Yeah...what Cathy said! She snuck in before me.

<eyeroll> And don't believe a thing those guys say. They will say things that are patently false if they think it will help their case. If they quote some policy, code, regulation, whatever, your standard reply should be that you need a legal citation and copy of said policy, code, etc.

The cool thing is that if you document all the cr@p they spew out of their mouths it can really help you during due process! I have numerous quotes from administrators proving that our district has repeatedly violated the law .

Jool,
Good luck with the davidson application, but be assured that you are welcome here no matter what the outcome. Also be assured that kids who are 'near YSP' levels really do need more than the 'standard GIEP' stuff. Is the problem mostly in Math, or is that just the most easily illustrated problem?

Is he happy socially with his agemates?

Do you have other options, such as part time school, private school, online classes?

Part of advocacy is recognising that no matter what you do, or how you do it, there are times when one just can't get what they want from a particular school situation. So yes, do the procedures and go to due process, but my advice is that if you have reasonable alternatives, don't let your son's days and weeks and months get eaten up by the process. Many of us parents are quite successful in other areas of our lives, and have the unconsious idea that if we just 'do it right' then surely the schools will do what's right for our child. So do push a bit, but also sit down and write out what your goals, resources and alternatives are, and where your boundaries are. Don't worry about rambling here - we have large chunks of our lives as parents what have never has a chance to be said aloud before. Have a seat, here's some ((insert beverage and food of choice.)) You are amoung friends.

Best Wishes,
Grinity

Yes, certainly not everyone here has a Young Scholar, and we don't check IQ scores at the door. If you find what you need here, then you belong here. Period.



It's a very welcoming place. Home!

P.S. Really great advice about the alternatives and resources and not spinning your wheels with advocacy, Grinity. Kudos there!

What do you mean, "of course"?

I had this mental image of my two kids at the table, arms and legs waving helplessly...

It's close, but not quite true. They're mostly just trying to ruin my good kitchen table!

Anyway, carry on.

Boundaries are very important. It's good to have them already decided so that in the heat of the moment you don't make threats that you don't want to carry out. Think about your must-haves and also time limits. Advocacy takes time and the schools use that to their advantage

OT, but my kids have been known to spread white glue on their hands (and the table in the process) because it's so cool to peel it off when it dries

I was just talking to a 4th grade teacher about this the other day. Apparently we don't do tracking or ability grouping by classes (which is what we had when I was in school), but we do WITHIN the classes. This 4th grade teacher is at our school and teaches math and science. She explained that she teaches math to small groups of students. The small group method is required by the principal. She loves it because it makes her job easier when she has such varied levels within the same class.

I didn't realize others don't have reading groups anymore. I guess things are behind the times here in TX. In this case, I guess I'm glad.

Hi Jool and welcome!

I'm in PA too (big suburb district) and found that things went a lot better when I learned the law and could quote it at the relevant district folks. We never filed due process, but we wrote letters indicating that we expected them to meet their legal obligations and we specified what those were. Since we make it clear that we wouldn't accept their "standard" program (two hours a week pullout) because it wouldn't begin to meet our kids' needs, they've actually done a great job finding solutions for us. It did require us to get quite comfortable with the law and to stop assuming they were going to comply. They require signatures from you that shows you think they're doing what they are supposed to do -- and if you don't sign, that can create problems for them. I'd be happy to discuss details by PM if you are interested. There are lots of good resources available online to help you figure out what the law mandates -- starting with Todd McIntyre's stuff. Members of the PAGE group will share sample GIEP's with you which I found quite helpful. I think you also need to know how your district plans to fight or undermine you. We believed ours came from a place of good faith and so we didn't need a very detailed GIEP because once they'd agreed to do some unique things, we thought they would follow through. They did. For other districts, you might need much detail and ways to monitor compliance in the GIEP itself.

Regarding reading groups, our school has them and it works great because they cooperate over different classes. So out of five classes, there were three in a group last year combined that read stuff 2-3 years above grade level. This year, because the higher groups are at least 2 years above grade level and we have subject acceleration, one kid is getting taught at an almost appropriate level -- certainly one that's "good enough" for us, especially since they push the kids into other areas of
reading that mine don't initiate by themselves like fiction and poetry.

Good luck with the DYS application