IEP's and other school updates

Brushing the dust off my good friend here.... I couldn't believe my last post was from January! Ok, I sorta can....

We've been busily plugging away here, and sick of $n0w..... c'mon SPRING!!!

I just attended Evan's annual IEP meeting last week and I was soooooo nervous, which seems to have become a pattern for me when dealing with his plan.  Last year I had issues with the goals written for him as well as the amount of therapies he was receiving.  We had reached a good compromise and I was happy.  This year, I was quite pleased with most all the goals they wrote for him *WHEW* but I was super nervous about discussions of his placement for next year.

This has been Evan's second year attending the county's special education preschool program as well as his second year attending a private Christian preschool.  It was and still is high priority to me that Evan attends a *typical* preschool setting as well as receiving the therapies he needs.  Attending both these programs has created all sorts of different routines and schedules for us to follow, and it's not the most convenient for me to drive all four kiddos across town three mornings a week to take him to the special ed setting at our regional school.  My goal for next year is for Evan to attend the mainstream Pre-K class at our home school where the other kids attend- right around the corner from our home!  He will be in an inclusive setting, he will receive all his therapies there, and he can ride the bus with Lina every morning!  I used to teach this very class at another school in our county- I was on the curriculum writing committee and I even had a student with Down syndrome my last year of teaching, so I was ready for a fight!  I admit I was expecting resistance from the school staff at the regional school which is why I was so nervous.  There is one administrator there in particular whom I am not a fan of to put it lightly, and it is she who made Lina's enrollment into school so stressful last year.  Thankfully this administrator wasn't at Evan's meeting this year! Yeehaw!!

We get through all Evan's goals and discuss placement, but I notice his teacher is only addressing placement for the remainder of this school year.  IEP's are written for an entire calendar year, yet no one was addressing next school year.  Ummmm??  So I open my mouth and ask, especially since I made it known to several team members what my wishes for Evan's placement next year would be.  "Placement is a parent decision, not a team decision...." Wha???  Why couldn't anyone tell me this before?? Good grief, all this stress for nothing!  I was very glad I invited our home school principal who not only added some meaningful input but also intends to get the ball rolling to line up one-on-one support for Evan which he needs in the inclusive setting.  His private preschool was gracious enough to hire an aide for him and this has been quite beneficial.  I am sooooo looking forward to him attending our home school!!  Lina has had a wonderful experience thus far with the therapists there as well as the special ed staff- I love them all.

Some recent accomplishments for Evan:
*He knows and can name all uppercase letters as well as some if not all lowercase
*He can count consistently to 10 and sometimes to 20
*He is reading many sight words!  I need to sit down and keep track of how many he knows.

Now on to Miss Lina!  Lina just recently acquired a voice output device from school- she will be using it in school as well as at home.  It comes home with her each day.  Right now she is mainly using it during lunch and recess at school since she is still learning how to use it, especially in social settings.  If any of you are familiar with a PODD, this is just like that only in electronic format.  It has a touch screen, and unfortunately since Lina has used the iPad at home- she sees it more like a game than a communication device.  She enjoys pressing random buttons, especially the words she knows how to read.  She knows many sight words- and is actually considered on grade level with her reading!  She still struggles with rhyming words, especially since her teachers have focused on beginning sounds for so long- she seems stuck on that concept and has trouble listening to the final sounds in words. On grade level with reading sure is music to my ears though, especially considering she has only been in this country for 2 years come April 21st, and had received zero education prior to coming home. So stinkin' proud of her!!!

I will get some pics up soon I promise!!