Exclusion from Public School and IEP

My son is officially "excluded" from attending public school. They offered easing him out and having him go part time, but I declined. (This was the middle school, the district approved his exclusion 100%)


So, I was told to come in and sign some paper work and sign a refusal of IEP services. We had to walk around and have the teachers sign him out, make sure he didn't owe for books, etc. Well 75% of the teachers were in an assembly, so we got as many signatures as possible. One teacher gave him a packet to take home and work on and he could turn it in to get a "C" instead of an "I". I didn't really know why that would matter since I'm home-schooling him now. We turned in the paper and I was asked to sign the refusal of IEP services. I was told that if I wanted to, he could go to school JUST for his "special" classes. Well that is math where he has his LD and it's only on "A" days 4th period. So that would be Monday, Wednesday, Friday at about 1:00 PM. For some reason I said, Sure we can try that. Don't know if I'm crazy, but I thought, maybe this would be a good transition for him. ?? I'll have to take him on those days and then the bus will bring him home. Hopefully I can drop him off right after I take his sister to Kindergarten.
I also thought this would be good, because he won't lose his IEP and everything that goes along with it. So I won't have to worry about getting it re-instated down the road. It took a LONG time to get this one in place. I hope that this will be good for him. We'll see.

All I want for Christmas....

I was thinking of doing this earlier in the month, but never got around to it. So here goes......

My Christmas Wish List

• *
• A maid
• Cute Hair
• Flat Stomach
• A Nanny/Live in Tutor
• Less Stress/More Money
• Better insurance
• Children who clean up after themselves
• A dog that potties outside EVERY time
• A Child who doesn't think I'm mean and unfair
• A vehicle that doesn't need to go to the shop every 6-9 months
• The End

So that kind of ended up looking like a Christmas tree. Cool huh? It kind of just happened as I typed, so then I tweaked it a bit more.

What I REALLY asked for:

1. Yoga Mat
2. Wii Fit Plus
3. Wii points to download more songs for Beatles Rock Band
4. New Blender
5. New Jammies

I hope you get all you asked for this year.

Merry Christmas!

Please excuse my absence

Wow, I've been busy in productive ways! What a feeling! Usually I'm "busy" checking e-mail, facebook, etc. Now that I've made the decision to homeschool my son, I've been busy being a better mother and housewife. Who knew? 

I guess I want to be a good example to my son. I also have to keep an eye on him and keep him busy, so that doesn't leave me much time to myself. Although I am giving him some early Christmas vacation/time off from "school". That doesn't mean he gets to play video games all day. No-sir-ee. I've been teaching him to do laundry and we've been working on organizing his room. We went to the library the other day and I let him pick out some books. I also picked out a book for us to read together and some educational dvds for when "school" starts back up for him.

He's been having trouble sleeping the last 2 weeks or so. Sometimes my heart just breaks for him. This morning he was yelling out in his sleep, having a crazy nightmare. I'm not sure how to help him with that. I've been enjoying spending time with him.  I'm trying to find learning experiences in everything we do in our daily lives. There is hope for the future and there is peace in my heart.

The teacher within

I have mentioned before that my 12 year old son struggles with ADHD/LD,Anxiety and depression. He has struggled off and on in school. He's had some great teachers and some real crappy teachers. He is very smart and we are often surprised at the interesting facts he tells us. He has been having a hard time adjusting to middle school. He's pretty much failing all his classes. His teachers make him feel bad for asking questions or asking for help. Kids tease him and pick on him and he feels stupid. He has a hard time getting up and getting ready for school. It's a constant struggle as I remind him every 10 minutes to wake up and keep moving. (He'll eat, then fall asleep in the bathrroom, maybe get dressed, then fall asleep in my room or his room) Once or twice he's missed the bus.

I was reading some friend's blogs the other night and came accross one that talked about homeschooling. I had actually considered this at one time, but felt I didn't have what it takes to be a teacher, especially to a "special needs" child. And yet, something clicked when I came upon her blog. It felt so right to look into homeschooling my son. I'm still researching it all, but we are on our way.  When he missed the bus yesterday, I thought "How on earth am I supposed to drive 30 minutes into town on icy/snowy roads in our van?"  "What if I get stuck, what if we get in an accident?" My girls weren't awake yet, so I'd have to get them up and ready and take him late. I know it might sound like poor planning on my part. Or maybe you think I'm irresponsible? But I didn't feel good about taking him. It was the last straw and I had had enough. (Sometimes his bus doesn't even wait for him and will leave a few minutes early than scheduled)

So yesterday I just had him do some studying. I had him look up things online while I researched homeschooling and where to begin. This morning I let him sleep in till 8:30. What a difference! It still took a couple tries to wake him up, but he woke up HAPPY! He got up without arguing, he actually seemed ready for the day! I had him eat breakfast and got him started on some educational games. He's done some science, problem solving and world history. Then I had him take a 15 minute break and made him some hot chocolate. Then it was reading time. (Literature Arts books that we acquired somehow) Then back to educational games. He is eating it all up! It's amazing. He was even reading to his little sister. I haven't seen him so happy and willing to learn in a long time. Now, I'm just winging it to start out, but I think this is a great start!
I am studying different curriculums and will hopefully have a set plan for next week.

I would love to hear from other home school moms! I do not however want to hear from those against homeschooling.
By the way, my 2 daughters are doing wonderfully in school and I will be keeping them in school for now. My son needs the one on one attention, and I need to get my footing. Who knows what next year will bring though. 

I might get my basement office finished for Christmas. It's been a work in progress, doing little things at a time, with a little bit of money at a time. I'm thinking my "old" office will probably become a classroom of sorts, and I'm all kinds of excited about the possibilites.

Post It Note Tuesday #4?

Monday Mingle #2

Please excuse my dorkiness.....  5 facts and 5 questions.

Now where did I put that?

I'm sure you can all relate to misplacing things. Maybe you walk into a room and wonder, "Now what did I come in here for?"

Ok totally random: My 5 year old daughter just said, "Sorry mom."  "Sorry for what?"  "For stinking up your bathroom."  HA HA HA HA.

So lately we'll be at the store, at John's parents, wherever. We'll go to leave and we do the headcount, right? Ok there's 3 kids. Wait, where's the other one? We're missing a kid. Wait, never mind, we only have 3 kids. Where's my 4th kid? I feel like I'm missing a kid. What's that all about?

My last baby was almost 6 years ago. Hubby got a vasectomy shortly after. Part of the reason I became a surrogate? Yes. Did I ever want to keep my surro-babies? Heck no, they weren't mine!  Do I want a baby of my own? Heck yes!!!

I keep telling hubby, "Now that we've been through the temple, maybe we'll have a miracle baby."
He firmly says, "No, there won't be a miracle baby, sorry."  And yet I feel like there's another baby out there for us.

Wordless Wednesday

No words needed for this one, right?   * I told you I might share it one of these days * 
Yep there's 2 in there.

 Ok I feel better about not having a flat tummy now. At least it's not that big anymore!

Thank Goodness for Post It Note Tuesday!

Saved by Post It Notes: