No Change Even w/Sylvan

[1xmom]

My friend has a child who fell behind last year so they got her in Sylvan and she did that at the end of the school year as well as over the summer. Well when she got tested at Sylvan before school started, they said she was at just at her level, but when she got tested at school, they said she is still on a Kindergarten level. She should be in the 2nd grade. They don't know what to do know. It's like, a ton of money has been wasted for nothing. Any suggestions on what to do now? They don't know if maybe she has a learning disability or not.

[chel]

I have a friend that was a teacher and now does some tutoring. Even good tutors can have dc that don't "improve". The school told the family that this "tutor" was the dc best chance. Half way through the summer my friend had to tell one family that unless they work everyday with the dc, the child was going to be held back. The family wouldn't, and "tutor" told them to stop wasting their money as no matter what she did it wouldn't be enough.
LD is something to look into. My dsd had a really hard time in school. No one seemed to help (both small public school and very tiny private school). She entered 6th grade reading at a 2nd grade level. It seemed that her progress stopped at 2nd grade. She had failed 3rd grade twice. I'm not sure how it happened, but she had some one-on-one classes in middle school and ended up reading at her normal level.

[mammastar2]

Some ideas to keep in mind -

- from what I understand of Sylvan and other similar centres, they basically have a signature method that they use with all kids. This wouldn't take account of the fact that children have various learning styles, and that the method would not necessarily be effective for all of them. Maybe your friend can do some reading or research about different learning styles and figure out what is likely to reach her daughter best?

- what are the differences between the testing conditions at Sylvan and at the school? Maybe your friend's daughter just doesn't 'test' well under whatever the conditions at the school are - lots of people don't test well, period, but maybe she was comfortable at Sylvan and not at the school

- testing for learning disability is an idea, but also keep in mind that grade-level notions about reading ability overlook that this is a skill that everyone acquires at different rates. Some kids become fluent readers at 4, some at 9 or 10. My daughter walked at 22 months, despite having no disabilities and (I'd say) her parents not doing anything odd or wrong. Yet with reading, we figure that all kids these days should progress in lock-step and acquire it at the same speed. That's unrealistic in my view. I'd suggest your friend take a look at her own gut about how her daughter is doing, and see if she just feels like she's learning at her own speed or if there's a problem.

I certainly wouldn't rule out a disability, and more information can always be helpful, but I think we do kids a disservice if we automatically assume they should all learn the same things at the same speed in the same way.

[writermommy]

My dd's school was thinking of holding her back at the end of last year. Reading was the reason. I thought about Sylvan, but had heard some negative things. One thing the school guidance counselor told me was that their tests are set up to score lower going in and higher going out. Something about the testing methods being manipulated to show greater improvement. This could explain the difference between their test and the schools.

In the end, I sent dd to a summer reading enrichment program and worked with her at home. (I used to teach first grade) I agree with pp, all children learn at their own pace and own unique style. My daughter was tested again today. Not real scientific, the teacher handed her the 2nd grade reading book and dd read the first six stories and missed only one word. The teacher was amazed; dd tested at first grade first month at the end of the year.

I would suggest a private tutor who will work with the child, according to her learning style. For example, my dd has trouble with phonics, so we worked on other strategies when she came to a tough word.

[UlrikeDG]

When I mentioned this fisk to my mom (a first grade teacher), she said that Sylvan isn't very well respected by teachers, either. I mean, wow! a year's progress after a year of tutoring?

What subject(s) is the child behind in? For reading, the single best thing a parent can do is read interesting books to their child. There's lots of good information & research in The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease.

[jannan]

2nd grade and at a kindergarten level? i'd say an iep is in order.............

[1xmom]

2nd grade and at a kindergarten level? i'd say an iep is in order.............

I thought the same thing, but wasn't sure b/c my dd is just started public school and I'm not sure of the ends and outs. It's funny b/c my dd I had evaluated for speech and she started her IEP last year before she started K. They haven't even mentioned an IEP and they recommended Sylvan.