The Kinglet's Quest Updated - Part 2
Which leads us to this:
I contacted the special services department of our public school district with "what if" questions about enrolling the Kinglet. They directed me to the principal of whatever school he'd be attending, if we decided to put him back in the mainstream.
Then, all on his own, the Kinglet initiated a conversation that resulted in him declaring that he WANTED to go back to public school, even knowing all the work and expectations it would involve. He's worried that he won't be able to control himself (and rightly so - the drugs aren't working they way they first did, and if the last couple weeks are any indication, he's not going to be much better off than he was this time last year), but he's willing to give it a try.
Immediately after this conversation I declared a mini-vacation from homeschool so I could get the ball rolling. I contacted the principal, waited two days, and finally heard from him today. Basically there are some forms to fill out, some hoops to jump through, and bladeeblah, but supposedly this could all be taken care of in a week or so.
So, theoretically, the Kinglet could be back in school right after Labor Day.
Much as you might think I'd be dancing about this, I'm not dancing. This is what the cards meant when I read that things would be moving quickly but that I'd be less than satisfied. This is not the solution we were looking for, and our hopes are still kind of low, all around. A lot is riding on the Kinglet's meds, and on the Kinglet himself, and there's no roap map for that, no guarantees. There's also a lot of bad history with this school, and the district's less than stellar reputation for dealing with children with special needs. And, of course, even if all goes well and peachy, he's still going to get less than the education we believe he deserves.
At this point I'm ready to push forward, anyway. I feel like I've done/given him everything that I can at home - other than the academic part. And the academic part isn't even soaking in as well as it could given how stubborn and defiant and troubled he is. He needs the stability that, I suppose, only meds can give him. More importantly, he needs to be developing skills that he simply can't learn at home - how to deal with other kids. How to deal with other authority figures. How to be responsible for himself. I'm at the point now where I feel like, well, kid, this is all there is. This is the ocean of life. It's time you learned how to swim.
The God-King doesn't entirely agree. He wants to wait and see how the med things work out, give the Kinglet time to find his footing, then talk about enrolling him once he's shown that he can control himself. There's a lot of questions still about his meds, his dosages - we're only a few weeks in to the stablizer. He has a point, I don't disagree. But I'm freakin' dying. I've been barely holding on, and the idea of an indefinite "wait and see" future makes my stomach drop.
More importantly, I kind of think the Kinglet would benefit more from joining his class at the start of the year than he would from hanging out and fighting with me for a month or two (or more), then coming in as the new student. The odd student.
So it's not settled yet. I have a feeling we're going to let this ball roll as fast as it will. We make these decisions together, but really it's my shoulders that have been holding the ball up for all these months, and if I'm ready to put it down, well. I suppose I could put my foot down.
But in any case, I'm not doing jumping jacks about it. I feel like crying, to tell you the truth.
I contacted the special services department of our public school district with "what if" questions about enrolling the Kinglet. They directed me to the principal of whatever school he'd be attending, if we decided to put him back in the mainstream.
Then, all on his own, the Kinglet initiated a conversation that resulted in him declaring that he WANTED to go back to public school, even knowing all the work and expectations it would involve. He's worried that he won't be able to control himself (and rightly so - the drugs aren't working they way they first did, and if the last couple weeks are any indication, he's not going to be much better off than he was this time last year), but he's willing to give it a try.
Immediately after this conversation I declared a mini-vacation from homeschool so I could get the ball rolling. I contacted the principal, waited two days, and finally heard from him today. Basically there are some forms to fill out, some hoops to jump through, and bladeeblah, but supposedly this could all be taken care of in a week or so.
So, theoretically, the Kinglet could be back in school right after Labor Day.
Much as you might think I'd be dancing about this, I'm not dancing. This is what the cards meant when I read that things would be moving quickly but that I'd be less than satisfied. This is not the solution we were looking for, and our hopes are still kind of low, all around. A lot is riding on the Kinglet's meds, and on the Kinglet himself, and there's no roap map for that, no guarantees. There's also a lot of bad history with this school, and the district's less than stellar reputation for dealing with children with special needs. And, of course, even if all goes well and peachy, he's still going to get less than the education we believe he deserves.
At this point I'm ready to push forward, anyway. I feel like I've done/given him everything that I can at home - other than the academic part. And the academic part isn't even soaking in as well as it could given how stubborn and defiant and troubled he is. He needs the stability that, I suppose, only meds can give him. More importantly, he needs to be developing skills that he simply can't learn at home - how to deal with other kids. How to deal with other authority figures. How to be responsible for himself. I'm at the point now where I feel like, well, kid, this is all there is. This is the ocean of life. It's time you learned how to swim.
The God-King doesn't entirely agree. He wants to wait and see how the med things work out, give the Kinglet time to find his footing, then talk about enrolling him once he's shown that he can control himself. There's a lot of questions still about his meds, his dosages - we're only a few weeks in to the stablizer. He has a point, I don't disagree. But I'm freakin' dying. I've been barely holding on, and the idea of an indefinite "wait and see" future makes my stomach drop.
More importantly, I kind of think the Kinglet would benefit more from joining his class at the start of the year than he would from hanging out and fighting with me for a month or two (or more), then coming in as the new student. The odd student.
So it's not settled yet. I have a feeling we're going to let this ball roll as fast as it will. We make these decisions together, but really it's my shoulders that have been holding the ball up for all these months, and if I'm ready to put it down, well. I suppose I could put my foot down.
But in any case, I'm not doing jumping jacks about it. I feel like crying, to tell you the truth.