Not all kids fit in a box...

We’ve been really into watching Arrow on Netflix and unless you have seen it you’re not going to get this reference so I’m sorry.  Today I am feeling so angry and fed up with the public school system.  On my drive in to work I was thinking, you know if I was Oliver Queen I would walk up to that school (who is in my mind Malcolm Merlyn) and say in my deep altered voice, “you have failed this city” and when I say “city” I am of course talking about Kieren.  Let me back up a little…this year has been rough, it started with a teacher strike that delayed the start of school.  A couple weeks in I met with his teacher and she told me he is a grade behind in reading.  He tells us repeatedly “I hate school” and “I have no friends”.  I spoke with a neighbor who recently found out her son is dyslexic and they have been working to figure out what he needs to support him in school, he also receives tutoring outside school.  His teacher though has the “old school” frame of mind that dyslexia is merely the switching of letters or numbers.  Until recently I thought this too, boy was I wrong…I have been doing a lot of reading and I see a lot of the signs in Kieren.  We haven’t had it diagnosed but what we’re sure of is he that learns differently than most kids.

Let me be clear, he has great teachers from what I have seen.  He has a reading intervention specialist that cares about him and his progress.  When I shared with his teacher that he is hating school I could tell it broke her heart.  When I brought a bullying situation to her attention she jumped on it immediately and made sure he has a “safety buddy” who keeps her eye out for him and tells her if something is wrong on the playground.  The teacher strike was about money of course but they were also fighting for our kids to keep their recess time.  WTF?!  This brings me to my main point.  I am FED UP with the policies and politics going on in the district and today was the last straw for me.  When I picked up Kieren I asked how he liked his lunch (lately I’ve been trying to get creative and make him new things I think he will like) and he told me he didn’t have time to eat.  This is not the first time I’ve heard this…no it’s probably like the 20th time.  I was able to get him to explain more to me.  Turns out when the kids are done they put their head down on the table and the first table of kids with all their heads down get to go to recess first.  My son is by no means a fast eater and that is a good thing.  So when he was still eating the other kids were shouting at him “put your head down!”, he told them he wasn’t done eating but he didn’t want them to get mad at him so he did (he’s trying to make friends).  Well when he told me this story I was pisssed, to say the least.  You might say “talk to the principal or his teacher!”  Yeah, been there, done that.  I have emailed everyone, gotten responses like “he can take as much time as he needs!”…yet he still feels like he doesn’t have enough time to eat.  Another ridiculous thing, kids have recess after lunch.  Why don’t they have it before and work up an appetite?  Yet another…when they get outside after eating (or not eating)…they have to run a lap.  If they don’t run the lap they get in trouble and have to sit on the steps of shame.  I kid you not…I hear another ludicrous thing every year.  Then you add on the fact that he feels bullied, like no one is doing anything about it…thinks he has no friends and is frustrated with a possible learning disability but must be lumped in with all the other kids who are ahead of him and this all makes him feel stupid.

Sure, Malcolm Merlyn thinks he is “helping” Starling City by blowing it up and re-building it but to the average person who isn’t a psychopath, that’s not the right way to go about it.  The district might mean well, not have enough resources or money but I really feel like the public school system is failing my child.


We plan to have a “SIT” with his teacher, reading specialist and some others who work at the school to discuss options and how we can help him moving forward…but I am seriously considering home schooling.  Say what you will…you might think I’m acting rashly, that I'm not qualified, whatever…but hell, I’m willing to do what it takes to give my son a safe, loving, accepting, nurturing, healthy education.  If you have “advice” that you think is “helpful”…I’m not asking for it.  Just sharing where we’re at, asking for prayers and no judgment.  Thank you.

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