Posted on 06/08/2004 11:29:20 AM PDT by Dan Evans
They don't necessarily have to suggest ritalin. All they have to do is report that a child is unmanageble or give a list of behaviors that could be associated with ADD or even of parental neglect, and wa-laa, you've got a family services investigation opened and the rest is pretty predictable.
Their first obligation would be "least restrictive environment." Which includes a whole range of options. Medication certainly would be cheaper for a school district, but not necessarily in the best interest of the child. Medication is a tool, not the cureall. Medication would be of no use in the wrong environment. AND, medication may well be unnecessary in the right environment. This dad has a serious case against alot of agencies.
Follow the money. You've got that right. I guess there are many in our government dedicated to creating a peaceful, sheep-like population. The public schools I fear, will never improve, but continue to sink lower and lower.
Here's how you jump that hurdle. Buy the book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for her. About $20 on Amazon.
My wife taught our three year old son to read in less than two months with this book. Once I saw my little boy reading, I lost all doubts as to whether my wife was "qualified" to teach him.
Contrary to all the education industry propoganda, teaching a child is not brain surgery. With the right curriculum and experienced advice (homeschool support groups are all over the place) your daughter will be perfectly capable of teaching your grandson.
If she wants to, that is.
If your daughter has any questions, she can call on any of us for support. I'm going to add a ping to the organizer of a homeschool ping list. If you'd like to join her list, please let M'Lady know.
"Buy the book, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for her. About $20 on Amazon."
I just went to Amazon and the above book is winging on its way to her as I type! Thank you for the recommendation. I appreciate your help.
Thank you for the words of encouragement, I will pass your wisdom on to my daughter.
Beth
Which is why more public schools are using psychologists to diagnose more kiddos as special needs lately...seems like almost everyone has a special need of some sort.
I don't know if anyone has suggested it but HSLDA.org is a necessary site to peruse. Home School Legal Defense Association. Click on the state your daughter resides and check out the requirements, etc.
Another site you can't live without, imho, is:
www.elijahco.com
There are many articles to read, tapes to listen to, homeschool counseling available; as well as curriculum suggestions.
There are literally thousands of sites and curriculum choices available to homeschoolers.
Many, perhaps most, parents consider themselves ill-equiped to teach their own children. That is a myth. HSLDA has facts/figures on just this subject. Parent educators are not harming their children or hindering their education. Quite the opposite is true.
Blessings to you as you complete your own research and encourage your daughter to homeschool. Feel free to freepmail me.
Mrs. Tiggywinkle <><
Thank you for *your* ping to this thread. :o)
There is a limit. IIRC, the school will only be paid for up to 30% of the school population. Also, it is often said (I have never been able to confirm) that the feds don't pay all they've promised to pay, so that special ed, in general, is underfunded.
I couldn't get an OT for my oldest whose writing skills are terrible (after spending YEARS myself working on his fine motor skills). But my younger son, who had a minor stutter for several months, is in line to be set up for speech therapy. The stutter disappeared as quickly as it appeared.
I had him reassessed, as it completely disappeared at home. The therapist insisted it was present and VERY frequent. She says she tape recorded him and his tone was so "denasal" that she couldn't transcribe the tape! Although he does often sound stuffy to me (to be checked at his next check up at the end of the month), he is absolutely, without exception, understandable.
There are certainly cases of true special needs in the public school system and those needs should of course be funded in full. Far too often though...the special needs include those on Ritalin, which is a *huge* portion of the student body these days and in most cases, unnecessary.
Is there any law for teachers/schools illegally practicing medicine w/out a license?
Thank you mrs tiggywinkle for the interesting and informative websites. I didn't homeschool my own children and wish now that I had, even if schools weren't quite as awful as they are now. It wasn't until I worked as a school secretary, that I saw first hand, what goes on in our public schools. I was horrified and still am, by the things I saw and heard. That is why, I so badly want my daughter to keep my two grandsons out of the hands of public schools. Thank you again for you kindness. You have given me hope and I'm going to pass that on to my daughter.
Beth
I'm thinking about teaching my almost 4 year old grandson to read if it's okay with his parents. He's incredibly curious already, wants to know about insects and spiders and uses complex phrases. </proud grandmother stuff.>
LadyShallott, please add MontanaBeth to your homeschool ping list, if you don't mind. She's a grandmother interested in learning more. Very nice, our kind of Freeper.
I agree. I forgot to make my point (LOL!). I suspect they "generate" enough cases to get them close to maximum funds. If you have a problem but come too late, they'll find every excuse to deny services because it costs them.
Of course, if we get rid of government schools then all of these problems go away.
Your welcome and best wishes for this project.
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