my son's official iep is on monday. he is being early admitted to kindy. he is also getting gifted services 90 minutes a week. he will get 2 40 minute pull out sessions with academic peers. the kids in that group are really ringers...lol...as the group will really be focused around my son. the coordinator will design the group around him, move on when he gets it....etc. but will have older kids in the group only to provide academic peers. he will also get 10 minutes of consultation in class on another day.....and in class accommodations including compacted and enhanced assignments in reading, writing, and math.

this is what is in the iep "draft." all of it is changeable. i can make suggestions. i think it looks amazing especially since in the beginning they said he wasn't gifted and would not service him. lol. short story is they were wrong, they discovered he is gifted, they are AMAZED by him, and are actually excited to service him. i just want to make sure i am not missing anything before his meeting.

i am COMPLETELY grateful and amazed by what they have offered....but does any one have any suggestions, recommendations, or questions i should be asking?

Hi, Momma2,

Lovely that the school is so accommodating! Would that they all were.

My question is about the peers. Who are these ringers, and what will their parents be told? Certainly *not* that they are spending time in school that is focused on another child's educational needs rather than their own.

If those kids are getting pulled out, their parents are (or ought to be) giving permission for that pullout, and receiving some explanation that's not the same as the explanation the school gave you. For that reason, this setup sounds very odd to me. I'd ask a lot of questions about that.

DeeDee

My DS' Kindy was the same way. They bent upsidedown and backwards. He had a schedule that looked like a middle schoolers, one room for math, another for science, another for LA.

Two things I would recommend. That he be allowed to take science which normally isn't offered until third grade and that you have a built in codicil for "changes as needed". Make sure that his IEP is designed to allow for flexibility.

Congrats! It sounds like things are moving in the right direction!

Hi momma2
I agree with deedee in that it sounds great in some ways but really strange about the peers. Could they really be moving on only when your child gets it? My son has an iep for high functioning autism and even his social skills group can only happen before and after school with signed consent.

We all are fighting for the rights of our children and it sounds like you have a school which is willing to accommodate and I think that is great but from what you wrote I have to ponder if they are a little too accommodating. I just know if my child was one of these ringers I would be furious.

good points about the ringers (my word...not theirs). i'd be mad too! i don't know what they will tell the other parents...i'll be sure to ask more about that bc i definitely don't want my son or my family to be the center of a schoolwide scandal! lol. i think it was a good accommodation in theory....but only for my kid. i see that now....see....i am so GLAD i asked here before going to the meeting. that could have gotten ugly! thank you for pointing that out. i think i am just so happy they are doing anything that it is hard for me to see the other side!

i wonder if it would be helpful to ask for him to attend a specials class- like library? with the older kids so he could still be with some academic peers at a time it would matter(reading is his highest area)...but without encroaching on the other childrens' educational rights....and have his pull out time be independent?? opinions on that?

Sounds like a great plan. My strong advice it to go ahead and see how it goes before you approach them about any changes. That plan is pretty generous compared to a LOT of stories I hear. If he comes home every day happy, it's going well. If not, cross that bridge when you get to it.

Best wishes,
Neato

Edit: Actually, I like Shari's advice, make sure the IEP states that it is flexible and can change to accomadate child.

Momma2many,
Congrats on the school being willing to flexibly search for accommodation for you child. I didn't jump to any sinister conclusions about the 'ringers' - schools do all sorts of mysterious things. But it might be helpful in terms of this conversation to say what the school actually did tell you about how the 'ringer' thing is planned to work. My guess is that these 'ringers' will get more than they would if you son wasn't being helped.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

The one thing that was big according to our school when trying to work out my DS6's comings and goings from the classroom was making sure that he felt like he belonged to a "home" class. So, while we made sure that he has his own desk and supplies in the other classrooms, we also made sure that he is included in all the fun activities taking part in his main class and that he knows that he is a member of that class and that he has one main teacher and two other subject teachers. The school was actually more concerned with this aspect than we were, but I could see how a younger child, in particular, might like to have a home base out of which to operate. Not sure what to suggest to make this happen, not even sure how big a deal it is, just something to consider.

Otherwise, I think that it's wonderful that your child's school is aknowledging his diverse needs and attempting to meet them. Yea for them making the effort!

what i wrote is all she said. she didn't spell out how it will work, where the kids will come from, exactly how she will pick kids for the group, or what she will tell the teachers or parents about these children who suddenly find themselves in a group with the gifted teacher twice a week. ???? i honestly didn't think it was odd at first...bc again....being completely thrilled and shocked they would service my son AT ALL....i honestly was selfishly only thinking about him...and did not take the time to think about the kids. so i didn't ask many questions.

honestly. i got a call a few days before this meeting. wasn't told what it was about. and i showed up expecting them to tell me my son was not gifted and to stop bothering them. lol. instead i got this. i'm still shocked.

everyone is giving me so much to think about. and i truly truly am thankful for all the comments and suggestions. i clearly want the BEST the school has to offer my son. i know i have been given a HUGE gift...so much more than i have heard of others getting. but at the same time....i do want to make sure that no one else's educational rights are stomped on in that process.

i did think about what you said...about those kids maybe getting more attention or help bc of this group that they wouldn't get otherwise. but she specifically said they would move on once my son got it....so i'm not really sure how those 2 things could co-exist. i don't know....but his official iep meeting is tomorrow...and i will ask TONS of questions to clarify and be sure to update you all on what happened.

thank you again for the support.

The obvious resolution is that they will only move on once *all* the children get it - and that they will pick the other children so that they can be pretty confident that your son isn't going to be held up by waiting for them. I hope your meeting clarifies everything! I'd also be hopeful that it could be a good thing all round. E.g., they might be saying to these parents "we're starting a small pullout group with enrichment work, and we think your child would enjoy it and benefit from it". These other children might then be "ringers" in the sense that they didn't themselves have problems sufficient to force the school to make special arrangements for them, but once in the group they'd all be equal members of it. At any rate I hope it's something like that!

I don't understand what 'move on' means.

I don't understand what 'once my son got it' means.

And no matter what they say - the more time they spend with any individual child, the better the odds that they notice if a 'ringer' child truly has special educational needs, and the more motivated they will be to meet the needs of the 'ringer' child. If the child doesn't have special educational needs, then no harm is done if the extra attention only lasts a little while.

Schools want to meet the learning needs of all children. The hard part is getting the schools to notice that a child has special learning needs. Don't blow this over some idealism, ok? We tend to get distracted by our idealism and general distrust (as a group)and overlook the 'here and now' because it's 'messy.'

Of course it's ok to ask questions and want to know how this effects the other kids - but try to act like you trust these people, ok? They are used to being treated like 'the professionals' and usually they earn that right.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

i like that colinsmum. thanks

grinity i think she meant that once my son demonstrates he understands whatever she was teaching, they will advance to the next level, even if that means another child at the table does not have the same level of understanding as my son. i would hope they would pick children who are ready to advance quickly....bc they will need to in order to keep up....even though they will be older. i hear what you are saying. i do trust them. i think i just have some questions and i think i am still just.....in shock. i do have a list of questions i want to ask just to make sure that we aren't about to cause any huge problems in our community. they have said more than once that they have never seen anything like this (my kid) so i do have a small fear in the back of my head that they don't know COMPLETELY what they are doing just because they have not done THIS before. very few kids are early admitted in our district (they actually encouraged me to red shirt my kid when i first called about early admittance.), and they usually do not also require gifted services until they are in the 3rd or 4th grade. so it is new to them also. i agree.....getting them to notice my son has special learning needs took a year. i am so very very thankful for what i have been given....so i will tread lightly.

hopefully by this afternoon i will have a few more answers, and a solid iep plan everyone agrees with. i'll let you all know.

so.....i asked a bunch of questions....and i think i hear her saying that the other children invited to the group are also children in need of enrichment. so there will be a benefit to them as well. i asked what the parents and teachers will be told about these students and was told the same thing....that it is an enrichment opportunity. i suppose i will have to watch a session in action once to really understand what it looks like. so i will plan on that....and in the meantime....i think it is going to be okay. *fingers crossed* everyone else in the meeting seemed to think it was ok....so i am choosing to trust them as well....and again...plan to go see it an action and see what it looks like.

i really really appreciate all the comments. thank you again for so much to think about.