My blog is broken. Or so I'm told.
Where did all those posts go? ;)
Oh, two kids with homework, a house to clean, a job to work.....oh, how I miss my early mommy days when I thought I was so bored. What I wouldn't give.....
Anyway...
There's so much to say and so little time. Where do I begin?
I guess we'll talk about Jacob this week. K?
Guess what? Seems there is a shortage of ADHD medications. I wasn't able to fill the latest prescription although I travelled miles and miles to find it. They just aren't making it. The good news about this is, so far, only the four hour override morning pill is affected. I do still have 26 pills leftover that I am hoarding for school days, so although the weekends are rough, at least he's not acting crazy at school. Yet. I am praying they don't stop making his patch by the time we need it refilled in March. Me oh my, that would be a problem.
The first nine weeks of school, Jacob failed math, language, and history. We were told by the psychologist that he would always need help with math, but he failed the other two out of pure laziness. He refused to do any homework, wadded his school work into his desk, and just pretty much clocked out. His explanaation: I'm a kid, I shouldn't have to do all this work. Grrrrr. And we're paying 500 bucks a month for that. Yeah.
Seriously, I really just wanted to yank him out of that school and drop him off at the public school and be done with it, but we were paid up through December with no refunds. So....this last nine weeks was spent three to four hours a night at the dining room table doing and redoing homework and schoolwork and studying like I haven't done since those late nights in college. Another reason there wasn't much blogging this fall. I got lots of resistance and lots of grumbling and so much this-isn't-fair-I'm-just-a-kid-I-hate-you-so-much, but this report card he got a B in language, an A in history, and, eh, a D in math, but at least it was a bit of an improvement. If there hadn't been, he was heading to our public school. I mean, gah, I'm not going to keep paying for him to lounge when he can do it down the street for free. Of course, now he thinks he's off the hook, and as much as I'd love to have those afernoon hours again, we have to keep working. It's just getting harder.
Our plan has always been to send Jacob to the local middle school in sixth grade (next year). Elizabeth starts kindergarten this fall (hold me) and there is no way in hell we can afford three private school tuitions. None. The psychologist believes he should also go there and be enrolled in the special education program, which, I just don't know. More about that later. Anyway, I've met with Jacob's teacher three times and she has practically begged me not to do that. She doesn't think he'll be able to navigate the changing of classes at a school at least ten times the size he's in now. She's afraid he'll be physically bullied and lost in the shuffle with the thirty pupil classrooms. She has even offered to help me get a job there next year so we wouldn't have to pay. I just don't really know what to do. My husband, of course, wants to stick to our original plan because, well, money. I want to at least try the public school because, well, art and computers and robotics and swim teams and...and...and...well, is it a better place for him? How will we know if we don't try? The only problem with that is if pull him out of the private school he loses his spot and there is already a waitlist. What if turns out to be a horrible situation? I mean, what would we do then?
We have to decide by mid-February. That's not much time. When he's screaming and yelling and complaining about school I've already pulled him out in my mind, but every other time I am worried. Stressed. Afraid of making the wrong decision. Afraid of making things worse. Afraid of one day having a deranged teenager crash into his school to open fire on his classmates.
What are your thoughts?
5 comments:
Shoot, I don't know. Justin wants to go to high school in 2 years and I am having to come to terms with the fact that we'll never KNOW if he can if we don't let him try. But it's not about the school or him so much as it's about our family and, well, ME. I don't WANT him to go to school... Me. Me. Me.
I wish I had anything remotely helpful to say, but I am not a parent, and I am not an educator, and I don't have the first idea. Just wanted to say I'm sending out all the good juju your way that I can, even if I can't send good advice.
There are good public schools and there are bad public schools. Have you visited your local public school? Have you made an appt. with the principal and guidance counselor? Looked at reviews online? When we moved two years ago, I didn't have the luxury of visiting the schools and mostly had to go off information from the internet. I researched the report card the school received, parent reviews, special programs, etc etc. You have the right to investigate all this stuff before making your final decision. My boy has done private and public with his severe ADHD self and he's loved both and done well with both.
You're such a good Mom and I know you'll make the best decision for the big guy!
Are you able to put him on the waitlist for the private school in grade seven at no cost? and if you did, would he likely have a spot then?
I am tinking if so, you can pull him for grade six, if it doesn't work out, he's on the wait list for grade seven so goes back (and may appreciate it more), but if public school does work, then pass his spot to the next kid on the list?
We don't have a private school in our area and it took us 3 years to get an iep in place to help my son. So frustrating!
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