Preschool/Spec. Ed Preschool question...

[livinginazoo]

OK, I appoligize in advance as this will be a fairly long post. Bub, 2nd difficult child, is three years old(four in May). He started Pre-K(HS) last August, they did developmental testing on him and in October we set up a meeting with Special Education pre-k, and HS. We developed an IEP for Bub, I was familiar with the process since we had one with difficult child 1 and she was in Special Education pre-k.

At the start of him going to HS there was only one teacher, Mrs. K. that could get him through the day, Bub would sit with her at circle and when he would get upset or need help he would go to this one teacher. Bub didn't do good in the large group setting, social skills/interaction is one of his delays. In October 06 we set it up for Paul to start going to Special Education pre-k since HS still wanted him in class but not in the afternoons because he wouldn't nap, and thier rules state that all day students have to nap.

So Bub started going to Special Education in the afternoons. He was doing really good for a while, even comming home dry and staying dry till bedtime we were very proud of him on his potty training. He was making progress on his IEP's at both schools, his tantrums were less dramatic, everyone thought that he was doing great.
Then HS started having problems again, and started sending him home sick all the time. He would sometimes be sent home as early as 8:20, before class had even started. On most weeks they would send him home at least once sick, and he'd miss two days of both HS and Special Education. The main reason they would send him home is because they said he had a temp. OK now why were they taking his temp on a daily basis? They still won't tell me.

They once sent him home twice in the same week with a temp of 103+. The second time they sent him home that week I left the school and took him straight to the ER. If he did have a temp of 103 that had lasted three days then something was very wrong. :doctor: The ER thought I was nuts, his temp was only 98.9, they checked him out and said there was nothing wrong with him, and that he had no temp, wrote me a note saying he could go back to school and HS refused to let him back in because they said I did something to bring it down(15-20minutes after leaving HS). I was furious because if he's not in HS because he's sick he can't go to Special Education. :mad:

Mrs K. left HS because of problems with the center manager(I had problems with her last year, so Bub was put in the other class hoping for better results), this was in December/January. Since then things have gotten worse, they send Bub home from school more often, since she left I dont' think he's managed to make a whole week at school straight. In the last three months he has not made any progress at HS with his IEP's and in some area's he's regressed. Mrs K teaches Sunday school and Bub attends with her. He's still very attached to her.

Ok, now here's my question- With the problems we are having with HS would it be better to change his IEP so that he is just attending Spec. Ed pre-k? They have never had the problems that HS has had, I trust the teacher and it is a much smaller group, plus high teacher to student(4:7). Also Mrs. K has her early childhood ed degree and is going for Psycology/social work now and would like to work one on one with Bub as his teacher, and then Special Education also. Would this be a good idea? Any ideas from anyone who has been there?
I'm just really stressed out with everything going on with Bub and am at my wit's end, he's falling further behind and I feel like HS is holding him back. I'm supposed to talk to the principal on Monday to see about him just doing Spec. Ed. I don't want to mess him up. But I also want whats best for him. I filled a complaint with HS Main director and that got me no-where. I'm running into the same problems that I ran into last year. Help please. :crying:

 

[Sheila]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> HS still wanted him in class but not in the afternoons because he wouldn't nap, and thier rules state that all day students have to nap. </div></div>

Just so you know in the future, IEPs are Individual Education Plans. They are to be written to meet the unique needs of the student. His IEP could have addressed this issue with a quite time of some sort.

I'm not sure I'm understanding the setup. I've interpreted this to mean that your difficult child is actually attending two Pre-K classes -- one designated for sp ed and one regular.

His IEP should be followed in both classes. (I'm assuming the IEP addresses behavior issues also.)

Just to be safe, I'd get a copy of the school nurse's records and take him to the doctor to rule out any medical problems regarding temperature spikes. I'd also get notes that relate to why daily temperature business is in progress. (You are entitled to this info by law. If they won't given them to you willingly, request them in writing.)

It could be that part of the problem is that difficult child is getting too much stimuli with-two classes per day. If you think he'd do better in just one class, cutting back may be a good option.

If you sense there is a problem in other areas, the IEP may need some tweaking. As the parent you are a member of the IEP team. As such, you can call an IEP meeting at any time.

 

[livinginazoo]

His IEP at HS had to be differant than the one at Spec. Ed. as his IEP stated that he would be put in time out for being agressive, not following the rules(two warnings first on the rules), being disruptive in class and so on. HS is regulated by the state and said that they can not under any circumstances put a child in time out they can take away privalages(going outside, field trips, and free play) and use re-direction, which doesn't work. I've worried about HS being to much for him since he doesn't do very well in large groups(Wal-Mart can be a hassle as he doesn't like large groups of people).

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sheila</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Just so you know in the future, IEPs are Individual Education Plans. They are to be written to meet the unique needs of the student. His IEP could have addressed this issue with a quite time of some sort.</div></div>

The answer to him not wanting to nap in the afternoons was to send him to Spec. Ed in the afternoons since they only take a 15min rest time since most the kids in the Spec. Ed. are ADHD. Bub's IEP was set up to adress his Learning Disability (LD)'s(social, gross moter, language) and his behavoir problems(severe tantrums, screaming for hours when told no, hitting other kids, ect).

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sheila</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'm not sure I'm understanding the setup. I've interpreted this to mean that your difficult child is actually attending two Pre-K classes -- one designated for sp ed and one regular.</div></div>

You got the set-up right, he was going to HS in the morning and Spec. Ed in the Afternoons. However I pulled him from HS this morning since he hasn't gone in a week and a half(well he's been sent to school and they send him home so..)

I plan on asking for a complete copy of his school records, so A. I have them and B. To see if there is any explination as to why they were taking his temp. HS does not have a nurse on staff and if one is needed then they send the kids home to mom and/or dad. And they were the ones that were taking his temp on what seems like a daily basis.

 

[Martie]

Hi,

The way you describe the two teachers make it an easy choice for me: I would go with the teacher you likde and the low student to teacher raio.

Preschoolers are not as affected by "stigma" as older kids, so I think there is much to be gained by making the afternoon a full day program.

I agree with Sheila: changing between any two program daily might be too much for a child this young, even a easy child.

Martie

 

[SRL]

I agree that I would keep him in the setting that he's doing best in and pull him from the other.

Sheila and Martie, on another forum I'm on with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) kids, I've been very surprised by the number of children who are doing a split preschool arrangement successfully. Usually it's sped for half of a day and then the other half is spent in a regular private preschool with few accomodations and a lot of flexibility, such as Montessori. For higher functioning kids who can handle it, the arrangment works well because they benefit from the interaction with typical peers. My difficult child wouldn't have been able to handle it but kids who are accustomed to daycare often seem to do it. I think having two IEP settings muddle things though.

 

[Sheila]

My difficult child wouldn't have been able to transition between the two either, and he still requires a great amount of consistency.

One of the points I was trying to make is that all public schools must adhere to the IEP. As we have seen time and time again, what a parent is "told" compared to what the law dictates is not necessarily the same thing.

IDEA/IEP is a Federal law. All States must adhere to the Federal law in order to get federal educational funding and, in fact, have signed agreements that they will. State law does not supercede federal law. There are some areas of IDEA that are silent and one would have to look to State law to fill in the blanks in those areas so to speak.

With that said, I'd still go with whatever I felt best suits my child's needs -- even if that means dropping one of the classes.

 

[livinginazoo]

Today is Bub's first day back at Spec.Ed. I took him out of HS yesterday, I took for granted that Whisper could handle it, and thrived from it. Then again she had a year and a half of just Spec.Ed. first so that could have made the differance. Bubba seemed happy to go to school today, and relieved he wasn't going to HS. Thank you for the support, I'm looking forward to seeing how his first day back went. And at the same time praying that this is what he needed, and now we will start to see some progress.