Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Dear Noah.....indoor recess....


I found out yesterday when the weather is bad and all the kids have to stay inside due to the bad weather...they have them stay in their respective classrooms. Okay..I thought that sounded okay...but I also thought the teacher or a teacher was present monitoring the kids.

NO. Apparently NOT. During recess INDOORS there are NO teachers within each individual classroom monitoring anything. There are TWO patrolling monitors who are responsible for checking on all the kids in the entire school. We are talking a few hundred. MANY classrooms. ALL 3rd and 4th graders. SOME special needs children too.

I could not believe there were no teachers within the classrooms during this period of time. We have already determined you are lacking in the social skills area and need work in that area. This means someone needs to be present at all times with you during social activities such as RECESS to make sure you do the right thing.....if not they can redirect you.....because in order for you to learn appropriate behavior.....it is repetition of the appropriate behaviors.....being drilled into your mind to call upon later and into your routines. I cannot believe the school thinks ANY 3rd graders and 4th graders are okay on their own during this entire time and could settle any issues that might come up.

I personally think this is a time bomb waiting to explode. I voiced my concerns to the principal today via email. I have not yet heard back from her. I imagine they are understaffed or something but crap. We drop our children off to school with the understanding that they will be watching them and monitoring them and keeping them safe during that time. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE when the adults are not even present during indoor recess?

YOU Noah are supposed to be getting social skills training and they could take advantage of these opportunities to work on this during recess.....but are they? Apparently not. It is not possible if a teacher or aide or instructor is not present.

Noah, you can wander off. How do they know you will not do that when an adult is not present? Your parapro is apparently one of the patrolling monitors whose responsibility it is to monitor all the classrooms and children within the entire school.

It takes seconds for a situation to turn into a major meltdown or problem for you sometimes if the right circumstances develop. WHAT will happen with no adult supervision present?

I can understand strengthening the children's independence and responsibility and trust but this is insane.

I am anxious to see how we can all fix this as I think this is a HUGE problem. I doubt many if any other parent is aware that their child is also not being monitored in their classrooms during indoor recess.

Where the crap are the teachers? When I was in school we were NEVER left for an entire indoor recess alone. Our teachers spent that time in the classroom with us.

I hope and pray someone changes some things and BIG TIME. This is NOT acceptable to me.

Today Noah you got out 1 hour early from school so we went to the library and the park. Then back home. You had a great day. Everyone loved your new hair cut.

AND I love you too.

Mommy
XOXOXOX

5 comments:

Patty said...

If they aren't allowed in the classroom before school takes up, then how can they be allowed in the classroom for an indoor recess without someone in there supervising them? I would think this would be a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Let us know what the school answers back to you.

I can't seem to get to sleep, I can hear it raining, at 35 degress, it could easily turn to ice or snow. I hope neither, since Angela, Becky and Melissa all have to get out on the interstate and highways to get to their jobs in the morning.

Love you two.

Anonymous said...

get it written into his IEP-that when out of the ordinary situations arise-situations that might frazzled him-that he needs to be monitored. period. it is your right-is right, and THE LAW.

Anonymous said...

i love noah's haircut! he look so handsome!

now, on to this outrageous news! i can't believe this is legal. is it? i'm glad you complained. i would follow up with a phone call. that is NOT safe and yes, i agree with anonymous. put it in his IEP and then they MUST comply. it unnerves and saddens me that this is what it would take for them to do what is RIGHT and responsible.

Ms. TK said...

First of all, I love the new haircut, too. He's adorable. Can he date Miss M when they're older?

Two, pull out that IEP, call an IEP meeting STAT - that is a ticking time bomb waiting to happen. They should be setting him up for success...not failure.

Back in the day, my teacher sat in the classroom with us and played organized games and read us stories.

That is crap. Real crap.

Good luck and keep us posted.

kristi said...

Yep, this is just nuts and I would have a fit too!!!