We did. And we have one now. I didn’t know I needed her; I didn’t even know what an educational consultant was. But I knew a piece was missing. After nearly a year of the pseudo-homeschooling of LuLu (it is pseudo-homeschooling not because – as the school contends – I’m not teaching her anything, but because she’s officially in limbo with a filed medical homebound request that the school is not honoring), I still felt overwhelmed and confused as to whether or not I was doing this right.

We met with the consultant for two basic purposes. First, I just need someone to look at what I’m doing and tell me what to do next. I’ve never taught 4th grade before…I’ve never taught any grade before. I did student teach 12th grade composition, drama, speech and debate…but that was – GASP – 24 years ago!
And I surely have never taught a child with as many disabilities as LuLu.

It was encouraging for the consultant to tell me that there is much I am doing right. I picked a good math curriculum, Math-U-See, and she’s progressing nicely. I have located teaching materials that are appropriate grade level for basics like language arts and social studies.

I am using high-interest reading material and working as many subjects into the things that interest LuLu as possible. We’ve had a good time doing a unit on volcanos…reading about them, writing about them, building a working model. We are now doing a unit on the American Girl books and dovetailing her reading, history, writing and language arts lessons into one.

Yet, I worry about her reading abilities and whether or not I’m “doing it right” when teaching her. So, the consultant will be offering me more support there. She will help design a curriculum and monitor it, either by coming to our house once a week or by reviewing lessons and emails I send to her throughout the week.

The other purpose of this consultant is to outline some of our options for LuLu’s educational future. Recognizing that I have no desire to be a 4th, 5th, 6th grade teacher…and so on…and that it would benefit LuLu to be work toward a structured, small classroom situation, this consultant is helping us with a transition plan.

We’re looking at all the possible schools – public & private. Having firmly in mind what we think is most appropriate for LuLu will help us better know what to say to the school district in an upcoming IEP or if we head toward more court proceedings.