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Special Needs
Should a kid with an IEP have accommodations for HW as well?
Here is my thought- my kid's HW is freaking crazy! Poor kid is 8 and has an hour and 20 minutes a night of HW, every night. An hour twenty is for NT kids, for my DS, who has ADHD some other stuff going on (LD), it often takes 2 if not 3 hours. It's completely making our life miserable- just clawing our way through it with him on a nightly basis. Shouldn't he have some accommodations for HW expectations as well?
I'm to the point where I want to tell the teacher, "what is the most important thing you think he should do?- we'll spend a half hour every night- but that's it. We have board games to play....
To boot, he's had two nights this week where he just ends up really sad at the end of the day. I'm sure how tired he is contributes, but he gets depressed and says he's failing school, and he won't be able to get into a good college, and starts crying. It's so sad. I feel bad about him having anxiety about getting into college when he's only 8- yes, I've talked about it, but casually, I thought, like "after junior high you go to high school, and that is where your grades really matter, because if you want to go to a good college, they look at what grades you got in school.."
now I feel like he's all hung up on if he's going to get into college or not and not just being an 8-year-old.
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Re: Should a kid with an IEP have accommodations for HW as well?
Disclaimer: I teach 9th grade and not 3rd. I also don't have a kid in elementary school. That said, with my students on IEPs I will reduce the homework if I feel it warrants it.
Because high school grades count, I do see students whose grades improve in high school, but most continue their old habits. I believe that good habits are established in elementary school and continued through junior high. Also, they have to learn the material in grade school and junior high to be successful in future grades... but learning the material and grades are 2 different things IMO.
Anyway, I would express my concerns, nicely, with the teacher and his intervention specialist. I would explain that it is taking him upwards of 2-3 hours each night, and you're concerned he's getting overly stressed out because of it. You don't know what is typical 8 year old behavior vs. LD kid. GL.
Disclaimer: I'm not American, rather Eastern European, and I can't stand the way of K-12 education here in the States. I love college education here, though - and view it as superior in most instances. The way of teaching young kids, though - is all wrong IMO.
I admit that the amount of class instruction without a break as well as the amount of homework makes me angry and I see no point in it. I should also mention that I graduated with honors from a U.S. college, so education IS important to me, however not like this. It makes no sense to me. More quantity doesn't mean more quality.
My DS is in first grade here in California and so is my niece who lives in Europe. She has no hw in first grade at all, instruction is 4 hrs a day, in 40 min blocks, then 10 min recess each time, with the second recess being 20 minutes. DS has 6.5 hours of instruction, one 20 minute recess and one 1hr lunch, which is given after 4 hours of a.m. instruction. That is all. When I volunteer in DS class and it's hour two of instruction time on the rug, all the kids are looking into the floor or out the window. What is the freaking point? DS hw is bearable now, and he actually doesn't have a problem with it most days, as it only takes him about 10 minutes. But, I hear that is going to change quickly in the next coming years. I am prepared to act, once I see that it's not making sense in terms of time vs. attention span, though.
In your case, I'd say condense your child's hw with his teacher's input (preferably). Be honest - say this is NOT doing anyone any good, only harm. Do half hour to 45 min tops, with a couple of breaks. If the teacher gives you push back, be firm that that's all your child (and you) can handle each night. Period. I would also advocate for the condensed version during your IEP meeting. 3 hours of struggling each night is torture for a small 8 year old kid.
I don't ever remeber doing three hours of studying until my high school years when I was cramming for an important mid-term. NOT on a nightly basis, though.
Good luck!
I agree with what Auntie said. L is dyslexic (among other things), and as soon as his homework started to take on epic proportions, I got in touch with his teacher and the LD coordinator. We discussed what they expected vs what was happening and decided the goal wasn't to frustrate and alienate him from schoolwork. They modified his IPP (same as IEP) and it was the start of having things move smoothly for him.
He's now in grade 8 and his reading ability is now just below grade level instead of not even on the chart (in grade 4 he still tested pre-k). He has two classes modified, and does homework club at lunch, and his take home homework is less than an hour.
And as to what Auntie said about pushing acedemics, if your ds is having difficulty now, I wouldn't even discuss post secondary. Right now he just wants to not struggle, not worry about beyond grade 12. We've encouraged L to his strengths, and I am okay that they aren't acedemic (even though I was). I prefer that he's happy and enjoys what he does. Right now, it's cooking (he kicks my butt), comedy, and graphic arts.
I teach early elementary so I have seen this before. If he has 1 hour 20 minutes per night that is pure busy work in my eyes. I taught 2nd his year(before maternity leave) and for my students with IEP's I gave them 1 page of math and some reading every other night. I think you should meet with the teacher and express your concerns. I think that is crazy and something needs to be done. My DH teaches middle school and they give less home work to kids with IEP's as well.
HTH
I teach 2nd grade and that sounds like an excessive amount of time spent on homework. My students receive a spelling assignment each week on Monday and have until Friday to submit it (so it can be broken up into smaller segments). The district also mandates 10+ minutes of reading on an independent level for fluency practice. They will also receive a sheet of math 2-3 times a week, generally a skill that has been studied extensively or basic fact practice.
I will assign some of the next week's work, the spelling in particular, to some students on Friday, allowing them to work on it/study their words over the weekend also. It gives them a few extra days and it seems to take the strain out of the workload for some students. Maybe that could help?
To the parent whose child sits through 4+ hrs of instruction w/o a break, OMG. I can't imagine anything is being accomplished. Not all US elementary classes run like that, however. While my students don't have an "official" break until 11:15 (starting from 8:35), we take many unofficial breaks throughout the day. Sometimes just transitioning from sitting on the floor to sitting on their desks can refocus the children. It doesn't hurt to also have a game of Freeze Dance to get the wiggles out too!
I've heard of high school teachers using this method and it works wonders! I wish my kids teacher would let them sit ON their desks!!!!!