I'm beginning to reconsider our plans to bring the kids home again next year. It seemed like the right answer... especially for our son, who has Asperger's Syndrome and an incredible amount of anxiety. I just don't know what to do with him next year.
He's currently in 5th grade which means he'll be starting middle school next August. The structure and peer modeling he's found in a brick and mortar school has been immensely beneficial to his development. Additionally, I find myself having the same struggles at homework time, that we found when we were homeschooling. By and large, he refuses to work with mom and dad. He'll do things for the teachers he won't do for us. His last semester at conventional school he came home with straight A's too... so I guess you could say he's thriving in that environment.
So what's the dilemma? I'm now working in a middle school as a Life Skills Para and I'm seeing the type of environment my son could be exposed to in 11 months time. I'm not sure he could handle it. The middle school I find myself in is in fact the same school he'd be attending next year. At dismissal today the hallways were packed. My guy doesn't do well with crowds or with crowded spaces. Maybe this is something that can be worked around? I don't know, but I find myself arguing with myself about what to do with him.
Then there's my daughter. I've always intended on bringing her back before middle school, which for her will start in 3 years. Perhaps that could be my answer? Leave the kids in the brick and mortar school until 2014? By that time my son will be in 8th grade and my daughter in 6th. He'd be just a year away from high school... and hopefully more developmentally and emotionally mature.
I don't have the answer as I sit at my computer tonight. If you've been in a similar spot and have any advice, please chime in. I'd love to hear another mom's perspective on things.
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2 comments:
I am brand new to Home Schooling, but have you given a thought to a hybrid approach esp with your son? Our son has very severe ADHD/ODD. We wanted to Home school him from the get go(he is 6) but we were unsure if his defience would be so severe that we wouldnt be able to fully educate him at home.
He also had some toileting issues so a private school was out of the question. He entered PS for K and it was a disaster. He is gifted intulectually,but his behavior and the awful crowded classroom and constant distractions made learning impossible.
We had to fight the whole yr to get an IEP. We were already picking him up 2 hrs early. This year we asked if we could use the sp education and have a bit of his time in a classroom,but Homeschool him. It is only week 2 ,but it is working out beautifully.
Last year he came out of K not reading,writing etc...I am proud to say I taught him to read,write and do well in math just over the summer. Some people don't know that public school is not an all or nothing deal. Our principal told us it was our right to use PS within reason to our liking.
Hope this is something that you may not have considered and would possibly be helpful. With teh IEP they should be able to let him out of class early to avoid the crowds etc.
Liz
My children are 14 and 12. We chose to pull my son out in the middle of his 7th grade year. If I had known then what I know now... well you get the picture. He would never of attended middle school. My 12yr old never went. My friend also pulled her son (and three others) after one year in public middle school. We both lived in one state where she heard what I went through with my son. They moved and her child went through it in another state. So it does not matter where you live. It is happening everywhere. When we talked we pulled our kids for many of the same reasons you described. I don't think everyday is easy (it is most definitely not!)however I know that what I am doing is for the benefit of my children. It is easy to hand over responsibility to someone else and then complain about the outcome. It is not easy to take the control and deal with some of the hardships that come with that responsibility. Our relationship has changed as well. We have really good talks and I know what they are doing all day long. I can never get back the memories of elementary school and some middle school but we are making memories together now.
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