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#255694 06/27/06 09:03 PM
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My oldest son Michael has expressed that he wishes to be homeschooled next year (this will be his 9th grade year).

He is my son who has Asperger's and who went through the horrible times last year with rages and obsessive thoughts about a young lady in school that he wanted to be his GF.

He was hospitalized twice, trying to get his medications straightened out, and is doing TONS better now.

We've always had him in public schools because the area where he needed the most work was social (academically he could probably go ahead and enter college!) But he has become very self concious since everything that happened last year. (The counselors insisted on him being put in different classes because of his aggressive behavior - I really can't fault them)

And entering HS is going to be a lot more stressful, because the grades will no longer be separated; a class can be made up of 9, 10 & 11 graders possibly.

But I am still so worried that in homeschooling him, I will be taking him away from the main "social activity". There is a Homeschool kayak team, and I believe one of the area churches does a homeschool band; but there's no football or wrestling. And how am I going to be up to teaching this genious child?

I was no dummy, graduated 5th in class, college on a full academic scholarship. But he's already so far beyond me, I don't know how I'll teach him the Calculus(es) and higher Physics and Chemisty classes!

Any advice?


Michelle Taylor
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LOL, do you really want me to answer this?? heee. My thoughts on "social activity" in schools isn't a kind one.

I dont know what state you live in, but look into your laws. Quite a few states have laws requiring public schools to allow homeschooled children in their zone to participate in extra-curricular stuff, incoluding sports.

Does he want to play football or wrestling? Have you sought out non-homeschool sources like city and county parks and leagues? Pop Warner? Would he be ok with other sports that are offered elsewhere, like swimming or gymnastics?

As for socialization, you know your son has special needs. Perhaps putting him in the school situation is doing more harm than good. Maybe he needs you around more to actually guide him more and keep an eye on things before they get out of hand.

As for the advanced subjects, you don't have to teach him. Give him a book and let him teach himself. Find other homeschooelrs with kids with similar interests and let the kids form their own classroom. Let him read and teach himself and then reinforce it by teaching you.

You can probably enroll him in a public school part-time to go for just those classes, check your state DOE.

If not, community college are usually more than happy to have homeschoolers dual enrolled for subjects such as advanced math and sciences. In fact, many states encourage dual enrollment and after 2 yrs at the CC the student earns full sophomore enrollment at a state university, no SAT or ACT required!

If you want some help narrowing down your laws or finding a support group catering to parents with teens, let me know and I'll dig something up for you <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Meg


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At his age I would look into to the local community college and see what there minimum age is to start taking classes. If he is old enough (he would be here) I would enroll him there. I would not even bother with a high school curriculum but go ahead a look for a school that he could take correspondence courses through and then put him in one or two credit hours at a community college. Actually, that might be better anyway, he would be challenged and if all hell breaks loose at the college it's not that big a deal since he is only taking one or two classes, you can (if you have to) pull him out until he is ready or until the semester is over.

Have you looked around locally to see what teen activities there are that aren't necessarily for homeschoolers? If he has an interest in sports, maybe working/volunteering at a community center where he could deal with the public as he feels he can while helping with the sports programs, since that is an interest area.

If you don�t have anything like that available why not see if he would be interested in starting a kids sports group at your church (with an adult of course.) He would have to work on himself (communication, eye contact, teamwork, and controlling temper) if he was going to help teach younger kids the finer points of the sports. If it involves something he loves it might make it easier for him and it can�t be any harder then high school!

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Many colleges offer distance learning, or alternative educational opportunities that are worth checking into.

Have him tested. He may surprise you. Most homeschooling associations can point you in the right direction for this. Also many states' Departments of Education have online tests you can download and administer. I do this every year with my two, so I can keep track of their level of education and make sure it's comperable to that offered by the public school system.

If he's into calculus, he may already be able to graduate. If his having a GED would make you feel better, he may already be able to pass the test.

I took the ACT at 16, in my sophmore year, and passed with flying colors.

Last edited by ghostposts; 06/28/06 05:26 AM.
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One of my relatives who was ADD left high school at the beginning of her sophmore year and began at the community college.

Then when she turned 16 she took the high school equivalency exam. The high school principal was the one who gave her permission to begin community college before turning 16.

Being at the community college was a whole new world, she felt stimulated and challenged and now has an advanced degree - was an A student in college.

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Wow, never thought about college already!

He's not into calculus already, but it won't be long if he's allowed to go at his own pace. Actually my husband could probably handle that area - he's a GA Tech grad - computer sciences, so had to have several calcs come to think of it. I was kind of having a heart attack picturing my kitchen turned into a science lab! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

We will be doing a LOT of talking with his psychiatrist about this as well, and I also just got a great lead on a local group that deals with autistic children and support groups. It came from a woman that my mother caters for regularly - she is a major advocate of autistic spectrum disorders. So I'm hoping they might have some ideas, too.

But he does seem so nervous about HS, and I must admit, he's been pretty sheltered up until now. His friends are wonderful, they watch out for him - but we won't be able to guarantee they'll all be in classes together any more.

Now if he and I can just keep from killing each other we'll be fine. (How do y'all do that?) <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


Michelle Taylor
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I think the secret to not killing each other is to build space into your schedule. We had school four days a week, four hours a day. It came out to 15 hours of school with recess taken out of the time sheet. After school, we had lunch and went our separate ways for an hour or so. Everyone left Mom alone! The kids could be alone or play together, but they had to stay quiet and out of trouble, and leave me alone.

Fridays we did chores, errands, fielf trips, or just goofed off. I taught mine how to work independently too, so we weren't even together all through homeschool after a while.


Terrie Lynn Bittner
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We're charter schooling (I think I've shared that before), but have a LOT of home assignments to work through (especially during the summer sessions). It's not like having my kiddo home all day--this wouldn't work for us--but it's still a major committment on both our parts as its not your standard homework.

We discuss and plan together for an hour or so, then my son heads off to the den to do his work, then we come back together to review and finalize and then prep for the next day. I think if you have some sort of plan for the day it makes things easier; and you're less inclined to come to blows as you've something concrete to work towards.

But, there are folks that do things on a free form basis--education sort of just happens as the chlid shows an interest in something. Not something I could work with, but it works for some families.

Good luck, Michelle!

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Hey Meg,

I never realized, but we're both from GA!

So you should have plenty of advice for me, LOL! (I am assuming that the rules are statewide, or do they differ from county to county?)

We live in Hall county, GA - near Gainesville. Whereabouts are you?

And seriously - where are some places that I need to be looking for resources and materials?


Michelle Taylor
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Michelle - we just mvoed here. I think Gainesville is about an hour north of us. I'll message you privately <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

The laws DO NOT vary by county despite what the school district tells you! This seems to be a problem everywhere, it was a terrible problem back in Florida! I know that recently Cobb county (where I live) tried to tell people pulling their kids out of school that there was a deadline of Sept 1 for people to hit their 180 days per year and to turn in your letter of intent to homeschool. This is NOT the law. The law is 180 days per year between the day you begin homeschooling and 365 days after. There is never a deadline on the initial letter of intent, you write it the day you don't send your child back to school and every 365 days after.

basically you go by what the state statues say, and read the laws for yourself, don't go by what the school or dept of ed tells you the laws are.

http://www.nhen.org is the best place for unbiased homeschool law info without any religious info (which doesn't pertain to the law) and without any extranneous political motivation.

Meg


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