Is it worth it to fight for ESY?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ESY is not a skill builder. It's a stopgap. You don't take leaps forward in ESY.

Yes, and I think people's points have been that it's often even failing at being a stop gap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:ESY is not a skill builder. It's a stopgap. You don't take leaps forward in ESY.

Yes, and I think people's points have been that it's often even failing at being a stop gap.

+1!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher who taught ESY (elementary, autism, FCPS), it's tough to have it be worthwhile - I'd guess it's generally not unless the teachers or therapists are people who know your kid, either the regular providers or otherwise know them because they're in the same school. It's what, 4 weeks, right? It takes a few days, at least, to get the lay of the land, get kids settled etc. So at most you have 3 weeks to "work" on things, and it's only half day. It's a new mix of kids, so not infrequently there's some clash. It's often assistants who've never worked with the teacher before. There's not much advanced notice/info on kids. But it's a bit like the beginning of the year - you can't hit the ground running, it takes a while to get things started, and at only 4 weeks, it's really not enough time to be useful. It *may* be enough time to maintain skills, but I doubt that, when summer is 10 weeks long. Kid's still have a good 4-5 weeks afterwards to lose it all. And it's definitely one size fits all, which is maddening, and not in technical compliance with the law, but what is these days? So even with the best of people and the best of intentions it's an uphill battle. I don't know if that translates to other grades, though I imagine it's about the same for other disabilities in elementary, given the kids likely to receive ESY. If you want some work on some skills to maybe maintain them, do it. But I'd guess (or hope) your kid gets much more out of the camp you usually send him to in terms of forward movement. That said, those camps are ridiculously expensive, and I've never been sure (as I contemplate sending my kid to one) if they're worth the money. I guess it depends on the camp, how long it is, etc.

This is OP. Thanks for your post. The camp my kid goes to is 4 weeks because I don't see how you do much in less than that yet I see so, so many camps for 1 week and they are so expensive too. I don't see how you can accomplish much in a week, even if it has only a single focus.

OP, weeklong camps are sometimes able to accomplish a lot because they are fulltime or 24-7 and they have intensive staff ratios -- perhaps 4 to 1 per child. And you get what you pay for.

[Anonymous]

The IEP team is recommending ESY this year for my adhd 4th grader for reading and writing but it doesn't sound like it's as good as tutoring and may not be tailored to her needs. Has anyone had a good experience with ESY for kids with reading issues being the reas for going?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The IEP team is recommending ESY this year for my adhd 4th grader for reading and writing but it doesn't sound like it's as good as tutoring and may not be tailored to her needs. Has anyone had a good experience with ESY for kids with reading issues being the reas for going?

My ADHD dd went to SELT for reading and writing. Can you do that? I have heard that SELT was not funded at our school this year though but maybe it is at yours.

[Anonymous]

What is SELT?

[Anonymous]

ESY was an absolute waste of many beautiful summer days for my child. We just turn it down now. I pay for a reading tutor. Yes, I keep asking the district (Anne Arundel) to pay, they keep saying no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is SELT?

My dd went to this for two summers - it's called summer extended learning in FCPS. It lasts for I think 3 weeks from 9:30 am - 1:30 pm or so. The kids were taught reading and math and was supposedly going to help dd not slide back in reading when she was reading below grade level. She went with a friend, so it was ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ESY is not a skill builder. It's a stopgap. You don't take leaps forward in ESY.

ESY should be considered if the child is close to achieving a break through skill and/or shows a pattern of regression over the summer months (ie. he will lose skills if services are not continued). ESY can also be considered as compensatory educational services.

MCPS should be discussing at an IEP meeting if you child qualifies for ESY services. You can make a case with your parental input and explain what types of private services he has gotten in the past and the benefit of these services.

The reality: sometimes ESY can be great, sometimes terrible. It all depends on the placement.

My daughter had ESY speech services and had one on one instruction. She made phenomenal progress.

My son, he was in a speech class with a kid who only spoke Spanish and other kids with different issues. He made little progress with the services offered over the summer.