Replies to 'Homeschooling'

My son went to public school for kinder, and it was a good experience for the first part of the year.  And then things changed.  He began to cry when we would take him, and then it turned into rage attacks like none of you have ever seen.  The school year ended, and we decided to see what first grade would bring us.  The first day of school, my son cried, wet his pants, vomited, and needless to say, didnt go to school.  And things escalated from there.  After 21 days of his first grade year....every single day carrying him to school crying, raging...I said enough.  We made the decision to homeschool.  And he was a totally different child.  We began to see a specialist as well, and he was diagnosed with Aspergers.  That was a wake up call for us.  We had him tested at the end of his first grade year, and he is testing out in the 4-6th grade levels in most areas.  And the third in the others.  While we did all the "basics" I allowed him to learn at his own pace.  If there was something he wanted to study, we did.  At the age of 6, my son was calculating weather patterns in an on line weather school, predicting the paths of hurricanes days before the meteorologists were.  He got one of the highest scores in the online class....everyone else was late teens.  He made the choice this year to return to public school, and really loves his teacher.  Which is great.  But he is still so far ahead that he has some issues.  And now it's a fight every day with the schools to get him the services that he should be having.  And I hate that feeling.   And I will say that his "attutude" and picking up bad habits from other kids has been an issue.  But we deal with it right now.

If my son decided tomorrow that he wanted to be homeschooled, I would.  And if he decides next year that he wants to stay home, he will.  My second child is homeschooled Pre-school/kinder right now.  And it's his choice next year what he wants to do. 

I feel it should be decided by the individual child, not just because.  My son did great at home, he's doing well now, they just dont know what to do with him most days, because he already knows what they are teaching in the curriculum. 

My opinion is that we need a revamp in the public school system so that education is based on the "Level" that they child is at...Not at the age.  If you think about it..in your life, how many of your friends are the exact age as you, and your in the exact same place in your life.  It doesnt happen.  We should be teaching our children at their level in learning, not teaching them the first grade stuff just because they are 7.....It gives those that need the extra time what they need, and those that learn some things quickly a chance to move on to something else.  My son's biggest problem is that he is bored...so they give him free reading time when he could be learning something new.