You Are the Key

Thank you to everyone who is contacting your elected officials. Here's the thing about trying to pass a law. Elected officials only care about what their constituents think. Since I cannot vote for your Illinois State Representative or Senator, a note from me doesn't mean a thing.

A note from you, however, can push us over the edge. You are the key to our success.

State of Illinois House of Representatives Elementary Education Committee

We need to start contacting the Illinois House of Representatives Elementary Education Committee. Below is a complete list of those people who can help us move our bill from an idea to a law. If you can help us contact these elected officials, please email me. I'll help you pull together your letter.

http://www.ilga.gov/house/committees/members.asp?CommitteeID=587&GA=96


Role Representative Party
Chairperson : Michael K. Smith D
Vice-Chairperson : Fred Crespo D
Republican Spokesperson : Jerry L. Mitchell R
Member: Suzanne Bassi R
Member: John D. Cavaletto R
Member: Marlow H. Colvin D
Member: Monique D. Davis D
Member: Lisa M. Dugan D
Member: Roger L. Eddy R
Member: Robert F. Flider D
Member: Paul D. Froehlich D
Member: Esther Golar D
Member: David E. Miller D
Member: Harry Osterman D
Member: Sandra M. Pihos R
Member: Robert W. Pritchard R
Member: David Reis R
Member: Darlene J. Senger R
Member: Jim Watson R
Member: Karen A. Yarbrough D

Seeking 70s Clothing

Are you going to the Illinois Organization Of Mother Of Twins Clubs convention in October? We'll be there exhibiting on Saturday, October 17. Stop by to learn more about the Illinois Twins Law effort and how you can help.

Now, if we can just find some clothes to fit with the 1970s theme...

Illinois Legislature in Slow Mo AGAIN

By now we thought we'd be asking you to contact your legislators about supporting our Twin Law bill. We thought we'd be well on our way to building support so your senators and representatives would go back to Springfield in the fall with this issue on their agendas.

Sorry! It turns out we forgot we live in Illinois, a state unable to pass a budget on time.

We're still crossing our fingers we'll be able to report good news soon, but we know nothing will happen until after the legislature passes a budget.

Kudos to District 68 for Working with Parents of Multiples

Here is another Mom's story. Kudos to District 68 for including parents in the decision. This is a model of what we wish for every school district in Illinois.

I live in Woodridge, District 68 schools. Here it is up to the parents to decide what to do, but the school recommends splitting them. My boys started 3 year old preschool last year and we split them because it was clear to us that is what was best. One guy is the leader and the other guy sort of a follower and was a little behind in speech and other things due to a heart defect which was then repaired but the recovery caused delays in development. We knew he needed to be in a different class so he could grow without his twin around. the boys had no issues being split and are best friends at home.

I'm sure for other parents the decision is much more difficult. Although in some cases I think some parents just want it easier - one teacher, one set of rules, homework, etc. I often wonder how I will do Curriculum Night when my twins start Kindergarten and my oldest is in 4th grade. One hour, three teachers. But in my case, I have helped in the classrooms for my oldest son, PTO board, and have gotten to know the teachers so I don't think it will be too difficult to manage three kids, three classes. Parents of multiple singletons do it so I can do.

We plan to keep them split unless they specifically tell us they want to be together and then we'll discuss it. We might not have a choice in Kindergarten because if there aren't enough kids to make two AM or PM classes, they'll be in the same class. But after that, they are split again. That has been our experience so far.

Letter to the Editor

We recently sent a letter to the editor as part of our effort to raise awareness of the issues parents of multiple face when trying to determine school placement. So far, we know the letter has appeared in many places. Recently, parents of twins sent me these two links:

Champaign-Urbana News Gazette

State Journal-Register

Have you seen the letter? If so, please send us the link. We'd like to try to keep track of where the letter is published.

We need your stories

We're starting to speak with Illinois legislators. Many of them are asking about what is happening in their districts. We need to hear your stories about your multiples in school.

Was the school administration supportive? Did you run into obstacles? If so, how did you overcome the obstacles? Or did you overcome the obstacles?

Please send your stories to Shari at slcs48n1 at yahoo.com. Please let me know where you live so I can keep track of which elected officials represent your district.