But, now we are back in school routine. Daniel is in ninth grade, his first year at the high school. Esther is in first grade, her first year being homeschooled. And I am in my first year of teaching homeschool! So all three of us are assimilating new experiences.
 |
| Daniel's first day of school |
Daniel's school has worked very hard to accommodate him. I have to say, it is empowering to be in an IEP meeting and have one of the main players say to me, "But what do you want to do? You're the parent." And truly, we had such a great team of people this year that worked very hard to get Daniel off to a great start. The results...have been a mixed bag so far. First, the good stuff! Daniel's WONDERFUL vision teacher, who has done so much for him from the time he entered this school system, planned to teach him one-on-one for the first ninety minutes of every day, all four years of high school. She is covering life skills topics (like how to apply for a job and manage money) that she is required to cover in some form with all of her visually-impaired students, as well as working as a bridge between Daniel and his other teachers to help him be successful in his regular classes and learn how to use adaptive devices in his classes. In addition, she is working with him on some basic academic skills that he missed out on when his classmates were learning them years ago, everything from being responsible for keeping track of his own homework assignments to practicing writing and listening skills in English. I have no idea what she had to juggle or give up to make that time commitment to Daniel, but we are very, very blessed to have her in his corner. Then there is Daniel's choir teacher. Daniel desperately wanted to take choir as an elective this year, and we were distressed to find out that the only times it was offered were during blocks that Daniel already had classes that we weren't willing to give up. I should back up here and explain that Daniel's high school schedules their classes in "blocks" rather than in "periods" like the middle school. So he has four classes per semester, each of which is taught for ninety minutes every day. Most classes are only one semester long; so, for example, Daniel is taking PE and English for third and fourth block this semester, but will have science and social studies next semester. So anyway, 9th grade choir was only offered first or second block. First block was already taken by Daniel's vision teacher, and we weren't about to give that opportunity up! And second block was an inclusion math class (that is, a regular ed class but with a second teacher to give extra help to those students with IEPs) which was taught by a team of teachers who we had been assured were the Rolls Royce of math teachers in our county. We were very pleased with Daniel's placement in that particular class and weren't willing to give it up, either. So we were brainstorming how to get him into choir, but not too optimistic that it could be worked out. But! First a vice principal came up with an intriguing idea that was way more than I expected anyone to do to accommodate just one student...and then we didn't even need to use her idea because the choir teacher, having been personally informed of Daniel by his middle school choir teacher, came to the administration saying that he really wanted Daniel in his class, and would it be possible for Daniel to come half a block during first period each semester so that he could work with him! After checking into the implications for the IEP, Daniel's vision teacher agreed that this arrangement would be good for Daniel. So first block is a rousing success. Daniel is, I know from experience, getting knowledgeable and effective help from his vision teacher, and he LOVES his choir teacher. This man is obviously very professional and very good at what he does, and he seems to have that magic quality of holding his students to high standards without having to threaten or yell. (Daniel does not. do. well. at. all. with threats or yelling.) The Rolls Royce math class seems to be going well, too. At any rate, I heard no complaints for most of the first week, and the homework Daniel was bringing home, while looooong and requiring much effort on his part, drew on abilities which were within his reach. (And I was SO glad we worked so much on algebra this summer!) The last few days Daniel's teacher has been in the hospital, so he has had a substitute...and the other teacher yelled at him to leave the classroom to put his adaptive device safely away before the bell rang, making him feel criticized and requiring him to leave a test before he had the chance to finish...and his ESL teacher pulled him out of math one day so he didn't know how to do the homework because he wasn't there for the teaching. We're hoping all that will iron itself out sooner rather than later. It would be nice for him to have one academic class where he feels like he can hold his own, and this seems to be a golden opportunity. Third block...PE. The first day went fine. The second day they went outside and he crossed a road before the teacher instructed the class to do so (at another student's suggestion) and she yelled at him. Did I mention that he doesn't like being yelled at? I think he might finally have forgiven her, since he hasn't brought it up in a few days. He has a friend in the class, but also a tenth-grader who tried to teach him bad words when they were in the same school two years ago and is now at it again. So I'm not sure yet how PE will turn out, but it least it doesn't have any homework to compete with his math. And then there's English class. We took the opportunity to put Daniel in a self-contained classroom (one with just a few students who all have learning difficulties). He needs someone to teach him to read, and an instructor in a large classroom at the high school level isn't going to be able to do it. Unfortunately, it's not looking promising for this special classroom either. I don't know if the teacher is discombobulated or what...the county is consolidating positions, and apparently a number of teachers found out shortly before school started that they would be teaching classes that they weren't expecting. But anyway, the first few days Daniel was the only student in the class and from what he says she didn't do anything in particular with him. So he was already getting antsy, complaining that she was disorganized and failing to do her job. (I'm not sure he appreciates just what a challenge a functionally illiterate--but very intelligent--ninth-grader poses to a teacher who has only ever taught native English speakers that grew up in the school system!) Then the school reorganized classes and gave her seven students. She had the students read materials of various difficulties out loud in order to find their level. Daniel is (not surprisingly) the lowest level student in the class, and when she reached a level of challenge that he felt was pointless for him to attempt, he refused to read. She said, "Fine," but then refused to let him go on the computer instead, telling him that if he wasn't going to read out loud like the rest of the class then he would have to do nothing. So the last few days, according to Daniel, he has spent his class time either napping or "annoying the teacher, trying to get her attention." Today his policy of annoyance progressed to the point that the second math teacher was called in to talk with him. The assistant principal also came to the class and talked to several of the students. I don't know if that had anything to do with Daniel, but he requested a private conference with her and unburdened himself to her, after which "my heart feels more peaceful." Daniel has requested both his assigned teacher and the principal to move him to another class. I don't know if that will happen, or if it would be a good thing if it did happen. Surely, given enough time, she could figure out how to teach him...but the other wrinkle to this saga is that she is eight months pregnant and he will have a long-term sub part of the semester! So right now I'm feeling pretty discouraged about Daniel's chances of learning to read this school year. His other chance at instruction is his ESL teacher, but this is the same teacher he's had for two years and I haven't been all that impressed with his progress. Daniel was actually supposed to have a different teacher this year, which we were kind of looking forward to, but then there were too many ESL students at the high school for the regular teacher to take and so the teacher who handles all the other schools was asked to take a high school student (or maybe several), and he chose Daniel. He certainly cares about Daniel and is committed to him, but I'm not sure it has been the best match in terms of Daniel's learning. On the other hand, Daniel largely refuses to tell me what he does in ESL class, so I can't say for sure that there aren't good things going on. What I can say is that I'd rather give up ESL services entirely than have Daniel pulled out of math...but hopefully it won't come to that. So there are some good things and some stressful things going on in this transition.
 |
| Esther's first day of school |
Meanwhile, Esther and I are finding our rhythm with homeschool. I'm feeling good about the amount and quality of work that we are accomplishing each day, and I love that we can intersperse hard thinking tasks with outdoor recess or chores or just plain hopping around the living room a few times on the hopper ball. Esther had a good experience in school last year but it took a lot out of her, and I think a lot of what was so tiring was having to focus and behave appropriately for the setting for so long at a stretch. She had a good teacher who found ways for them to be physically active in their learning, but she still came home tired out. Meanwhile, we had one day this summer where she attended gymnastics camp for five hours, went immediately from that to library story hour, came home and rode her bike with Daddy, then scarfed down dinner and headed back to the gym for a two-hour class...and she was still chipper and bouncy! Not at all like the tired Esther who decided to drop out of gymnastics last year because it was too much to do on top of school. So it's nice to have the opportunity to keep her home and structure school in a way that works with her personality. Despite all my warnings that homeschool meant a full day of school, not just a couple of hours like we do in the summer, the first couple of days were challenging. We had plenty of good times both days, but also some whining and one meltdown. Since then, school has gone well. Right now I've got it structured so that I'm sitting down with her for every subject, which is fun for both of us but not conducive to me getting other things done (like writing blogs!). I think I'll just live with the current structure for a few months, but once she is a little better at reading I would like to add a time for her to read to herself. Meanwhile, I am able to get a little preparation and record-keeping done while she is working in her math workbook.
So, it's a year of big changes and good possibilities. We shall see what happens!
