School

Ian finally got to start school last week! I haven't posted anything about it because I'm not all that happy with the situation and spent most of last week talking to other parents of children with disabilities and GLASS folks and Ian's homebound teacher and the principal and the TN expert (thanks, Stacy!), etc. (You get the idea - I'm a problem parent and not the least bit ashamed of it!) Tom and I don't believe his placement is the best place for him to learn and reach his full potential, so we have requested another IEP meeting to discuss the options. Ian is a most unique situation and everyone is just trying to figure out what is best for him. The school corp has of course served children with disabilities before as well as children who have been adopted from other countries. However, when you consider that Ian has all of the above plus he has not had the opportunity to go to school (with the exception of a wonderful missionary teacher at Robin's Nest during 2008-2009 school year) and he can't verbalize what he knows and understands, he presents a pretty big challenge. We have been blessed with an exceptional homebound teacher during the last few months who has gone above and beyond to begin to unlock what is in that brain of his. She knows that he can count to 20, knows his letters (upper and lower case for the most part), knows his colors, can answer comprehension questions about a story she has read, recognizes his name, etc, etc. She's very creative and has been a real blessing. She will be a big key to our next meeting and helping to determine what Ian's school day will look like.

The positive side to the current classroom placement is that he is surrounded by wonderful, loving ladies who help/teach in the classroom. They get to go on 2 field trips each week and he went to the DQ and swimming at the YMCA last week. Guess what the highlight of the entire week was??? Riding the bus to the field trips!!! He was beside himself with excitement. I wish I had the camera with me. Swimming was a close second because he is such a little fish.

So, stay tuned for the next installment of Ian's school day as it continues to evolve.

You will certainly want to check tomorrow's blog posting because we are going to have a very BIG day!!!!