Speech, IEP, and Fighting

Last week I talked with Sugar Pea's principal a little about trying to get Sugar Pea's speech class changed from 1 day a week to 3 days.   She's made huge progress in the last 4 years, but she still has a long way to go. 

Today I had a conference with her teacher.  She was telling me that Sugar Pea will be one of the first ones to raise her hand to answer a question, will raise her hand to participate in a class discussion.  This is great to hear because last year she barely spoke in class.  3rd grade she was a little more open, but last year she wouldn't talk unless she was forced to.

I also filled out the paperwork to request her IEP be moved from March to as soon as possible.

I want to add to it.  There is a new program at the school for ESL (English as a Second Language) kids that the school.  I'd like to get Sugar Pea into it.  Because of the hearing issues when she was a baby and toddler, the speech delay, and the Auditory Processing Disorder, I think this would be great for her.   I've done some research on it and talked to her teacher and a friend of mine about it (she's ESL teacher) and we all agree that this may with her delays in language concepts area.  Especially getting her thoughts down on paper.

That's the only concern the teacher has.  She's doing awesome with her reading assessments.  This latest one that was done last week she scored a 92% on the 5th grade level assessment.  95% is proficient.  So being 3% away from that is awesome compared to where she was this time last year.  I'm so proud of her!!!

Her latest math assessment she scored a 89%.  It covers everything they've learned so far this year.  


I can remember when I was young and hated parent/teacher conferences because I was always afraid to find out what the teacher was going to tell my mom.

Up until this year I've been afraid of the conferences about Sugar Pea because they always focus on the delays and the problems and never really talk about the good part.  Her teacher last year, made her out to be this horrible student, didn't know anything, couldn't read, and pretty much a lost cause.

So to finally have a great conference, one that made me come out with a smile on my face was great.  Especially with everything that's been going on in our lives this year.  To know that even with all that and the roller coaster of emotions we've been on, that Sugar Pea is still giving it her all, and now that we know how to really help her its starting to all pay off.