It took me this long to give you updates on our home schooling decision. Sorry, but a lot has been going on. See my Life, Literacy, and Laughter blog to know what I have been doing at work.
Marcus moved home at the beginning of September. We had the CSE meeting that established his placement as "home instruction". We were assured that he could be on home instruction and get his diploma. We have two goals: keep Marcus out of jail and high school graduation with a Regents diploma. I know he may not go to college, but I want him to have choice. The NYS "local" diploma doesn't give the choice of college as an option because it isn't a diploma - only a certificate of completion. Our plan was that my husband Morris would do the additional three and a half hours a day of instruction (in addition to the two hours he would get from the district) to meet NYS requirements. We enlisted the help of a friend who is a certified teacher to help Morris since he is not a trained teacher. All was going well for a bit.
But, the honeymoon ended and we started seeing more aggressive behaviors from Marcus. And, the district started saying that he couldn't graduate from home instruction because it is a temporary thing. The good part is that Marcus has totally engaged with his tutor and has learned more content in these few months than he has in years. He got Bs on his last report card!
Unfortunately, the teaching proved too much for Morris. I didn't realize how embedded in the teacher mindset I am as a teacher educator and underestimated what he needed to do to figure it out. I pummeled him with materials thinking he would do what a teacher does - look at it all, find themes, develop projects and lessons, etc. Well, I learned that not everyone thinks that way. I even tried giving him an EngageNY module. I hate the modules because they are scripted, but that they are scripted might be useful to him. Not so much. He let me know that it wasn't going to work out. I was disappointed for sure, but understood.
We have a CSE meeting January 8th to figure out a new plan. My proposal will be to have Marcus go to East High School (now that my university will be running it) for a modified day and have Morris be the official one-to-one aide. I have gotten approval from the principal and the EPO Superintendent (see by other blog for explanation of this) of this plan. Now I just have to get CSE approval. No way I will let them set Marcus up for jail again!
It has been very difficult to have Marcus home full time and to have Morris only working a few hours a week at NEAD. Remember they both have Tourette Syndrome. Their relationship is getting better, close even, but there are flare ups when Marcus does his thing. We've had two violent episodes with some property destruction and some stealing of money and food. Marcus has a food obsession I don't understand. He has never been food deprived, but he obsesses about eating and will eat everything in one day. We now have a locked cabinet for food.
Between Hillside and the school district, there has been a steady stream of people in our house, something that is difficult for us since we tend to hole up and isolate. We have the tutor every morning, a family therapist weekly, a skill builder weekly, a social worker weekly, a parent volunteer weekly, and a services coordinator. And Marcus sees a therapist, also weekly. All of this is incredibly helpful, but it's quite a lot of coordination. Morris is handling this for which I am very grateful.
That's it for now. I'll let you know what happens at the CSE meeting this week.
Marcus moved home at the beginning of September. We had the CSE meeting that established his placement as "home instruction". We were assured that he could be on home instruction and get his diploma. We have two goals: keep Marcus out of jail and high school graduation with a Regents diploma. I know he may not go to college, but I want him to have choice. The NYS "local" diploma doesn't give the choice of college as an option because it isn't a diploma - only a certificate of completion. Our plan was that my husband Morris would do the additional three and a half hours a day of instruction (in addition to the two hours he would get from the district) to meet NYS requirements. We enlisted the help of a friend who is a certified teacher to help Morris since he is not a trained teacher. All was going well for a bit.
But, the honeymoon ended and we started seeing more aggressive behaviors from Marcus. And, the district started saying that he couldn't graduate from home instruction because it is a temporary thing. The good part is that Marcus has totally engaged with his tutor and has learned more content in these few months than he has in years. He got Bs on his last report card!
Unfortunately, the teaching proved too much for Morris. I didn't realize how embedded in the teacher mindset I am as a teacher educator and underestimated what he needed to do to figure it out. I pummeled him with materials thinking he would do what a teacher does - look at it all, find themes, develop projects and lessons, etc. Well, I learned that not everyone thinks that way. I even tried giving him an EngageNY module. I hate the modules because they are scripted, but that they are scripted might be useful to him. Not so much. He let me know that it wasn't going to work out. I was disappointed for sure, but understood.
We have a CSE meeting January 8th to figure out a new plan. My proposal will be to have Marcus go to East High School (now that my university will be running it) for a modified day and have Morris be the official one-to-one aide. I have gotten approval from the principal and the EPO Superintendent (see by other blog for explanation of this) of this plan. Now I just have to get CSE approval. No way I will let them set Marcus up for jail again!
It has been very difficult to have Marcus home full time and to have Morris only working a few hours a week at NEAD. Remember they both have Tourette Syndrome. Their relationship is getting better, close even, but there are flare ups when Marcus does his thing. We've had two violent episodes with some property destruction and some stealing of money and food. Marcus has a food obsession I don't understand. He has never been food deprived, but he obsesses about eating and will eat everything in one day. We now have a locked cabinet for food.
Between Hillside and the school district, there has been a steady stream of people in our house, something that is difficult for us since we tend to hole up and isolate. We have the tutor every morning, a family therapist weekly, a skill builder weekly, a social worker weekly, a parent volunteer weekly, and a services coordinator. And Marcus sees a therapist, also weekly. All of this is incredibly helpful, but it's quite a lot of coordination. Morris is handling this for which I am very grateful.
That's it for now. I'll let you know what happens at the CSE meeting this week.
