I have mostly skimmed the posts but as far as other strategies, one I have not seen mentioned is simply minimizing time at school.
Our school's absence and tardy policies are complex and we are still understanding them. Beyond the actual policies are the reasons for them, which are policies tied to the school's funding and which are just something an official thought might be a good idea. Either way there are some gems in there. A student present by X time is considered present the entire day, it does not count towards absences. Religious holidays are not counted towards absences. We schedule appointments, well dental visits etc, for smack in the middle of the dullest part of the day. The parent, having other commitments, can only get DS back to school at X time. The school happily accepts a note from the dentist and this does not get put into the category of parent-explained absences, for which there is a cap. DS has weekly OT privately supported by our personal health insurance (and the school is happy with that as they would prefer not to pay to provide it), and that takes over half a day. And we strictly observe the district policy concerning student health, ie that parents should keep home any child displaying symptoms of an infectious illness. Given colds are infectious, as we get into winter I imagine that will gain us more homeschool days than we even want. So far DS has had lots of absences but none the school would take any issue with as far as their policies go. DS is attending an interesting homeschool group class one day a week this way in which he has learned more than in the total amount of time in 1st grade. There will be some absences from it too as I don't want him away from school the same day every week, but he enjoys it when he does get to go.
This fall is not as easy on the parents' careers as I imagined it would be, but I hope it is allowing DS to make it through more easily to a point in which there is more differentiation in place for him.
We try to communicate well with his teacher regarding absences so she is not surprised. I know she has sent make up work home for another student that was ill, but not for DS, and I think that's a tacit approval. I doubt she feels she is allowed to say anything verbally supporting the strategy. But considering the number of meetings we've had with her, and the number of days DS has been absent, I have the feeling it would have come up if it were going to.
Last edited by Polly; 10/08/13 08:43 PM.
