September 4, 2007 2:07 PM
School daze / Back to blogging
Here's now my morning looked at 7:09 AM:
It's 2:07 now and I've made some progress toward catching up - but somehow it's never as much as I planned. I know you know the feeling :)
I started writing this one morning last week and never finished:
These are busy days for me - too busy living to write about it - as the Curtis kids have all been home from camps/activities for almost two weeks. I really don't like to get on the computer more than I have to when they're home.Right now they are still asleep. The irony is that just when they finally get used to sleeping in, it becomes time to go back to school - September 4 for Loudoun County.
This year I will have six kids in five different schools. Justin is going to our local Waterford Elementary School in FULL inclusion as a kindergartener. I fought hard for this. And went back to the table to insist that he have a normal kindergarten day with no pull-outs at all. To meet his special needs, he will stay for the afternoon kindergarten class as well and receive all his special services after lunch. I am VERY grateful for that.
He will probably be under close scrutiny as he is the first MR (mentally retarded) student in the school. They've fended some off before - including Justin last year - by saying they don't have the facilities the larger schools have. Some of my other special needs kids may need "facilities" but Justin needs INCLUSION. He is a bright shining star though and I am sure he will prove himself. I think he was seriously held back last year because the verbal promises to pursue inclusion for him at his former school were not kept - and I had been so trusting that they were not actually written into his IEP. Although I've been dealing with public schools and - now - four special needs kids for 12 years, first in California and now in Virginia, I have to say that 2006-7 was the school year of most change for me.
I was pushed into action by a teacher and school nurse who harassed me beyond endurance last year - causing me to take my three boys with Down syndrome out of their elementary school last year for a week as I contemplated homeschooling them. But that wasn't workable - not with three and not with two of those three having other issues (autistic behaviors) to deal with. Some of you may remember that explosion last spring.
But it all turned out for the best as I decided then and there that advocating effectively for my children was way more important than my popularity with the school system. I became a much fiercer advocate - and that is probably why Justin's world looks so much brighter today. Had I not been energized by the conflict last year, I might have gone along with the public school program - which for him at least meant more ghetto-ization than necessary.
I didn't feel Jesse was ready to be promoted to middle school, that he could have benefited from another year at his elementary school - especially because they had failed to integrate him properly with the 5th graders at his old school. Although he was technically in 5th grade, they had included him (somewhat) in a 4th grade classroom where the teacher was "a good fit." Thus my surprise when they announced in March he would be going into 6th grade the following year at a new school.
Where was the peer support?
The answer was that it was not there as it should have been. But in the end I opted for his promotion just to get both of us a fresh start with a new teacher.
That will leave only Daniel at the old school where I no longer enjoy the good relationships I had for four years before the conflicts with the new teacher and school nurse last year. But you can bet I will be monitoring Daniel's situation closely and making sure he is included more effectively than he has been in the past.
The kids getting up last week interrupted that train of thought - and things quickly became a blur of visiting classrooms, meeting new teachers, getting everyone situated with buses and backpacks, and stocking up on school supplies. Working hard to memorize all the new names and faces of teachers and therapists. Talking to the kids about the new changes. Then the weekend roared in and Samantha and Kip and the grandkids were here to celebrate absolutely perfect weather and having fun together.
Today was the first day of school. Everyone was dressed, fed, backpacks and lunches packed and off by 8:00 - except Justin, whose over-the-hill mom thought she had memorized the bus schedule - "thought" being the operative word. My time was off by ten minutes, so he missed his bus and I had to drive him down the hill to his school. Otherwise, I would have done a perfect job.
I'm invariably reminded that I still have a ways to go.
But, oh, I am so excited for each of the kids! We prayed together last night and I am committed - as I said - to taking a much more proactive approach to make sure that no one holds them back because of old outdated ideas about how much inclusion is appropriate.
In the meantime, I am also very excited about catching up with my writing - although completely intimidated as one mailbox has 92 messages in it and my business mail has 8. Don't let that stop you from writing, though. I answer every email and gather a lot of posting material from your questions and ideas - which is always helpful to more than just the one person who writes me - so I am always grateful.
It's just that it might take me a couple weeks to catch up.
I have three days to write this week. Friday I leave for Augusta, Maine to speak at a pro-life awards banquet there - just spending one night, so Tripp can cover for me. But I can't ask him to answer my email :)
You can see that I've been hard at work this morning as I have finally posted some things at MommyLife and even at The MizReport. Starting my political blog during the summer might not have been such a great idea, as I just didn't have the time to build the momentum a new blog needs. But now with the school year here - plus elections coming up (whether we're happy or not about being inundated with early campaigning) - I will be able to really discuss everything that's been whirling around in my head.
No book contracts for me right now. I'd rather be blogging - especially as long as there are people reading me. And I guess people are reading, as my stats for August registered 3874 visits per day. That's a lot of people reading - and the reason why I am more into blogging than writing books. It's just more immediate and way more satisfying.
And it's already 2:30 and time for the buses to start rolling past our driveway. I am still in my exercise clothes from walking after the kids left, then cleaning up the kitchen and loading laundry before sitting down at the computer.
My how time flies when I'm blogging. All summer, I've had so many things I've wanted to write about, but little time to catch them on the keyboard, so my heart is singing today.
I will be back tomorrow with more news and thoughts as I plow through my Inbox. I am grateful for my readers as you have helped me grow and given me a chance to feel more connected, more real. So many people want to write books, but writing books is very lonely.
I say, Hooray for blogging! And thanks so much for stopping by!
Posted in Blogging | Permalink
Comments
Barb,
Is there a permanent link to your political blog somewhere on this site? If there is I didn't find it. I will save the link from this post, as I searched and searched a while back for the last post it was in but didn't find it. I'm just thinking you need a "button" for it or something. I'm not up on computer lingo, so that may not be the right word.
Always enjoy reading your writing, Shelley
Posted by: Shelley | September 5, 2007 9:22 AM
Barbara,
I've been on the side of the table you have been on. Not as a parent but as a CM and advocate. Some IEPs took hours. Sometimes people just wanted to hurry through them. Not so fast mister! He will probably be under close scrutiny as he is the first MR (mentally retarded) student in the school.nted to hurry through them. Not so fast mister! Really? Is this school new? ....to taking a much more proactive approach to make sure that no one holds them back because of old outdated ideas about how much inclusion is appropriate. Attagirl!
You're an amazing mother!
Shannon
Posted by: Shannon Best | September 5, 2007 9:30 AM
I love reading your blog, Barbara, and have benefited from it in so many ways. Thanks for putting all the time into it that you do.
Posted by: Valerie@Consider It Done | September 5, 2007 2:19 PM
