My son is NOT the type of kid that would walk up to a girl with a visibly broken & bandaged toe and then stomp & twist his foot on hers.  Yet, that is what the school expects me to believe.  He brought home a BRO, which is a form the children have to fill out when they did something wrong.  In it they must detail what the incident was, and what they should do instead next time.  On it he stated he wasn't paying attention when he walked up to the student to ask her for something, and that he didn't intend to step on her foot.  He did write that some of the other kids say he did stomp but that he did not.  A teacher, or the principal, actually wrote that it happened the way everyone else said.    I'm fed up, and I've emailed & called the principal but no reply yet.

Not that it matters... the school has labeled Frodo as a 'problem' despite him having diagnosed special needs.  And as my DH says, the minute we tried medication for him, the school gave up on him.  The communication book that was started to help him & us with feedback on how he did each day has not been seen for the entirety of this term (5 weeks).  No matter what the problem is, it is ALWAYS Frodo's fault and there are ALWAYS other students willing to attest to the fact that he did X, Y or Z.    Coincidentally, these are all the same kids that exclude, ostracize and bully him both inside & outside of school hours... but the principal doesn't, or won't, see this.    I guess the problem doesn't exist if you put blinders on and look the other way?

As I said, I've called (left a msg) as well as emailed the principal and have gotten no response.  I also wrote a long reply to the stupid letter that I was required to sign :)  and I have emailed his teacher asking if HE was there and could he please enlighten me about the situation since the principal isn't bothering to do so.  I am almost done with his learning program, so I guess that is priority #1, since I can't see him remaining there even the last 5 weeks if he is not even going to be listened to. 

In the remotest possibility that it IS true that he did what he is accused of, I would sort of have to blame the school for allowing the other kids to continue to mistreat him for the entire year... who WOULDN'T be angry and act out at that point?  They have known of the situation all year, yet really not done enough.  Can't wait to get this kid home again, so he can start to heal from the year of misery he has been through :(   I feel guilty for not seeing exactly how much it was affecting him sooner (I did know he was struggling, and pushed for help and got some but I had no idea he was so angry inside)

For every.single.child in their class! They would have no hair left if they did! ;)

I must write a plan that:
a. has regard to the age, ability, aptitude and development of the child concerned;
b. takes account and promotes continuity of the learning experiences of the child concerned;
c. is responsive to the changing needs of the child concerned; 
d. reflects and takes into account current understandings related to educational and other development of children;  
e. is responsive to the child’s need for social development;
f. is supported by sufficient and suitable resources;
g. is conducted in an environment conducive to learning.

Wow... they don't want much do they?  lol  I suppose it really isn't that difficult for just one child though.
A. clearly I won't write a plan for high school, since Frodo is 10. 
B. well that's just edubabble that I'm assuming means we'll have 'regular' learning activities.
C. is easily enough met by saying 'doing x and moving on as he is ready'.
D. Got that covered with the whole cross curricular learning thing :D
E. Well, since he has been miserable with the 'social development' school offered for the last 9months, I don't see how I can fail?  I think I'm being responsive to this particular need by removing him from school :)
F.  I'm a curriculum whore... there I said it!  I LOVE scouring the web for, and usually buying lol, great books and other learning material.  I did even when the boys all at school even *hides*
G. As Merry would say, easy easy lemon squeezy!  Our house has books, computers, the internet, space... oh, and NO 34 other children....we'll be just fine.
The Home Education Unit wants a 'term by term' breakdown (more to show that we have an understanding of how long things will take to work through I think). I am currently writing Frodo's learning plan for the next year, I've gotten into term 2 now with my 'general' plan of what we'll be studying.  I'm not getting OVERLY specific.... it's a lot of  'We'll cover approx. the first 1/4 of the History Odyssey lessons, allowing extra time as needed if he becomes interested in a topic!'  then c&p in the next term changing the numbers ;)  and adding in a visit to the museum when this exhibit is on, and a trip to the local theatre as an arts excursion. 
 
I have decided on most of what we'll be using this year (links to come in the sidebar!) although I'm loving two science programs and don't want to give either up LOL. 
 
Math U See (delta & gamma, then moving on as he is ready)
Mathletics subscription
Timez Attack (multiplication computer game)
History Odyssey Ancients level 2 (encompasses history/sose, as well as literature, geography, composition,
      and Vocabulary
Typing Tournament (touch typing instructional computer program)
Real Science 4 Kids
Real Science Odyssey (we will be using these programs to complement one another as one has more 
      information and the other has more fun experiments!)
Reading a-z membership (comprehension)
Writing a-z membership (additional composition activities)
Youtube, the internet, and the library!

There will undoubtedly be more, and that doesn't include the great Home Education group we're rejoining!  They run some terrific weekly classes in everything from sign language, to spanish, to art & drama. 

I'm hoping to be done with this by the end of next week, as I have to have it recieved at the HEU before we can withdraw him.  I don't know if the school will give him his report for the 2nd half of the year or not, but apparently it doesn't matter as he will automatically be registered at the grade of his agemates ;)

Ok, I have procrastinated enough.. back to work!

Well, the boys have just entered term 4 of their school year.  Sam is still thriving and loving it, Merry is looking forward to going to prep next year... and Frodo is still keeping his head above water so to spreak.  Academically, he's doing well enough, and his behaviour has improved steadily through the year.. but socially, he is still struggling.  He doesn't HATE school, but he doesn't LOVE it either. 

He doesn't have 'friends' at school, although one or two boys will sometimes let him play with them at break... and a lot of kids exclude him, a few actively pick on him.  He has always preferred to sort of do his own thing anyway, so he hasn't gotten upset about any of this.  But in my opinion, he is receiving no real positives from school.. and picking up a few negatives.   I can't see much point in that really... and it really pushed the decision when I got an email from the behavioural specialist today that they are closing his case and he won't be recieving any help from her office any more and the plan they put in place will be tossed since he's so much improved.  So the entire goal was for him to be 'good' at school... not really for him to have a better experience at school :( 

SO, we are starting the process of bringing him back home  :)  We discussing how we want to go about it, distance ed, registered on our own, etc.   We haven't really made any of those decisions yet, but Frodo sort of wants to finish the year out, sort of doesn't.   More on all of that ... well... once I have more on it lol