Chronic school absence

Beccamom · Dec 23, 2011

My 7th grader has missed over 4 weeks of school so far. She has a 504 plan and received homebound instruction for each of the 2 2-week absences. How do you handle it when your child misses a day a week? 
I have been E-mailing her teachers1 week beforea scheduled doctor's appointment and again the day before to try to take school work with us. My 7th grader has been going to each teacher after an unexpected absence. Overall they are sending home very little work. This seemed nice until she took a Spanish test, for example, and had never seen at least 1/2 of what was on the test. She went to the teacher and told her I never saw this before and the teacher then hands her a dito.

Should a 7th grader be responsible for contacting the teachers and gathering the missed work? Should the guidance counselor gather missed work? Should I, as mom, E-mail the teachers? 

She has been ill a lot this school year as well as going through a lot a medical testing and both ofthese have added up to missingat least1 day of school every week. What works for you?

Beccamom · Dec 23, 2011

My 7th grader has missed over 4 weeks of school so far. She has a 504 plan and received homebound instruction for each of the 2 2-week absences. How do you handle it when your child misses a day a week? 
I have been E-mailing her teachers1 week beforea scheduled doctor's appointment and again the day before to try to take school work with us. My 7th grader has been going to each teacher after an unexpected absence. Overall they are sending home very little work. This seemed nice until she took a Spanish test, for example, and had never seen at least 1/2 of what was on the test. She went to the teacher and told her I never saw this before and the teacher then hands her a dito.

Should a 7th grader be responsible for contacting the teachers and gathering the missed work? Should the guidance counselor gather missed work? Should I, as mom, E-mail the teachers? 

She has been ill a lot this school year as well as going through a lot a medical testing and both ofthese have added up to missingat least1 day of school every week. What works for you?

Mommafirst · Dec 23, 2011

I have no experience with this, but I can imagine this would be very frustrating. If the 504 explicitly says that the teachers must provide word with X amount of time notice or X amount of days missed and they are not complying, then I think you've done all you are supposed to and should talk with the school admin. If the 504 doesn't state that they teachers need to get her all work for any impending absences, then you need to ask for another 504 meeting and have it added. The whole point of the 504 is to keep your child on an even playing field with her peers despite all the absences. It is totally reasonable to give them a week before a doctors appointment and be able to get a copy of whatever they are doing in school that day -- teachers don't just prep one day in advance.

Good luck, hopefully you'll get it figured out!!

Mommafirst · Dec 23, 2011

I have no experience with this, but I can imagine this would be very frustrating. If the 504 explicitly says that the teachers must provide word with X amount of time notice or X amount of days missed and they are not complying, then I think you've done all you are supposed to and should talk with the school admin. If the 504 doesn't state that they teachers need to get her all work for any impending absences, then you need to ask for another 504 meeting and have it added. The whole point of the 504 is to keep your child on an even playing field with her peers despite all the absences. It is totally reasonable to give them a week before a doctors appointment and be able to get a copy of whatever they are doing in school that day -- teachers don't just prep one day in advance.

Good luck, hopefully you'll get it figured out!!

biz · Dec 23, 2011

in my sons 504 we also have a homebound plan. where a teacher from the school comes to our house to do the work aidan has missed. if you dont have this i highly suggest it. i haven used it yet. and i shuld have when aidan has his last picc line. he missed so much school being sick, then spending three days in the hospital then going in late cause of morning meds. i thought i culd handle the catch up himself(hes in K) and had the teacher send home work for him but it was too much for me to do with everything else we were doing at home he was definatly behind when he went back after the line was pulled. so now i knw for the next time that before we go in to have his homebound prepared in advance.
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Elizabeth
mommy to Aidan 6 w/cf

biz · Dec 23, 2011

in my sons 504 we also have a homebound plan. where a teacher from the school comes to our house to do the work aidan has missed. if you dont have this i highly suggest it. i haven used it yet. and i shuld have when aidan has his last picc line. he missed so much school being sick, then spending three days in the hospital then going in late cause of morning meds. i thought i culd handle the catch up himself(hes in K) and had the teacher send home work for him but it was too much for me to do with everything else we were doing at home he was definatly behind when he went back after the line was pulled. so now i knw for the next time that before we go in to have his homebound prepared in advance.
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Elizabeth
mommy to Aidan 6 w/cf

Printer · Dec 23, 2011

You may not like this but notwithstanding any other situations with the school and teachers (504, emails) your daughter is old enough to take some responsibility for her education. She can ask the other kids for assistance (what was covered in math over the last 2 weeks) and she can question each teacher for the same information. She can also ask for copies of any quiz or test that was given.

This will be helpful to her as she progresses through high school and college.

You may want to have a serious discussion with the homebound instructor. It sounds like there is a lack of communication between the homebound instructor and the teachers.

Good luck,
Bill

Printer · Dec 23, 2011

You may not like this but notwithstanding any other situations with the school and teachers (504, emails) your daughter is old enough to take some responsibility for her education. She can ask the other kids for assistance (what was covered in math over the last 2 weeks) and she can question each teacher for the same information. She can also ask for copies of any quiz or test that was given.

This will be helpful to her as she progresses through high school and college.

You may want to have a serious discussion with the homebound instructor. It sounds like there is a lack of communication between the homebound instructor and the teachers.

Good luck,
Bill

Beccamom · Dec 23, 2011

Heather: My daughter does have a 504 plan and I agree it is meant to keep her on the same level playing field.

Elizabeth: My daughter has received homebound instruction this year. She received it for the 2 weeks we knew ahead of time she would be absent for surgery. Then because the two weeks happened to be 4 days each she missed the 10 consecutive day rule and had to wait to be eligible for homebound instruction when she hit 15 cumulative days absent. Meanwhile, she hit 15 cummunlative days by November due to a 2 week absence for an ear infection, ruptured ear drum, 3 antibiotics etc. Check your child's 504 plan for the specifics about what makes the homebound eligibility begin.

Bill: I completely agree that she needs to take responsibility. I am just not sure the best approach to advice her to take. I have taken the responsibility of notifying the teachers ahead of time that she will be absent. I then have made it my 12 year olds responsibility to ask the teachers for work. She has been E-mailing them. What seems to happen is they E-mail me back saying they will send home work and then they never send any home. I mistakenly think that means she did not miss much and caught up in school. Then, for example, in Spanish she had a surprise test. She looked at it and went to the teacher and said she never saw this before in her life. The teacher agreed and then gave her the dittos she missed to study from.

Does talking to teacher in person work better for the students? Does E-mailing work better? Do you have a missed work log the teachers fill out that my daughter can bring to them so they have to at least write no missed work? Her homebound instructor uses a log the teachers fill out and I would like my daughter to use the same log. This way the teachers are held accountable for giving the work in advance or they have to excuse her from the work.

Beccamom · Dec 23, 2011

Heather: My daughter does have a 504 plan and I agree it is meant to keep her on the same level playing field.

Elizabeth: My daughter has received homebound instruction this year. She received it for the 2 weeks we knew ahead of time she would be absent for surgery. Then because the two weeks happened to be 4 days each she missed the 10 consecutive day rule and had to wait to be eligible for homebound instruction when she hit 15 cumulative days absent. Meanwhile, she hit 15 cummunlative days by November due to a 2 week absence for an ear infection, ruptured ear drum, 3 antibiotics etc. Check your child's 504 plan for the specifics about what makes the homebound eligibility begin.

Bill: I completely agree that she needs to take responsibility. I am just not sure the best approach to advice her to take. I have taken the responsibility of notifying the teachers ahead of time that she will be absent. I then have made it my 12 year olds responsibility to ask the teachers for work. She has been E-mailing them. What seems to happen is they E-mail me back saying they will send home work and then they never send any home. I mistakenly think that means she did not miss much and caught up in school. Then, for example, in Spanish she had a surprise test. She looked at it and went to the teacher and said she never saw this before in her life. The teacher agreed and then gave her the dittos she missed to study from.

Does talking to teacher in person work better for the students? Does E-mailing work better? Do you have a missed work log the teachers fill out that my daughter can bring to them so they have to at least write no missed work? Her homebound instructor uses a log the teachers fill out and I would like my daughter to use the same log. This way the teachers are held accountable for giving the work in advance or they have to excuse her from the work.

Simba15 · Dec 23, 2011

The teachers can email the parent and give them what she missed. when she returns she can touch base and ask for what she missed. CF is an inrermittent diasbility (look up that term on google) and she is covered for each and every absence if it is CF related. For each day she misses, she is allowed one day to make up the work. The other thing you can do is hold another 504 mtg and get a modification of reduced workload.

Simba15 · Dec 23, 2011

The teachers can email the parent and give them what she missed. when she returns she can touch base and ask for what she missed. CF is an inrermittent diasbility (look up that term on google) and she is covered for each and every absence if it is CF related. For each day she misses, she is allowed one day to make up the work. The other thing you can do is hold another 504 mtg and get a modification of reduced workload.

Simba15 · Dec 23, 2011

The teachers can email the parent and give them what she missed. when she returns she can touch base and ask for what she missed. CF is an inrermittent diasbility (look up that term on google) and she is covered for each and every absence if it is CF related. For each day she misses, she is allowed one day to make up the work. The other thing you can do is hold another 504 mtg and get a modification of reduced workload.

Simba15 · Dec 23, 2011

The teachers can email the parent and give them what she missed. when she returns she can touch base and ask for what she missed. CF is an inrermittent diasbility (look up that term on google) and she is covered for each and every absence if it is CF related. For each day she misses, she is allowed one day to make up the work. The other thing you can do is hold another 504 mtg and get a modification of reduced workload.

TreasureGoddess · Dec 24, 2011

Our middle school has a teacher coordinator, one of my son's main core teachers takes care of getting homework from each teacher and emailing it to me (parent). My son still asks if there's anything he's missed, but it takes some of the pressure off him. He's also 12 and has missed about 3 months school. Not all the teachers have homework ready or ever send anything. I've had to ask for grades to be credits (K) or grades calculated based on the material he's been able to turn in and when he's missed too much, we just don't do that and ask for him to be excused. It's all in his 504 plan that the parents and school can decide if Joe needs to have additional time to complete assignments or to modify them or to not complete them at all.

We do keep up on math as it's a progressive learning, but the other subjects can be learned out of order or if he misses a section of social studies, (like sumerian history) I really don't mind saying that he will read the chapter in the textbook but doesn't have the energy to complete the assignments.

Ask for help or ideas from the counselor and see if there's a better way to get the homework. Yes, your kid does need to learn responsibility, but she's probably dealing with enough right now and can show the responsibility by completing the homework that she's able to.

TreasureGoddess · Dec 24, 2011

Our middle school has a teacher coordinator, one of my son's main core teachers takes care of getting homework from each teacher and emailing it to me (parent). My son still asks if there's anything he's missed, but it takes some of the pressure off him. He's also 12 and has missed about 3 months school. Not all the teachers have homework ready or ever send anything. I've had to ask for grades to be credits (K) or grades calculated based on the material he's been able to turn in and when he's missed too much, we just don't do that and ask for him to be excused. It's all in his 504 plan that the parents and school can decide if Joe needs to have additional time to complete assignments or to modify them or to not complete them at all.

We do keep up on math as it's a progressive learning, but the other subjects can be learned out of order or if he misses a section of social studies, (like sumerian history) I really don't mind saying that he will read the chapter in the textbook but doesn't have the energy to complete the assignments.

Ask for help or ideas from the counselor and see if there's a better way to get the homework. Yes, your kid does need to learn responsibility, but she's probably dealing with enough right now and can show the responsibility by completing the homework that she's able to.

PatrickM · Dec 24, 2011

We have been dealing with this for 3 plus years now. My son started missing a lot of school in 6th grade, he is now in 9th. What I found during middle school was that the cycle of being absent, making up work , being absent again, being tested on material you were never taught because you were absent, really took a toll on him. Plus he was dealing with his health and not feeling well.

A couple things we have found helpful that were finally implemented in 8th grade, after I hired an educational advocate for him, are having a case manager type person at the school, having IN SCHOOL tutoring, home tutoring and now that he is in high school we are using something called livescribe which tapes the audio as well as written notes for his classes when he is absent.

The case manager for us is someone in the special education department. She is responsible for collecting his work from teachers and helping him to prioritize it. She also helps determine what should be excused if he gets too far behind. This way he has someone at school he can check in with and say I am feeling overwhelmed, or I feel pretty good, I am up for making up all of that work.

We live in Mass and here we have a physicians home tutoring form signed and our doctor wrote he would benefit from in school as well as home based tutoring. Apparently once he writes that the school is obligated to provide the tutoring. We had the 504 but they stalled on everything and this form did the trick. Beginning in 8th grade when we got the in school tutoring he would return from being absent and his case manager/tutor would bring him up to date on science labs, math, anything he missed. This was incredibly helpful and really reduced his stress level. She would also proctor any test he missed and make sure he was prepared before he took the test.

All of his absences in middle school helped me prepare for what I wanted for him in high school. I fought pretty hard to get him technolgy such as skype so his classes could somehow be recorded. We are still in the process of figuring this out. Right now we are using a pen called livescribe and when he is out an aide goes to his class and takes notes with this pen that also records the audio of the class. It is amazing, except it doesn't always work so we may need to figure something else out. However, I consider this to be the most critical part of his learning. Nothing replaces hearing your teacher teach the class, I think this is even better than tutoring.

Finally I should mention that when he was in middle school I realized these absences were not going to go away. I consulted with an educational advocate and we requested an IEP. An IEP carries much more legal weight than the 504. We argued he was "educatioanlly disabled" because he was not "able" to learn if he wasn't in school. While our school never really followed the 504 plan they take the IEP much more seriously.

Let me know if I can help you in any way. I am still trying to figure so much of this out myself. One thing our advocate told us was the school has a responsibility to educate your child. I found we took on so much responsibility and that is fine, but the school needs to as well. Keep that in mind.

Happy Holidays!

Tara

PatrickM · Dec 24, 2011

We have been dealing with this for 3 plus years now. My son started missing a lot of school in 6th grade, he is now in 9th. What I found during middle school was that the cycle of being absent, making up work , being absent again, being tested on material you were never taught because you were absent, really took a toll on him. Plus he was dealing with his health and not feeling well.

A couple things we have found helpful that were finally implemented in 8th grade, after I hired an educational advocate for him, are having a case manager type person at the school, having IN SCHOOL tutoring, home tutoring and now that he is in high school we are using something called livescribe which tapes the audio as well as written notes for his classes when he is absent.

The case manager for us is someone in the special education department. She is responsible for collecting his work from teachers and helping him to prioritize it. She also helps determine what should be excused if he gets too far behind. This way he has someone at school he can check in with and say I am feeling overwhelmed, or I feel pretty good, I am up for making up all of that work.

We live in Mass and here we have a physicians home tutoring form signed and our doctor wrote he would benefit from in school as well as home based tutoring. Apparently once he writes that the school is obligated to provide the tutoring. We had the 504 but they stalled on everything and this form did the trick. Beginning in 8th grade when we got the in school tutoring he would return from being absent and his case manager/tutor would bring him up to date on science labs, math, anything he missed. This was incredibly helpful and really reduced his stress level. She would also proctor any test he missed and make sure he was prepared before he took the test.

All of his absences in middle school helped me prepare for what I wanted for him in high school. I fought pretty hard to get him technolgy such as skype so his classes could somehow be recorded. We are still in the process of figuring this out. Right now we are using a pen called livescribe and when he is out an aide goes to his class and takes notes with this pen that also records the audio of the class. It is amazing, except it doesn't always work so we may need to figure something else out. However, I consider this to be the most critical part of his learning. Nothing replaces hearing your teacher teach the class, I think this is even better than tutoring.

Finally I should mention that when he was in middle school I realized these absences were not going to go away. I consulted with an educational advocate and we requested an IEP. An IEP carries much more legal weight than the 504. We argued he was "educatioanlly disabled" because he was not "able" to learn if he wasn't in school. While our school never really followed the 504 plan they take the IEP much more seriously.

Let me know if I can help you in any way. I am still trying to figure so much of this out myself. One thing our advocate told us was the school has a responsibility to educate your child. I found we took on so much responsibility and that is fine, but the school needs to as well. Keep that in mind.

Happy Holidays!

Tara

Imogene · Dec 24, 2011

A seventh grader with an iPad2 or another tablet, connected to the web...through 3 G or WIFI (if the hospital has it) should be able to stay ahead of her class! <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html" title="Ted Talks" target="">Ted Talks</a>, <a href=" http://www.khanacademy.org/ " title="Khan Academy" target="">Kahn Academy</a> to start If you get her started, please keep us informed. This could be a great study...and we have people at <a href="http://www.techcf.org" title="" target="">techcf.org </a>who want to help! (Amber especially) Jeanne

Imogene · Dec 24, 2011

A seventh grader with an iPad2 or another tablet, connected to the web...through 3 G or WIFI (if the hospital has it) should be able to stay ahead of her class! <a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/dave_eggers_makes_his_ted_prize_wish_once_upon_a_school.html" title="Ted Talks" target="">Ted Talks</a>, <a href=" http://www.khanacademy.org/ " title="Khan Academy" target="">Kahn Academy</a> to start If you get her started, please keep us informed. This could be a great study...and we have people at <a href="http://www.techcf.org" title="" target="">techcf.org </a>who want to help! (Amber especially) Jeanne

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