Going to homeschool--need help getting started!

[MMWG]

Hi all-

We are pulling the plug on kindergarten, for reasons that are long and difficult...the school is progressive and flexible, but unfortunately chaotic...no routines, lots of issues going on there that are making our situation worse. We had a wonderful last year of preschool, and had reached a point this summer where no one would have any idea our little boy had PANDAS. He was diagnosed after an active strep infection a year and half ago, but we have stayed on top of it and kept him healthy. In the two weeks since school started, he has developed severe anxiety, separation anxiety, his tic has come back, he is having nightmares, he is showing signs of OCD for the first time. We started him on anxiety medicine. The school is willing to work with us but it is chaos everyday..and not just on our end. There is another little boy in his kindergarten class who is struggling and he has attacked our little boy three times in the last 3 days, the last time punching him in the face multiple times. Unfortunately, "alternative" is equalling "chaos" and the backslide we have seen in 2 weeks is frightening. I will not lose this child.

 

We made the decision last night to homeschool him for awhile. I am a professor and both my husband and I have flexible schedules. We live 2 minutes from a college town. He is very advanced academically, but as I am sure you all understand, none of that matters if he cannot function at school. I hope this is the right decision for him.

 

I need help getting started. What's my first step?

[NMom]

When I was looking at options for my son in case we need to go this route my mother suggested I look at the K-12 online program. She works at University of Maryland and they collaborate with the K-12 program and I think the curriculum is supposed to be very good. It's not really homeschooling - there is a teacher involved via phone, web meetings, etc. but the parent obviously has to be very involved as well. The great thing is that they run accredited programs in all 50 states and in most states they have a public school option - which means it is free. It's basically online, public schooling. I know in my state (TX) the online school doesn't start until 3rd grade so we'd have to consider the private program that they also run but it's worth looking into. I believe you can also just purchase curriculum for specific areas. Just a thought - might be worth looking into.

 

http://www.k12.com/

[Christianmom]

So sorry to hear of your situation, but hoping homeschooling will be the blessing to your family that it has been to ours.

 

If you want to homeschool, even for a little while, you will need to let your school district know. Each state has their own homeschool law, so you will need to find out what is required in your state and who to report to in your school district. I would google "homeschool" and your county name and get in touch with some homeschoolers in your area. They will know what to do. I would probably do the google search before contacting the school district as the other homeschool moms can tell you what to expect. It is a little different if your child is sick. There are usually many gracious exceptions for ill children and the moms will know about them as many moms with sick kids homeschool. Also, if your state requires that your child be evaluated each year, the evaluators for your state will know exactly what to do. My evaluator has been invaluable to me. She has been beside us throughout this whole ordeal and has dealt with the school issues for me.

[Christianmom]

When I was looking at options for my son in case we need to go this route my mother suggested I look at the K-12 online program. She works at University of Maryland and they collaborate with the K-12 program and I think the curriculum is supposed to be very good. It's not really homeschooling - there is a teacher involved via phone, web meetings, etc. but the parent obviously has to be very involved as well. The great thing is that they run accredited programs in all 50 states and in most states they have a public school option - which means it is free. It's basically online, public schooling. I know in my state (TX) the online school doesn't start until 3rd grade so we'd have to consider the private program that they also run but it's worth looking into. I believe you can also just purchase curriculum for specific areas. Just a thought - might be worth looking into.

 

http://www.k12.com/

 

Not do discourage you, but I would find someone with an ill child that has used this type of schooling before enrolling. In my state we call this "cyber school" and although it is free, you have a lot of accountability to a teacher and they like you to stay on their schedule. This would have been a real problem with my son. I'm not sure about the acrredited part and how significant that is until high school. I have two children that have graduated through complete homeschooling and we did not look into the accreditation part until high school. They both pursued accredited diploma programs at that point--it was actually very easy--and we did not use a cyber school. They both are in college now--no one has ever questioned their diplomas. Homeschooling is a cost though, if you don't cyber school--maybe $600 a year in curriculum that you can pass on to your younger children.

Edited September 3, 2011 by Christianmom

[thenmama]

xx

Edited March 27, 2013 by thenmama

[thenmama]

xx

Edited March 27, 2013 by thenmama

[thenmama]

xx

Edited March 27, 2013 by thenmama

[bronxmom2]

Hi-- I have also home schooled my academically advanced but wildly asynchronous PANDAS kids (who sounds just like yours... chaos is the WORST thing for him) for several years...I pulled him out of school at the beginning of grade 2 and now he is going into 4th.

I just wanted to add that I believe for most states K is not mandatory, and therefore you would not have to file any of the required paperwork. Make things as easy for yourself as possible.

 

NY requires fairly extensive paperwork every year. Some states have an agreement with K12 and you can enroll for free plus get help from a teacher... NY has no such agreeement so we are on are own.

 

Also, within the gifted world there is a theory of Overexcitabilities (OEs) which I have found useful for understanding my kid.

 

Good luck.

[MMWG]

Hi-- I have also home schooled my academically advanced but wildly asynchronous PANDAS kids (who sounds just like yours... chaos is the WORST thing for him) for several years...I pulled him out of school at the beginning of grade 2 and now he is going into 4th.

I just wanted to add that I believe for most states K is not mandatory, and therefore you would not have to file any of the required paperwork. Make things as easy for yourself as possible.

 

NY requires fairly extensive paperwork every year. Some states have an agreement with K12 and you can enroll for free plus get help from a teacher... NY has no such agreeement so we are on are own.

 

Also, within the gifted world there is a theory of Overexcitabilities (OEs) which I have found useful for understanding my kid.

 

Good luck.

 

Oh yes! I have the book "living with intensity", which I read before we figured out the PANDAS, and it still applies. You cannot imagine how happy it makes me to hear other well educated people use the words "asynchronous" and "overexcitabilities". I suspect somewhere intensity and those other things are intertwined with some of the PANDAS mystery...

 

We are in Ohio, and I think at least half day kindergarten is required....

[MMWG]

Also wanted to add that with your child being young, you'll have more space in your day, and less pressure academically, esp if he's advanced. Even if you take a very school-ish approach, lessons are typically shorter, there are not as many academic demands on kids at that age, and depending on his age and your region, you may find more daytime activities available beyond those specifically for homeschoolers. In our state, VA, kids can "opt out" of K- it's not mandatory- and it's very common for people to opt out--weird cultural thing about it in our area, anyway. So while still K aged, ds had many options for playgroups, classes, etc. that he could still attend.

 

Another thing I wanted to mention since you said your child is academically advanced-- just like in PS you will likely need to adapt a lot. Not like we don't have to do that as parents of children with PANDAS, anyway, but just to give you a heads up. Development tends to be asynchronous, and while your precocious child may be academically prepared for accelerated academics, he may not be ready for the writing demands, or he may not be ready some of the content, or whatever else, in some of the materials designed for that level. And even if he is, PANDAS may interfere-- it does significantly for our kids-- the fine motor, as well as content-- OCD can make a lot of material other kids would be fine with totally fraught for my kids. There's a lot of info and advice out there about asynchronous development and meeting the needs of accelerated learners, and I've got plenty of resources and experience I'd happy to share, as well. There are many simple modifications you can make so your child isn't held back or bored.

 

 

HTH- feel free to contact me anytime.

 

TH

 

Thank you so much! How wonderful to find someone who can help me think through this through the academic lens...it doesn't actually seem that daunting to me, seeing as teaching is what I do for a living, and given all my wonderful flexibility--it seems like a natural extension. I spent a few hours talking with his preschool teacher, who loves him dearly and knows him well, and was able to give him just what he needed to thrive at school. She said his level of cognitive ability and reasoning is very high above what she has seen in a child his age, and was the one who initially suggested teaching him at home, as she thought he would eat it up. He is a sponge, and is interested in so many things--Egypt, Ancient China, volcanos, science experiments, you name it. Unschooling seems up our alley, and I can think of tons of things along the traditional "school" subjects that fit into those topics, just to start...we need to find a group to do some things with, as he is such a social being, he will miss being around other kids. His fine motor ability is horrendous...for 2 yrs he refused to even pick up a pencil, but he is more than willing to practice with us, but not at school. Let me know if you have any favorite books or resources--I got a bunch from the library and a few from Amazon. We are going to set up a schoolroom space but will likely wander from there, just because we can . Having the university 2 minutes away will also be great--we have a zoology museum, art museum, etc--plus a whole education library, and tons of students willing to tutor in language, really anything...

 

Glad to have found a kindred spirit!

[thenmama]

xx

Edited March 27, 2013 by thenmama