My question is this. How do you get the peer interaction that you need for your home schooled child. I have home schooled before. Now I am faced with the possibility of doing so again. But my children do not want to loose their friends. They say they will be bored and lonely if I do so again. I can't put them back into public schools and the Christian school they have been in for four years is not working out either. That is a long story but just believe me I have looked into this and realize that bad people can even be in a Christian School I don't want my children believing this is how we treat others so I have no choice but to take them out and Home School them until I find a better place. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I don't need critisizum however. I am not against all public schools only the one my children have to attend if I choose to send them to public school Which I can't because they would eat my rather innocent and sheltered children to pieces the first day. Thanks and HELP!!!!
WOW Thank you everyone for your wonderful responses. I really think this will help.
To some of you who think I am doing this with out looking into my own public school first. I will tell you that I have already lived that horrid mess. I will never choose my local school again. As for my spelling I write these messages very fast and sometimes get interrupted before cheking. So believe me I will take the time to check before putting it in front of my children. I have already Home schooled before. I felt that it was too much then because both my children have IEP's.
Actually if you would listen to the public school system where I live they would tell you that all five of my children should have IEP's. I refused to let them have all five. Especially since my second son was diagnosed at grade three. I was told that he had a learning disability, because he could not read his grade level. When I asked why my son could get A's and B's in science and Math. I was informed that my son had the uncanny ability to memorize a teacher's speach word for word, Could even give it to the classroom the following day, if he so desired. I said OK, But how can he take a test, read it and still pass it. The teacher informes me Oh well we read the tests to him and he tells us the answers. LOL. I told them so you are going to let my son become lazy and make personal secretaries out of the whole school? Of course they did not like this. I would not let them put my second son in LD like they put my first son In DH.
The next year he Got Miss Penny Brown. An old School Old rules teacher. She showed him the Hooked on Phonics tapes and cards. Within four months my son Was at a fourth grade reading level and even went beyond that a few months later. Now my son is 21 years old.
He graduated with Honers and is a United States Marine. The Marines will be putting him through college. If he had of been dragged through the system like his brother, It would have made him insecure, shy, miserable, and still at home at age 23 with no job and possibly never a secure income. Now don't get me wrong. My first son needed the special help. He has Epilepsy, OCD, and most recently has been diagnosed with Aspergers a form of Autism. I hope I have spelled everything right so far. But quite frankly I won't take the time to recheck, simply because this sight does not have spell check and I am lazy and have no time to proof read.
Back to the rather long story I have started. I agree with many of you that I should look into church activities, YMCA, youth groups and so forth. I will do this.
I will take all of your information, put it together and use it wisely.
To some of you who think I should check out my local school district. I can only say this. I know what they have to offer my children. Many of the teachers there either spell terribly or have made the same misstakes I have by not proof reading before sending. The difference. They are profesionals, with countless years of schooling behind them. I am a mother of five, who is a little rough around the edges, at least that is what it feels like when you are raising so many.
I can't tell you how much I appreciated everything you have sent my way. I will close with this. I plan on praying and asking God for guidance on this matter. I take my children's education as the most highest thing on my list of Do's and Do it well, just as high as loving them. So you can bet that I will think this through and do it with great concentration and faith in my God to lead me in the right direction.
I have already called Sylvia Learing Center. They will be helping me with the Math portion of my children's education. I do not trust the amount of Math skills I received from the same school district I pulled my children from. One thing is for sure I will never subject them to the same miserable existance their brother and I went through. My school system can not or will not take the time that is required to teach specail needs Children. My last two are special needs and they need more one on one than they can give them. When I pulled them out they were in a classroom of twenty one students. DH AND LD combined. They were in the same classroom together. When I went to school they would not permit cousins together in the same learning environment, much less brother and sister. Thanks again and God Bless all of you. Ang.
A.,
My kids are grown, but there are lots of home school groups that have regularly scheduled and organized outtings from skiing to COSI. I met a teacher once at my libray who teaches art to various home school families. Start by searching the home school associations, especially OH groups.
Dear A. D,
I have homeschooled my 2 children preschool until now. They are now 14 and 16. If you can get in touch with homeschoolers in your area, they do field trips together and you will probably find ohter likeminded parents. Your church is a great place for your kids to interact with others also. My kids are involved with their youth group.
They do christian service by visiting nursing homes and doing things for others along with their peers.
I commend you for wanting to homeschool your children. Pray for direction, because God might be calling you to do it not just on a temporary basis.
L. M.
Hi A.,
I live in Indianapolis and plan on homeschooling my kids, they're 21m and 10m so I have some time to plan.
I searched the internet and found state wide groups and local co-ops this way. There's a TON of help out there from other homeschoolers and advocates of hmsh.
I pretty much feel the same way as you do, mostly, I want to raise and educate my kids the way I want. Homeschoolers today do not have to be isolated.
For instance, the one co-op I am part of alone can keep me busy 3 days a week.
I have made some friends and met some great women, I also joined an organic co-op that has a lot of homeschoolers and have in one way or another joined a "subculture" I didn't know existed.
I believe we are all entitled to give our children what we believe is best and public and private schools don't necessarily meet these needs so don't feel like you need to make excuses for your decision.
After all, when your kids are all grown up and are great members of society, they'll be wondering what you did right :)
Hello A.,
I too home school my daughter and I was worried about the social part of it. Not to worry...there are more people home schooling then you might imagine and as a result there are many programs out there to help. I am not sure what area you are in, but check around local libraries, art centers, YMCA's etc. and find out what they have for home school. There was even a mom on mamasource looking for children interested in playing sports so maybe she will see you and reply as well. Also, if your children already have friendships established they don't need to lose those...just set up some play dates or get togethers for them. If you can find a YMCA with a home school program they are the best. They group them by age and they rotate what activities. If you are in the Dayton area you can go to the Boonshoft museum as they do things as well. There are so many things to do that your children will never want to go back to a "normal" classroom. There are support groups as well and a group that goes on field trips together, etc, but I do not have the names at the moment. You can type in home school on-line and you will be amazed at what comes up. Good luck to you and your family. It is a tough job, but the reward far surpasses the challenges.
http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/children/homeschool.html
I have found that there a several very active homeschool groups here in Fort Wayne and they provide lots of activities for the kids, social interaction is not lacking!
The link above is from the public library and it goes to lots of local homeschool resources.
You might also be interested in two books called:
Choosing home : deciding to homeschool with Asperger's syndrome
Hartnett, Martha Kennedy, 1951-
Personal Author: Hartnett, Martha Kennedy, 1951-
Title: Choosing home : deciding to homeschool with Asperger's syndrome / Martha Kennedy Hartnett ; foreword by Stephen Shore.
Publication info: London ; New York : J. Kingsley Publishers, c2004.
Physical descrip: 111 p. ; 21 cm.
Bibliography note: Includes bibliographical references (p. 109-111).
Subject term: Autistic children--Education.
Subject term: Home schooling.
Subject term: Asperger's syndrome.
OCLC Number: ocm54006919
ISBN: ###-###-#### (pbk.) :
Homeschooling the child with Asperger syndrome : real help for parents anywhere and on any budget
Pyles, Lise, 1955-
Personal Author: Pyles, Lise, 1955-
Title: Homeschooling the child with Asperger syndrome : real help for parents anywhere and on any budget / Lise Pyles.
Publication info: London ; New York : Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2004.
Physical descrip: 271 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.
Bibliography note: Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-264) and index.
Subject term: Home schooling.
Subject term: Asperger's syndrome.
Subject term: Asperger's syndrome--Patients--Education.
Subject term: Patient education.
OCLC Number: ocm53485409
ISBN: ###-###-#### (pbk.)
ISBN: 9781843107613 (pbk.) :
Hopoe this helps!
Karen
A.,
Sorry to hear that you are having that much trouble in a "Christian school" , but on the other hand I do believe you as far as for the interaction I'm not quite sure but if you google home schooling in Ohio there are many different things that pop up, they even have field trips for the home schooled. I'm sorry that I don't have a straight answer for you but I'm in the same situation with our local school, and I am also considering home schooling. If you get a good answer from somebody else could you pass the info along?
We use the Ohio Virtual Academy (OHVA), which is a public charter school that uses the world-class K12 curriculum. We get all the materials free, the loan of a computer, etc. In return, we have to meet simple accountability, total hours, and testing requirements, and we have access to amazing teachers and local events for the kids to interact. They also have computer classrooms where they get to know their classmates. I couldn't speak more highly of it... this is just the tip of the iceberg, so if you want more info I'd love to talk more with you. Just warning you that I get a little enthusiastic when I talk about it. If you PM me, I'll give you my phone number. First, go to www.k12.com and look at the curriculum, then you can investigate what they say about Virtual Schools.
Incidentally, it's not a Christian curriculum, but we've found it to be extremely friendly to traditional values. It's based on core knowledge--that kids ought to know some basic things. We do come across the "50 million years ago" stuff rarely, but that always gives us a good lead-in to investigate why we believe the Bible's account of creation over the standard outdated textbook assumptions.
Do some checking in your area. Most counties now have homeschooling groups. Where I live, Stark County, there's a very large Christian group called CHESCA. When my Mom homeschooled my brother & I, there were over 300 families in it. They organized field trips, co-op teaching groups, a band, sports groups (I took tennis, my brother was in soccer, baseball, basketball), monthly get-togethers such as roller skating at the North Canton Skate Rink during winter months. Tons and tons of stuff. By getting involved in this group, we made friends with several families that we became close to, then had our own little get-togethers and parties, outside of the large group. And if you're involved with a church, don't forget the youth group activities there, as well. Especially with summer coming up now, many churches will be having VBS and all sorts of outings. We learned many years ago that the Christian schools are often the only place left for a student who's been expelled from public schools to go to. So unfortunately, those students end up tainting the rest of the student body. I understand your frustration. We actually had a pastor who had his kids in a Christian school here, then as time went on, realized what kind of kids were also attending there, and he pulled his kids out. I wish you much luck! And remind your kids that they can still get together with their public school friends. I kept in touch with most of my friends, and am still friends with them today....many many years later. Especially those that were in my own neighborhood. It was easy for us to still get together and hang out.
The Metro Parks have a lot of "field trips" for homeschoolers. My second oldest daughter was VERY hesitant about the classes I signed her up for but always had a great time, met girls her age and learned alot. Most of their programs are free, the ones that cost aren't very expensive. I also sign them up for rec sports so they can continue to interact with other kids. They still have all their friends from school, it just takes more effort to see and talk to their friends.
Depending on the ages they might be able to volunteer at differnt places.
a FREE online school is OHDELA, you might want to look into that school.
I hope this helps! Goodluck!
I don't know where you live, but if you in or nea Columbus, OH, you should check out Oakstone Academy. We are an inclusive school for children on the autism spectrum and typically developing peers. Class size is small (16-20) with 2 teachers and 1 aide. Classes have 50% children with autism spectrum disorder and 50% typical chilren. Our director is a Christian who sees this work as her life's mission. One of the best compliments we receive is how innocent our children seem compared to their public school peers.
IF you don't live close to Columbus, I would suggest the internet as a resource for finding other groups or directly calling your local zoos, museums, etc becuase they have particular days/activities for homeschoolers!
Hi A.,
My name is M. V. and we also homeschool our 15 year old. It's not an easy road to travel, but I applaud you for taking action and giving it a try. Finding healthy ways to socialize your children can be difficult (especially my 15 year old ), but it can be done...through youth groups at a church, signing up for sports through the YMCA or local sports complex and some of my friends use the local library activities, play groups or 4-H groups. The internet can often offer good ideas or help you find other local homeschoolers to connect with also.
I wish you all the best of luck.
Blessings,
M. V.
Independent Marketing Exec.
Melaleuca-The Wellness Company
I don't know about homeschooling as much as everyone else....but I do know a great deal about autism, as I am an SLP who works in the public school setting with a variety of kids with differing abilities. In our district, we have SLP's, OT's, PT's, teachers who specialize in ASD, and autism consultants who we can go to when needed. In addition, we take advantage of our resorces nearby and are in a consortium with surrounding districts to see who can provide the least restricitve environment. It really works and our parents are very happy with our setup. We range from very high functioning kiddos with minor difficulties in school, to very involved kiddos who need 1:1 attention the whole day.
Before you decide the best placement for you son with ASD, please investigate the local districts and observe, observe, observe! Knowledge is power, and as the research indicates, it is critical for kids with ASD to have a variety of typically developing peers; in order to be immersed with appropriate social skills and later generalization.
Good luck to you and you family. I'm sure you will find what works out best!
I'm not sure where you live, but I live near Cincinnati. There is a huge network of families here who homeschool. The Cincinnati Homeschool Network newsletter is published every month with lots of learning activities and events that allow interaction with other kids. Yes, it is a lot of running around, but we homeschool primarily through these outings. In addition, my 3 girls are in classes at the YMCA and gymnastics. Talk about having a lot of friends, we just had a birthday party for my 5 year old and 8 year old daughters and there were probably close to 50 kids here.
i do! i have had similiar experiences! lol
i really like this group(it is not just a christian group but there are christians in the group)---www.neohsc.com
lots of good stuff! i also like programs such as ohdela.com or other online school they are completely accredited by the state. i am currently using time4learning.com as a big part of our curriculum! best of luck-M.
just wanted to say God bless you! you are a very strong woman and dedicated mother!
If at all possible, I would try to get them involved in a summer baseball league, soccer league and join the Y, they have a bunch of year round activities. This is NOT a critisism, I have nothing against home schooling, however, it is very important they stay active with children their age so they don't get a "culture shock" when they are done with home schooling. My sister home schools and has all 3 of her kids involved with church, the Y and other summer activities.
Good Luck!
Jenn.......
I homeschool my 17 and 12 year old. Are you involved in a local church? That is where most of my girls get their interaction. Also, we still take in football games, etc. at the school so they see their friends a lot. Since summer is coming, you can also arrange get togethers with their friends, etc. just like the public school kids would. I am not sure where you live, but there are usually other homeschool families who would like to get together for field trips, etc. For the most part, I've found they don't lack that interaction like most people think. If you have them involved in ANYthing....sports, church, dance...they will make friends and interact just fine.
Feel free to send me a personal message if you have any other questions.
I obviously don't know the whole situation but I'm not sure teaching them that running away is a good option either. Just keep in mind that they will encounter these "bad people" all their lives and you are setting them up to jump from job to job because of a bad co-worker or boss.
Wouldn't it be better to teach them how to handle the situation and not take them away from their friends and learning environment?
Hello! We are going to start homeschooling this fall. I had put my daughter in a private christian school preschool class this past year to make sure homeschool was indeed the right choice for us. We did not have a bad experience but it did make me realize I want the say in what my daughter is learning and who she is interacting with. My husband feels education is very important so when I introduced the idea of homeschooling he said " I don't think so". Once he did some research and talked with other homeschool dads he now is very excited about homeschooling. There are so many options to keep your children interacting with other children. The metroparks offer classes,the Ymca offers homeschool gym where we live. Usually art museums or children's museum's offer classes. Our daughter swims with other children during swim lessons and also takes ice skating lessons. You can always sign them up for private sports teams or dance or music lessons. We also have lunch at local parks or Mcdonalds and there are plenty of kids to interact with. I bet there are also co-ops around your area. I am very excited to begin this adventure and wish you the best! God Bless your family!
I too am beginning the homeschool journey this year and am blessed to live in Cincinnati where there are lots of social opportunities for homeschoolers. Check out this website to see if you can find a group near you: http://www.cheohome.org/
I understand your frustration with the public school. Our local elementary is supposed to be one of the top elementary schools in Ohio and we are very unhappy with the education our daughter has received this year. I homeschooled her for preschool and she learned how to read very well, so we tried to start her in first grade instead of Kindergarten this past year. She was 6 in October and has always been somewhat advanced. The principal told me that she is required by law to attend Kindergarten, but I just recently discovered that there is a First Grade early admission policy on the school's website! Anyway, my daughter is now reading on a 5th grade level and the school refused to skip her ahead to 2nd grade next year or even do single-subject acceleration. This was all very upsetting, but the thing that really convinced me I need to homeschool her was when I realized that she would be gone a full 8 hours a day next year riding the bus. I want to have a relationship with my kids and couldn't handle the idea of not seeing her 40 hours a week! Anyway, sorry for rambling. May God bless your homeschooling journey.
I hope that you don't take this as criticizm but, if you continue to shelter your kids from all "bad" then they will never be prepared for the real world. If THEY do not want to be home schooled then you should not FORCE them to be. You should believe in your kids to follow your example and walk away from bad situations and/or people. I am a mother of 5 kids ages 22, 17, 16, 4 & 3 and have never home schooled but I do run a daycare out of my home so I have been with them until the day they went to school. It is very hard not to try to "control" what they are doing or what they are around but for your children's sake and your peace of mind you really need to let go.
GOOD LUCK!!
I've been homeschooling for 16 years. Since we're a military family that moves every so often, we have often depended on the churches we attend for social interaction (including for myself!). I have also made it a point to try to either participate in homeschool support groups or have regular visits with other homeschool families. I know that there are other social outlets: community sports, dance and martial arts classes, scouts, clubs, etc.
Having said all this, I don't believe peer interaction is as important as interaction with all age groups. After all, it's only while in public school that people are grouped together with the age peers. People don't typically work with others who are all the same age, etc. If you do choose to homeschool, your children will eventually lose touch with their school friends unless you make a great effort to see that they are able to visit with each other. It may be, that after some time homeschooling and making new friends through other outlets, your children won't miss their school friends as much.
I pray that you will seek the Lord in this decision and that He will help you with all the details and with all the adjustments your family will have to make. God bless!
