The word felt like fire under my feet. I needed to move on this, fast.
But how?- With four other children and my work, finding a 'quiet time' to work with my son after school, when K.C. wasn't too tired to focus, was impossible.
"No one loves K.C. more than you." My sister-in-law said while tearing up, "How can this be left to the school? Why don't you be K.C's RTI? Who better to be accountable to, than yourself? "
It was my 'aha' moment.
A brief second actually, because the next thought that came through my mind turned my stomach upside down. Sadly, I knew the politics of the game. If we refuse K.C.'s participation in the school's RTI program, in exchange for one-on-one, specialized instruction, with yours truly, we would surrender the future determination of a "Learning Disability" under the eyes of the school; thereby sacrificing Special Education Services.
Do we forgo possible Special Ed. determination, in lieu of immediate acquisition of Reading Skills for our son?
"We don't have one, two or three years to wait and see if the RTI process would eliminate the possibility of a disability." My husband said, "K.C. needs to learn how read....Like Yesterday."
He also needed a 504 Plan.
I immediately reached out to our School Principal to request a 504 meeting, based on my medical Diagnosis of Dyslexia. I also proposed the idea of working with K.C. privately, at my office, during the first hour of school. My goal was collaboration, and hope that my son's teacher and Principal would understand the urgency, and welcome my offer. Our Principal was gracious, and very understanding, but K.C.'s Teacher was to say the least, very hesitant.
K.C.'s teacher is a great communicator. She adores children. She's organized, experienced and genuinely loves her students. So when we met, I was eager to share the great news of K.C.'s Psycho-Educational Evaluation. K.C.'s has Above-Average IQ. The bad news; K.C. is in <5%ile in most of Reading Abilities, (According to to the WIAT)
I conveyed the criticality and necessity to pull K.C. out of school in the morning, for one-one one, reading intervention. I disclosed my experience and successes with students like K.C. who share the same learning challenges.
The response,
"Isn't this something you can do at home? He needs to be in school. K.C. somehow wound up with a really good RTI teacher this year. If you pull K.C. out of school (for one hour in the morning), he will miss RTI, Calendar and Reader's Workshop- He really should not miss Reader's Workshop."
"In Readers Workshop students: (1) Receive a mini-lesson on a reading strategy. (2) Read Independently for 30-60 Minutes. And, (3) Share with another person their journal entries on the book their reading, and the other person gives feedback."I was flabbergasted. How does a child READ INDEPENDENTLY, if he can't READ?
I began to feel queasy and confused, and spoke out of turn, "This isn't something that can be worked on at home. This isn't something Sylvan Learning Center can correct. He can't be cured. He is Dyslexic. "
I was a bit fired up, and tried to maintain composure, "I gave the school the opportunity to work with my son last year, and he made NO progress in RTI; and other than a report that was sent home, I received ZERO communication from the school about the severity of his abilities."
I had to take a breath. While beginning to tear up, I murmured slowly,"We don't want to disrupt his schedule at all, but our son came home crying because he couldn't read your daily schedule. He came home sobbing because he couldn't read his math test, or read calendar words. So, because of that---- teaching K.C. to decode our confusing written language, using a research-based reading instruction, while immediately boosting his abilities and confidence, during the time of day when he learns best trumps 2nd Grade Calendar and Reader's Workshop."
I was a little taken back at my feisty-ness, because honestly I have the utmost respect and support for teachers. I am very aware of their dedication to all children- but apparently, I wasn't in the mood for a philosophy debate. And so, after my tirade, the conversation wrapped up quickly, leaving the room a bit colder.
And, without any support from his teacher on October 2, K.C. and I went rogue.
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