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NavyMom
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| Posted: Jan 14 2008 at 9:13am | IP Logged
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I am transfering a message here that I posted the other day in this thread about a homeschooling comment
Responding to this comment brought out my own doubts about homeschooling my ADHD, ODD, 5 yr. old son on the Autism Spectrum.
Ladies, I have a feeling I am being called to homeschool longer than I intended (I started off saying it was only for this year). I keep saying this is temporary, but the truth is I think I am in this longer than I planned. I know my "plans" have never worked out according to my will before, but I am really scared to continue this homeschooling journey. This year I was OK homeschooling because my son is 5, so technically it does not count and that is why I am reseaching kindergarten programs for him next fall. I LOVE the idea of homeschooling, but I am losing my mind with my special child all day and my husband gone all the time (military) with no help. I am trying hard to get organized and get fit and I think if I can pull it all together in the next couple months I will (maybe) be OK for one more year...
Please pray for me and for my son who is SUCH A BLESSING. He is so smart and loving and I am so scared to send him to school where he may be misunderstood and have his spirit broken.
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Lara Sauer
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| Posted: Jan 14 2008 at 12:54pm | IP Logged
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Dear Heidi,
I think that many of us who choose to homeschool have done it on a "one year at a time" basis. As I have said many times, I sort of consider myself "the accidental homeschooler!"
When my oldest, who is now 15-1/2 and a freshman in high school, was 5 he was not ready for an all day program, and that is all our local Catholic school had to offer. There was also no way that I was going to put him into the public school system either, as they had just initiated a K-12 sex education program. So, that left me with homeschooling. After that first year, I was very concerned about my son's spirit being crushed at any school environment. He was a very quiet little boy, who was not aggressive in any manner. When all the kids were outside playing, he would come indoors and vice versa. He had a lot of little quirks that we have corrected over time, but I know that if he had been in a regular school environment, he likely would have been labelel ADD or Aspergers. However, he has matured into such a wonderful young man through the course of our years at home. And it was only last year that I discovered that he has perfect pitch, which totally explained his inability to be around so much noise. He didn't know what to do with all the sounds he was hearing, and so he stayed away from them. However, now, he has learned to put them to good use and is able to play songs perfectly on the piano after hearing them on the radio.
My point in going through all this is simply to say that the decision to homeschool for us was re-visited everyone of our 10 years. It is really only in the last year or so that my husband and I have decided that we are HOMESCHOOLERS. This is the lifestyle that we have chosen and the one that we know works best for our family. You should have no anxiety over prayerfully trying to decide what will work best for you and your son in the situation that you find yourself in. It is evident that you love him tremendously and because of that deep love, desire his best good. I will keep you in my prayers as you try and discern the best path for your family.
Christ's peace.
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You can take the girl out of Wisconsin, but you can't take the Wisconsin out of the girl!
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At_His_Feet
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| Posted: Jan 14 2008 at 8:11pm | IP Logged
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Dear Heidi,
It must be very hard being on your own. But I also know that if the Lord has placed this on your heart, that he will help you get to the end. Is there someone from your parish or hs group that might take your boy every now and then for an hour or two??
I put off bring home our boy, who has Aspergers, for fear that I wouldn't cope. But in the end it was the stress of school that was the cause of his terribly upsetting behaviour. He is like a differnt child in the 9 months since he came home. Even in kinder we had a few problems with teasing that sped up our decision to bring him home. I think you are right that their spirits can so easily be crushed at school.
Of course this is not the case for all children. Just our experience.
I shal pray for you.
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Tricia
Mum to 3 boys 17, 15, and 10.
Do whatever He tells you
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NavyMom
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| Posted: Jan 21 2008 at 8:04am | IP Logged
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Lara and Tricia-
Thanks for your replies.
Last week we had an amazing week and m attitude started to change. In fact I started thinking about homeschooling even longer than this year. I feel someone out there must have been saying some serious prayers.
I will continue to take it day by day, week by week, and one year at a time. I do not think it will ever be easy, but like you said Trica- school could be stressfull too!
I do find the more I exercise, pray, and keep up with all my routines, and focus on the kids, the better my attitude is and the bestter we all do.
The frustrating part is I do not have anyone to help me except a baby-sitter who charges $8 an hour (and that gets expensive!) I tried leaving him with a homeschooling neighbor the other day so I could get my haircut and it was a diaster.
Thanks for taking the time to respond to me and thanks for your prayers.
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c_rob
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| Posted: Feb 07 2008 at 3:27pm | IP Logged
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Dear Heidi,
Nothing feels more isolating than having a child that you cannot just leave with a friend for an hour or two. Combine this with a husband who is away often and for long periods (as is mine, as well), and there are moments / days? when you can feel like you are suffocating.
We fought homeschooling our special needs son (low order autism and RAD) for years on the basis that I felt I needed some down time before the next onslaught. I am now fighting several govt departments to homeschool him full time. The greatest blessing of homeschooling is that we belong to homeschooling groups. This allows me to be available to him at all social times to "stage manage" a succcessful outing, whilst at the same time enjoy adult friendship.
I once dreamed of my son going to Uni, like my other children, (he's now 10). Now I realise that whilst he is smart and charming and learning to be godly, he may never function successfully in an "institutional learning" environment. That's not so important to me now, because I can now say with honesty that I like my son. Phew, that's a big statement! Like is not love and whilst I love him, I did secretly wonder if I would ever really like him. Thanks to God for pushing me into homeschooling. He saved our family.
God bless and happy homeschooling,
Christine
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Christine, in Australia
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chicken lady
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| Posted: Feb 07 2008 at 5:14pm | IP Logged
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Praying for you Heidi!
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4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: stuggling with hschooling
