Today we had a meeting at Jack's school to discuss putting a 504 plan in place. The meeting went very well I think. It was the principal (she is never in our meetings, it's usually the vp whom I don't particularly care for but am learning to deal with - but the VP wasn't there this time for some reason) the counselor (she is wonderful!) and Jack's teacher (also wonderful!) So we meet, discuss some issues. The teacher started implementing a plan of having only one math problem viewable at a time (she covers the rest of the problems up) and she has seen tremendous improvement with this already! She gave Jack the first part of a test before our last meeting and he scored a 36 on it - out of 100! Then she gave the second part of the same test after we had our meeting and she covered up the problems so he could only see one problem at a time and he scored a 75 - again, out of 100! HUGE improvement! He brought his report card home yesterday and it's all A's with one B and that B is in his advanced math class. If he was in regular math, he would be straight A's - so to see him score 36 on a test, well, something's just not right.
Anyway, the plan we came up with for Jack is this.
They will cover his work so that only one problem is showing at a time on the paper. He gets too overwhelmed/distracted with all the problems on the page and he rushes so hopefully this will help - which she has been doing for the past week or so anyway and she is seeing a big improvement.
He will get "movement time" to get up and move around after 30-45 minutes of sitting. Which she said she pretty much does already with Jack and that in 2nd grade, they aren't really ever sitting that long anyway, but it will help him when he gets into older grades and they expect them to sit still longer.
And they are going to offer him a piece of velcro that he can put on the inside of his desk or underneath - anywhere that he thinks is best - and he can "fidget" with it while he's sitting there. Something to help with sensory issues - I've never seen any sensory issues with him but he does have a hard time staying still and likes to fidget, so hopefully this will help him. This was the principal's idea - she said she used to do that for some of her students when she was a teacher. The reason that it's velcro under his desk is that she said that she didn't want Jack to feel embarrassed by having something like that and that as kids get older they worry about what their peers think and she doesn't want him singled out. This will just be something for him that no one needs to know about but might help him to have something to do with his hands.
All in all - I liked it. I think the school is doing an excellent job in trying to work what's best for Jack. This is all extra stuff that they have to do and I like that they are willing to go the extra mile for him.
We will meet annually for the 504 to make necessary adjustments - or anytime they or we feel the need. We will meet sometime mid-year next year to discuss if everything is working and getting ready for the state standardized testing to make sure Jack is on track. They really impressed upon having this done before he got to 3rd grade and the testing starts. Even though he is an A-B student and very bright - they are worried about his testing. He rushes through and doesn't pay enough attention. I'm hoping this 504 will help him with that.
He already is doing so much better with his math, and the teacher and counselor both said that his attitude is so much more upbeat - even though he's a happy kid anyway, they said he appears more confident this past week. He even comes home telling me that he's doing so well in math - he is clearly proud. And that makes me happy. He's so sweet, funny and SO SMART - I don't want his confidence shaken because of this.
So - that was our meeting. I will keep you all posted on the results over time. Thanks for your support!
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