Guest guest Posted August 10, 2001 Report Share Posted August 10, 2001 Osborne writes... <snip> I have taught her many sight words already. She spent 2 years in Kindergarten but since January has been at home. I am now thinking perhaps the special school is better than no school. However, if I do put her there I will be actively involved in what they are teaching her. I can find a private teacher but apart from the expense she will not have other children there. Any advice will be very welcome. ============================== Dear , This is a brave question! Here's my advice. I would very much encourage you to spend a full day in the classroom that your daughter would attend. - make this visit by yourself (arrange other care for your daughter) - pre-arrange the visit. You'll need to talk in person with the principal and the classroom teacher so that you can: - come into the classroom at the same time the children are entering the classroom - sit comfortably in the classroom for the full day - move with the children throughout the day (to lunch, snacks, recess, bathroom breaks) - leave with the children at the end of the day Now, this is critical ... - I want to encourage you to sit _quietly_ throughout the day - just watch, listen, pay attention to what you are seeing, hearing, feeling - quietly, calmly absorb the entire scene - all the kids, all the assistants, all the interactions But in addition to this, - pick out one child (possibly a little girl who reminds you of your daughter) and: - watch in particular what's happening to her... - see how many times someone connects _directly_ with her... - smiles, touches, talks to her, directly supports her learning - try to experience the day the way _she_ experiences it - watch her expressions - watch to see how she is encouraged / supported to interact with others - think about her learning day... is it intensive, or does she spend a lot of time waiting? (the adults will feel that the day is 'intense' - they're working very hard - but the key is how the _children_ experience the day) - pay particular attention to the quality of interactions (words, emotional expressions, looks, touch)... - between the teacher and other assistants - between the teacher (and assistants) and the children - among the children - pay very special attention to how conflicts are handled, how 'behaviour' is handled - listen carefully to the way the teachers and assistants explain: - the children and their learning patterns - the ways in which the children 'behave' - their expectations and predictions for the children's futures - remember that a _great deal_ of early learning occurs through imitation... - we learn to speak by listening to the speech that surrounds us - we learn to interact by watching the interactions that surround us - we learn to interpret ourselves (to decide who we are) by... - listening to how people in authority interpret us - watching 'those-like-us' - watching how 'those-like-us' are interpreted - remember that _everything_ that the child hears, sees, and feels is shaping their learning, their experience and their concept of self - not just the formal content that is being 'taught' The key to all of this is staying quiet. You'll have to resist the inner urges and the outward invitations to 'interview', to engage in interesting conversations with the teacher and assistants, etc. Just let people know that you're perfectly happy quietly absorbing the childrens' day. You're trying to experience the day as the children do (as your daughter would experience it), and you need to get below the official rhetoric, the words, the self-description of the place, and down to the level of touch, sound, emotion, interaction. - from time to time during the day, imagine that your daughter is there, just out of your line of vision... - how would she be experiencing this moment? - what would that experience be teaching her about _herself_? - what would she be learning about the relationship between children and adults? - remember that she can learn colours, reading, and math anywhere Then go home and spend a quiet evening with your daughter... - think about sending her to the school the next day - pay very close attention to what happens inside yourself - quietly watch your thoughts, your feelings, your imagination , this isn't a trick. I've led over 100 formal team evaluations of service settings, including classrooms, schools, residences, work-places, institutions, and community support services. The evaluation process we used was detailed, disciplined, complex, and always included a good 'round' of the kind of observation I've outlined here. It's certainly worth a day off work, and certainly worth waiting to enroll her so you can get this experience. Let me know what happens. Cheers, Wetherow Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada http://www.community-works.net p.s. a quick story... McGough, a wonderful young man with Down Syndrome (featured in the award-winning video And Then Came ), came home from his day in a 'day program'... : I can't go back there anymore. It's too hard for me there. Lee (his mother): What's too hard, ? Is the work too hard? : No. Lee: Are people giving you a hard time? : No. Lee: , what do you _feel_ like when you're there? : I feel more retard there. Lee: , what does it feel like when you feel more 'retard'? : Mom, retard is when your love-flows aren't working, when you don't like who you are, and when you can't communicate, so you're blocked in what you can do. The key is how she will _feel_ there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 10, 2001 Report Share Posted August 10, 2001 Osborne writes... <snip> I have taught her many sight words already. She spent 2 years in Kindergarten but since January has been at home. I am now thinking perhaps the special school is better than no school. However, if I do put her there I will be actively involved in what they are teaching her. I can find a private teacher but apart from the expense she will not have other children there. Any advice will be very welcome. ============================== Dear , This is a brave question! Here's my advice. I would very much encourage you to spend a full day in the classroom that your daughter would attend. - make this visit by yourself (arrange other care for your daughter) - pre-arrange the visit. You'll need to talk in person with the principal and the classroom teacher so that you can: - come into the classroom at the same time the children are entering the classroom - sit comfortably in the classroom for the full day - move with the children throughout the day (to lunch, snacks, recess, bathroom breaks) - leave with the children at the end of the day Now, this is critical ... - I want to encourage you to sit _quietly_ throughout the day - just watch, listen, pay attention to what you are seeing, hearing, feeling - quietly, calmly absorb the entire scene - all the kids, all the assistants, all the interactions But in addition to this, - pick out one child (possibly a little girl who reminds you of your daughter) and: - watch in particular what's happening to her... - see how many times someone connects _directly_ with her... - smiles, touches, talks to her, directly supports her learning - try to experience the day the way _she_ experiences it - watch her expressions - watch to see how she is encouraged / supported to interact with others - think about her learning day... is it intensive, or does she spend a lot of time waiting? (the adults will feel that the day is 'intense' - they're working very hard - but the key is how the _children_ experience the day) - pay particular attention to the quality of interactions (words, emotional expressions, looks, touch)... - between the teacher and other assistants - between the teacher (and assistants) and the children - among the children - pay very special attention to how conflicts are handled, how 'behaviour' is handled - listen carefully to the way the teachers and assistants explain: - the children and their learning patterns - the ways in which the children 'behave' - their expectations and predictions for the children's futures - remember that a _great deal_ of early learning occurs through imitation... - we learn to speak by listening to the speech that surrounds us - we learn to interact by watching the interactions that surround us - we learn to interpret ourselves (to decide who we are) by... - listening to how people in authority interpret us - watching 'those-like-us' - watching how 'those-like-us' are interpreted - remember that _everything_ that the child hears, sees, and feels is shaping their learning, their experience and their concept of self - not just the formal content that is being 'taught' The key to all of this is staying quiet. You'll have to resist the inner urges and the outward invitations to 'interview', to engage in interesting conversations with the teacher and assistants, etc. Just let people know that you're perfectly happy quietly absorbing the childrens' day. You're trying to experience the day as the children do (as your daughter would experience it), and you need to get below the official rhetoric, the words, the self-description of the place, and down to the level of touch, sound, emotion, interaction. - from time to time during the day, imagine that your daughter is there, just out of your line of vision... - how would she be experiencing this moment? - what would that experience be teaching her about _herself_? - what would she be learning about the relationship between children and adults? - remember that she can learn colours, reading, and math anywhere Then go home and spend a quiet evening with your daughter... - think about sending her to the school the next day - pay very close attention to what happens inside yourself - quietly watch your thoughts, your feelings, your imagination , this isn't a trick. I've led over 100 formal team evaluations of service settings, including classrooms, schools, residences, work-places, institutions, and community support services. The evaluation process we used was detailed, disciplined, complex, and always included a good 'round' of the kind of observation I've outlined here. It's certainly worth a day off work, and certainly worth waiting to enroll her so you can get this experience. Let me know what happens. Cheers, Wetherow Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada http://www.community-works.net p.s. a quick story... McGough, a wonderful young man with Down Syndrome (featured in the award-winning video And Then Came ), came home from his day in a 'day program'... : I can't go back there anymore. It's too hard for me there. Lee (his mother): What's too hard, ? Is the work too hard? : No. Lee: Are people giving you a hard time? : No. Lee: , what do you _feel_ like when you're there? : I feel more retard there. Lee: , what does it feel like when you feel more 'retard'? : Mom, retard is when your love-flows aren't working, when you don't like who you are, and when you can't communicate, so you're blocked in what you can do. The key is how she will _feel_ there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 10, 2001 Report Share Posted August 10, 2001 > wrote: is still not in school because inclusion is not an option in the small town where we live. ---------------------- , it's always an option. It's just not currently offered. It might be very fruitful to pursue the question of specifically what it would take to include in the neighbourhood school. When (our) Amber was little, Faye challenged the Winnipeg School Division's intention to place her in a 'cluster' program several miles from her home community. Taking this through the Human Rights process was going to take about a year, so there was a lot of worry about what to do in the meantime. A neighbourhood friend suggested, " Why don't you see if you can bring her to Talmud Torah School for the first year? " Talmud Torah was a private Jewish parochial school about two blocks from home. When the principal, Larry Geller, met Amber, he said, " I don't know anything about cerebral palsy, or communication challenges, or movement disorders, or special education. But _this kid needs sanctuary_, and we do know something about that. " The year at Talmud Torah School proved that Amber could be in a regular education setting, and the Winnipeg Board welcomed her into regular first grade the following year. ---------------------- >The regular grade 1 class (English language) has over 30 children to 1 teacher. Two years ago I believed that I would be able to get her into that class but I realize that even if the teacher wanted her it would not work because of the big class. ---------------------- The question I'd be asking would be 'what would need to be added to the classroom to make this work for , the teacher, and the class? The answer might include an aide who could spend time with , but who could also be available to the other children, a bit of training for the teacher (you know how to do this, and her Kindergarten teacher knows as well), and possibly some minimal adaptations to the curriculum. There is a _strong_ body of knowledge and practice about how to do this. So you're not asking for a 'program' - you're working with the school to figure out what would need to be added to the equation so that they could welcome a child who is naturally part of their area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 10, 2001 Report Share Posted August 10, 2001 > wrote: is still not in school because inclusion is not an option in the small town where we live. ---------------------- , it's always an option. It's just not currently offered. It might be very fruitful to pursue the question of specifically what it would take to include in the neighbourhood school. When (our) Amber was little, Faye challenged the Winnipeg School Division's intention to place her in a 'cluster' program several miles from her home community. Taking this through the Human Rights process was going to take about a year, so there was a lot of worry about what to do in the meantime. A neighbourhood friend suggested, " Why don't you see if you can bring her to Talmud Torah School for the first year? " Talmud Torah was a private Jewish parochial school about two blocks from home. When the principal, Larry Geller, met Amber, he said, " I don't know anything about cerebral palsy, or communication challenges, or movement disorders, or special education. But _this kid needs sanctuary_, and we do know something about that. " The year at Talmud Torah School proved that Amber could be in a regular education setting, and the Winnipeg Board welcomed her into regular first grade the following year. ---------------------- >The regular grade 1 class (English language) has over 30 children to 1 teacher. Two years ago I believed that I would be able to get her into that class but I realize that even if the teacher wanted her it would not work because of the big class. ---------------------- The question I'd be asking would be 'what would need to be added to the classroom to make this work for , the teacher, and the class? The answer might include an aide who could spend time with , but who could also be available to the other children, a bit of training for the teacher (you know how to do this, and her Kindergarten teacher knows as well), and possibly some minimal adaptations to the curriculum. There is a _strong_ body of knowledge and practice about how to do this. So you're not asking for a 'program' - you're working with the school to figure out what would need to be added to the equation so that they could welcome a child who is naturally part of their area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 11, 2001 Report Share Posted August 11, 2001 Sounds to me as though you're doing all the right things, ! My only advice is to keep it up! Keep us posted. Hugs, granny --- " Setting a good example for your children takes all the fun out of middle age. " -- Feather http://www.bspyle.com/granny.html Reading programmes > Hi > > I am Osborne from South Africa, mother of (10) who has ds. > Some of you will remember me. I don't get much time to write but do read > most of the messages. is still not in school because inclusion is > not an option in the small town where we live. I have fought for 7 years to > keep her out of the special school but now it is my only option (other than > a private tutor, because I work full time). The regular grade 1 class > (English language) has over 30 children to 1 teacher. Two years ago I > believed that I would be able to get her into that class but I realize that > even if the teacher wanted her it would not work because of the big class. > The other classes are all Afrikaans language. Unfortunately the special > school is also Afrikaans language so if I do put her there I would like to > supply them with an English reading programme to use for her. She is doing > Kumon Maths privately and her teacher is very pleased with her progress > after only 3 months. Unfortunately this teacher does not give Kumon > English. I thought about the Edmark Reading but got a shock when I saw the > price. $450 is over R3600 (almost a month's salary). Are there any good > phonics programmes that are not exspensive or does anyone perhaps have a > programme that is not being used anymore that i could buy? > > We have had evaluated privately and next week we will get the > report. Then I have to go to the school clinic to be referrred to the > special school. I am not going to commit myself until I find out what they > will be teaching . If they are not prepared to teach her English > reading then I will not leave her there. I have taught her many sight words > already. She spent 2 years in Kindergarten but since January has been at > home. I am now thinking perhaps the special school is beter than no school. > However, if I do put her there I will be actively involved in what they are > teaching her. I can find a private teacher but apart from the expence she > will not have other children there. > > Any advice will be very welcome. > > Thanks > Osborne > > > Click reply to all for messages to go to the list. Just hit reply for messages to go to the sender of the message. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 11, 2001 Report Share Posted August 11, 2001 Sounds to me as though you're doing all the right things, ! My only advice is to keep it up! Keep us posted. Hugs, granny --- " Setting a good example for your children takes all the fun out of middle age. " -- Feather http://www.bspyle.com/granny.html Reading programmes > Hi > > I am Osborne from South Africa, mother of (10) who has ds. > Some of you will remember me. I don't get much time to write but do read > most of the messages. is still not in school because inclusion is > not an option in the small town where we live. I have fought for 7 years to > keep her out of the special school but now it is my only option (other than > a private tutor, because I work full time). The regular grade 1 class > (English language) has over 30 children to 1 teacher. Two years ago I > believed that I would be able to get her into that class but I realize that > even if the teacher wanted her it would not work because of the big class. > The other classes are all Afrikaans language. Unfortunately the special > school is also Afrikaans language so if I do put her there I would like to > supply them with an English reading programme to use for her. She is doing > Kumon Maths privately and her teacher is very pleased with her progress > after only 3 months. Unfortunately this teacher does not give Kumon > English. I thought about the Edmark Reading but got a shock when I saw the > price. $450 is over R3600 (almost a month's salary). Are there any good > phonics programmes that are not exspensive or does anyone perhaps have a > programme that is not being used anymore that i could buy? > > We have had evaluated privately and next week we will get the > report. Then I have to go to the school clinic to be referrred to the > special school. I am not going to commit myself until I find out what they > will be teaching . If they are not prepared to teach her English > reading then I will not leave her there. I have taught her many sight words > already. She spent 2 years in Kindergarten but since January has been at > home. I am now thinking perhaps the special school is beter than no school. > However, if I do put her there I will be actively involved in what they are > teaching her. I can find a private teacher but apart from the expence she > will not have other children there. > > Any advice will be very welcome. > > Thanks > Osborne > > > Click reply to all for messages to go to the list. Just hit reply for messages to go to the sender of the message. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 11, 2001 Report Share Posted August 11, 2001 Hi mary, hope you get this, I had mega problems with the kumon reply a month or so ago! There are a several british reading programmes that can be bought from amazon.com, you'd possibly have to find the british amazon site, I'm not sure on that. They can be bought in small bits, one book or a set of books at a time, rather than the whole scheme all at once. Tim learnt to read with an archaic programme called 1,2,3 and away which is probably very far and away from the reality of christines life!! They use edwardian looking children in it and it is frightfully english, but Tim did very well on it becoz it introduces new vocabulary very slowly and the pictures are very simple. It starts out with a book that says red, a red ball, a red door, a red house, a red roof, a red hat, a red dog, roger red hat (all on separate pages with one simple red picture). the next book is blue and is exactly the same apart from blue and billy blue hat then there is yellow and brown and green. The system can be a little complicatd at times with some books low in the series looking a lot harder than books later in it but we simply used the books in the order we felt tim would cope. he loved the series, I hate it becoz it is so boring, but he loved being able to read so didn't care. If you go for it I can offer suggestions as to the simplest order to read them and therefore buy them. Then last year his school changed the scheme and now uses the oxford reading tree. This is a lovely series but as a reading scheme for children who find it hard to see the clues in pictures or to remember a lot of new words at a time it is not so good. But it is much more up to date than the 1,2,3 series and has far better story lines and pictures. The teachers manual says that children aren't expected to be able to read every single word to progress thro the series but school doesn't see it that way!! Tim is on stage 5 of this series and it is beginning to get very hard for him as every book has a lot of new words in it, but becoz he has been reading almost 3 years he has developed the skill of seeing clues in the pictures and can make educated guesses at unfamiliar words. lower down the books start with no words for kids to simply talk about the picture, they come with story lines for adults to read to the child. These were no good for tim becoz he couldn't speak enough back then to retell a story without written words. The next level has single or two words to a page, floppy ( a dog), Biff (a girl) chip (her brother) kipper (another brother) mum and dad. level 2 is still quite simple and level 3 but level 4 gets noticeably harder much quicker. I like this series becoz its much more interesting as a parent to listen to! It also affords greater opportunity to test comprehension of the story line. Much more happens in the pictures than simply what the text says. For instance at level 1 you will get 'floppy' under a picture of the dog running, next page will also have 'floppy' on it with floppy chasing a rabbit. The next page has floppy on it with floppy running under a bridge and getting filthy, then the last page has 'oh floppy' with floppy doing something else daft, so you can ask a lot of questions that can be either answered by pointing or one to two words that assess wether the story is being followed. You could also for a child with more language get them to give you a description of what is happening. One of tims class mates has just finsihed this level and his reading vocab is about 10 words in total but he is an excellent story teller from the pictures 9or is now that he has learnt how to be). Tim reads both series at home still, I have the rest of level 5 and several levels of 1,2,3 and away left for him to do yet. At the end of level 5 the scheme considers a child to be a competant beginner reader, before that its really still the pre reading stage, tim is almost a competant beginner reader but as yet he still prefers the reading styles of reading schemes. He has a reading vocab of 3-400 words with the ability to decode or guess a lot more. One thing about this series is that even at stage 5 there is no more than two lines of text to a page. a similar level in the 1,2,3 and away series is already using long amounts of text in paragraphs altho the words used are much simpler and repeated a lot more. there are pros and cons for both. The repetition is good in 1,2,3 but the simpler looking larger text of ORT is also good. swings and roundabouts as we say here. There is another scheme called Ginn which is vast and I know very little about apart from it is used widely in the uk for a beginner reading scheme. Then there are the lady bird books but there are at least 4 or 5 different approaches to reading with them, phonics, sight words being two of them, janet and john still goes strong too but has fortunately been updated from when i was learning to read, not much but not quite 1950's anymore! Then there is an off shoot of the oxford reading tree that is specifically aimed at the older non reader, i forget its name becoz I haven't used it whizz something. It has slightly older story lines while still using very simple language. I'll look it up if you are interested. Finally there is the do it your self method which is good as a starter, and you already have by teaching sight words. That is to make your own books based on your own experiences. This ensures books are defintely culturally relevant to christine but also ensure a huge amount of work and at the end of the day tim can easily tell the difference between a published book and a home made one. he likes home made ones but given the choice will go for the better pictures and stories in published books! From a cost point of view there isn't much to choose between the schemes, one set might looker cheaper but have less pages or less books in it, different sets within each series are different prices, but it is certainly cheaper to buy on bulk than individually, 1,2,3 and away come in groups of 4-6 at a time and ORT come in groups of 6 at the lower levels (haven't got further than the lower levels yet!!). Good luck, and sorry to hear about the school situation. I think sometimes that people in the states and the UK (I include myself in this!) don't realise, or forget, that other countries, even westernised ones like south africa, don't have the same priorities when it comes to education of kids with SEN that they do. I know that had I stayed in hong Kong tims options were specail school an hour away by bus or a special unit in a mainstream school 30 minutes away by bus and I would have had to supply (ie pay for myself like you do) an aide for him to attend. inclusion simply didn't exsist. Children from teh unit were included in some mainstream activities, but certainly not academic ones and it was on a case by case basis. Some kids were not included at all. We are very lucky here depsite the mutterings to the contrary sometimes! Sue Wong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 11, 2001 Report Share Posted August 11, 2001 Hi mary, hope you get this, I had mega problems with the kumon reply a month or so ago! There are a several british reading programmes that can be bought from amazon.com, you'd possibly have to find the british amazon site, I'm not sure on that. They can be bought in small bits, one book or a set of books at a time, rather than the whole scheme all at once. Tim learnt to read with an archaic programme called 1,2,3 and away which is probably very far and away from the reality of christines life!! They use edwardian looking children in it and it is frightfully english, but Tim did very well on it becoz it introduces new vocabulary very slowly and the pictures are very simple. It starts out with a book that says red, a red ball, a red door, a red house, a red roof, a red hat, a red dog, roger red hat (all on separate pages with one simple red picture). the next book is blue and is exactly the same apart from blue and billy blue hat then there is yellow and brown and green. The system can be a little complicatd at times with some books low in the series looking a lot harder than books later in it but we simply used the books in the order we felt tim would cope. he loved the series, I hate it becoz it is so boring, but he loved being able to read so didn't care. If you go for it I can offer suggestions as to the simplest order to read them and therefore buy them. Then last year his school changed the scheme and now uses the oxford reading tree. This is a lovely series but as a reading scheme for children who find it hard to see the clues in pictures or to remember a lot of new words at a time it is not so good. But it is much more up to date than the 1,2,3 series and has far better story lines and pictures. The teachers manual says that children aren't expected to be able to read every single word to progress thro the series but school doesn't see it that way!! Tim is on stage 5 of this series and it is beginning to get very hard for him as every book has a lot of new words in it, but becoz he has been reading almost 3 years he has developed the skill of seeing clues in the pictures and can make educated guesses at unfamiliar words. lower down the books start with no words for kids to simply talk about the picture, they come with story lines for adults to read to the child. These were no good for tim becoz he couldn't speak enough back then to retell a story without written words. The next level has single or two words to a page, floppy ( a dog), Biff (a girl) chip (her brother) kipper (another brother) mum and dad. level 2 is still quite simple and level 3 but level 4 gets noticeably harder much quicker. I like this series becoz its much more interesting as a parent to listen to! It also affords greater opportunity to test comprehension of the story line. Much more happens in the pictures than simply what the text says. For instance at level 1 you will get 'floppy' under a picture of the dog running, next page will also have 'floppy' on it with floppy chasing a rabbit. The next page has floppy on it with floppy running under a bridge and getting filthy, then the last page has 'oh floppy' with floppy doing something else daft, so you can ask a lot of questions that can be either answered by pointing or one to two words that assess wether the story is being followed. You could also for a child with more language get them to give you a description of what is happening. One of tims class mates has just finsihed this level and his reading vocab is about 10 words in total but he is an excellent story teller from the pictures 9or is now that he has learnt how to be). Tim reads both series at home still, I have the rest of level 5 and several levels of 1,2,3 and away left for him to do yet. At the end of level 5 the scheme considers a child to be a competant beginner reader, before that its really still the pre reading stage, tim is almost a competant beginner reader but as yet he still prefers the reading styles of reading schemes. He has a reading vocab of 3-400 words with the ability to decode or guess a lot more. One thing about this series is that even at stage 5 there is no more than two lines of text to a page. a similar level in the 1,2,3 and away series is already using long amounts of text in paragraphs altho the words used are much simpler and repeated a lot more. there are pros and cons for both. The repetition is good in 1,2,3 but the simpler looking larger text of ORT is also good. swings and roundabouts as we say here. There is another scheme called Ginn which is vast and I know very little about apart from it is used widely in the uk for a beginner reading scheme. Then there are the lady bird books but there are at least 4 or 5 different approaches to reading with them, phonics, sight words being two of them, janet and john still goes strong too but has fortunately been updated from when i was learning to read, not much but not quite 1950's anymore! Then there is an off shoot of the oxford reading tree that is specifically aimed at the older non reader, i forget its name becoz I haven't used it whizz something. It has slightly older story lines while still using very simple language. I'll look it up if you are interested. Finally there is the do it your self method which is good as a starter, and you already have by teaching sight words. That is to make your own books based on your own experiences. This ensures books are defintely culturally relevant to christine but also ensure a huge amount of work and at the end of the day tim can easily tell the difference between a published book and a home made one. he likes home made ones but given the choice will go for the better pictures and stories in published books! From a cost point of view there isn't much to choose between the schemes, one set might looker cheaper but have less pages or less books in it, different sets within each series are different prices, but it is certainly cheaper to buy on bulk than individually, 1,2,3 and away come in groups of 4-6 at a time and ORT come in groups of 6 at the lower levels (haven't got further than the lower levels yet!!). Good luck, and sorry to hear about the school situation. I think sometimes that people in the states and the UK (I include myself in this!) don't realise, or forget, that other countries, even westernised ones like south africa, don't have the same priorities when it comes to education of kids with SEN that they do. I know that had I stayed in hong Kong tims options were specail school an hour away by bus or a special unit in a mainstream school 30 minutes away by bus and I would have had to supply (ie pay for myself like you do) an aide for him to attend. inclusion simply didn't exsist. Children from teh unit were included in some mainstream activities, but certainly not academic ones and it was on a case by case basis. Some kids were not included at all. We are very lucky here depsite the mutterings to the contrary sometimes! Sue Wong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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