Parent Teacher Conference

So we had the parent teacher conference. It went better than I expected.

I had a conversation with a girlfriend who has been a teacher for many years. And she helped me understand how to go about the conference. I was of course angry, and wanted to go in as such. She said no, it needed to be about the IEP. How can the IEP help you? What does it say in the IEP that pertains to what we are going through.

So, I went at it from that route.

The positives. Kiddo is reading on grade level right now.... HOLY SHIT THAT IS AMAZING! (Excuse my language but I wanted to skip around the classroom!). He is also writing creatively and doing quite well though his handwriting leaves a lot to be desired, which the school says they wont do anything about. I told them I can only handle 1 therapy at a time. and right now his Neuropsych feels that Speech therapy is what he needs the most. So we do what we can in the other areas.

They encouraged me to get some of the Y pencils to help with his writing. So I did that, its something I can do.

The negatives.
- Kiddo hates math with a passion. We already knew this. We will all work on it as we can. Dad told them that in real life situations he even breaks down when hes faced with doing a math task. Such as buying something he wants and working with the money needed to buy it. Multiple times we have tried to get him to just try, and he loses it.
- Homework takes an excessively long time. But we want to help them get a grade. They say they don't grade homework, they check it but it does not go into the grade book so do what we can and don't worry too much about it.
- Kiddo is regularly misunderstanding what others are trying to do. Case in point the issue with the teacher saying something and then the kid "mocking" him back. The teacher stated that this is what really happened."Kiddo got upset about math and put his head on the table, teacher asked, 'Kiddo what is wrong?!' Other student says, 'Oh teacher, hes ok he did this last year too.' as if to help the teacher understand that this was something he needed to do to calm down, and not to worry. This same child was in Kiddos class and was familiar with him. The teachers were quick to tell me that this child was very sweet just like Kiddo and they couldn't imagine that he was picking on Kiddo but more trying to be helpful. As my Momma always told me, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
- Husband told them that "Refuse" is a trigger word for us. That you would not say that a person bound to a wheel chair refused to get up and run the mile. So you cannot say that Kiddo refused to do something that he cannot do. He needs more time things process slower. That we realize that its frustrating. We deal with it at home on the constant. and so we really do understand how frustrating it can be, as they spend more time with him than we do. But still "Refuse" is a harsh word and we dislike it. BMC Teacher said she understood. She said its an easy word to use and probably shouldnt be but its the go to.

We asked that he not be held in from recess. I can tell the difference when he does and does not get recess. They agreed. And Kiddo has been staying in 2 days a week to play Legos with another friend. I am ok with that. As long as it is his choice to do so.

I talked to Kiddo and said look buddy you have to find a way to not be so emotional in class. Hiding under the desk and crying is no longer socially acceptable in 5th grade. I said maybe you need to raise your hand and ask to go to BMC if you are feeling like you are going to cry. So he was going to work on that.
My biggest concern is breaking these habits before they follow him into middle school, where kids are so cruel.

That was it. He is reading on grade level! 😄 Its something. and I will take it!