how do you figure out where to send your kid to school?
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Anonymous
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i just posted in another thread and realized that i could start my own in my plea for help!
my DS is turning 5 in December; he is currently in pre-k at a religious preschool and has been there fore 3 years now. DS had an eval through early stages in DC; he did not qualify for services but they flagged his very low muscle tone (core and hands) and motor planning challenges. he also has social anxiety and absolutely needs the same routine every morning for school drop off or else he melts down completely. he currently sees an OT once a week who comes to his school, and that has been helping him a lot, especially in his self-perception of his own abilities, which used to be quite poor. we now have to figure out where to send him for K. he definitely needs small class sizes for starters. we had a rough experience trying a charter school designed for kids with therapeutic needs, so that's out. Creative Minds is one that is likely good for him but probably impossible to get in to. does anybody have input on schools that we should consider for my DS? we live in NWDC so looking in the District or Maryland. |
Anonymous
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How are his academics and language (to the extent you can tell at age 4)?
Are you limited to public or are private schools an option? Have you considered seeing a developmental pediatrician to get a better sense of the breadth of his issues? |
Anonymous
OP here - thanks, great questions! 1. Excellent language skills; extensive and mature vocabulary. Knows his letters and numbers. 2. We will make tuition work if it is the right place for him. 3. We have considered it but haven't found it necessary quite yet. He seems to have outgrown some of his challenges but I think different challenges will become more apparent in an elementary school setting. So that is still a possibility depending on what we see... |
Anonymous
| Do you mind sharing the name of the therapeutic charter school? |
Anonymous
| Two schools that would understand the anxiety piece and his need for routine and give him lots of individual attention are McLean and Maddux. |
Anonymous
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The Exceptional Schools Fair is coming up:
http://www.exceptionalschoolsfair.com I would look into Maddux (MD), Newton (VA), and Kingsbury (DC). |
Anonymous
| I would also consider hiring an advocate who can help with school placement. |
Anonymous
OP here, this is a great idea. i am so clueless...how do i go about finding one? i suppose googling would be a good start? |
Anonymous
The only thing the advocate is going to do is give you a list of schools to visit like the list above. Have your child been seen by a developmental pediatrician? The meltdowns and problems with transitions, needing routine, low tone, excellent vocabulary, etc sounds a lot like high functioning autism, Asperger's. |
Anonymous
| ^*Has your child... Augh! |
Anonymous
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This group has been mentioned from time to time. (we were with another, but this one had come highly recommended from DH's co-worker).
http://www.weinfeldeducationgroup.com/ |
Anonymous
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What's your in boundary school? IS there any information right now that indicates a regular school wouldn't work for him?
I'd go into your IB school with the info you have and see if they will meet with you and discuss how their school would work for your child. DCPS is K can be as small as 20 kids, and there is a teacher and an aide. There is a lot the school can do to accommodate your child. Why not start there? |
Anonymous
We use them and have for years and you will get a list very similar to the schools already mentioned on this thread. You will need to visit the schools yourself. No consultant visits every school every year and looks at all the grades. Go visit. |
Anonymous
| Also, just start looking at convenient private schools. My DS (now 11) had a lot of those problems in preschool but does fine in a mainstream private school with small classes and a structured day. Individual attention may help and lots of private schools have that |
Anonymous
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The truth is that you never know how it's going to go until your child has experienced it. And that makes it really, really difficult. |