The topic of home schooling has been one that has come up a lot over the last 7 years or so.
It started when we met up with an old friend of husbands and his wife and children. It transpired that they homeschooled and a nicer pair of articulate and confident children I had never met.
Eldest was two at the time and I remember giving it some serious consideration, but then I had #2 and #3 son in quick succession and the thought went on the back boiler for a while.
I had always dug my heels in about sending the boys to nursery, something that parents routinely do from 2 and a half in Scotland (from 3 it is government funded). I always said no way. Our nearest nursery was too far away (even though we had a car then I don't drive anyway), there was no public transport and I had no desire to put my 3 year old son in a taxi with a stranger to go to a nursery where I would probably never even meet his carers.
People made noises about how good it would be to socialize him, how he would be "ready for school" and possibly behind if he didn't go.
I pointed out that no single doctor or lawyer practicing today was made to go to full time nursery and they did just fine.
As it happened when eldest started school I was taken aside by his teacher and told that it was so nice to have a child start school who wasn't already jaded by the "system", a child who approached learning like an adventure.
And for the record he is a million times more gregarious than me or his father ;)
Anyway....
I digress.
Home schooling popped up again when he started to have trouble at school. He has just (yesterday in fact) been diagnosed with Dyslexia and Audio memory problems, something we and his teachers have known for a while but until now has not been "formally recognised" by the powers that be.
Sometimes I would think about the amount of wasted time he has in school and then the extra work he has to do after school and think "what is the point? I could do this with him in half the time." But what stops me is that it is a genuinely GREAT school. Its small (22 pupils split in to two classes) the teachers are enthusiastic and approachable, nothing like the teachers I had as a child. And he loves going, he loves being with his friends and working.
I know that if he was in a larger school his problems would not have been picked up for a long time, he is clever at hiding and diverting when he is struggling with something.
So I had decided that primary school should be attended.
However I was having thoughts about secondary school.
Only 2 years away and he goes from a school of 22 to a school of 784 pupils. I admit ti having some worries about how he will get on there, if he will get the kind of support that he gets now.
So maybe I will homeschool them for secondary school, but it raises other issues.
On a budget and without a regular car can I grantee he (and eventually his brothers) will get to do things. Will they get to clubs or activities and meet other kids. Even if we have the car can we afford to do that.
Again, living in a town or city this would be fine, there are buses and museums and libraries and youth clubs all within walking or cycling distance. In truth though most things like that up here are in the nearest large town 15 miles away.
Its a consideration.
Luckily in a meeting with the support teacher and the assessor yesterday I learnt a lot about the new software the secondary school has for kids who need additional support, the allowances with things like spell check and calculators so they can do exams.
More research is needed I think.
Should have not have kids and brought a new puppy instead ;)
In the past few months I've been thinking about the whole homeschool issue as well. I'm still on the fence about it, we have many bridges to cross until we get to that point. My biggest concern is the whole socialization aspect. As much as I hated high school I would have hated to have missed out on playing in the band, being in the musicals and proms.
ReplyDeleteThat's great that your son is in such a great school now, only 22 students that's incredible! Now that he has an official diagnosis does that open up any doors for more support if you send him to the secondary school? I know here when we recieved Tristan's diagnosis all the doors for support opened, eventhough like you we knew beforehand.
I don;t know how you feel but I shy away from the people who hold up their hands and say they don;t like to "label" a child.
ReplyDeleteI am happy that he has his "label" Now I can explain to him WHY he can;t do math as easily as his friends and why he gets confused when lots of instructions are given to him too quickly.
You wouldn't expect a Dr to look at your broken leg and say "well I don't want to label the leg as broken so lets just say its bone impared." would you...I know that labels should not be used as excuses for bad behaviour or laziness, but whats the point if you can;t get the help!
But as many a teacher friend and relatives have told me..and as I expect you have found..diagnosis is the hard part..help flows a lot better when you do finally get the label ;)
x
The whole label thing is definetly something I've been struggling with. My fear is that people will define Tristan through his label, and I want people to see the kid and not just the label. I don't want expectations to be lowered for him. There's also such a stigma attached to autism, I just fear what his future will be like.
ReplyDeleteIt does feel like some sort of relief in way though to have a label to assign to certain behaviours. I can explain to people now and they won't think I'm a bad mother for his behaviour or think that Tristan is just a bad kid.
I really like your broken leg analogy I never thought of it that way before but its really helpful. I mean if you didn't have a label of a broken leg how the dr know how to fix it, its the same with our kids.
Ya the help flows better but the waiting lists here are endless, that's the frustrating part.