Public school teachers have a big secret they cannot share with you.
A retired school teacher once told me teachers are not encouraged
to help or give ideas to children on how best to complete their
homework or move ahead. They are actually limited to what they are allowed to tell
you; as a general rule, teachers are told... 'if we don't already provide the
help, then don't talk about it.' This goes for children both on
and off IEPs. The law states if a child is on an IEP and the teacher or
staff states that a child needs an extra two hours of help a night (or any other extra help),
then the school system must provide that help at no cost to the parent.
So, to be safe, all teachers are told not to offer or suggest any ideas
that are not already being provided by the school system.
It's very sad when you think about it. If your child is
having problems completing their work, keeping up, their teacher might know exactly
what would help and what you could use at home, but they are not
allowed to tell you about it. There are so many children that could
benefit from just a little extra advice from the teacher to help
them catch up, but the teacher's lips are sealed.
So, how can parents overcome this problem? They can start by talking to other parents that are in the same boat.
Parents can also directly ask the teacher... 'Do you
know of any other families that have dealt with the same thing that my
child is going through and were able to find ways to overcome it? Do you
think you can pass my name on to them so I can talk to them and find
out ways to help my child?'
As Red Green says, "We are all in this together, and I'm pulling for you."
As a mother to a dyslexic from the other side of the world, I find this suggestion really helpful. Parents of children with dyslexia have to exchange notes outside the school area. The teachers don't have to know what notes we are exchanging with each other because they have their own secrets. I am not sure if teachers in my country have the same problem 'being told not to talk about certain things that can be really helpful for our children' but then I am sure that they might not even have a clue of how to actually help.
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