Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I think we're done here



Today I felt compelled to ask Jeremy if he thinks Elijah's speech therapy is actually benefiting him this year. His immediate response: no. Sadly, I have to agree. He gets speech therapy for free at the public elementary school around the corner. He goes two days a week, for 30 minutes. Last year he made amazing progress. He had a wonderful teacher, and had one-on-one sessions. Unfortunately that teacher left at the end of the year last year. This year he actually has two different teachers, and is getting sessions with small groups. The teachers do different things, so he's not getting continuous practice in one area. (he sees one teacher on Tuesday and the other on Thursday) It seems they both have their own lesson plans, and I think he's getting a little confused. One the days he has speech we can't even do basic language arts and phonics lessons because he's so overwhelmed from his speech sessions. He often comes home very tired, which doesn't surprise me because the lighting alone in most schools is enough to make anyone feel drained after just a short time. At home (on days when he doesn't have speech) he can sit still and concentrate on work for long periods of time without getting exhausted. All in all, he's not benefiting enough to justify the inconveniences it brings. (I won't even get started on how ignorant they are at that school about homeschool laws in this state) Jeremy and I decided he will keep going until the baby arrives, and at that point we will pull him out and be done with it. I have found a homeschool speech therapy program that has really great reviews from parents of special needs kids, as well as parents of children who don't have any special issues. His teacher last year was great about showing me the tricks and techniques she used with him, so I feel pretty confident in doing this at home. Of course I'm not stubborn enough that if I don't see any improvement that I won't search out another resource for him. Jeremy and I also tossed around the idea of getting Rosetta Stone American English for him. If anyone has experience with doing this at home, please feel free to share your ideas or tips!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'd love to know about the homeschool speech therapy program you found. Jared has been in some form of speech therapy for over 4 years (currently Fast Forward Language-painfully expensive!) We're always looking for good resources. As I've read your blog, it sounds like our little guys have a lot in common.