William got a GREAT teacher for 3rd grade. Then we went to see who was going to be in his class. And I saw a name and my heart sank, a boy who William befriended last year who ended up trying to turn all of Will's friends against him so that this boy would be William's only friend. We found out on Friday who was going to be in his class and it just wasn't sitting well with me. So Monday I called to see about changing teachers, I was told that I had to write a letter to the principal and he would have to decide, but the secretary said, "You know school starts tomorrow and the teachers already have seats assigned and their classrooms set up." I told her I would bring the letter over ASAP. I did. About 5:00 on Monday night they called and said they could move him to a new teacher who is out in one of the relocatables. Really?? This didn't sit very well with me either, but we moved him to the new teacher.
Monday was also Matthew's first day at his new pre-school. I thought it would be a breeze, he met the teacher and liked her, he did 2 years of the other pre-school it shouldn't have been a big deal. It was. He started crying the second we walked into the class. Even when his cousin and one of his friends came he didn't calm down, he had a death grip on me and didn't want me to leave. Miss Kelly* had to take him and hold him. I guess he cried for about 5 minutes and then was totally fine.
I didn't sleep well on Monday night, I was a nervous wreak, I even called my sister-in-law who works at the charter school to see if she could help us get William enrolled. I put him in the lottery last year and he was wait-listed.
Tuesday morning I felt sick. I tried to keep a happy face for William, and then while he was eating breakfast, I threw up and I thought, "Okay now that's over I will be okay." Nope, I threw up again and felt weak. Andy got home from working a graveyard shift and he volunteered to take Will, I let him even though I REALLY wanted to check out his teacher. Andy came home and said that she (the teacher) reminded him of one of our sweet neighbors, and that when he walked in with William about 4 kids said hi to him. I started to breathe a bit easier. He came home from school and said he liked his teacher and a kid that he used to play with sometimes at recess is in his class. Then he showed me his homework, it was to write to 100, which he did in about 1 minute and I made him do more math facts, because seriously, count to 100? He learned that in 1st grade. I will have to stay on top of him with extra math. I went to back to school night and met his teacher, she is really nice and has been teaching for 20 years, so either she is really going to be great, or she is just biding her time til she retires. Fingers crossed for the first one....
Thursday I got a call from the speech therapist at Will's school because that is where I will take Matthew for speech and adaptive p.e. She left a message so I called her back, the secretary just sent me back to the room where the speech therapist works, Ms. Somebody answered, I assumed it was Ms. Speech and went into who I was, she then said, "No, you want Ms. Speech, she was trying to get ahold of you to figure out how she can do speech with Matthew when he isn't even coming to Kindergarten, but I'm glad you called, because I have some questions." I said, "well she just called me today and I was calling her back." Ms. Somebody says, "She isn't here, and she goes to her other school tomorrow so its just going to have wait til Monday, and you know Kindergarten starts on Monday, I'm sure she wanted to have something set up with you so that she can get things figured out with the kids that will actually be attending Kindergarten. I wanted to ask you if you're going to bring him in for his other services, he needs fine motor skills and adaptive p.e. I just want to know how you want to do it since we won't be able to pull him out of class to do it?" After I picked my jaw up off the floor I said, "You tell me when he needs to be there and I will have him there, he is going to pre-school, but I'm sure we can make something work." She was really rude and said that she would have Ms. Speech call me and then she would call me as well when she can find his IEP and we can make arrangements.
All I could think was, this is YOUR job lady, you figure out when you are doing things and if it doesn't work for me then I will have to make some adjustments. I felt like she has never had to deal with a child receiving services that doesn't actually attend school when I know that isn't the case. I also felt like she was telling me that by not sending him to Kindergarten he shouldn't get the therapy he needs.
This all got me thinking that maybe I should consider homeschooling my children. I told someone that is really "old school" in her thoughts and she said, "all the kids I know who were homeschooled are weird and seem to have problems." I told her that things have changed since she raised her children and sent them to school, there are a lot more resources and materials out there that are available to homeschool your kids. She told me to really think hard about it. Really? No, I'm just going to pull William out of school tomorrow and start homeschooling.... Geez!! Then she decided to send me an email and said some things that made me mad so I responded and we went back and forth basically fighting through email, which I should know better, we talked and worked it out. But still, stupid drama really does give me a headache!!!
I will post back to school pics as soon as they are loaded onto the computer. Today Andrew put Matthew's backpack on and went and stood by the door, William asked him if he was going to school and we swear he smiled and said, "Yeah."
4 comments:
I have no advice on how to deal with the educrats. There really isn't a time tested method that actually works, because they think you're 'just the mom' and they know more about your child(ren) than you do. You won't ever change that, no matter how long or how hard you fight. And you'll become known as 'that parent'. And they still won't do what needs to be done for your sons. Because they know best. Even though you would never make a decision based on ANYTHING other than what's best for your child, they know better. No, really. They do. They're trained professionals.
As for homeschooling, there are a million reasons it was a good fit for our family. Not everyone ends up loving it, not everyone should even try it.
But those who want to try should be encouraged and supported. It's a viable way of educating children.
As for weird or not well adjusted? Yeah. You never see THAT in public school.
Go click on homeschooling on my blog sidebar for info if you're interested. Or email me. Or search Google.
And let me tell you. When it comes to YOUR children, you sure as hell DO know best.
Amen.
If you are seriously considering it...www.k12.com, go to the public on-line school link and then look at Washington School District in UT.
I am here for you, you know that!
Whatever you do for your kids...public school/home school...it is going to be hard. That is all there is to it. You just need to decide what is going to be best for your family.
Good Luck! I love ya!
Ugh! I hate drama, too!! And especially where it comes to schools!
I know you'll figure out what is right for your family regarding public vs homeschooling. I know this, Ami is one of the best resources you can have as far as homeschooling. Or at least she was when we met umpteen years ago, and she helped me find my way through the maze. I highly recommend taking her up on her offer of help, if you are seriously going to look into it.
I hope this week is less dramatic for you. :::hugs:::
Blah!! Hate the drama but unfortunately, it's everywhere.
We half home school and half public school. The best of both worlds? Yeah sometimes. Sometimes not so much.
But, like Judy said, Ami is the one to talk to. She's home schooled PLUS she works with children at a public school. She would give you honest, down to earth advice. And, she wouldn't judge you--no matter what you decide.
You are doing a great job, momma! Hang in there!
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