Understanding Your Child's IEP - Individual Education Plan Parent 101 Workshop
Do you still have questions about your child’s Individual Education Plan? Were you unable to attend my workshop last weekend? It was a great session where we dove deep into the document. Special Education can be a tough space to navigate and as a parent you might have lots of questions.
Wondering Where to Start?
When you child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) first comes home it can feel overwhelming. In my session together we went through the document page by page helping to take the mystery out. The whole process can be overwhelming and scary. There’s so much to consider and if you’re in the process of having your child assessed for a learning disability it can be even more challenging.
As a parent you want the best for you child, being about to understand the process of how to support your struggling learner will important as you move forward. During our two hour discussion we explored the different pages and what is important on the each of the pages.
An engaging workshop with parents discussing Individual Education Plans.
Information is Power!
Part of understanding what you can request is understanding the process and system. During the Parent IEP 101 Session I walked parents through each of the 5 pages.
Page 1
The first page you’ll see when you’re child’s Individual Education Plan (IEP) arrives you’ll see the following:
Your child’s information, the reason for the IEP, any assessment data the school has and what are your child’s strengths and needs are
Page 2
Page 2 begins to tell you about what parts of their learning are either modified, accommodated or alternative. It also goes into what accommodations are made for you child in the classroom. It ends discussing what if any individualized equipment (think laptops and technology) your child has access too.
Page 3
If your child has page 3’s it’s because they have parts of their learning which are modified (changes to their grade level for example) or alternative (working toward something non academic). These are all pieces of information that you can ask LOTS of questions about. Make sure you understand why the page 3 is being implemented.
Page 4
This page includes the teaching staff connected to your child. This whole page is dedicated to the people who are supporting your student. If you see a teacher there who you don’t know ask your school. It’s important that you know and can connect with your students teachers.
Page 5
This page has all the information about the meetings and communication you’ve had with your child’s teacher. Every time there is a meeting with your child’s teacher they should be attaching information about what it was about and the outcome.
What you need to know… IEP is an introduction post about the IEP’s and what it means, what to do and how to read them. Also check out my post 5 Tips for Supporting Your Child to Advocate so you and them can work together for the ultimate amount of support.
Building relationships is so important. Start with a solid foundation and continue to build!
Having a child with a learning difference can be tough. It can be overwhelming and scary. Sometimes it can be tough to know which questions to ask and where to turn. In the session I held for parents last weekend, we talked about everything related to the Individual Education Plans.
During the sessions we talked about everything from page 1 to page 5. I spoke to give power to the families so that they can build their knowledge and understanding. It’s so important for families to build their knowledge and understanding of how their student is being supported.
Have you gotten your FREE IEP Binder Organizer yet? Join our mailing list to get yours and help keep your child’s school documentation in order.
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