Dear Editor:
It takes a mother a while to figure out just what is going on when her child is having difficulties at school.
In my generation, my very bright, quirky and sometimes charming son would have been considered disobedient — a problem.
Having a child with a special need has given me the opportunity to get closer to the inner workings of our elementary school. We have had regular meetings with the school special needs coordinator and a host of professionals who take various roles in helping all the Giant’s Head children get the attention they need. Such wisdom around one table.
Teachers, aides, a speech-language specialist, a psychologist, two anxious parents...
The conversation is about the progress our child is making with the approaches and aid materials that were last suggested for him, and adjusting those learning goals for the next time period.
The degree of expertise school professionals have to have, to be able to present learning opportunities for our children is unprecedented.
Still, from the time our son began in Kindergarten to his present class in Grade 4, the budget for his assistance and the window that allowed him access to it, have shrunk to near nothing. His aide time is cobbled together in little bits, to help him merely cope with the demands of the day. When I finally gave in and went to class to watch it unfold, I saw how hard it was for him, for his teacher and for the other students. I have seen him devolve from a gregarious, active and wilful child into a scattered and exhausted shell.
I am now attending Grade 4. I sit at the back of the class and do what of my own work I can on laptop, stepping in to assist when I see my boy flounder. From where I sit, I see a warm and personable teacher who engages a large classroom of diverse needs. I see kids who ace the school curriculum, kids with home background noise, kids who read slowly, who struggle over numbers, who have allergies or can’t run, who are shy. I see a collection of individuals — every one of which needs to be known well enough to help them get their needs met.
I believe our teachers are gifted professionals working under increasingly restrictive conditions. Our class sizes are too large.
The level of Educational Assistant time must be increased.
My son is one of a large number of children living lives of desperation in the classrooms in B.C. for want of more focussed attention. Money spent while kids are in grade school is an investment that pays off as they grow, resulting in adults who are capable, optimistic contributors. I envision this for my son, even now as he sits reading a comic at his desk, instead of geometry. We are not sure how we will support our family if we decide we have to — for his survival’s sake — take him out of school and become his teachers.
We should not have to be facing this question.
Linnea Good
Summerland