I have a daughter who is 13 and in 7th grade BUT tested on a 5th grade level-we have made the decision to go all out and totallt homeschool lastnight.They have been attending a k12 hybrid school where they learn at home 3 days a week and go there(to the learning center 2x's aweek).This ended up being the biggest mistake of our lives-we were made several promises and none were kept-in fact they were worse that our school here locally that we pulled them from because they were not helping my daughter.We were supposed to have an IEP sat up at the beginning of the year and are still waiting.My daughter has CAPD,ADD INATTENTIVE,a Language processing disorder and a communication disorder.Does anyone have any advice on some sites or ideas I could use with her?Do I enroll her with our state as a 7th grader even though she is not on that level?Any advice would be wonderful! Blessings!
Hi Angela....did you let your "homeschool dept." know that you are homeschooling now? They are listed under the local public school departments. Letting your child/children lead in your home school, is perfectly OK. It is called "Unschooling" and many parents find this method to be a blessing for them. I let someone borrow my book called "Unschooling" - author? - but, if you google/search it on your computer, you will locate it. It is a great book! Amazon.com has many home school books, too. "Special Education - A Biblical Approach" by Joe P. Sutton is an excellent book that explains several different types of disabilities. "Homeschooling the Challenging Child" by Christine M. Field - anything by her is very helpful. www.EnchantedLearning.com Whatever age or grade level, this site has "everything." And, for YOU...."More Than A Mom - Living a Full and Balanced Life When Your Child Has Special Needs" by Amy Baskin and Heather Fawcett. I have TONS of information for you, but this will get you started. Do you have support??? Blessings, Barbara in Virginia
Hi Angela and Barbara I am just introducing myself. My daughter is 12 and she has ADD, no short term memory, expressive language, plus vision and fine motor difficulties. I will start homeschooling in the fall. I never put her in public school. Both of my children are in a small school in our town. Things were great for 3 years but this is our 4th year and it has been straight downhill. I just wanted to say I feel like I made a big mistake this year. I usually see things coming but totally missed this one. Fifth grade at our school has been a nightmare. It is like all of a sudden we are trying so hard to meet all of these expectations and are not focused on her needs. I can just see her confidence slipping away. I spend so much time with my daughter, I don't think homeschooling will be much different. Anyway, with her expressive language issues I find that if she is prompted and not expected to have free recall she does very well. I also let her dictate to me and I write or type her assignments. Of course, verbal tests with multiple choice or word banks are a must. A few of her teachers find that doing assignments on the computer works for her on certain subjects. I think that because she has many issues, it is especially difficult for her to get it all together. For one thing all the copying that is done in school is astounding and many of the worksheets and tests are just too busy. We do fewer questions or problems and try to keep the concepts to a small number unitl we are ready to move on. I am so shell shocked that I cannot even consider putting her in any school because as you say we were made a lot of promises. I just want to slow things down and quit worrying about making lunch and helping the PTO etc. All of our children are different and I don't think the schools (any of them) can teach them as well as we can. Barbara I just wanted you to know that I will definitely be looking into your book suggestions. I am so glad I checked you guys out.
Hi Angela! I'm still here. I didn't take a trip around the world. All I want is some palm trees! Doesn't that sound great? How is your daughter doing? Did you buy any of those books that I recommended? When I read in your email, that support is something difficult to find at times, I can relate to that. I also know 2 people that have fibromalygia, so I'm hoping that your husband is feeling better, too. How is homeschooling? My son uses the "Bibleman" Christian workbook. He loves it. I hope and pray for you to have good days. Do you need more ideas? Blessings, Barbara P.S. Hi Jackie in Virginia