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Homeschool to Avoid Getting Sick?


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Has anyone ever considered homeschooling to reduce the amount of bacteria/viruses your child is exposed to at school? I know many wouldn't have this option, but if it were possible, would you do it?

 

Just something I'm pondering. My son starts Kindergarten next year. He reacts to everything (basically any illness that begins with a fever sets him off with severe vocal & motor tics). I never intended to homeschool, but I could and would if I thought it would make a big difference to his health situation.

 

On the other hand, depending on the kid's personality, they might really miss out if they didn't get to attend school & it could be worth the risk of exposure to send them. Thoughts?

 

Stacy

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dd starts kindergarten next year as well and we have talked a lot about this issue. We have decided to go with public school (at this time - if she has another bad winter it may change our minds...) as she is incredibly social. Her older brother attends the same school so he is bringing home the bugs that sneak through anyhow, and my husband and I both work full time, so she encounters bugs off of us (though we do change before entering house again).

 

It is a small school (her class will probably be about 15 kids or so), and they are completely on board around her health at this point. She goes to the school's nursery program - both so she can meet the kids, but also so her system can get accustomed to their specific bugs. She has attended the same daycare outside of the nursery school for years and it has a regular group of kids - we have found that she doesn't react as much to people who are close to her and she has spent extended periods of time with. Don't get me wrong - There are still zingers that get through - but she is definitely the child that needs the social aspect. With home-schooling, she would still have to go out in public, and we have found the public places to be worse for her system than her "siblings" from daycare & hopefully school.

 

The school was kind enough to post an allergy to strep warning along with the peanut/fish/egg allergy posters and asked parents to call them if their child was diagnosed. So far, I'm pleased with their interactions with us and hope this carries into when she is in Kindergarten as well.

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We've homeschooled off and on for this very reason and some others. Homeschooling absolutely helps on the exposure to sick kids, but it isn't without it's own set of issues. Socialization for us during the younger years was pretty easy to obtain through groups and neighborhood kids, but now that DD is in 8th grade things are different. The older kids curriculum is just more academically involved and time consuming. It also isn't as easy to have "play dates" with 13 year olds. My daughter loved being homeschooled when she was in 2nd and 3rd grade, but really misses the social aspect of school now that she's older. Makes it a difficult choice for us now. Good luck.

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