Welcome to the world of special services available for OR NOT for homeschoolers

Nate had a screening for kindergarten @ LSC. (the school that Justin, Megan and Helen attend) Helen had the kindergarten teacher last year and I was looking forward to her thoughts on Nate. She believes that there is something else going on with him besides the speech issue. For instance he is left handed and when he writes he'll trace what he is writing (letters, shapes, numbers) with his right hand while writing with the left. She's never seen anyone do that before either. So he has these fine motor things going on but at the same time he is amazing at video games and on the computer, which also are small motor skills. He has a young gait but can dance very well. It's all these little things that don't make sense that makes her believe Nate should have a complete screening. I have put in a call to the local public school district to sign him up for kindergarten screening there as well. As a homeschooler the laws have changed as far as services for Special need students go. The best I can tell is that previously home schools were considered "private schools" so the home school district legally had to provide services for children with special needs. The wording has changed from "private school" to non public school for home schools so now they no longer need to provide services. There are many issues that I have with this... not the least of which is that some students are home schooled BECAUSE the student is better off home for any number of reasons. Each situation is individual but there are plenty of reasons why a parent would want to homeschool a child with special needs. Now they have reworded it so that you either have to pay for private specialists to come to your home or send your child to either public or private school to obtain the services. So we are looking into all three options for Nate. Welcome to the world of special services and homeschooling. What really bugs me about this is that we pay school taxes. We pay for our children's books and supplies for home schooling. The school does not even offer bussing for our kids in private school (the distance is too far). Nate and these other students have real needs but have to attend PUBLIC school or private school to obtain them. Where is the needs of the kids put first. I worked in the local public school and my oldest two childern did attend the school for awhile. There were many reasons why we decided the public school was not the best choice for them individually or our family. So now we are taking our first steps into this new world. I'll keep you posted.

Introducing the Scott family

So here's my first time stepping into the world of blogging. I figure introductions are always a good place to start so here it goes. I am Debbie Scott. Now how to describe myself... let's see I am Rob's wife of 14 years and I am mom to 5 amazing children. I am sure you'll be getting to know them pretty well since they continuously give me fodder to write about. Our oldest son is Justin, who is in seventh grade and is now attending school again after 5 1/2 years being homeschooled. Megan is in fifth grade and is enjoying being in a school setting for the first time since January of her kindergarten year. Helen is 7 and is in 1st grade. She started kindergarten at LCS and has greatly benefitted from being there. Logan is also 7 and is being home schooled. Helen and Logan are 3.5 months apart in age and we feel it is better for them to be separated in school, especially since they are in the same grade and if they both attended LCS they'd be in the same class. (only one class per grade up until 7th grade) Nathan is 5. He is also being homeschooled. Tomorrow we are taking him to be tested for audiology and speech. He is smart as a whip but his speech is very difficult to understand. We are looking forward to the results of his tests.

Currently I am a SAHM. I homeschool my two youngest boys and three of our children attend a private Christian school. I watch two of my nieces ages 2 1/2 and 1, three days a week. After finally getting past the diaper stage (we had 3 in diapers for a while there and Nathan waited until the age of 4 to start using the potty) I am enjoying spending time playing with blocks, reading little board books with them on my lap and discussing important issues like if sissy needs her diaper changed.

All of our children play soccer, some play t ball, and Megan played basketball until this week when she injured her knee.

Now we are getting ready for the Superbowl. Not as much enthusiasm this year in the Scott household. Now LAST year was a different story. I am so thankful that our children were able to see the GIANTS win the superbowl. What an amazing day! So this year it is the Cardinals and the Steelers. All I know of the Steelers is that Gary Campbell and John Pulglesie in my 3rd grade class were huge fans and both wore Steeler sweaters for their class pictures. My husband ended up going to college with Gary. (small world) All I know about the Cardinals is that they are in Arizona and it is warmer there than it is here in upstate NY. The glare off the ice in the fields behind our house are BLINDING today. So that's my big mention of the Super Bowl.