YOUR CHILD’S CLASSROOM SCHEDULE SAYS A LOT!

Most parents don’t understand what a child’s classroom (or school) schedule can tell them. Have you ever asked to see yours? Do you understand what it means? Does your child have 2 schedules? – one for special education and one for regular?

Don’t freak out if you have no idea what I’m talking about. This is how we learn.

I had an email from a parent last week about taking a look at what’s happening in their child’s classroom. She knew she wasn’t happy, but not really sure what was wrong or what she could do to make things better. I asked her what her child did all day at school, and she wasn’t quite sure. She just knew that she didn’t see the benefit of even sending her son to school, other than to be babysat. In case you didn’t realize, school’s not babysitting, and if you are getting that feeling, it’s most definitely time to do something about it.

I told her to talk to the teacher and have her send the daily schedule, and this is what she sent:

7:50-8:00-Unpack and Prepare for Specials
8:00-8:30-Specials
8:30-9:00 Calendar Math
9:00-10:20-Centers
10:25-10:55-lunch
11:00-11:30-Recess
11:30-12:00 Whole Group
12:00-1:10 Centers
1:10-1:35-Snack
1:35-1:50 prepare for dismissal

When you look at this schedule, do you see a problem? Does it look good to you? Does it look familiar? – goodness, I hope not, but I am gonna assume that it does – sadly.  I’ll break it down here:

FYI: This is a “special” education classroom.

7:50-8:00 – Unpack and Prepare for Specials – I’ll give a little on this one. Maybe it takes 10 minutes to get the kids into the classroom and line up for Specials.

8:00-8:30 – Specials – I assume this is time for inclusive education for most of you. If your child isn’t being included for their “specials” (elementary school lingo), then ask why. If the answer is that there’s not enough support, then ask when that support will be put in place. That’s not an acceptable reason to not provide an inclusive music class.

8:30-9:00 – Calendar Math- By the time the kids get back into the room from Music, it’s likely to be 8:35 or 8:40 (esp if they are traveling across campus). Calendar Math is whole-group, in a setting where all kids are operating below grade level (or else they would be in regular ed). Calendar Math is acceptable for KG and 1^st grade, but beyond that, it should be “Math”. Kids in upper grades should definitely not continue to have the same “calendar math” as they had when they were in KG. It’s disrespectful, and why would it make a difference the thousandth time, if it didn’t help them before???

9:00-10:20 – Centers – This is where kids move about the room doing independent work with activities that they already know how to do. No instruction going on here, except maybe someone reminding them to get back on task. I consider this “non-instructional” time.

10:25-10:55 – Lunch – Would be great if this was a time of inclusion where kids sit with good social and language role models, but in nearly 100% instances, that’s not the case.

11:00-11:30 – Recess -Same as with lunch. Yes, oftentimes the kids are on the playground at the same time as typical peers, but there’s no one out there facilitating social interaction. The response most parents get when they ask for it is, “This is free time. If they want to run around and play in the sand, then that’s their free choice.” If you left my son to his own devices, he would have poured sand on top of his head and walked the perimeter, alone, every single day. But we knew better, and knew that he would need to have just as much instruction on his social skills on the playground as he needed in the classroom, if not more.

11:30-12:00 – Whole Group – If kids with disabilities learned in whole group, wouldn’t they learn in a regular classroom, where they at least get small group reading everyday? I’m not saying whole group is bad, but do we really think this is the setting for acquisition of new academic skills? Unlikely.

12:00-1:10 – Centers – Oh goodness, we’re back to centers again. Please refer to my comment on that up above.

1:10-1:35 – Snack – 25 minutes to eat a bag of chips that my son could inhale in 30 seconds? I don’t think so. I know tons of general education teachers who have their students take out their snack WHILE they are working on a classroom assignment. Because my son’s sensory needs were met fairly nicely by eating chewy foods, we integrated snack within his day… not at a designated time, and definitely not for 25 minutes.

1:35-1:50 – Prepare for dismissal – Does it really take 15 minutes to put your lunchbox in your backpack? If it takes kids this long, then perhaps they have a physical impairment and need extra adult support. Plus, school gets out at 2:00, so 1:50 to 2:00 is the walk to the front of the building – understandable.


WHAT CAN YOU DO?

If your child’s schedule looks like this, the MAJOR question is – WHEN IS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BEING TAUGHT TO READ, WRITE AND DO MATH? Inside regular classrooms, there is at least 90 minutes per day that is required by the state for literacy instruction, but somehow those same standards fall by the wayside for kids who are in “special” ed. I put quotation marks around “special” because in my head, if it’s “special”, it should be “special” – meaning above and beyond what is given in a regular classroom. If it’s not, then the student should be in regular ed.

If you’re fortunate enough that your child is doing well and making meaningful progress, FABULOUS! If they aren’t, asking for the schedule is one of the first things I’d suggest you do. Upon review of the schedule, it’s often easy to see why they aren’t making progress.

1. Ask for data on progress in reading, writing and math (assessments like the Diagnostic Assessment of Reading and Test of Mathematical Ability are a good way to do that)
2. If progress isn’t evident, ask for your child’s daily schedule. Not the classroom schedule, but the one for your particular child so you can see what they’re doing each day.
3. If needed, ask what curriculum is being used and during which time on the schedule it’s being given. Also ask who’s delivering it – should be an educator and not a paraprofessional.
4. Ask if it’s 1:1 or small group – you can ask the group size if you have concerns.
5. Share your concerns and desires for meaningful instruction.
6. Ask for data each 6 weeks until progress is noted.

This should set you up to a better second half of the school year!

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Happy Advocating,
Stacey