going from school with more support to one with less support

[Anonymous]

If you've moved your child from a school with more support to one with less support, how did you know he was ready? How do you know when your child would benefit from being pushed a bit or when he still needs to be more protected?

[Anonymous]

We are in the process of doing this. One clue has been that DC had asked for it. Another is that DC has shown the ability to succeed with fewer supports in other settings (like camps). Finally, we are working closely with current teachers and they agree DC is ready.

[Anonymous]

We faced this two years ago when making a change. Like PP, had seen strong success in unsupported settings, such as extracurricular classes.

We were never given that clear signal that DC was "ready." As parents we were split, I was in favor of making the change, spouse leaned against. Previous school counseled to stay and receive more support -- we knew the support was valuable but they also had a subjective interest in our staying.

My view was that we should err on the side of challenging DC rather than basing on where DC had been, that we weren't going to get the red flashing light saying, "ready now." Also, it wasn't fair to DC to judge readiness based on only environment DC had been exposed to. Was confident DC could handle it once they had daily exposure to more challenging environment.

In end, hand was forced by an undesirable regrouping at the old school, bringing both of us parents around. DC has done great at new school, and I've been getting pats on the back ever since.