a combination class for the 1^st and 2^nd graders. Her teacher told me that Gia was doing fine and she tested too high for the Title One program for her second grade year. I told her that was impossible, that I have read to her every night since she was 6 weeks old and I knew what my daughter could and couldn’t do by this time. Her teacher said she was sorry but she had at least 8 other students that were worse then my daughter!! I could not believe she said that in the first place, just because they were worse did not mean my daughter did not deserve the help. So I paid a tutor to come to my home to help my daughter, this tutor actually started the Title One program for the stow schools, Mrs. Karen M. I explained that I was getting Gia tutored and she needed an MFE TEST, I learned about this through her tutor. Again the teacher told me that she was scoring high on tests and she even got up in front of the class to read to the other students. By this time I thought I really must be crazy, but I insisted she be tested. Gia continued to be tutored 2 – 3 days a week. When I told the tutor what the teacher kept telling me the tutored said it was impossible for Gia to do the things the teacher was describing and asked if I had questioned Gia about her school work and how things were done, I had not. So one night I sat down with Gia and started to ask the questions every mother should ask but most do not know that they should.

I asked Gia about reading in front of the class, she said that she did, again I was floored. I could not believe she could do this but not be able to read at home. I thought, this teacher must really think I am nuts. Again, I told the tutor what Gia had told me, the tutor again said that it was impossible that I should question Gia specifically, how, when, who that sort of thing. So that night I sat down with Gia again. I asked her “do you know when I asked you before about reading in front of the class” she said “yes” I said “could you tell mom how you do this”, she became very agitated, nervous, I am not sure how to describe her behavior but she looked like she didn’t want to get into trouble. I told her that it was no big deal that I was just curious about how she ran her reading class, like how does she pick who gets to read that day. After explaining this she was all excited about educating her mom about her class. She explained that the teacher will pick a child to come up and read then another day pick another child. I asked who picks out the books, she answered that the kids do, they had a special place to pick from. I asked Gia... what happens or how does she pick the students, like how did she pick you. She answered that she calls my name then I go up and she gets another student to come up and whisper the words in her ear because she doesn’t know the words!!!! I was so shocked but did not let her know this, I said then what happens if the other student doesn’t know the words, she said the teacher sits in back of us and she helps us. I did not know what to do at this point, I realized it wasn’t me but it was the teacher lying to me about how my child was doing and I could not understand why. I went on to question her on the other things her teacher had told me, but she really did not want to answer she started feeling like she would be getting her teacher in trouble. You see she loved her teacher and never wanted to feel as if she would do or say anything that would get her upset with her. 

I let some time pass before I thought to question her anymore and just tried to figure out what to do next. I knew her MFE test should be about done and at least this would show what I already knew. 

Gia came home from school crying one day and when I asked her what was wrong she just ran to her room to cry. She said she was dumb that she couldn’t read and she wanted to kill herself!! This coming from a 6-7 year old. I was heartbroken. When she calmed down I told her it couldn’t be that bad lets just talk about it. She went on to tell me that during her test that day she knows she got an F on it, I asked why? She explained that when MANDY'S mom read her the test she couldn’t understand her! So she could not answer correctly. I asked her why MANDY'S mom was reading her the test, she explained that the teacher always has a teachers helper take her and 2 more students out in the hall when tests were given to read the test to them. Again, I was shocked and furious, because the school kept telling me she was fine and right where she should be. I discussed all this with the tutor and I could see the disbelief in her eyes as I told her what they were putting Gia through. 

I received news that the test results were in and that we could meet to discuss the results, I asked Karen M., the tutor, to come with me, I did not tell the school I was bringing anyone with me. When we walked in, the teacher, the school psychologist, the principal and the reading teacher were there. We were told that Gia’s test results showed that she did not qualify for any help that she basically was where she should be for her age. The tutor could not believe her ears; she had been working so close with Gia and knew that Gia had difficulty in learning. I was shocked, I asked what does that mean for her age, are you telling me that she is at second, third grade level? They said that they did not look at as grade levels but as age levels and for her age she was doing fine. When I looked at her teacher I could not believe it, know one was there for Gia, and know one wanted to help her, why were they lying??? I then looked at all of them and told them that I know my daughter and she is depressed she even wants to end her life because she feels so different then the rest of the kids. Her self esteem had just gotten worse and worse. She had always wanted to read, the only thing she ever was interested in were books, not dolls, not games, just books. I think it is because I love to read and had always read to her.   The principal’s reply was “how does she know she can’t read, because you told her she can’t”!!!!!!!!!!!!  Both Karen M. and I were flabbergasted. I wished I could have stood up and knocked this guy out at this time, but calmly I looked at him and said no, she knows this because when she tries to read me cards or books a child that is 2 years younger can read but instead that other child has to help Gia. This is why she knows or because kids on the bus would tease her by giving her a card to read and then taking it back laughing ”Oh I forgot you don’t know how to read”!   These kids knew this not by her telling them but from her teacher bringing up kids to whisper words in her ear because she could not read them or because she was taken out of class to have her tests read to her and along them telling me she is fine or is right where she should be.

I did not know the questions to ask pertaining to the test results but the tutor did, she was amazed at their answers or lack of. When she asked for the test results that showed Gia had no educational issues, they responded that they did not have them but would get them to us! Karen was dumbfounded, they would not produce the test for us to see, because their copier was broke……….. They finally said the meeting was over they had other people coming in. I felt like crying I still had not helped my daughter, but I did now have a witness to all that had been happening.

On the way out the tutor told me that she had told a friend of hers about Gia and although she liked us a lot she could not believe the school would be doing the things I was telling her, that she thought I had to be exaggerating. But now, after she saw for herself, she thinks that not only was I not exaggerating but I was underplaying it. She has been to a lot of these meetings and never had she seen anything like this one. She said if you were paying for this education you better get your money back. Gia was just cheated out of two years of her most needed education, the fundamentals!

 I had then decided to take her to Sylvan as well as the tutoring. Then just sylvan for a while, I was a single Mom and money was getting very tight. I thought that Sylvan works together with the schools that maybe they could help me. After testing Gia and working with her for several months, they found that all they had taught her was gone, that she retained nothing, they gave me my money back and they said that if they did not allow me to hold her back that it would be a catastrophic to her learning potential, she would not be able to recover because she still did not have the fundamentals. To think about starting the third grade under these circumstances is ludicrous. They told me they would call the school and talk with them that usually the schools will listen to them. However it did not do any good, they said they had a no retention policy and would not hold her back and her MFE showed she was ok even though sylvan and her tutor had completely different results. 

 I tried the school board, and was told that it wasn’t true they did not have a “written no retention policy” but they would not hold Gia back, her test results were not bad. So, I asked d for her to be retested by an outside service. I was told that if held her back it would be worse for her that by the time she was in forth grade and she took the proficiency test it would flunk her anyway then she would be held back twice. Again I was shocked, I replied “so you don’t think she can get the education she needs between now and then to be able to pass the proficiency test”?

I then asked for a new meeting with the New Principal. Gia’s new third grade teacher wrote a letter for me describing Gia and his thoughts of what was happening in class. Her teacher agreed with me!!! Her teacher agreed with me!!! He was the first of two teachers that ever helped us. He said that Gia really confused him, that one minute she would understand something then she would go to lunch come back and would act as if she had never heard the information before. He said she always paid attention and sat in the front of the class. She was a great student in that way, she just could not comprehend anything she read, nor heard for that matter. So, again I had hope that this teacher would help me, you see he was brand new and seemed to really be there for the kids, not so much for the politics. This meeting consisted on teachers from every grade level and the principal. Plus her teacher from her 1^st and 2^nd grade was there, Mrs. M.. Mrs. M.went on to describe how Gia was in her 2^nd grade class, how Gia would read in front of the class. This is when I thanked Mrs. M., in front of all the others………. I thanked her for not making Gia feel uncomfortable about not being able to read by asking another child to come up and whisper the words in her ear………..well, of course she had no response other than to look at me and smile embarrassingly. This was when the Principal whispered in my ear to have her tested by Dr. Timmons, which was the leading pediatric Neurologist at Children’s Hospital. She told me it was the only way I was going to get help for her in this school system. Since I was getting no where with the school this is what I did. I had her tested by the Akron Children’s Hospital, which took 3 days to complete, and they came up with definite results that Gia did have a learning disability as well as 30 seizures an hour. I then learned that the whole time the school was telling me she did not have issues or did not qualify, they had similar results as Dr. Timmons, and they just read them differently. I had teachers and other professionals who administered Gia the tests in the school come up to me in a whisper, (one was the speech pathologist) telling me that if Gia had these results in her past position she would be able to more then qualify for special services. With Gia’s new results read by Dr. Timmons, and my explaining to the Doctor what we have had to deal with in the school system, Dr. Timmons wrote a letter specifying exact instructions on Gia’s condition and what she needed to help her to learn. He then told me if the school continued to respond the way they had been then contact Nessa  an Attorney that works in the Students best interests not the Schools. Hiring Nessa is what I did regardless of what it would do to me financially.

Gia then was able to have an IEP; Nessa  helped us by representing us. The school teachers, principals were always worried about their jobs……..This was said out loud and in front of Nessa and myself. I found this so upsetting, obviously schools are not as concerned about helping the kids as they are to be sure they don’t cross any lines the Board of Education has set for them.

By the forth grade Gia found a teacher that was the most helpful to her, she was even a tutor in my home for a summer to help Gia get back on track, which the school paid for. You see, Gia was reading at kindergarten level going into the 4^th grade. Her teacher brought her up 2 full grade levels in just 6 months. This was by teaching her the way the Doctor and she herself could see Gia needed. Her teacher Miss. Murdock thought Gia was very intelligent, just was not given the opportunity to learn. She started Gia on the Wilson reading Program, and Gia was finally starting to think of herself in a better light. Miss Murdock even gave her a journal to write her thoughts in…..written... wow Gia was finally getting more confidence learning to write and spell. This teacher was the best teacher I have ever truly met that was there for the children.  A great teacher!
Then came the 5^th grade, by the way 4^th grade came and went and they did not hold her back as promised back going into the 3^rd grade.

It became an even greater concern for me to be sure Gia stayed on track the way she was learning. But the School did not offer the same reading program they started her on in the 4^th grade, it was a new program which she taught herself by computer, needless to say she went backwards instead of the rapid progress she was making. She became the child that helped the kids that had very low IQ’s, or had behavioral problems, since she could not work on her own studies she helped them. I had no more money to hire the Attorney again. Through out 5^th and 6^th grade I received the same as I did back 1^st through 3^rd grade. She kept declining. I kept asking her teacher to help her, that I could see her decline.  At first the teacher took offensive to my constantly telling her that Gia was declining, that the program, as I was promised goin into the 5th grade would be the same or so similar that it woul dnot make any difference if it was not hte exact same kind that she had been doing with Ms. Murdock.  When in fact it was completely different, she had no interaction with the teacher, no confidance boosts, just sit at your computer and do the program.  Gia would  come home and tell me that the program started her at kindergarden level again, she was getting b is for ball, c is for cat in the 5th grade?  The teacher seemed very overwelmed with the amount of students she had and the many different social, mental and learning problems in one class she had to deal with.  She went as far as losing her temper and throwing a chair across the room!  Unfortunately she had the same teacher the following year, 5 and 6th grades were together then 7th and 8th then the highschool 9th through 12th.  I went complaining yet again and demanded help, Mrs. Mahoning, not sure of the spelling, had mellowed a bit and stopped seeing me as an obnoxious parent but a parent that was trying to get help for her child.  When she let me explain what had been happening to Gia from 1st through 4th and then 5th she started to see what I was talking about and why I was so persistant.  She then exlained that she does not have many tools to work with for the kids, and she needed much more than she had.  She told me the system set up for the LD kids was just plain awful and she would do what she could to help me to get Gia back on track.  She called the school head of LD, Bobbie, and explained to Bobbie that I was extrememly upset that Gia was not getting what she was promised and her IEP was not being followed.  Bobbie said to just give me what ever I want, she was also tired of me begging for help.  This helped some Gia waqs able to get extra help and Ms. Mahonign was then able to give Gia the extra help that she needed, but she had already lost all of 5th grade and over half of 6th by the time I did get help. Then coming into the 7^th grade,  I learn that the principal is no other than Mr. Martucci!  I was so scared and knew this was going to be yet another year to fight.  I had the usual IEP meeting and was told not to worry that Gia woul definitly get the help that she needed, after all the school was rated Excellance in education.  However, I started seeing that Gia was struggling so much not only with her school but also with being a 7th grader and all that goes with that terrible age.  She was supposed to get a calculator for her math,  Dr. Timmons said she could retain history, like long informational things but the memorizing of math facts, dates etc would be almost impossible for her given her diagonosis.  He said that we all use calculators any way and it would be a good time to teach her how to use one and she should have one in school, so taht was written in her IEP, but they refused to let her use it, her math teacher said she did not believe in calculators that students needed to learn the way she taught, regardless of what her IEP stated.  Well of course I was livid, I called BObbie yet again and explained that her IEP was not being followed yet again, she remarked"that's impossible, it is against the law"  I said I don't care if it is against the law or not that they refused and what were they, the school board going to do?  she said again that it was impossible that I must have misunderstood, in fact she was sure that I misunderstood.  I then called for a meeting, or it may have been a regualr scheduled meeting. The meeting was as always, they would make sure Gia woul d be able to use a calculator.  



 

7^th and 8^th grade was no easier, with more calls into the Board for them not following the IEP, and more responses that they have to follow it, then dismiss me…. just became criminal.

Gia needed to see her neurologist at least once every three months, this is when I explained to him what the school was now saying... I was told that Gia’s IQ was in the low to mid 80’s and to understand she would never go to college but they could be sure to make her as much as she can be with that IQ level.

His reply again was just disbelief that the school was still doing this to this child……he said he tested Gia and her IQ level was 108 not 85, the school was making up reasons why she was not learning anymore. He also said that you are what you are born with, your IQ does not change unless you have had a serious car accident or similar. This is when I realized they were not following her IEP, I reported to Bobbie head of LD and was told that was impossible that they had to………..well they didn’t. Her math dropped down her comprehension her reading and writing and most of all her ability to spell correctly was gone. You see they stop correcting spelling mostly after the 3^rd grade, they say as long as we can figure out what it says then it is alright, if it is phonetically ok then leave it alone…WAT?  ( which is the correct way to spell( what )in this school)

Then came High School, every year I am promised that my child will learn according to her IEP, and every year I trust in the new people I meet with that this will happen this time. I went to meet with Gia’s teachers when she was entering the High School. I first met with her English teacher and her LD teacher for that class. The first question I asked of them was “will there be any one checking the student’s grammar, spelling ect.” since it was English class I assumed that would be the case. However, the LD teacher stated emphatically no. However, the other teacher that would be teaching in the class talked with me outside of the room and said that she indeed did check and corrected spelling and grammar that being an English teacher she did not agree with allowing papers with grammatical errors and spelling errors to take place in her class. But that did not last very long, starting in the 10^th grade I met with another one of Gia’s teachers, they were very unhappy with what they now had to teach verses what they should be teaching. A few parents were told during this conference that the students soon had to learn what was only on the statewide test; they could no longer learn the basics of what is needed to get by in the world they had to teach only what was on the test. I understood this is for the schools and their ranking? Regardless of this I still hoped that because of Gia’s IEP she would get the help she needed.

10^th 11^th grade; Gia desperately wanted to be a Chef, she went on the tour and I was expecting her to be able to start in her Junior year, and when she was not accepted I asked why. The response I got was she did not go on the tour. However Gia did go on the tour but no one knew about it. I was told this is because Gia must not have turned in a permission slip, if this was the case how did she go on the tour? Gia then became very disheartened in 11^th grade and the beginning of her Senior year, as Miss Murdock had predicted. I am not saying my daughter is perfect and did not make her own mistakes throughout her school years. She has matured this year and has been trying very hard regardless of her limitations. She is now getting tutoring, which she loves, go figure. That is something that shows me she is getting back on track again to try and learn what she can with what she is given.  Is it going to be too late for her? Gia reads to her 7 year old sister at night, I ask Gia to read 3 books to her. My thoughts were to help Gia to get the basics she missed, but tell Gia that it is to help Jordan. Gia does a great job until she gets stuck on a word and her sister has to help her, she then stops reading to her sister because of the embarrassment.

 Gia would like to be accepted for Social Graduation and either Child Care, Culinary or anything to do with medical. I think it is Medical Tech. I am not sure what this is and hope to get more information on Feb. 18, 2010 at the Open house. This is something that Ms. P. had given us information on and did tell us not to miss the deadline. I am hoping I will be able to fill out all of the paper work at the time of Open House.

This story is NOT OVER and will be a continuation.............I will be back to write more of our struggle, and hopefully our accomplishment.

Poll #1529240 SPELLING IN SCHOOLS
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 1

DO YOU THINK IT IS IMPORTANT TO SPELL CORRECTLY IN ALL GRADES/CLASSES?

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OR..Is it alright to incorrectly spell any and all words as long as the teacher can figure out what it says and they should learn themselves later?

1 (100.0%)