I've been hard at it.
Still along way to go...but part way there already.
Please check out this site I am working hard on this.
http://groups.google.com/group/large-families-plus
It's a group designed from ppl like me to ppl like you.
As we all have a common goal and interest.
There are discussion boards web pages you name it.
We are going to make it bigger and better, and I need you to help us achieve this goal.
Ideas are always welcome at large families plus...weather it be about multicultural issues, time out, home education, blended families you name it, we ant to here from you the reader.
It is not just my site its our site and together we will make it.
We are developing a kids page too.
Hope to see you there and give us all the support you can please as this is non profit.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Problems with the school system
There is nothing like working with children with disabilities.
I love it very much, as trying as it can be.
Ben is still having huge problems with his ADHD, ODD, and CD type behaviours.
I have been trying for quiet some time to get some-one of their butt and officially diagnose him.
Like Sam, they seem to have put him in the too hard basket and are not willing to do anything about it.
The sad part is that if he was in a foster care system he would have been diagnosed a long time ago.
He told me this morning that his teacher has been calling him lazy.
I have taken the behaviour and learning issues up with the teachers and principal, including the guidance officer at the school, only to be ignored.
They have blatantly told me they are not going to bother to help him.
At his old school down south he was getting intensive assistance via the SEU unit and speech therapy.
This has been taken away from him without further testing. I had to arrange all the testings for him and independent reviews, which they are still putting on the back burner.
The school has been getting government grants to give him intensive assistance. All he has got so far is a little bit of reading help.
His reading is at yr 2-3 while he is in grade 4 about to go to grade 5.
The grants include the safety net grant and reading program grant so why aren't they implementing it?
They get AU$500/school yr for him + $700 for the voucher safety net + I think it was $400 they said for the reading program Give or take.
All his subjects all yr he has been averaging between D-F with a lot of E's.
I ask him regularly if he is getting help, and have been told it's only occasionally that he gets it.
Sam has had similar issues with his learning disability at school as well.
Although he now gets some help, and is finally on medication, he spends a large amount of the school yr trying to settle into the school system.
This quiet often has been very dangerous to his safety at school.
Under the legislation all school are suppose provide a safe environment for all children.
When they are unable to meet this they are suppose to take appropriate steps to achieve this. This is not always able to be done, in which another method is suppose be sort for and implemented.
This included one on one assistance with the student and/ or possible inclusion to the SEU unit if not fully.
In our area they no longer have an SEU unit able to take full time students in SEU for their safety.
You have to be, if I remember rightly, level 4-6.
There is only one place in town that can take that level and it is full, like all centres across the state.
This is due to a major lack of funding in our state school and SEU system with 75% of the Federal Government funding going to private schools.
This means for the children they are going to keep getting further behind at school and have a very high chance of dropping out of school, as well as high risk of low self esteem, poverty, possible homelessness, joblessness, difficulty with relationships and integrating into society including a possibility of turning to crime.
As a parent, I refuse to sit back and be told that this situation is OK, and I'll be damned if I will let it happen.
It is my right and my duty to do all that is possible to help these kids achieve the best they can in life.
It has now come point where after much research and consideration, I will be taking the children from the state school system in preference of IEP (Individual Education Plan) from home.
This by no means is going easy, especially for Ben.
Sam however should perform better as he wont be thrown out of whack every time school holidays come around or his teacher is away.
This will also improve his safety, and give them both the one on one assistance that they need.
I hope to have them both catch up to their peers as close as possible and to their ability by the end of the yr with possibility two yrs to be on the safe side with Sam.
Three weeks ago I was talking on the phone to a supervisor from the head office and discovered that Sam is suppose to be in full time SEU for his safety.
This only reconfirmed for me the urgent need to start home Education.
Let us hope he makes it through the last few weeks of school OK while I prepare the paper work.
I tried to do this last yr but was told by the school it was illegal and that I had no other choice but for him to attend that school. I was also told that if I didn't send him there that I would have him taken off me by the dept. All for trying to protect his life as required by law.
No-one ever said hey this situation is not working why don't you give him home education like most other parents with disabled kids, and kids who live out west!
No I'm afraid they have had 4yrs to prove themselves with Ben,and Sam who has a right to be and feel safe.
Next year we will open that big scary door to home education for their sakes.
This by no means is a little decision. I have had to give up work for this.
I am a single parent and need to be able to work, but some times you have to draw a line as to what is more important.
I do hope to be able to start up a home business to try to generate income. Who knows, the kids may be able to learn how to manage it in future too.
That will help them in the future with work opportunities, as they will learn business skills.
So here's to a new path in learning and future opportunities!
I love it very much, as trying as it can be.
Ben is still having huge problems with his ADHD, ODD, and CD type behaviours.
I have been trying for quiet some time to get some-one of their butt and officially diagnose him.
Like Sam, they seem to have put him in the too hard basket and are not willing to do anything about it.
The sad part is that if he was in a foster care system he would have been diagnosed a long time ago.
He told me this morning that his teacher has been calling him lazy.
I have taken the behaviour and learning issues up with the teachers and principal, including the guidance officer at the school, only to be ignored.
They have blatantly told me they are not going to bother to help him.
At his old school down south he was getting intensive assistance via the SEU unit and speech therapy.
This has been taken away from him without further testing. I had to arrange all the testings for him and independent reviews, which they are still putting on the back burner.
The school has been getting government grants to give him intensive assistance. All he has got so far is a little bit of reading help.
His reading is at yr 2-3 while he is in grade 4 about to go to grade 5.
The grants include the safety net grant and reading program grant so why aren't they implementing it?
They get AU$500/school yr for him + $700 for the voucher safety net + I think it was $400 they said for the reading program Give or take.
All his subjects all yr he has been averaging between D-F with a lot of E's.
I ask him regularly if he is getting help, and have been told it's only occasionally that he gets it.
Sam has had similar issues with his learning disability at school as well.
Although he now gets some help, and is finally on medication, he spends a large amount of the school yr trying to settle into the school system.
This quiet often has been very dangerous to his safety at school.
Under the legislation all school are suppose provide a safe environment for all children.
When they are unable to meet this they are suppose to take appropriate steps to achieve this. This is not always able to be done, in which another method is suppose be sort for and implemented.
This included one on one assistance with the student and/ or possible inclusion to the SEU unit if not fully.
In our area they no longer have an SEU unit able to take full time students in SEU for their safety.
You have to be, if I remember rightly, level 4-6.
There is only one place in town that can take that level and it is full, like all centres across the state.
This is due to a major lack of funding in our state school and SEU system with 75% of the Federal Government funding going to private schools.
This means for the children they are going to keep getting further behind at school and have a very high chance of dropping out of school, as well as high risk of low self esteem, poverty, possible homelessness, joblessness, difficulty with relationships and integrating into society including a possibility of turning to crime.
As a parent, I refuse to sit back and be told that this situation is OK, and I'll be damned if I will let it happen.
It is my right and my duty to do all that is possible to help these kids achieve the best they can in life.
It has now come point where after much research and consideration, I will be taking the children from the state school system in preference of IEP (Individual Education Plan) from home.
This by no means is going easy, especially for Ben.
Sam however should perform better as he wont be thrown out of whack every time school holidays come around or his teacher is away.
This will also improve his safety, and give them both the one on one assistance that they need.
I hope to have them both catch up to their peers as close as possible and to their ability by the end of the yr with possibility two yrs to be on the safe side with Sam.
Three weeks ago I was talking on the phone to a supervisor from the head office and discovered that Sam is suppose to be in full time SEU for his safety.
This only reconfirmed for me the urgent need to start home Education.
Let us hope he makes it through the last few weeks of school OK while I prepare the paper work.
I tried to do this last yr but was told by the school it was illegal and that I had no other choice but for him to attend that school. I was also told that if I didn't send him there that I would have him taken off me by the dept. All for trying to protect his life as required by law.
No-one ever said hey this situation is not working why don't you give him home education like most other parents with disabled kids, and kids who live out west!
No I'm afraid they have had 4yrs to prove themselves with Ben,and Sam who has a right to be and feel safe.
Next year we will open that big scary door to home education for their sakes.
This by no means is a little decision. I have had to give up work for this.
I am a single parent and need to be able to work, but some times you have to draw a line as to what is more important.
I do hope to be able to start up a home business to try to generate income. Who knows, the kids may be able to learn how to manage it in future too.
That will help them in the future with work opportunities, as they will learn business skills.
So here's to a new path in learning and future opportunities!
Friday, October 05, 2007
School holidays
"Mum, mum....guess what mum? We have school holidays!"
"Mum, Mum...can we please go to see the movies....please...please, please mum...mum can we go?"
Does any of this sound familiar to you? Don't worry if it does, you have the comfort of knowing every other parent in the world are experiencing the exact same phenomenon.
For us its nearly over and we have managed to go through most of in unscaithed (not counting the few cat fights amongst the boys as usual).
The holidays have been pretty much flying past, and I have discovered the kids love print outs of school work sheets to do, then recycle those sheets to make crafts.
We have been learning about plants, how a plant lives and grows.
The children and myself have been planting diferent types of trees and flowers.
Every week if they were good they got to buy a plant to the value of their pocket money each.
They then plant it with my help and have to look after the plant every day.
So far they have brought a few fruit trees, Shrubs, flowers and a passion fruit vine.
This week as part of their studies on plants they have planted vegetable seeds and flower seeds.
Every day they will tend to them to see how they grow.
Another part of this learning is to talk about diferent types of food, where that food comes from and what type of food it is.
The kids loved preparing the food as they discused were it was from, then getting to eat it the most.
I can't wait until the plants are big enough to eat.
This is the last week of school holidays and as of monday it is officially school time again.
Yeay fun...these guys are soo not going to want to go.
I hate to admit it but I'm going to miss them.
Antonio is in the process of learning to sleep in a bed.
He is doing very well so far, but I'm not overly suprised as he usually is so willing to sleep anywhere. More so when he has people around him.
He has fallen out a few times but I have learnt along time ago that you either put the mattress on the floor or you put a second one down there so when they do fall they don't hurt themselves to badly. I don't trust added barriers unless its an approved feature of the bed.
If all else fails you can always buy a trundle bed, which you will always find more than one use for.
Trundles are one of those things you can never do with out, if not for your kids then for visitors.
I'm in the middle of working on a new biz. I'm hoping all will go good.
"Mum, mum....guess what mum? We have school holidays!"
"Mum, Mum...can we please go to see the movies....please...please, please mum...mum can we go?"
Does any of this sound familiar to you? Don't worry if it does, you have the comfort of knowing every other parent in the world are experiencing the exact same phenomenon.
For us its nearly over and we have managed to go through most of in unscaithed (not counting the few cat fights amongst the boys as usual).
The holidays have been pretty much flying past, and I have discovered the kids love print outs of school work sheets to do, then recycle those sheets to make crafts.
We have been learning about plants, how a plant lives and grows.
The children and myself have been planting diferent types of trees and flowers.
Every week if they were good they got to buy a plant to the value of their pocket money each.
They then plant it with my help and have to look after the plant every day.
So far they have brought a few fruit trees, Shrubs, flowers and a passion fruit vine.
This week as part of their studies on plants they have planted vegetable seeds and flower seeds.
Every day they will tend to them to see how they grow.
Another part of this learning is to talk about diferent types of food, where that food comes from and what type of food it is.
The kids loved preparing the food as they discused were it was from, then getting to eat it the most.
I can't wait until the plants are big enough to eat.
This is the last week of school holidays and as of monday it is officially school time again.
Yeay fun...these guys are soo not going to want to go.
I hate to admit it but I'm going to miss them.
Antonio is in the process of learning to sleep in a bed.
He is doing very well so far, but I'm not overly suprised as he usually is so willing to sleep anywhere. More so when he has people around him.
He has fallen out a few times but I have learnt along time ago that you either put the mattress on the floor or you put a second one down there so when they do fall they don't hurt themselves to badly. I don't trust added barriers unless its an approved feature of the bed.
If all else fails you can always buy a trundle bed, which you will always find more than one use for.
Trundles are one of those things you can never do with out, if not for your kids then for visitors.
I'm in the middle of working on a new biz. I'm hoping all will go good.
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