Stacey Hoaglund
ADVOCATE, LIFE COACH, CONSULTANT, SPEAKER, AUTHOR
As many parents are participating in their child’s matriculation meeting at this time of year – transition meeting from preschool to kindergarten, elementary to middle, middle to high – there are a few things to understand about what’s referred to as a “continuum of services”. What’s This All About? Those 3 words basically mean that
Read MoreAccording to IDEA, Special Education is “specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability,” which includes everything from making classroom adaptations to off campus travel training, and everything in between. Parents need to be aware of some of the hallmarks of special education
Read MoreDid you know that your school is responsible for providing your child with what they need to make educational progress? This means ALL kids, not just those who are on regular standards and spend their day in a regular education classroom setting. Oftentimes, parents hear messages from their school that sound something like, “His disability
Read MoreIf your child’s annual IEP is in the springtime, chances are good that someone at your meeting will say something like, “Well, while we have you here, let’s take care of ESY.” You might be thinking, “What is that??? More letters that I’m not really sure about.” Since you get that sinking feeling that you’re
Read MoreMost parents don’t understand what a child’s classroom (or school) schedule can tell them. Have you ever asked to see yours? Do you understand what it means? Does your child have 2 schedules? – one for special education and one for regular? Don’t freak out if you have no idea what I’m talking about. This
Read MoreI hope that the time off from school has been positive not only for your kids, but for you as well. For most of my readers, there’s one more week to go before the kids return to school, but for some others, today might be the BIG day. One of the most sought-after things in
Read MoreFor many parents, the annual IEP meeting is something that incites a great sense of overwhelm, frustration and doom. This is probably one of the reasons that tons of parents don’t even show up. Most of you might find this really hard to believe (because you’re passionately involved in your child’s education), but it’s true,
Read MoreWhen kids transition to high school especially, teachers (general education teachers mostly, but certainly not all) have a tendency to try to convince parents that if their kids are going to be in general education classes, that they are expected to all of a sudden behave independently. It’s hard to tell sometimes if they themselves
Read MoreIt is certainly hard for a parent to know what happens at their child’s school, especially if they don’t verbally communicate or if they exhibit deficits in language skills. Compound that with a special education classroom where most or all of the students are at the same level, and you could easily experience a “deadzone”
Read MoreHere we go…. another year on the horizon. For most kids, school will begin in less than two weeks. As you scramble around trying to get things together, there are things that you could be doing now that will make those first couple days of school a whole lot smoother. Before I get into what
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