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 I have had the battle with the school to get appropriate services for my son with dyslexia and ADD, without much luck.  I have done lots of research on both topics and also have my teaching degree in elem ed and a masters degree in special education.  I'm planning on starting a school held within my home this fall.  It is called "Empower Me" A Multisensory Learning Academy  Dedicated to Empowering Children with Learning Differences.  I'm looking to get the word out to any parents experiencing the same sort of struggles our family is, as well as get any opinions, comments, ideas from all of you as to what you'd look for in this type of environment.  You can take a peek at what I've got so far at:

www.EmpowerMeSchoolLearningDisabilities.com

I appreciate any feedback I can get......thank you

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Parent Replies to "Would love feed back on new school idea"

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michellea
michellea March 18, 2008
Re: Would love feed back on new school idea
I haven't time to look deeply at your website, but I will. Here is a link to a small school in NH that seems to have a similar mission www.learning2learn.com/index.htm . It's often helpful to get ideas from similar instituitions.

($900 a month is quite low by New England Standards. Be sure that you have a well crafted business plan and have accounted for all of your expenses. Don't forget insurance)
Snowflake
Snowflake March 17, 2008
Re: Would love feed back on new school idea
I think it's a nice site with a great idea. I'm wondering if the description could be more specific. I understand the meaning, but some people might be confused by it:

"We will lessen the learning gap that may have developed over previous years so that your student can be reintroduced into their regular school by approximately grade 6 or 7 with a greater self esteem, adequate strategies for handling their disability, and a better academic level"

I think to be more PC, "self-esteem" is more often used as a psychological term, while the term " greater confidence" may be better understood as necessary for achievement; Also, "achievement gap" is heard more than "learning gap". I think phrasing can be important when it is the only chance people have to understand what you're about.

Also, I think it is important to distinguish how you'd teach dyslexics from other SLD's because they are different and can require different methods, although in general I also feel spatial and mutisensory is a great way to go with everybody. I've made the mistake, for example, of referring to dyslexia as SLD because that is how we are required to describe it in schools, but it leaves out the kids who have other specific issues with their own sets of needs.
As far as reading on video- I know it's often traumatic for dyslexics to read out loud, so I don't know how they'd feel about recording themselves, even if no one else was watching.
Anyway, good luck with it. We need more schools like that!
rogomom2
rogomom2 March 17, 2008
Re: Would love feed back on new school idea
I just have a few thoughts. I was involved in the startup of a school, so I know it can be challenging. First of all, in case you haven't already looked into it, you'll need to make sure you don't need any particular zoning, licensing or insurance to do this in your home. Since you only plan to have a few students, it may be less than the number required to worry about such things, but I thought I would mention it. Secondly, I'm wondering if your area has homeschool groups that do things such as form sports teams etc. It may be helpful if you were affiliated with one of those groups to give the kids some of the social aspects they may miss in a regular school. Finally, maybe you can add links for all the curriculum elements (if the links exist). I'm familiar with most of those programs now since I've been reading about this stuff for awhile now, but I would have been clueless about OG, Touch Math etc. a couple of years ago. I am not familiar with Dibel though. That's a new one to me. Anyway, I think everything looks really good. Good luck with your endeavor.
aimeek
aimeek March 17, 2008
Re: Would love feed back on new school idea
More great info, I really appreciate it!!!
healthy11
healthy11 March 17, 2008
Re: Would love feed back on new school idea
I just looked around a bit more, and since my child has ADHD/dyslexia/dysgraphia, I'm kind-of curious what you plan to use for writing curriculum? (I know lots of people like Handwriting without Tears, though I personally haven't used it.) The link to curriculum doesn't list anything.
It also might be helpful to just give people the link to brightsolutions, instead of saying they can look there for more info...
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Any contributed content above is the subjective opinion of that member or external author, and not of GreatSchools. GreatSchools does not check for accuracy in community posts or verify the contributor’s identity. If you are searching for health-related advice we strongly suggest you seek professional medical support. View our Community Guidelines for more details.

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