Splat Goes Life.

Actually, I'm feeling quite optimistic.. I think. I did the best I could, in the relatively short amount of time that I had, to prep Jack for the start of his Spring achievement tests. I find myself wondering what teachers do for the last month of school if their students pretty much need to know everything for this final batch of tests? I mean, Jack probably doesn't know 100% of everything required of him for the 3rd grade, and I felt myself trying to cram in maybe a bit too much at times. But once we hit 2:20pm on Friday (the longest school day we've had since we started homeschooling- by about 20 minutes LOL), I was done. He was done. Our day wasn't even really that stressful. I read a book that took about an hour, and we did some science experiments, etc. I may quickly go over a few things about looking back over his test to make sure he didn't miss any questions, and can only hope that he remembers that. I'm not sure if the Special Ed. director can say...

Started on March 30th... Today I received the psychological evaluation done on Jack, from the psychologist he saw for County redetermination. According to them, while he definitely (99%) had ADHD and ODD, he also still appropriately qualifies for the diagnosis of Autism. The County still has to tell me if they feel it is enough to continue providing him services, but from everything I just read, they would be insane not to. I don't believe one just "gets over" Autism. He had it, and he still has it. Yes, he has gotten much better with help over the years, but you don't cure it, no matter what Jenny McCarthy might say. (Sorry, not a huge fan). Being that he has gotten so much better, and as I'm not a psychologist, I don't know all the things they look for that make him still qualify. So while I was hopeful that Jack would still be able to receive services, I was also anxious that maybe he would not. Of course the other side to that is reading a whol...

For those who question my sanity over homeschooling, or question how I can possibly teach my child all that he needs to know, there are others who see what I am doing, and praise my efforts. No, I don't need praise from anyone for doing something that needed to be done. My job is to raise my child, and if at some point, raising my child includes educating him, then that's what I do. It is nice to get kudos, though. Jack's service coordinator with the county came over on Thursday to check on how things have been going, and she seemed very impressed by everything. Jack has his corner in the upstairs living room- a wall with his daily schedule, his artwork, spelling words, math facts, a clock, etc.. his desk and chair (just like school has), all the books and supplies he needs for the day. I have now two 3-ring binders, one that contains just his completed Math work, and the other for everything else (though I have a lot not yet in either). Jack follows the same schedul...

If you were a teacher, and a parent wrote to thank you for all of the years you've helped to essentially raise their child, would you respond? Or are there times when you just feel no response is necessary? Or perhaps the situation being what it is - with the parent having pulled their child out (though the sibling remains)- there is a stigma around that parent, and they shouldn't be responded to?

At the end of the year, I like to send a Thank You card in to Jack and Savannah's teachers, to let them know how much I appreciate all of their hard work and dedication as teachers. It seems really important to thank Jack's teachers, because I know that Savannah is pretty much the Golden Child, and "such a joy" (really, these are their words) to have in class. It wasn't until last year that I made a point to thank the "specials" teachers- the teachers for Art, Gym, Music. They don't get enough thanks, I would guess, and with Jack having such a rough year since probably mid 2nd grade, it just seemed all that more important to show my appreciation. Most people don't meet these particular teachers, or get to know them during the course of a year, so their good deeds mostly go unrewarded. Savannah's BFF's parents are very close with the Music teacher, so I'm sure she appreciated my note. The Art teacher really seems to like Savan...

This week I had a couple of interesting, and positive things happen. Jack has been seeing this psychiatrist since November.. and we're only just now receiving a copy of the insurance claim for the first visit. After a few visits (one a month), I contacted the insurance company to find out about the billing process- when we get the bills for the 2 visits in 2012, will we still get the 2012 prices? In other words, Jack had already met his deductible for medical for 2012, so I wanted to make sure they were not going to be able to charge us for a new year if we didn't get the claims til this year. The insurance company assured me that I didn't have to worry. When I asked the person at the front desk of the Dr's office about it, she said that the person doing the billing had gotten about 6 months behind, and.. well, who knows when we'd start getting a bill. We got our first claim from the insurance company the other day. For November's visit. And surprise! No...