A crystal ball would be nice sometimes.
Just got off the phone with the head of education at the yishuv where we're planning on moving next year. The educational system there is generally considered excellent and I've definitely had better luck talking to human beings in charge, as opposed to people who take your form and never call you back.
However. It appears that there are two options for Iyyar next year: a full-on special ed environment, and a class of 30-35 kids with almost no support.
His ganenet wants him to have a shadow and a resource teacher. In Yishuv X at least there is no such thing; shadows are only for kids with physical problems. So far as a resource teacher, max one or two hours a week. The only other option is the "small class" which is for kids with attention/learning/emotional issues. Which yes, he does have. But he is functioning in gan and his ganenet, whom I trust, feels very strongly that he will have a harder time in a class with kids with emotional/behavioral problems than in a class with "regular" kids. Peer group is important, she says. Role modeling is important. If you put him in a kita katana with eight kids and two of them are hitting and two of them are bouncing off the walls, that's what he'll see as acceptable behavior. Which is probably true. Although he may just see it as acceptable behavior for that environment--he's pretty good at picking up what's OK to do where.
I don't know. I say that a lot lately, don't I?
4 comments:
So hard. Especially not really knowing the system--can\should you advocate, or is this just reality and there isn't anything anyone can do about it? Is there the option of temporarily going off the yishuv (my sister's son is in a different district then his yishuv, because they didn't offer what he needed)?
(You are not posting into the ether, I am a stranger (I think!) following along and rooting for you guys!)
How long per day would he spend in that classroom? At his age, is it a full day or a half day? I'm thinking that if it's not a full day, after being in the kita katana if he can be in another environment, like a daycare or similar, then he would still get socialization with "normal" kids to model on. (I don't even know if such a thing exists, of course, I'm just tossing out ideas.)
How frustrating!
Maybe Chayary is right in that he can be in a different district? I realize this probably leads to more transportation nightmares but perhaps it's possible.
Hugs,
Jasmin
As a mother who's been there (well in America) I say small class all the way. I had the same fears you did, but the small classes are much better run. I can't state this strongly enough.
Your mileage may vary.
Is there a way you can observe (part of) a typical day at a kita katana before you decide? "Anonymous" has a point. Maybe it's not as chaotic as you/we think it may be.
~ Jasmin
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