2 steps forward, 6 steps back

This last week plus has been longer than I can imagine! I was doing so well with more frequent posts! Unfortunately, I have had to spend alot of time online to look for help with the oldie-but goodies behavior challenges! The rest of this post is a bit rant-y and probably grammatically bad... read ahead if you dare!

The last week has been alot of communication going on regarding Big Al and his IEP. If you have been following along, you will have already known that Big Al is not quite one of those people who compete in "all you can eat" type contests!
We have still not finished his final IEP. I found out today that his reading score actually DROPPED this year. That means that he had ZERO progress in reading in the last six months. These test scores were just made available to me in an email. Needless to say - I am very disenchanted with his "program" right now.
That test shows that his level and comprehension of reading has actually decreased since he was tested in the spring. In the real world, it means that somewhere along the line, some of the things he had "learned" have actually disappeared.
So, that was the first kicker!
The other kicker stems from Friday. I found out that Big Al was NOT taking his required snack to his teacher and eating it in class. Of course, his teacher did not let me know this... I had to ask her! This coming from a teacher who has been spouting off that "nutrition is so vital to learning"! HA - not funny haha, just a very sarcastic HA to that!

I thought things were going well... I guess I "wanted to believe" that for once, things were going well. Again, I was truly disappointed in not only the "system", but also my son, who has continued to lie to me and others about tossing his lunch versus eating. I know that I "should" say that I am disappointed in Big Al's choice and behavior, but quite frankly I am just disappointed in HIM. This is a really important time in his life, and though he has had all the information, the motivation, the consequences and the benefits put in front of him, he has chosen to do things "his" way! I know that about 80% of this is his own way of "in your face, Mom!" kinda thing that he is doing passively... but it just chaps my hide knowing that in the end, the person who will be hurt the most from his actions and choices is him!
There have been about five major challenges we have had with him in the last week. All of which stem from his "crappy choices". One was lying about getting detention, two was not coming home after school, lying about why and then being difficult, three was trying to (yet again) give away money to "friends for hire" at school, four for lying about his PE clothes and to a few different teachers in one day, five for getting in trouble for trying to flush some other kid down the toilet, six for lying about his snacks and lunches to me and his teacher... whoops... guess that is more than five, and the list is so much longer.
So, has this week been any different than previous weeks? Nope... I think that he is just getting caught more! I can only say that it is mentally exhausting, physically stressful and socially embarassing to have all this go on within a very short period of time.
Seriously, I am doing alot of searches for boarding schools online! If you have a good suggestion... PLEASE share!

The other IEP meeting

Monday, we had the annual IEP meeting for Miss O... it went well! I was actually really concerned that she had exceeded her goals by so much that she would no longer qualify for her preschool!
Luckily. she gets to receive services until the end of the school year! She is now testing on the moderately low range of the speech charts.. where as before, she was not on the speech chart for her age. THAT is good news! She still has a few minor developmental things to overcome, but those should be pretty easy! Her teachers REALLY love her (who wouldn't!) and I truly think they wanted to keep her until the end of the school year in June, that is why they rated her a little low! haha - but of course "I" am biased!
I was thankful to hear that she will still qualify for some services when she starts Kindergarten in (oh my God!) 10 months! She will be getting a full 3 year evaluation in the spring to check her speech again and they will go from there.

What a relief! At least one out of two is on track!

The dreaded IEP meeting

Tuesday afternoon was the 3 year re-evaluation meeting for Big Al's IEP. It went ok... yet it was hard seeing how little progress has been made!
While there has been enough growth in certain areas to keep him in the grade he is at, there are areas that show how really behind he is.
I was shown his math assesment, and it was like a punch to the gut.. he could not complete addition or subtraction correctly, and he did not attempt basic multiplication or division. While his science teacher had alot of good things to say, his math teacher did not.
Somedays I wonder if we made a mistake putting him in special ed.... it almost seems like he is not learning ANYTHING!
UGH!