Alex’s teacher finally ticked me off enough for me to pull him out of her special ed class. He’s spending the last month of school in a private school for gifted children. He’s spent a few days there and likes it a lot. There are only six children in his class, ages 5-7, all boys. They give him a nice reception when he arrives. The only problem so far is that I had to pick him up a little early today so I wouldn’t be late picking up my other son from drama but he wasn’t ready to leave. I managed to get him out the door without a big scene but he had a 20 minute tantrum in the car. The idea of having him in a school that encourages him to work on his strengths is very appealing. With only 6 boys in the class he’s probably having social skills experiences because he can’t disappear into the crowd. And he’s not having negative social experiences because the teacher sees everything. It’s perfect but… I still feel attached to Alex attending our local public kindergarten in the Fall. I know the teacher and the curriculum. It could be great for him if he gets enough social skills support and if he isn’t allowed to get bored because he’s too advanced in academics. We have an IEP meeting Friday. We’re not asking for them to pay for the month of private school. It wasn’t worth it to make him stay in his special ed class long enough to give 10 days notice. Not only was Alex’s special ed teacher being rude to me but she was ignoring his IEP. She runs a “one size fits all” kind of class. Alex attending the private gifted school for a full month will give us a good idea of whether or not it’s a long term option. If it doesn’t look like the public school is able to accomodate Alex, maybe then we’ll have them pay for Alex to go to the private program. It may be cheaper for them than providing services themselves. I had no idea that making decisions about my children’s education was going to be so anxiety provoking. Wish us luck.
Re: Alex's new school
That’s why it is so nice that this bb is here 24 hours a day. You do have lots of decisions and lots of anxiety, so make time for fun and enjoying your family. Stick together and talk and share. Along with everything else you will teach your child about facing adversity and being strong-lessons that will serve him for a lifetime.
hi 5
I think you have made the right decision. I hope this school does indeed turn out to be a positive move for your son. As another parent who withdrew a child from the public schools under circumstances which voids my right to DP I can tell you that I am not sorry in the least. I care nothing about being able to sue the schools, what matters is my boy has made significant progress.
Good luck to you!
Re: Alex's new school
My question off the top of my head is why isn’t th public school providing social skills training?
Re: Alex's new school
Rose,
That school sounds wonderful. My nephew was thought to be autistic when he was younger but he wasn’t. He is extremely gifted. IQ153
He is in a parochial school and does well in many areas. It turns out he wasn’t autistic at all. His only problem is that he gets alot of stomach aches and has to constantly leave the class to see the nurse. I told my sis it is because he is bored out of his mind. He is just too bright for a regular ed environment. He really needs a gifted school.
I am not making assumptions about your situation. I just thought I would share this one experience.
Mel Levine says to focus on the strengths. I think that is the way to go.
Re: Alex's new school
Wow! That sounds really good. I can understand your feelings of attachment for the public school, but making this type of decision early is the very best thing. It’s MUCH more difficult to make changes later.
Best of luck with this! I hope your son continues to like it there and things go smoothly for him. :-)
My thoughs as I know you are in CA as well. First, even if you’ve had a good experience with that kindergarten teacher/program in the past , because of the special needs of your child the program may not work for him as it did for your older child. Also, consider that class size in public schools are going up in most school districts next year and this will impact individual classroom programs. A parent I’ve come in contact with a child the same age as yours was going to look into having her child registered within the school district as non-attending. The hope was that she could still get the related services. I suggested that she contact the state to see if this option is allowed before the IEP meeting.
The private school sounds good.
Helen