Going to meet the girls' teachers is always interesting: I always hope for a strict teacher for Emma and a sweet teacher for Mia, and we usually end up with the total opposite. Of course, it happened again this year.
Emma is the one with the special needs and therefore I would prefer she gets a teacher with a firmer hand who can handle her quirks and "bad habits", but it never fails that she is the one who gets the nice southern young teacher who gives into her outbursts of affection.
So, I have to give the new teacher a good list of things to look out for at the beginning of the school year:
1. Emma likes to hug and kiss - this is actually not a GOOD thing. It is a sign of attachment issues. Some kids are the opposite - no affection, and then some, like Emma, display too much. So, I have to let the teacher know to tell Emma to control herself and act like a big girl. And then Emma comes home on the first day telling me the teacher held her hand...grrrrrr.
2. Emma has chronic eczema and she will scratch it until it bleeds. I send a bucket of lotion to school for them to use as needed, which means, EVERY day. Then I get a note saying Emma was very itchy today...no kidding...
3. Emma will cry to get out of work. Ignore her or she will continue to do it until she is told "it's ok not to do it" and then she will be back to be her happy self.
4. Emma has OT, speech therapy and a special needs teacher who works with her daily. They all know her very well, but I need to be in constant contact to make sure her needs are met. Because this Mama has gone through it before....when they wouldn't take care of my baby and i had to get nasty...and that will not happen again.
Unfortunately, I can already tell that Emma is falling behind and it is just the first week of school. Mike and I have talked about it already, and I am not happy about it. I don't want her to be treated as a special need child - I want her to be treated like the rest, and that is not the case. They allowed her to advance to 2d grade; however, the rest of the kids get 15 spelling words a week and she gets 6. I hate that. If she is not capable to handle 15, they should have kept her in 1st grade. I want her to be successful and not to get by every year with help. That is not what I want for my baby and her future. So, this Mama will have to put on her body armor and start fighting again...
5 comments:
It's such an inner battle, isn't it? Knowing what your child needs, and also giving up some of your God-given control every day. Hard stuff.
Hopefully, as she gets older, she will need less help when it comes to reduced work and her attachment issues, too. (One of my boys is an 'over-hugger', too.)
Visiting from Kate's blog party~
Lisa @All That and a Box of Rocks
Visiting from Kate's blog party. Here in British Columbia we advance kids and adapt or modify the work for them. Keeping children back can be hard on their self-esteem and confidence. I'm guessing your daughter has no ESL issues since she's been with you so long. What was her history before you adopted her? Did she have much stimulation or any pre-school? Hang in there because she could be a "late bloomer". There are lots of kids that reading doesn't "click for" until sometime in grade two.
visiting from kates blog. i can totally relate to the school issues.hopefully you can get it all worked out before to long
As a special ed teacher, I would say, ask for the full spelling list and see what she does. Talk to the teacher, keep in close contact but be very nice and we will help you out. When I get parents that come at me, sending me negatice emails prior to even bringing up an issue, it puts me in a bad mood. If I have a parent that comes and addresses his/her concerns in the beginning and is fair, I tend to not be afraid to work with them.
But maybe there is a reason for the 6 words too, maybe they want to see what she can do and then build. What I do with my classroom is that I give all students the same words, however I have different goals based on their levels. So I expect 100% from one student and maybe 60% from another student.
visiting from kate's blog party:
i hade a similar issue with my son in kindergarten. his teacher was incredibly in tune with his needs and made special changes for him without an IEP...in most ways this was a gift...but when it came to his evaluations it destroyed the objectivity of the test. it seemed as if he did not have any problems. sometimes the best way to help is to call and ace an ace and a spade a spade...always showing love...always nurturing. praying that the next week will be more in line with your hopeful expectations.
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