If school hasn’t started for you yet, it will be soon. You may be looking forward to having your child in school all day, or you may be dreading the start of the school year because of the fights at and with the school.

In most cases, the younger the child, the more enabling the teacher can be. Many teachers don’t want a child to “fail” while they’re young. There is fear it will damage a child’s self esteem. In my experience and opinion, it is much more damaging to a child to fail in high school than in first grade.

I have talked to many parents... more

If you’re anything like me, you’re ready for your child to go back to school. Hannah didn’t want school to end and is ready to go back now, but it’s still a different schedule than what we have had the past couple of months. Actually, our summer has had very little schedule at all since it has been very hectic.

Your summer may have been like ours, or it may have been days of kids sleeping late, playing all day, and no school work. Quickly switching schedules can be about like going from 0 – 60 MPH in about three seconds and then coming to a dead stop.... more

We had our annual IEP (Individualized Education Plan) review for Sammy a few weeks ago. It was a good meeting with everyone working toward the same goals.

Sammy’s full written IEP arrived in the mail over the weekend. After an IEP meeting, the team is required to send out a copy of the plan to all interested parties.

Since this is his first year in high school, his goals are significantly different than they have been in the past. His goals are now geared toward his life after high school. Yes, that is four years away, if he actually graduates, but with... more

When you register your child for school, you may have to take a social worker with you. There are various pieces of information that the school requires in order to enroll your child, and you may not have all the information you need.

First and foremost you need the child’s birth certificate. In most cases you do not receive the child’s birth certificate until after the adoption is final. The social worker may provide this to the school in order to enroll your child.

You will also need to show the school that you have the right to enroll the child and... more

Fortunately for me, these meeting are becoming more common in my life. This is a far cry from the meetings we used to have.

What I mean by bobble head meeting is that when one person says something, the other people involved nod their head in agreement.

In past meetings, especially when there was one particular social worker involved, I used to spend all my time justifying our parenting techniques, why we did or didn’t do things, and that my son actually did do the things I said. Sammy is quite charming and can convince you the sun is purple if... more

Hannah is home from school today. She is not sick, nor is it a day off. It is a Love & Logic response to some behavior that we have been dealing with.

Hannah is not a speedy child. She is a very laid back kid, who does things in her own sweet time. Most of the time I don’t care, but when it comes to getting ready for school, we have a schedule to keep. She has an hour to get dressed (I get her clothes ready a week in advance), make her bed, brush her teeth, get her hair done (I pick out her hair ties, etc.) and eat breakfast.... more

Hannah has a homework assignment that I dislike greatly. It’s called “Investigating My Name.” It is antiquated, and needs to be done away with.

The assignment requires us to fill out the following information about our child:

1. What is my full name? 2. What other names did you consider? Boy Girl 3. Am I named after anyone in our family? If so, whom? 4. Am I named after anyone who is not in our family? If so, whom? 5. What are all my different nicknames? 6. What does my name mean?

OK. I can answer... more

This is sort of a follow up to my “Why are you angry?” blog. I didn’t intend for there to be a follow up, but it happened so here goes.

Yesterday I was at a Pampered Chef party. The party was at the house of Hannah’s best friend A. A’s mom was the hostess and several people in attendance were teachers, one being a special education teacher to severely autistic kids.

A’s older sister is in the autistic spectrum, leaning more toward Aspberger’s Syndrome. She also has Sensory Integration... more

In Wisconsin, we are just getting ready for back to school. I know some of you have already had several weeks of school, and personally, I’m a bit jealous. I’m not one of those moms that gets upset when her kids leave for school, I’m usually doing the happy dance. I know many special needs parents are.

For the past several days, we have been doing “getting ready practice.” Hannah is not one that gets ready “quick and snappy” in the morning, so we have gotten up at the time that she will need to get up each day, and... more

You may be wondering how much of your child’s information to disclose to teachers.

If you are still in the pre-adoptive phase, you may be bound by confidentiality agreements and will want to check with your social worker to see what can be disclosed.

In many cases, you may want to put the teacher on a “need to know” basis.

Is the information relevant to the teacher being able to teach your child? Telling the teacher that your child has been sexually abused would be appropriate if that child... more