I attended my son’s IEP (individual education plan) meeting this morning. He is in his second year of kindergarten. Since he turned 3, he has been on an IEP in our school district for speech/language services.
We were running late this morning to get there. I told my son - now 6 - several times, “Go get your socks. Get your backpack. Find your shoes. We have to go.”
Ok, this - in speech/language talk - is a four-component direction.
I learned during the meeting that one of the receptive language issues the school is working on with him is - you guessed it - four-component directions.
I guess that would explain why he didn’t finish all those without me walking him through it. I forget this sometimes (more often than I care to admit). Instead, I get upset, look at the clock and yell: I’m walking out the door now. Let’s go!
I apologized to my son before we even got to the meeting. I did feel bad for not assisting him more when he said, “I don’t know where my shoes are.” Eventually, it took both of us to find them - in my bedroom of all things.
Then we went to the meeting and I was reminded what I need to do to be a better parent, and a good role model. Good thing we have these meetings. I know they’re not directly for parenting, but they help!
My son will move on to first grade next year, and continue to receive speech/language services for receptive and expressive language issues as well as pronunciation assistance.
And we’ve made a new direction in our house: Shoes go by the front door when we walk in. Hopefully, that will help.

Posted in: Michelle Reese • School time |

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