Today is Snow Day No. 11

Today we are embarking on our eleventh snow day of the school year.  And that means our kids are going to be seeing their last day of school pushed from May 16th to somewhere around June 2nd.  I guess it's understandable that most parents are upset that our kids have to makeup these days which can't be avoided.  Mother Nature is a beotch, you know.  Making up snow days really doesn't bother me as much as I'm worried about how it affects the learning process.  Are kids going to recall what they were last studying by the time we get back in class?  It goes without saying that I'm really shocked and saddened by some of the comments left on the school's facebook page.  I don't know why the school allows people to leave comments, I'm pretty sure you can turn off that option in your facebook settings.

Anyhoo.... someone left a comment stating that our state requires 1,050 hours of school each school year.  Hmmmm.  Last night I went to the school's website and printed a copy of the school calendar and then dug through the kids school papers to find their school handbook.  According to the handbook, my kids elementary school day begins at 7:45 and ends at 2:35.  Do a little math and that makes the school day 6 hours and 50 minutes long.  There are 175 days of school scheduled this year.  If you do a little math (175 x 6 hours 50 minutes) my kids are scheduled to be in school for 1,195.8 hours this school year.  Do a little more math (1,195.8 - 1,050) and you will see that my kids are at school for 145.8 hours a year that aren't counted toward their education.

WTF?

Of course, a very helpful person (on FB) pointed out the fallacy of my logic.  You see, that additional time above 6 hours a day that our kids are in school is not counted toward "instructional time".  Nope, lunch, recess, and any time spent in the halls is not counted toward their school day.  I'll have to throw in another WTF here.  You'll have a very difficult time convincing me that kids aren't learning something during these, I don't know what to call them, down times?  I feel confident saying that kids are being "instructed" to sit down and be quiet while they eat their lunch, and to walk in a line and be quiet while in the hallways, and to act like something besides barbarians while running around on the playground.  Instructional time begins the second my kids get out of my car in the morning and ends the second they get back into my car in the evening.

Now, I'm guessing that this additional 50 minutes of each school day is a necessary evil and we are all powerless to have a say in the matter. But, if my child must be present from 7:45-2:35 in order to be counted as "present" for the school day, that entire school day should count toward the total number of time required for the entire school year. Am I crazy for thinking this?  I think not.  And I'm really curious to hear what the Governor's office will say to the inquiry I sent this morning.

My kids have been in public school for just the past few years, but I find myself continually wishing for the confidence to home school them.  Sadly, I never wanted to grow up and become a school teacher.  Just the idea of being in a classroom day after day with thirty or so angelic little faces is enough to give me hives!  But, I can't shake the thought that school is no longer really about learning, it's just about punching a time card and meeting a quota.  And, that just doesn't seem like a good way to do business, if you're business is to educate young minds.  Thoughts?

After Thought:  I just have to mention that I have a very strong dislike for the use of hand sanitizer over good old fashioned hand washing. In the past, I assumed the argument pro-sanitizer would be that there simply isn't enough time for good old fashioned hand washing. Well, now that I know there's fifty throw away minutes in each and every school day, I must say I think there is plenty of time in the school day for good old fashioned hand washing. Next year, for every bottle of sanitizer I'm asked to send, I will be sending a bottle of hand soap and a roll of paper towels instead.

Hand Sanitizer, I Do Not Like Thee

I can't remember exactly when hand sanitizers became all the rage.  Was it before or after the bird flu hysteria began?  I just can't recall.  Remember the good ol' days when the doctor actually washed his hands when entering the exam room.  Boy, those were the days.

If  I've said it once I've said it a thousand times.  Poop is poop no matter how much hand sanitizer you put on it.  Right?  And the CDC pretty much agrees with me.  See that photo?  See the bold line that reads "not as effective when hands are visibly dirty".  Yep, something to think about.

How many of you can honestly say that after leaving the playground your kids hands are not "visibly dirty".  And I don't want to think about their hands when leaving the bathroom.  I've heard enough horror stories about what kids leave in the bathroom to make me loose a months worth of sleep.  Seriously, talk to your school janitor, you will be scarred for life.

Now, take a closer look at the label on your hand sanitizer.  I was quite surprised to see a Drug Facts label just like you find on a bottle of medication.  Did you ever think of hand sanitizer as a drug?  Neither did I.  Now, take a closer look at the label on your hand soap.  No Drug Facts label?  Yea, my soap didn't have one either. 

I did a little online snooping and the CDC and Mayo clinic agree that hand sanitizer should be used when soap and water are not available.  I'd guess that 99.99% of places frequented in America have both running water and soap.  So why is hand sanitizer the go-to option in most situations these days? 

I began writing about this topic months ago, around the beginning of the school year, so imagine my surprise when a google search for the best iron-fortified cereal led me to a really great parent resource from a pediatric doctor's office with a page devoted to none other than hand sanitizer vs. hand washing!  Sue me, I was tickled pink.  There's actually a lot of really great information on their website, I'm very impressed and wish they were local for us.  But, back to the hand sanitizer debate. 

Hand sanitizer is equivalent to 124 proof alcohol.  Wow, just wow.  And how many bottles were you asked to send to your child's school this year?  Parents, shouldn't we be worried about this stuff?  It's passed around like crack, I mean candy, in the classroom, readily available to every child in a school, and is absorbed right into your child's delicate skin.  Wonder if you can get a contact buzz that way?  Could we be turning our children into alcoholics because thinking about the long term effect of hand sanitizer use? 

And did I mention that it probably won't kill that pesky virus that's always going around your child's school?  Antibiotics aren't the only thing germs are immune to, obviously they aren't afraid of hand sanitizers either.  Think about all of your children's sick doctor visits lately.  Do you hear more and more often that your child has a virus and antibiotics just aren't going to help?  But, do you know what might help?  HAND WASHING with real SOAP and WATER!!!

I do realize that hand sanitizer is leaps and bounds faster than good ol' fashioned hand washing.  Keep in mind that faster isn't always better.  And I concede that the illnesses which have kept my kids home from school, thus far, this school year would not have been prevented by good ol' fashioned hand washing.  But, this is the last week of November, right at the beginning of cold and flu season, and I believe the spread of communicable illnesses would be lessened by good ol' fashioned hand washing.  Don't you?

Helpuful IEP Info on Wrightslaw

If your child receives special education services, and you're not already receiving emails from Wrightslaw, be sure to sign up.  I can usually find something useful in the emails they send out.  Today, there is a very handy IEP Faqs that I think you'll want to check out.  I tried to pin it to Pinterest, but wasn't having any luck, so I thought I'd just post it here on the blog.

I spent a great deal of time last summer reading up on IEPs.  After all of my research, I still get baffled by them.  I can't understand how something so simple gets so complicated.  I printed out Chapter 12: Smart IEPs (available in PDF on the website) from their book From Emotions to Advocacy and added the book to my reading wish list.  I know Patty's school did an amazing job last year, but school is going to keep getting harder and I want to ensure Patty has the best opportunity to learn.

I had a conversation with Patty's advocate recently (from Protection & Advocacy) and she said something that really made me take note.  Well, she always says something that makes me take note, she's one smart lady.  But on that day, she told me that first and foremost, Patty is a First Grade student.  She's not a special education student in first grade.  It really resonated with me.  It was a light bulb moment, for sure.

So, even though we have all summer before First Grade, I'm going to be spending some time looking at the things a Kindergartener is expected to know by the end of Kindergarten.  How do I plan to do this?  Well, I am going to look at her final IEP Progress Report and go from there.  To start with.  But, since an IEP doesn't cover all areas of learning, I'll also be spending a lot of time looking at the Common Core Standards.  I was very lucky to receive a great email from Ms. P, Patty's special education teacher, where she broke down many areas and told me what Patty's weaknesses were. 

Those common core standards are a mystery in and of themselves.  Although the standards are fairly specific in what is supposed to be mastered in each grade level, the report card we receive doesn't specifically say if your child met the standard.   That's a change we'll probably see in the years to come.  Have you checked out the standards?  I wonder if there is a "common core for dummies" book out there?

Update:
My bloggy friend Joy of I Can Say Mama left a great link in the comments.  If you're looking for IEP goals/objectives, this may be just what you need!  IEP Goals and Objectives Bank

Sequester Me This

I read somewhere that the sequester is going to impact special education.  I didn't read anything specific and I can't recall where I read it.  But, I am definitely frightened by any future that includes a loss in special education teachers.

I fear a tighter budget will cause many kids to miss out on special education services for the sake of saving money.  If that's the case, I know Patty will be okay because I won't let a lack of services affect her performance.  Patty will be college ready at graduation if it kills me getting her there.  But, I do worry about the other kids who don't have me to come home to at the end of the day.

Do you have any sequestration fears, or is it just me?

Too Early For Summer School?

Would you send your child to school during the summer if your district offered a program? 

I do worry about the summer back slide, but I don't know if I'd want to send Patty or JT to school during the summer months.  

So, I'm getting a jump start and ordering a couple Summer Bridge Workbooks for the Kiddos.  A Kindergarten to First Grade for Patty, and Prek to Kindergarten for JT.

I looked at several workbooks last summer while we were trying to decide if Patty should have a second go at Kindergarten and I gotta tell you I was very intimidated by the First Grade work.

I'm really hoping the workbook will keep her interested in learning over the summer.

JT, on the other hand, needs all the help he can get.  Getting that kid to learn his ABCs is proving to be one of the most difficult things I have ever done!

He's really good at writing the letters just by looking at them but he has zero interest in learning the names of each letter. 

Report Card Time

Last year, I had a really hard time with report cards.  It was our very first experience with the report card and I dreaded finding it in Patty's backpack each trimester.  First, I couldn't decide what the report card was telling me...other than she was "below level" in nearly everything.  Then, she would be "on level" one semester and fall "below level" the next.  It was utterly confusing and heart breaking and frustrating all rolled into one.

At some point I came to terms with the report card situation.  I mean, we have thirteen years of those things in our future, they weren't going to go away no matter how badly I wanted them to.  You see, I was of the mindset that the only good grade is an A and it took months for me to get past that belief. 

Now, I spend more time looking at her daily work and less time worrying about the measurements on her report cards.  It's so easy to see the progress she's making each and every night as we sit down to work on her homework.  She's reading to me!  She's learning to spell!  She's doing addition!  It's amazing to see how far she's come.  That report card, which comes only three times a year, is just a vague snap shot of the things she has accomplished.  It's really not fair to judge her by that piece of paper.

I hope all of this progress means the "gap" is starting to close and that one day we will be able to shed her diagnosis of developmental delay.  I don't believe there is such a thing as "normal" just like everyone else.  But, I do believe there is such a thing as "able" just like everyone else. 

A Goodbye to Cursive Writing

I recently heard that cursive writing is no longer a requirement here in Kentucky.  As in, my kids may not be taught to write in cursive by our public school system. 

So.  Okay.  Wait.  What? 

The logic that was to be the end of cursive hand writing had something to do with a notion that no other countries learn to write in two forms like we do: print and cursive.  So, is that true?  Are we (the USA) the only folks on Earth who learn to write in two formats?  Apparently not.  According to Wikipedia, many countries have a cursive form of their written language. 

Hmmm, I find that fact very interesting, don't you?

Another argument for the demise of cursive writing is that everything is created in print.  But, that's simply not true.  Some of the most important documents in the United States are written in cursive.  If we no longer teach our children to write and read cursive, who will be left to read the Constitution and other documents created by the founders of our country?  What a sad future we have ahead of us.

Here are a few other interesting things I read as I researched this topic:

• Cursive is often believed to be faster than printing
• Cursive may be required to make legal documents official
• In many countries, children are FIRST taught to write and read in cursive

So, how many countries use the Roman Alphabet? According to the map on Wiki, most of the world uses the Roman Alphabet.  I'm going to make an educated guess that most countries learn, teach, and use both the print and cursive versions of the Roman Alphabet. Why would the USA want to be the only one to eliminate cursive?  It just makes zero sense. 

I think it's fair to say that we will be short-changing our children when cursive is fully eliminated from our classrooms.  Parents, we need to start paying attention to these things.  I can't speak for everyone, but I don't want my kids to be partially illiterate.  Eliminating cursive from our curriculum is a huge mistake.

Getting JT Ready for Kindergarten

JT would have been in his third year of preschool right now (he has a late birthday) if he hadn't been stricken with a bout of separation anxiety that I had really not expected.  His anxiety sparked right in the middle of Patty's anxiety about attending a new school, and we decided to let JT stay home with me this year.  Now, I am left to prepare him for Kindergarten and I was happy to see this little online tool in an email I received recently: Kindergarten Readiness Test. 

You can access your child's Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Auditory Processing, Visual Discrimination, Letter/Word Awareness, Phonemic Awareness, Math/Number Awareness, and Social/Emotional Development.  At the end, you're left with a tidy little table and a nice summary of your child's strengths and weaknesses.  That's a pretty handy little tool!

Obviously, we have our work cut out for us in the Letter/Word/Phonemic Awareness department.  But, we have seven months to master those 26 letters so I'm not worried that JT will be unprepared for Kindergarten this fall.  I'll search Pinterest for some cool ABC activities and get busy!

3-Day School Week, 3-Day Weekend

An extra three days to practice this week's spelling words!

Hooray! A DIY School Memories Book

I have been eyeing those cute little school memories books for the past three years but I never wanted to spend money on something I thought I could make for free.  Let's just say I haven't gotten around to making them for free myself.  It's on my mental to-do list, I guess.

Well, I opened an email this morning to see these School Memories pages created by Confessions of a Homeschooler!  Seriously, I am very happy right now. 

I've already saved them to my computer and it's the perfect motivation to get all of my scrapbooking caught up (that's going to be one of my 2013 resolutions!).

Do you have a memories book from your childhood?  I did, but I think it got lost sometime over the years.  But, I remember looking at it and just being amazed.  I hope Patty and JT like their books as much as I did!

Better Security For Our Children

My heart broke this afternoon as I read about the school shooting in Connecticut.  I can not imagine what that community is going through right now.  And I hope I never have to find out.

Patty is in kindergarten, has twelve years of public school ahead of her, and I really don't want to spend those years fearing for her safety.  And that's not even mentioning that next year JT will begin school, too.  Boy, does homeschooling sound appealing right now.

I just have to ask, how many more school shootings have to occur before schools implement adequate security to protect our kids?  It's painfully obvious that the procedures adopted in the years following Columbine are not effective.  Having a door bell at the front entrance is not enough. 

But, then we have to ask ourselves, how much security is enough? 

Do we need armed security in our school buildings?  Armed faculty?  Frankly, the idea of an armed guard in my child's elementary school terrifies me.  But, I wouldn't cross it off the possibilities list.

Metal detectors?  Yes, please.  At each and every doorway.

As I write this I can't help but wonder where are all of the security companies in all of this?  We have a desperate situation so where's the guy saying, your school security is fallible and needs major improvements.  Where's the plan to make our schools safe? 

Do me a favor, on your next visit to your child's school, count how many doors there are leading to the outside .  For the heck of it, check to see if those outside doors are locked.  Count the security cameras, too.  Locked doors and security cameras will not keep your child safe if an armed gunman makes his way into the school and opens fire. 

Our schools are not safe.  And I think it's way past time for someone to do something about it. 

It's time to lock up our schools tighter than Fort Knox.  Our children are more precious than any amount of money.  Let's see our schools implement security similar to the banking industry.  Have you ever worked in a bank?  Banks are pretty serious about keeping their money safe.  Let's see schools treat our children in the same way.  There have to be better security plans that can be implemented.

Written On: Friday, December 14, 2012

A New Director of Special Ed

Did you know the new Director of Special Education has been selected?!  You can read about it here.  I'm looking forward to seeing how a change in leadership affects the climate of special education in our district, aren't you?  Personally, I would have liked to see the board of ed select an individual who had previously served as a director of special education in another school district.  But, I have to say 17+ years in special education is promising.  I don't see a job listing for the position vacated by Fogle (district special education teacher consultant).  Any hoo, please join me in offering Ms. Fogle a round of congratulations and a warm welcome to her new position!

All Call: Holiday v. Security Threat

Let me just forewarn you before you begin reading this, I am all over the place in the post.  I feel so strongly about this, I am having a difficult time un-jumbling my thoughts so that they flow cohesively.  I hope you can make sense out of it by the end, if not, send me an email or leave a reply.  Just remember, I do not like "anonymous" commenters!

Since the dust has settled and more details have been released....I figure this is as good a time as any to voice my dislike of the "all call" phone system used by our county school system. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't loathe everything about it.  For example, I find it extremely helpful to receive an "all call" when school is cancelled because of something unexpected, like inclement weather.  But, the reminders that school will not be in session for a regularly scheduled holiday, like Christmas and Election Day, are truly irksome to me. 

Don't forget, this is my blog, and it's 100% my opinion.  Stop reading now if you don't like the tone of this post. 

I just find it 100% annoying to get those types of reminder calls.  I am fully capable of reading the nice, glossy calendar the school provided to us.  And, I know I'm just taking this too personally, but it feels like the school system is saying, "hey, parents, we don't think you're responsible and/or capable of raising your kids, so we just want to be sure you don't send your kids to school on Thanksgiving."  Yada yada yada.

And, yes, I do imagine there are some parents that are not responsible.  Want to know what I have to say about that?  Teach sex-ed to the high schoolers and hand out free condoms.  Sorry, that makes it sound like only young parents are not responsible, and that's simply not true, parents of all ages are irresponsible.  But, you know what?  I don't think the school system should interject itself into the matters at home (unless there is an abusive situation involved).  But that's a topic for another day and I'm getting away from the subject at hand.

So, the reason I wanted to address this topic is the "all call" made yesterday to alert parents that a threat had been made against Central High School.  I first learned of this threat as I walked Patty into her elementary school yesterday.  Her school wasn't threatened and I still considered walking her back to the car and driving her home.  You just can not gamble with the safety of even one child when a threat of violence has been made.  Now, because I feel that Patty is safe at her school, I did walk her to class and go on about my day.  But, had I thought for a second that her school wasn't capable of keeping her safe, I would have brought her home.  And that is MY choice to make, not the school system's.  By failing to notify each and every parent, the school system took a life and death risk with our children's safety.

I received the "all call" a little over an hour after I dropped Patty at school, and I now know that the call was made about 14 hours after the threat was reported.  That is simply not acceptable.  I can not believe there is no contingency plan in place to notify parents in a more timely manner for a situation like this.  For God's sake, the Paducah school shooting took place an hour car ride away from here!  In my opinion, an "all call" should have gone out before bedtime Wednesday night altering families of the situation and that there was no need to keep kids home from school.  If it wasn't safe enough for kids to be at school, the "all call" should have notified us that school was cancelled. 
But, either way, there should have been some policy in place to ensure families would be notified - in advance - and not after the fact.

I read the surfKY news coverage of the press conference and am glad to see that the school system acknowledged they dropped the ball, in a manner of speaking.  And that's the only thing I was happy about.  The article actually raised another concern: the school system didn't realize word was spreading like wild fire via social media.  Really?  I'm just envisioning school personnel riding their dinos into work yesterday.  Let me take a moment while you get your rock and chisel out.  Seriously, the folks in charge didn't realize that everyone on social media would be all over this?  Really?  OK, I will apologize for those Flinstones references, because I know they are particularly harsh.  But, I think it may be time to hire some folks who are a little better at keeping up with the latest trends.  I mean, social media has been around for a while, if you're not living under a rock, you've probably heard of it.

I will also say:  THANK HEAVENS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA, AND THE ABILITY TO GET THE WORD OUT IN A TIMELY MANNER.  Because our school system wasn't on top of it. 

I want to leave you with a little food for thought:  this is an election year.  There are three Board of Ed members on the ballot in the upcoming election.  If you're lucky enough to reside in one of the voting districts, think very carefully before you mark your ballot.  If I'm not mistaken, it is these very board of ed members who bear the responsibility of renewing employment contracts for the folks running our school system.

Special Ed Changes: Will We Get A Vote?

Did you see last Friday's edition of the Messenger?  Hopkins County is about to get a new Director of Special Education.  This change will greatly affect the learning path of many kids in our county. 

Howdy Pard'ner!

I was plum tickled when Patty announced she was going to dress up like a "pard'ner" for Western Wear Day!  This was a first for her, other than for Halloween.  We couldn't find a cowboy hat in our price range of cheap and luckily she was ok with that.  She told me she wanted to be pink and red...so we grabbed a few bandannas and a vest from Dollar Tree to use as a template.  It took over two hours and a lot of frustration, but I was finally able to piece that cute little vest together!  It looked really cute from a nice distance!  And she wore it proudly, that's what counts!  Yeehaw!

New School = Updates

It's a new school year and you know what that means.  Paperwork.  Lots and lots of paperwork.  I filled out and/or signed twenty pages from Patty's kindergarten packet!  It's good to brush up on your "following directions" skills, right?  I like to see how many I can fill out correctly before my eyes go cross or glaze over!

First Day Update

OMG!  To say Patty had a rough first day would be an understatement.  The poor kid cried so much that her eyes are bright pink underneath!  When I first laid eyes on her at pickup, I actually thought she'd been hit in the face.  Totally wasn't prepared for the sight.

Earn and Return Cards for Kids!

This is a strange thing to share since it's been another whole month since my last blog post! 

But, I came across Earn & Return cards in a teaching supply magazine and thought: hey, those are totally DIY-able!  (Many things in those magazines are totally DIY-able).  The catalog had them priced around 13-cents EACH plus shipping and handling.  Yikes, that's expensive!  So, I headed to my favorite computer program and did a DIY version.