Criscollrj’s Blog (2003-present)

CHRIS:

Chris has slept like 4/5 nights now and we’re so pleased! Dad took him to Home Depo the other day and he had a lot of fun with that, and he also took two walks around our neighborhood. He seems to be doing better after his med adjustment (Abilify went from 10mg to 15mg.)

But we are still pursuing applying for the National Deaf Academy for him. I will be doing that soon.

He is also going to be starting vocational training at a local school for half the day – I think he’ll like that a lot!! It will make his day more interesting – he’ll go to his regular school half day and the other half a day. He may start this year, yet.

His weight was going up but now seems to be stabilized at 200 pounds. I hope he doesn’t gain any more.

COLLEEN:

I filled out app. papers for www.ecotohio.org homeschooling today and plan to fedex to Columbus tonight. I’m pulling Colleen out of school.

The particular homeschool is a public school, not a traditional home school. I could not do a regular home school where it was all up to me. Even this is going to be hard for me, but I trust it will save Colleen. I hope. She’s currently failing 4 classes. She missed 40 days of school this year from illness. If she’s going to continue to be ill often, and continue to be as anxious and sickly (often caused by nerves, I believe) as she is now, I think she’ll thrive in this.

I hope.

“ECOT educates over six thousand students between the ages of five and twenty-one from every county in the state of Ohio.

Running an online school requires as many resources as a traditional public school. In addition to our teachers, a staff of counselors, school administrators, customer service specialists, computer programmers, database managers, school-funding experts, shipping handlers and consultants enable ECOT to work.

ECOT is a public school that relies solely on a fixed per-student state tax allocation, without the addition of property taxes, private funds or donations from special interests. ECOT, as a public school, charges no tuition.

ECOT provides a valuable service for all Ohio students and families seeking an alternative to traditional public education.”

“What sets ECOT apart from other public schools is its home-based online learning environment. ECOT’s ability to provide a statewide K-12 educational environment through its own secure Web-based network, or intranet, is unique. The intranet restricts access to non ECOT-approved Web sites while providing a wide range of teaching tools and educational sites that are appropriate for students of all ages.

Just like other public school students, ECOT students have teachers, counselors, class discussions, report cards and out-of-class trips. Unlike other public school students, however, ECOT students are required to use computer and Internet technology to access their lessons, may never meet their classmates face to face, and are not subject to a dress code!

ECOT parents do not need to educate their children alone: ECOT’s teachers provide quality instruction online and actively engage each student to offer assistance and guidance. Parents have the freedom to directly support their children’s education, while letting ECOT teachers do what they do best: teach.”

RYAN:

His IEP is today, in 2 1/2 hours. I think he’s done pretty well this year. I expect he’ll be at the same school next year for first grade. Can’t believe he’s almost done with kindergarten. He’s writing 3-letter words and is talking much better!

Both boys are getting new hearing aides soon.

That reminds me, Ryan’s lost the battery case off his hearing aide. I need to take it in to Jane to get it fixed…