This is the case, it isn't a disability-specific case but encompasses students with IEPs and English learner students. The Supreme Court has ruled that there is no constitutional right to education, but has also suggested that the free public education offered to students might be so lacking as to violate the rights of students, so this case is trying to establish what education students are entitled to.

Press
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2019/1212/Rhode-Island-lawsuit-Students-sue-for-the-right-to-learn-civics

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/28/us/civics-rhode-island-schools.html

I think class actions would be a great topic to post on the Kids with special needs board. It's my understanding that there are usually a few of these cases in different states at any given time, but I'm not sure how successful they are, or even if they win, whether they result in better services and better access to services. My home district was also under investigation by the Dept of Justice because of the failure to provide adequate services to English learners and failure to inform families of their rights to services. The DOJ and district settled, but actual changes seem really slow. In any case, I think it would be great if you post in special needs because I think this would be a really useful topic for discussion!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm one of the above posters. My child was over a year behind in reading and I was told it was unlikely she would ever qualify for services at the school because there were so many kids even more behind. This was after I asked for a school-based evaluation, which they did. In our district, about 14% of kids are meeting or exceeding expectations in reading. My daughter's school is outperforming those stats with 30% of kids meeting or exceeding expectations.

Schools with higher percentages of kids who can't read or are very behind need more resources. The current triage system is not working.

Qualifying for services is not dependent on comparing your child to the other children in the school are. It is supposed to be based on comparing your child to standards of performance that are not school dependent. I hope that you recorded that meeting and have filed a state complaint, because you are right the current system isn't working.

And just a note about Reading Recovery- it can help some kids. But it is terrible for dyslexic students.

I know that's not how the law works, but....I'm already part of a federal class-action lawsuit, on behalf of my child, about educational deficiencies in my state. There's only so much time and money I can spend banging my head against a wall. Luckily my mom was a reading specialist for 30 years, so she has helped me set up very effective private services, but most families are not able to pay for their children to learn to read outside of school.

I am sorry you are going through that. I also have “won” several issues with our school, but the services we need still don’t exist. Can you share any more details about your class action? I got together with a group of moms in similar situations and we were thinking of trying to certify as a class in our state. (Maybe we should move this discussion to the special needs board)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why it posted like that above. When I double dose a kid on reading groups, I always use a regular F&P guided reading group (on a leveled book and or a strategy group) and then the second group, I use Orton Gillingham techniques. I, along with my entire K-3 team, are OG trained. We are quite literally doing every possible thing we can. And we know FOR SURE that our lowest kids aren't reading at home because parents come into conferences and TELL US SO. I'm not sure what the heck else I can do that is within my power. Yes, I refer kids as needed. But some things are NOT in my power.

I'm sure you are reading with your kid every single night and having them read to you and having them see you read for pleasure a lot. Most educated, not living in poverty parents, are doing that. It is also clear that you are in an area with questionable schools. I'm sorry about that. I can also hear that it is hard when your kid has dyslexia. I wish you the very best.

NP here. So, if i have a first grader who is resistant to reading to us, but we read to him between 2 and 5 books every night (depending on how tired he is), and we encourage him to read and write pretty frequently (but he's resistant), then what should we do? He has friends who are reading chapter books, and he can just barely read the level D books that get sent home. I don't think he had very good reading instruction in Kindergarten, but he definitely does in 1st grade (he's made more progress so far this year than he did in all of last year). We're in a very diverse (racially and socioeconomically) school. When I asked the teacher earlier in the year about if it was worth having him work with the reading specialist, she told me the reading specialist is for english learners and kids with disabilities and that my child is doing fine (but reading below grade level). I just read all this stuff on here and I don't know if I should be concerned like people on the boards say I should be, or if I should not worry because the teacher says "he's below grade level, but making progress, so that's great." We do work with him at home, but he also doesn't get home until 4:30 because our school has crappy hours and I like for him to have some downtime rather than rushing him straight into doing more school work.

I am sure the teacher is nice and trying hard and really believes your son is improving and is just one of her “low” kids. But there really aren’t any teachers or even reading specialists who are trained in spotting dyslexia. So please don’t wait until your child fails. If the level of effort your son is putting into reading isn’t matching his progress (and he is of average or above average intelligence) then you should have him screened.

Just because a child is 6 months behind does not mean he has dyslexia. It does mean he is 6 months behind. If it were my kid, I'd hire a reading specialist to work with him privately 3x a week for 3 months. At that end of that time, if he isn't caught up or nearly caught up, then, I'd go for an evaluation, either through the school or privately. Fwiw, to move up levels, the kid has to decode accurately, has to be fluent (this means he has to have those sight words down cold and yes, some HAVE to be memorized), and he has to be able to answer VERY, VERY difficult comprehension questions accurately. I'm sure the types of comprehension questions asked are available online somewhere (they change for each level of book) along with acceptable answers.
But just off hand, at level B for example, students have to be able to answer this kind of question: "How does the character feel? How do you know?" An acceptable answer might be, "She is worried. I know she is worried because I see how her eyebrows pushed together in the picture. She's worried because she lost her cat." Yes, kids have to be that detailed to be considered proficient in comprehension. And the questions get much more difficult as the texts go up in levels.
As a kindergarten teacher, my students rarely have decoding issues. I hammer home phonics, CVC decoding, along with all the good "extra techniques" (using picture clues, etc). They don't have fluency issues because I hit sight words hard. They do struggle with comprehension. I do a LOT with comprehension lessons, but my students are mostly second language learners and they miss a lot of the hidden meanings and clues. And the comp questions are really hard.

The child may not be dyslexic, but if they are the 6 months you spent trying stuff are wasting time (when early targeted intervention is exponentially more effective). So it is best to screen first and then pick an intervention- let the data inform the services. If an evaluation is absolutely out of reach, then use an OG tutor. They support dyslexic kids but their approaches work for all struggling readers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why it posted like that above. When I double dose a kid on reading groups, I always use a regular F&P guided reading group (on a leveled book and or a strategy group) and then the second group, I use Orton Gillingham techniques. I, along with my entire K-3 team, are OG trained. We are quite literally doing every possible thing we can. And we know FOR SURE that our lowest kids aren't reading at home because parents come into conferences and TELL US SO. I'm not sure what the heck else I can do that is within my power. Yes, I refer kids as needed. But some things are NOT in my power.

I'm sure you are reading with your kid every single night and having them read to you and having them see you read for pleasure a lot. Most educated, not living in poverty parents, are doing that. It is also clear that you are in an area with questionable schools. I'm sorry about that. I can also hear that it is hard when your kid has dyslexia. I wish you the very best.

NP here. So, if i have a first grader who is resistant to reading to us, but we read to him between 2 and 5 books every night (depending on how tired he is), and we encourage him to read and write pretty frequently (but he's resistant), then what should we do? He has friends who are reading chapter books, and he can just barely read the level D books that get sent home. I don't think he had very good reading instruction in Kindergarten, but he definitely does in 1st grade (he's made more progress so far this year than he did in all of last year). We're in a very diverse (racially and socioeconomically) school. When I asked the teacher earlier in the year about if it was worth having him work with the reading specialist, she told me the reading specialist is for english learners and kids with disabilities and that my child is doing fine (but reading below grade level). I just read all this stuff on here and I don't know if I should be concerned like people on the boards say I should be, or if I should not worry because the teacher says "he's below grade level, but making progress, so that's great." We do work with him at home, but he also doesn't get home until 4:30 because our school has crappy hours and I like for him to have some downtime rather than rushing him straight into doing more school work.

I am sure the teacher is nice and trying hard and really believes your son is improving and is just one of her “low” kids. But there really aren’t any teachers or even reading specialists who are trained in spotting dyslexia. So please don’t wait until your child fails. If the level of effort your son is putting into reading isn’t matching his progress (and he is of average or above average intelligence) then you should have him screened.

Just because a child is 6 months behind does not mean he has dyslexia. It does mean he is 6 months behind. If it were my kid, I'd hire a reading specialist to work with him privately 3x a week for 3 months. At that end of that time, if he isn't caught up or nearly caught up, then, I'd go for an evaluation, either through the school or privately. Fwiw, to move up levels, the kid has to decode accurately, has to be fluent (this means he has to have those sight words down cold and yes, some HAVE to be memorized), and he has to be able to answer VERY, VERY difficult comprehension questions accurately. I'm sure the types of comprehension questions asked are available online somewhere (they change for each level of book) along with acceptable answers.
But just off hand, at level B for example, students have to be able to answer this kind of question: "How does the character feel? How do you know?" An acceptable answer might be, "She is worried. I know she is worried because I see how her eyebrows pushed together in the picture. She's worried because she lost her cat." Yes, kids have to be that detailed to be considered proficient in comprehension. And the questions get much more difficult as the texts go up in levels.
As a kindergarten teacher, my students rarely have decoding issues. I hammer home phonics, CVC decoding, along with all the good "extra techniques" (using picture clues, etc). They don't have fluency issues because I hit sight words hard. They do struggle with comprehension. I do a LOT with comprehension lessons, but my students are mostly second language learners and they miss a lot of the hidden meanings and clues. And the comp questions are really hard.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm one of the above posters. My child was over a year behind in reading and I was told it was unlikely she would ever qualify for services at the school because there were so many kids even more behind. This was after I asked for a school-based evaluation, which they did. In our district, about 14% of kids are meeting or exceeding expectations in reading. My daughter's school is outperforming those stats with 30% of kids meeting or exceeding expectations.

Schools with higher percentages of kids who can't read or are very behind need more resources. The current triage system is not working.

Qualifying for services is not dependent on comparing your child to the other children in the school are. It is supposed to be based on comparing your child to standards of performance that are not school dependent. I hope that you recorded that meeting and have filed a state complaint, because you are right the current system isn't working.

And just a note about Reading Recovery- it can help some kids. But it is terrible for dyslexic students.

I know that's not how the law works, but....I'm already part of a federal class-action lawsuit, on behalf of my child, about educational deficiencies in my state. There's only so much time and money I can spend banging my head against a wall. Luckily my mom was a reading specialist for 30 years, so she has helped me set up very effective private services, but most families are not able to pay for their children to learn to read outside of school.

Anonymous wrote:I'm one of the above posters. My child was over a year behind in reading and I was told it was unlikely she would ever qualify for services at the school because there were so many kids even more behind. This was after I asked for a school-based evaluation, which they did. In our district, about 14% of kids are meeting or exceeding expectations in reading. My daughter's school is outperforming those stats with 30% of kids meeting or exceeding expectations.

Schools with higher percentages of kids who can't read or are very behind need more resources. The current triage system is not working.

Qualifying for services is not dependent on comparing your child to the other children in the school are. It is supposed to be based on comparing your child to standards of performance that are not school dependent. I hope that you recorded that meeting and have filed a state complaint, because you are right the current system isn't working.

And just a note about Reading Recovery- it can help some kids. But it is terrible for dyslexic students.

I'm one of the above posters. My child was over a year behind in reading and I was told it was unlikely she would ever qualify for services at the school because there were so many kids even more behind. This was after I asked for a school-based evaluation, which they did. In our district, about 14% of kids are meeting or exceeding expectations in reading. My daughter's school is outperforming those stats with 30% of kids meeting or exceeding expectations.

Schools with higher percentages of kids who can't read or are very behind need more resources. The current triage system is not working.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why it posted like that above. When I double dose a kid on reading groups, I always use a regular F&P guided reading group (on a leveled book and or a strategy group) and then the second group, I use Orton Gillingham techniques. I, along with my entire K-3 team, are OG trained. We are quite literally doing every possible thing we can. And we know FOR SURE that our lowest kids aren't reading at home because parents come into conferences and TELL US SO. I'm not sure what the heck else I can do that is within my power. Yes, I refer kids as needed. But some things are NOT in my power.

I'm sure you are reading with your kid every single night and having them read to you and having them see you read for pleasure a lot. Most educated, not living in poverty parents, are doing that. It is also clear that you are in an area with questionable schools. I'm sorry about that. I can also hear that it is hard when your kid has dyslexia. I wish you the very best.

NP here. So, if i have a first grader who is resistant to reading to us, but we read to him between 2 and 5 books every night (depending on how tired he is), and we encourage him to read and write pretty frequently (but he's resistant), then what should we do? He has friends who are reading chapter books, and he can just barely read the level D books that get sent home. I don't think he had very good reading instruction in Kindergarten, but he definitely does in 1st grade (he's made more progress so far this year than he did in all of last year). We're in a very diverse (racially and socioeconomically) school. When I asked the teacher earlier in the year about if it was worth having him work with the reading specialist, she told me the reading specialist is for english learners and kids with disabilities and that my child is doing fine (but reading below grade level). I just read all this stuff on here and I don't know if I should be concerned like people on the boards say I should be, or if I should not worry because the teacher says "he's below grade level, but making progress, so that's great." We do work with him at home, but he also doesn't get home until 4:30 because our school has crappy hours and I like for him to have some downtime rather than rushing him straight into doing more school work.

I am sure the teacher is nice and trying hard and really believes your son is improving and is just one of her “low” kids. But there really aren’t any teachers or even reading specialists who are trained in spotting dyslexia. So please don’t wait until your child fails. If the level of effort your son is putting into reading isn’t matching his progress (and he is of average or above average intelligence) then you should have him screened.

Should I do this through the school or privately?

Personally I would do private if you can afford it. If you search the special needs board there are lots of posts about private evaluators and also requesting school screening.

If your child is a native English speaker has attended K and is in 1st graded at a level D that is NOT ok. A D is end of K level, so your child is 6 months behind. A 1st grader needs to get to a level J or an 18 by June so your child will need to grow by one + level every month. It is possible to grow that much in 6 months but I've only seen it done with Reading Recovery intervention, which is working with a student 1-1 for 20 weeks 30 min a day. It is a meaning based program and there is a written component which is closely related to their reading.

I would go ahead and get my child assessed. Yes you can go through the school and refer your own child and ask for a referral meeting or just ask for a meeting with a classroom teacher, reading specialist, administrator and tell them you are concerned about the MINIMAL growth of your child. They should come with data and show you how much growth your child has made in reading AND writing (both reading and writing in the lower grades are closely tied and can give you a lot of information). They should have beginning and mid year scores and samples and they should have samples from K, ask to see the PALS results and have them interpret the scores for you. Ask what the intervention plan is if your son is 6 months or below grade level. It should be meeting with a reading specialist at least 3x's a week for 30 min. Hopefully an additional reading group time during the day will strengthen your childs reading. It is not always a decoding issue it could be attention, vision any number of things. You can get a tutor who specializes in teaching primary age children how to read (it can be for 30 minutes after school). Maybe your school has Reading Recovery and your son can be selected. Some students struggle with reading and they may beed extra support through elementary school until they become fluent readers (level 28/30 or N/O)
Good luck. Reading is a COMPLEX process.

I am certified in Reading, special ed, ESL and general ed and have been teaching for more than 20 years in Title 1 schools. I'm surprised you were told that the reading teachers met with only ESL students, ummmm NO thats what the ESL teachers are for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why it posted like that above. When I double dose a kid on reading groups, I always use a regular F&P guided reading group (on a leveled book and or a strategy group) and then the second group, I use Orton Gillingham techniques. I, along with my entire K-3 team, are OG trained. We are quite literally doing every possible thing we can. And we know FOR SURE that our lowest kids aren't reading at home because parents come into conferences and TELL US SO. I'm not sure what the heck else I can do that is within my power. Yes, I refer kids as needed. But some things are NOT in my power.

I'm sure you are reading with your kid every single night and having them read to you and having them see you read for pleasure a lot. Most educated, not living in poverty parents, are doing that. It is also clear that you are in an area with questionable schools. I'm sorry about that. I can also hear that it is hard when your kid has dyslexia. I wish you the very best.

NP here. So, if i have a first grader who is resistant to reading to us, but we read to him between 2 and 5 books every night (depending on how tired he is), and we encourage him to read and write pretty frequently (but he's resistant), then what should we do? He has friends who are reading chapter books, and he can just barely read the level D books that get sent home. I don't think he had very good reading instruction in Kindergarten, but he definitely does in 1st grade (he's made more progress so far this year than he did in all of last year). We're in a very diverse (racially and socioeconomically) school. When I asked the teacher earlier in the year about if it was worth having him work with the reading specialist, she told me the reading specialist is for english learners and kids with disabilities and that my child is doing fine (but reading below grade level). I just read all this stuff on here and I don't know if I should be concerned like people on the boards say I should be, or if I should not worry because the teacher says "he's below grade level, but making progress, so that's great." We do work with him at home, but he also doesn't get home until 4:30 because our school has crappy hours and I like for him to have some downtime rather than rushing him straight into doing more school work.

I am sure the teacher is nice and trying hard and really believes your son is improving and is just one of her “low” kids. But there really aren’t any teachers or even reading specialists who are trained in spotting dyslexia. So please don’t wait until your child fails. If the level of effort your son is putting into reading isn’t matching his progress (and he is of average or above average intelligence) then you should have him screened.

Should I do this through the school or privately?

Personally I would do private if you can afford it. If you search the special needs board there are lots of posts about private evaluators and also requesting school screening.

Schools take awhile and private can have wait lists. You can try either. In the mean time, you can help by looking up some reading games online. Try replacing one/two of the books you read at night with games.

For example,
Here is the reading rockets guide for reading difficulties:

https://www.readingrockets.org/pdfs/Target_the_Problem.pdf

Reading rockets also has games you can play with your kid, but a simple google search for reading games can also help!

When my kids have issues (from school difficulties to illness) I google and see what I can do to help. My kid came home today and said "Long division is hard!", so I will google up some worksheets for her this weekend. Personally, I wish report card comments were abolished and replaced with a set of activities we can do at home. Kind of like when you go to Physical Therapy and get a set of exercises, but in the meantime play some games, get some apps on the iPad and pursue an evaluation if you think one is warranted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why it posted like that above. When I double dose a kid on reading groups, I always use a regular F&P guided reading group (on a leveled book and or a strategy group) and then the second group, I use Orton Gillingham techniques. I, along with my entire K-3 team, are OG trained. We are quite literally doing every possible thing we can. And we know FOR SURE that our lowest kids aren't reading at home because parents come into conferences and TELL US SO. I'm not sure what the heck else I can do that is within my power. Yes, I refer kids as needed. But some things are NOT in my power.

I'm sure you are reading with your kid every single night and having them read to you and having them see you read for pleasure a lot. Most educated, not living in poverty parents, are doing that. It is also clear that you are in an area with questionable schools. I'm sorry about that. I can also hear that it is hard when your kid has dyslexia. I wish you the very best.

NP here. So, if i have a first grader who is resistant to reading to us, but we read to him between 2 and 5 books every night (depending on how tired he is), and we encourage him to read and write pretty frequently (but he's resistant), then what should we do? He has friends who are reading chapter books, and he can just barely read the level D books that get sent home. I don't think he had very good reading instruction in Kindergarten, but he definitely does in 1st grade (he's made more progress so far this year than he did in all of last year). We're in a very diverse (racially and socioeconomically) school. When I asked the teacher earlier in the year about if it was worth having him work with the reading specialist, she told me the reading specialist is for english learners and kids with disabilities and that my child is doing fine (but reading below grade level). I just read all this stuff on here and I don't know if I should be concerned like people on the boards say I should be, or if I should not worry because the teacher says "he's below grade level, but making progress, so that's great." We do work with him at home, but he also doesn't get home until 4:30 because our school has crappy hours and I like for him to have some downtime rather than rushing him straight into doing more school work.

I am sure the teacher is nice and trying hard and really believes your son is improving and is just one of her “low” kids. But there really aren’t any teachers or even reading specialists who are trained in spotting dyslexia. So please don’t wait until your child fails. If the level of effort your son is putting into reading isn’t matching his progress (and he is of average or above average intelligence) then you should have him screened.

Should I do this through the school or privately?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Same issue at my school. Half of my class has folders that are never emptied. Nobody signs anything (report cards, progress reports, field trip slips, etc). Beyond frustrating. This is a parent issue.

So what can we do to help struggling parents? Because people generally love their kids and want them to succeed. Most parents won’t care if their kid isn’t on the Straight A Honor Roll or doesn’t get into a magnet, but I’ve never encountered a parent who wanted their child to be illiterate and face humiliation in school over being in the lowest reading group.

We do as much as we can at school but aside from abuse/neglect, these kids are stuck with their parents. Hell, my own mother comes into my school every week to read and practice sight words with my struggling students. Yes, it takes a village but parents are their child’s first and most important teacher. Part of your job as a parent is to support what goes on at school. I can’t imagine where I would be without my mom supporting my education.

But some parents really are doing all they can. They might be working multiple PT jobs to keep their housing or have serious educational deficits themselves. The part that makes me steam a bit over the it takes a village comments is that most often, if you are in crisis poverty, your whole villages is as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why it posted like that above. When I double dose a kid on reading groups, I always use a regular F&P guided reading group (on a leveled book and or a strategy group) and then the second group, I use Orton Gillingham techniques. I, along with my entire K-3 team, are OG trained. We are quite literally doing every possible thing we can. And we know FOR SURE that our lowest kids aren't reading at home because parents come into conferences and TELL US SO. I'm not sure what the heck else I can do that is within my power. Yes, I refer kids as needed. But some things are NOT in my power.

I'm sure you are reading with your kid every single night and having them read to you and having them see you read for pleasure a lot. Most educated, not living in poverty parents, are doing that. It is also clear that you are in an area with questionable schools. I'm sorry about that. I can also hear that it is hard when your kid has dyslexia. I wish you the very best.

NP here. So, if i have a first grader who is resistant to reading to us, but we read to him between 2 and 5 books every night (depending on how tired he is), and we encourage him to read and write pretty frequently (but he's resistant), then what should we do? He has friends who are reading chapter books, and he can just barely read the level D books that get sent home. I don't think he had very good reading instruction in Kindergarten, but he definitely does in 1st grade (he's made more progress so far this year than he did in all of last year). We're in a very diverse (racially and socioeconomically) school. When I asked the teacher earlier in the year about if it was worth having him work with the reading specialist, she told me the reading specialist is for english learners and kids with disabilities and that my child is doing fine (but reading below grade level). I just read all this stuff on here and I don't know if I should be concerned like people on the boards say I should be, or if I should not worry because the teacher says "he's below grade level, but making progress, so that's great." We do work with him at home, but he also doesn't get home until 4:30 because our school has crappy hours and I like for him to have some downtime rather than rushing him straight into doing more school work.

I am sure the teacher is nice and trying hard and really believes your son is improving and is just one of her “low” kids. But there really aren’t any teachers or even reading specialists who are trained in spotting dyslexia. So please don’t wait until your child fails. If the level of effort your son is putting into reading isn’t matching his progress (and he is of average or above average intelligence) then you should have him screened.

Anonymous wrote:I don't know why it posted like that above. When I double dose a kid on reading groups, I always use a regular F&P guided reading group (on a leveled book and or a strategy group) and then the second group, I use Orton Gillingham techniques. I, along with my entire K-3 team, are OG trained. We are quite literally doing every possible thing we can. And we know FOR SURE that our lowest kids aren't reading at home because parents come into conferences and TELL US SO. I'm not sure what the heck else I can do that is within my power. Yes, I refer kids as needed. But some things are NOT in my power.

I'm sure you are reading with your kid every single night and having them read to you and having them see you read for pleasure a lot. Most educated, not living in poverty parents, are doing that. It is also clear that you are in an area with questionable schools. I'm sorry about that. I can also hear that it is hard when your kid has dyslexia. I wish you the very best.

NP here. So, if i have a first grader who is resistant to reading to us, but we read to him between 2 and 5 books every night (depending on how tired he is), and we encourage him to read and write pretty frequently (but he's resistant), then what should we do? He has friends who are reading chapter books, and he can just barely read the level D books that get sent home. I don't think he had very good reading instruction in Kindergarten, but he definitely does in 1st grade (he's made more progress so far this year than he did in all of last year). We're in a very diverse (racially and socioeconomically) school. When I asked the teacher earlier in the year about if it was worth having him work with the reading specialist, she told me the reading specialist is for english learners and kids with disabilities and that my child is doing fine (but reading below grade level). I just read all this stuff on here and I don't know if I should be concerned like people on the boards say I should be, or if I should not worry because the teacher says "he's below grade level, but making progress, so that's great." We do work with him at home, but he also doesn't get home until 4:30 because our school has crappy hours and I like for him to have some downtime rather than rushing him straight into doing more school work.