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need help deciding whether or not to homeschool
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Hi everybody,
I have a 5 year old son with mild autism. I really want to homeschool him but I guess I need some reassurance from others in my situation that it can be the right thing to do. He is in pre-k at a private school right now and that’s going well except he’s very active and full of energy which means it’s too hard for a teacher to keep up with him without an aide. I worry about putting him into a regular kindergarten class for this reason and also because he’s very delayed in his speech. He’s had 3+ years of ABA and can attend in a one-on-one setting. I think that’s how he learns best – at the preschool there is so much to see and do that he has a hard time focusing. I have prayed about it and I feel like God is leading me to homeschool but I’m just not sure…Please let me know if any of you are in a similar situation and how homeschooling has worked out for you and if you think my son might benefit from homeschooing. Thanks!
Jen
On my own homeschool forum, there is a lady who has 2 autistic children and 1 with a severe mood disorder. She is homeschooling 2 of them for now, and will bring the 3rd home when she feels the time is right. So, yes, it can be done. If your son learns better one on one, I say go for it! Who better to learn from, than the one who loves him the most, right? Another thing: if God tells you to jump, you don’t answer, “Are you sure you want me to jump, God?” You say, “OK, God, whatever you say.” At least, that’s what we’re supposed to do… 😉
Hi, Jen. My youngest daughter has autism, and I have homeschooled her from the beginning. We started with ABA, have tried to incorporate some RDI principles, and I have adjusted Charlotte Mason methods to fit her abilities as we have gone through. I’m so glad I’ve been able to teach her one-on-one and at her own pace. It has certainly been a stretching experience for me, but it has also been a blessed journey as God has taught me to depend on Him more and more.
Hannah is 12 now (We diagnosed her when she was 4.) and she started reading last December. Hallelujah! She has some other developmental delays, which are probably different from your son. But it is such a blessing to be able to teach the child, not the curriculum, and to focus on what she needs each day rather than making her fit into a group of needy others.
You can find some details about our journey on my other site, Intentional Parents. I think your son would thrive under loving one-on-one education. If you have any specific questions, I would be happy to answer them.
My son, too, has mild autism. He was not diagnosed until nearly 8 years of age (he is 11 now). He has always been homeschooled, and after receiving the diagnosis, he worked with a speech therapist and an occupational therapist. For two years, our home education consisted of being enrolled in a virtual academy. He was still at home, which was beneficial (no worries about teasing from other kids about his scalp psoriasis or his developmental delays, among other things). However, it was still very “public school” in a lot of ways–textbooks, standardized testing, lots of prep time spent before testing….and on and on. And he was struggling and frustrated a lot of the time, constantly telling me “I quit school!” So, after researching and deciding that Charlotte Mason methods might be a good thing, I followed my heart and God’s leading and said “no thanks” to the virtual academy.
I knew it would be a big change for him and my two daughters as well, but my confirmation came at the end of our first week this fall when my son said to me, out of the blue, “You know, school’s not so hard.” And he meant it. We have tough days, especially when something changes our routine (like today, when my 12yo dd had a nasty stomach virus), and he does have aggressive meltdowns from time to time, but we’re still getting a lot of schoolwork done and much more has been achieved by all three kids than when they were enrolled in the online school. My son even realized that he had not completed his math worksheet on Friday, so he pulled it out when we got home from a fall bonfire event and told me he was going to finish it…..and this was at 10:30 at night!
God’s leading has always been there in support of homeschooling for us, and I see little bits of confirmation here and there to let me know I’m doing the right thing for my son. You know your son best, so you can tailor his education and environment to best suit him. I would encourage you to try it and give it enough time to see what he can do under your loving guidance. Homeschooling has been a real journey of discovery for us, Mom and kids alike.
Sue
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