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Special Education Blog

Mar 24, 2010

Posted in: Blog

The team will consider the information we have about the child and make the best decision we can on this day for a plan to implement when school starts.  Four more months will go by before school starts.  The child we talk about at the IEP will have grown.  The IEP may even need to be changed early in the school year to best meet the needs of this "new" child.  After all, four months is 7% of the life of a five year old!

This ramble is a round-about way of reaching what I wanted to convey this month.  As parents, it is important that you are active participants in your child's education.  It can be a challenge to keep your thoughts organized.  We all learn and think in our own way.  For instance, I am a visual learner.  Others learn best by listening.  Others may be more tactile, tracing as they think.  This applies equally to children and adults.  In school we often recommend the use of something called "graphic organizers."  These are charts or pictures that help us organize our thoughts.  In this blog I want to recommend to you parents that you explore these and use them to prepare for IEP meetings, parent-teacher conferences, doctor appointments, and any other meeting that goes better when your thoughts are together.  There is a huge variety of these organizers.  You simply choose the design that makes the most sense to you.  There are three web sites in which you will find a wealth of free, downloadable charts.  I hope you find these helpful for organizing your observations and concerns and, importantly, for reducing your stress.  We want you to enjoy this transitions.

EdHelper.com
Eduplace.com/graphicorganizers
Freeology.com

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