Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Silent Period Grigor is in my 4th grade classroom. He came to the US last year with his family from Bulgaria. He was in 4th grade at our school last year as well. He was retained in 4th grade because he did not develop his English language skills. I learned about a "silent period" that children go through when they learn a new language. My guess is that Grigor is in the silent period. But it does not make sense to me that he would be in the silent period for almost two years. He does not say anything in class. He does not socialize with his classmates either. He can read and write in simple English though. His parents tell me that he acts completely normal at home and he is able to communicate with English speaking people at home when they have guests. This is really puzzling. I have to find a way to communicate with Grigor and discover what is holding him back from communicating with people at school. I need some help. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I would start by having a conference with the parents, the child and a guidance counselor and see if there was anything specific that was happening that caused Grigor to be silent. Depending on how this meeting transpired, I would come up with my plan of action from there. If it is something about the environment you can control, change it, if it is something you are doing, make accommodations. If is is a problem with other children, determine how involved you need to get. If this conference does not prove to be productive, I would refer the child to a counselor or school psychologist. Is there something going on with this child that causes him to clam up in class? If so before he falls even further behind, he needs to be referred to the appropriate parties to determine what his problems are. Does the school have an international welcome center? And if so are their translators available who can reach out to him or his family in their native language? It would be prudent to include such a school provided translator at your parent conference, using someone from the school who is familiar with the language and culture of the student can perhaps give you valuable insights as to why the student is engaging in this behavior and what you can do to accommodate him and facilitate his learning.