Monday, October 14, 2013

Fun Run 2013


Schools have fundraisers to help with dwindling budgets allotted to schools. This isn't a political post but one about the fundraiser done at our school this year. The Fun Run was held last week.
The students ran around smaller than average laps marked by cones on the grassy field. Music blared as young adults encouraged the students to run. The company in charge of the Fun Run spoke about friendship and how to be a good friend. 


I pledged $1 per lap run by two guys. Each student was given matching shirts with lap numbers on the back of the shirt. My guys ran 28/35 laps but I learned later that they refused to have their shirt marked with each lap run so they might have run more laps. 
I wasn't sure if Gabriel would participate and I found out later that he was reluctant because he thought it was PE.  He also told me that he wore his polo under his Fun Run shirt to avoid PE. 

It was nice to see Gabriel figure our a way to participate - he walked with either a friend, his aide, or Alex. 
 

I hadn't told the boys that Lane and I would be at the Fun Run. They seemed happy to see me and I enjoyed watching Alex point me out to his classmates. 



Lane used a squirt bottle to get the middle school students full of water.  She laughed so hard. 


I was grateful for the cloud cover that day. Otherwise it would be a miserable event. 

Magic fingernails = happy haircut

I've written about Gabriel's new fear of haircuts. It was absolute hell to take him to the last place due the manager's attitude.
We think his fear has to do with his hair leaving his body. He has some connection to his hair and when it's cut, it's gone and that's an odd and new fear for him. It is a strange fear for us because he never had a problem with haircuts.
A friend recommended a new salon for children and adults that's located minutes from our home. We spent weeks discussing cutting his hair and how to act when we go into a salon. I didn't want to cause any stress by getting a much needed hair cut. Here is the before of Gabriel's hair:

His bangs were getting in the way of his sight, especially in school and dance. It was definitely beyond the cool surfer dude look.
All three kids decided it was time for hair cuts. This can be a challenging and big undertaking but this salon calmed them down. The salon had toys and televisions with kid shows on them. Oh happiness! The deal for the month is if a child shows up in a costume for a haircut, they receive a $5 discount.
Alex agreed to wear a spider costume but thought that we should give him $5 in exchange for the discount. (didn't happen but smart idea on his part) Lane wore her fairy costume. Right away, Lane was offered a manicure with her haircut. She picked a dark purple polish and sat perfectly still during the manicure, acting like a teenager the entire time.
Gabriel asked for pink nail polish. While I have no problems when him choosing pink for his nails, I wouldn't want him to get teased at school. Thankfully the girl at the salon offered clear nail polish that looked blue in the bottle and called it "magical nail polish." Gabriel was thrilled and talked about his magical nails the rest of the day.
Alex had his hair trimmed. Then Gabriel had a smile on his face the entire time while she cut his hair. The Angry Bird cover helped too! 
Lane recently chopped chunks of her curls off the side of hair, necessitating a new style for her. She has only had her hair cut a couple times despite being four years old.
She was extremely serious through the entire experience and giddy when the stylist added purple streaks and glitter to her hair.  



I think I will take her back to have the purple and glitter added for Halloween.
We will definitely go back to Kidmazing salon and we are beyond happy to have found it.

5 months later...

Out of the blue, someone asked if us if she could babysit for us. She is local and a mom who knows my children. She spent time with all of us for a few hours during the week in an effort to get the kids used to her being in our home. Then Saturday arrived and she was at our home for 2 and a half hours.
It's very challenging to find someone we trust to watch our children. Even though they are older, I can't trust just anyone to handle their little quirks and issues. In an emergency, I'm confident I have friends who could step in and figure things out but for date night, I want the kids to be well cared for in our home.
We had our first date night in five months!! Wowzers! It was really nice to get out and reconnect with each other. Even after 17 years, we still have a lot to talk about and it helped to have a couple glasses of wine.
I also found out that my husband deleted me from his Twitter account. I laughed so hard because I couldn't believe my husband would purge me! He said that he gave me a few months to tweet something but when I didn't, he deleted me. I didn't know spouses deleted each other from Twitter nor did I realize that I had a time frame to tweet something. It is a good thing social media didn't exist when I was younger because this would be a huge ordeal if I was 15 again.
When we got home, the kids were happily playing. It was wonderful to get away for a break together and then see our happy little munchkins. They even painted a pumpkin and turned it into a red Angry Bird.

I hope the babysitter will come back again in a few weeks!

Friday, October 4, 2013

Pupil Progression Plan


The latest link on the school's website gives information regarding early dismissal and late arrivals. At first glance it seems like a good idea. Kids can't leave school and arrive late repeatedly without repercussions, right?

Here is the statement called the Pupil Progression Plan with Regards to Tardies and Early Dismissals:
"It is important for a child's education that they be in attendance each and day. Students can fall behind if they miss just one or two days every few weeks. In order for a student to have the opportunity to learn, they should be on time and remain at school for the entire day. Recent changes to the Pupil Progression Plan allow schools to count a combination of (5) late arrivals and/or (5) early dismissals as a (1) unexcused absence for the purpose of truancy. These late arrivals and early dismissals will now count against your child's attendance. Please help by ensuring your child arrives on time and is allowed to remain at school for the entire day. Working together we can Attendance Matter in Osceola County!"

I realize this policy isn't aimed at my children but it might as well be aimed at the group of special needs students. Many ESE students need to leave school in order to see specialists, doctors, and therapists. Our kids need these professionals in their lives in order to be successful. I would argue that these appointments are a necessity for our children and they are not a simple matter of me wanting to take them out of school. Trust me, the school doesn't want my children there without their visits to the neurologist and child behavior specialist. I'm not taking them out of school early for a run for ice cream.

When I further read the Code of Student Conduct, I read about the procedure for unexcused absences.
"General Attendance in Grades K-12
If a student has had at least five (5) unexcused absences within a calendar month or ten (10)unexcused absences within a ninety (90) day calendar period, the student’s primary teacher shall report to the principal or designee that the student may be exhibiting a pattern of non-attendance. Unless there is clear evidence that the absences are not a pattern of non-attendance, the case shall be referred to the Attendance Intervention Team to determine if early patterns of truancy are developing.
If the Attendance Intervention Team finds that a pattern of non-attendance is developing, whether the absences are excused or not, a meeting with the parent must be scheduled to identify potential remedies. If the initial meeting with the parent does not resolve the problem, the Attendance Intervention Team shall implement specific interventions that best address the problem. The Attendance Intervention Team shall be diligent in facilitating intervention services and shall report the case to the
Superintendent or his designee only after all reasonable efforts to resolve the problem have been exhausted.
If the parent, guardian, or other person in charge of the child refuses to participate in the remedial strategies because he/she believes that those strategies are unnecessary or inappropriate, the parent, guardian, or other person in charge of the child may appeal to the School Board. The School Board may provide a hearing officer, who may be an employee of the School Board, in lieu of a School Board hearing, who shall hear the case and make recommendation for final action to the School Board. If the School Board’s final determination is that the strategies of the Attendance Intervention Team are appropriate, and the parent, guardian, or other person in charge of the child still refuses to cooperate, the Superintendent may seek criminal prosecution for noncompliance with compulsory school attendance.
If a child subject to compulsory attendance will not comply with attempts to enforce school attendance, the parent, guardian, or Superintendent or his designee shall refer the case to the case staffing committee pursuant to Florida Statutes, and the Superintendent or his designee may file a truancy petition pursuant to procedures outlined in Section 984, Florida Statutes."


Unexcused absences aren't a joke. There are serious consequences and procedures in place for children who are missing school on a regular basis. I realize these policies are written for the children who are habitually absent. It helps identify the children who aren't making it to school on time and aren't at school when they should be there. I also know that it will take a lot of appointments to reach that one unexcused absence. I get that. Thank G-d I don't have a child with a critical illness or who needs more appointments than we have now, because we would rack up more unexcused absences and I would have to explain our situation to a board. I do not have time for that nonsense. I have three young children who need a lot of my time and energy and they would be in school all the time if it wasn't for their needed appointments.
This is just another case of a bunch of people who didn't take special needs children into account. They claim that they want children to succeed but yet they write these rules and don't exclude these doctor's visits that are needed in order for them be successful.
This reminds me of the time when a friend said, "our children will never get to enjoy the ice cream treat for perfect attendance because they need to go to therapy, or to the doctor, and appointments aren't available at 5 pm." Our kids aren't given a doctor/specialist/therapist pass from the school in order to allow them to participate in these treats and events. Instead they are penalized yet again for their disability, their illness. As if life isn't challenging enough for these children, yet again they can't enjoy the things their typical peers might enjoy.
I could face a board or criminal charges for taking my children to the specialists who can help my children succeed. It's another hurdle that I have to face in order to help my children.