Hi Everyone,
I am brand new to the boards. I am a Mom to 2 wonderful kids, my oldest, Noah, was just diagnosed with Asbergers Syndrom and we are still trying to get things calmed down in our home. Noah has a lot of problems with being attentive in class at school and he also has LOTS of problems with transitioning. We're about half way through the winter break here in our school district and I'm dreading him returning to school. It seems that when Noah first goes back to school from an extended vacation that he's out of sorts and not used to the routines, doesn't want to pay attention and learn, is disruptive and angry, etc.
My husband and I had discussed doing some sort of informal school schedule with Noah during the break, but honestly, I don't have any idea where to start (hubby is out of the house all day at work). I was wondering if any of you had any tips or advise about this sort of "part time homeschooling"? What kind of schedule would I want to start? How long is appropriate to have him work on schoolwork and how much free time should I give him? (It's a school break after all.) How do I know where to jump in and what to teach? Any ideas for really long vacations like summer break?
I should probably mention that Noah is already behind his peers. He's got a slow processing speed and doesn't test well at the State Mandated test. I'm scared to death to homeschool him full time as I feel that making sure he has a good education is a BIG responsibility and I really don't have the confidence to say that I could provide it for him.
Thanks for all your help.
Melanie
You said, " I'm scared to death to homeschool him full time as I feel that making sure he has a good education is a BIG responsibility and I really don't have the confidence to say that I could provide it for him."
Don't be scared to take the leap. Honestly, you can do a much better job than any public school! I have been home educating for 19 yrs so far. All 15 of our children were educated at home. We also have a lot of grandchildren that are already being educated at home. All it takes is a parent that loves and cares about her child. She will do her best by him/her. I was a high school drop out (at age 16) and a mom by 17. I did eventually go get a GED when I was around 25 but the thing is that I loved my kids so much and hated being away from them. My oldest was 12 when I first heard of home education. I yanked him and the others that were in school out that very week! If I needed to learn something to teach them I would learn it. If I needed help there are numerous people and resources online that helped me. You CAN do it!
Before i homeschooled every summer my kids did school work at the grade level they would be going into. Math, reading, writing, etc. I used workbooks and also found stuff on the internet. It made a lot of difference.
My kids aren't homeschooled. But I do supplement there education when there not in school. Maybe you could try it on a part-time basis first.
I used to do at least a few minutes with my son everyday because the schools were failing to teach him. He swore that I taught him more in those few minutes after school than he ever learned in school. So we finally began homeschooling him in 4th grade. I'm so glad we did.
Also some summers we would do "bridge" work from one grade to another.
Ultimately what helped my son the most was just maturing emotionally where he could retain and deal with things better though. That can't be taught at all.
So relaxing and just doing your best but having faith in your child and your own ability are very good things.
This is what I did, although we just did workbooks. I didn't really look for anything online.
Quoting Anryan:
Before i homeschooled every summer my kids did school work at the grade level they would be going into. Math, reading, writing, etc. I used workbooks and also found stuff on the internet. It made a lot of difference.
My oldest has aspergers as well. I can not conceive of him being successful in a public school setting. For one thing AS kids are visual learners - if the teacher can't take the time to demonstrate the work in a vivid step by step basis, then he wouldn't understand it. Secondly AS kids tend to shut down when overwhelmed or stressed - with all the stimuli in school this would occur regularly, interfering w/ learning ( the whole reason he would be there). Finally, they are literal & concrete minded. This means they will never understand metaphors/idioms which neurological-typical people use to understand the non-concrete. For example, if you were to say "take a seat" to my son, he'd pick up a chair and await further instructions on where to take it.
Furthermore, something I've realized over the years is that the unpredictable is a form of torture for the AS child. They have such a hard time expressing themselves already and usually have some sensory issues as wel. Now imagine you can't handle the unexpected....being in a room surrounded byso many others some who react unexpectedly from moment to moment. You too would have a difficult time focusing on multiplication tables...it wold be just way too distracting and overwhelming.
One of my strongest reasons to HS is so my kids can learn in a quiet environment that they see as entirely safe - where there is zero judgement and expectations are based on each individual rather than the class as a whole. My AS is now 10 y/o. We started doing cooperatives last year - which is like group classes with home schoolers. He has so e rough days at first, but he loves it, and he now has Friends! All I'm saying is that it is completely possible and rewarding. Even parents of neurological-typical parents are freaked at first..lol.
If you plan to school in addition to PS, I would focus on the subjects he is good at. This will help build his confidence in his own intelligence. Focusing on his trouble spots (when I'm sure to do it at school) will just reinforce what his weaknesses are. Set clear schedule, let you child choose what he wants to learn.
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I have Aspergers myself. I went to ps. I told my mom I would have done better if I was HS.
Quoting KickButtMama:
My oldest has aspergers as well. I can not conceive of him being successful in a public school setting. For one thing AS kids are visual learners - if the teacher can't take the time to demonstrate the work in a vivid step by step basis, then he wouldn't understand it. Secondly AS kids tend to shut down when overwhelmed or stressed - with all the stimuli in school this would occur regularly, interfering w/ learning ( the whole reason he would be there). Finally, they are literal & concrete minded. This means they will never understand metaphors/idioms which neurological-typical people use to understand the non-concrete. For example, if you were to say "take a seat" to my son, he'd pick up a chair and await further instructions on where to take it.
Furthermore, something I've realized over the years is that the unpredictable is a form of torture for the AS child. They have such a hard time expressing themselves already and usually have some sensory issues as wel. Now imagine you can't handle the unexpected....being in a room surrounded byso many others some who react unexpectedly from moment to moment. You too would have a difficult time focusing on multiplication tables...it wold be just way too distracting and overwhelming.
One of my strongest reasons to HS is so my kids can learn in a quiet environment that they see as entirely safe - where there is zero judgement and expectations are based on each individual rather than the class as a whole. My AS is now 10 y/o. We started doing cooperatives last year - which is like group classes with home schoolers. He has so e rough days at first, but he loves it, and he now has Friends! All I'm saying is that it is completely possible and rewarding. Even parents of neurological-typical parents are freaked at first..lol.
If you plan to school in addition to PS, I would focus on the subjects he is good at. This will help build his confidence in his own intelligence. Focusing on his trouble spots (when I'm sure to do it at school) will just reinforce what his weaknesses are. Set clear schedule, let you child choose what he wants to learn.
www.bonnie.lovablelabels.ca
I'm not really a homeschool mom. I'm a homeschool graduate and I home educate my children. We do virtual school. That way it's with a school that keeps me on track but it's done at home and my son can go at his own pace. They also have IEPs through them so that's nice b/c my son has an IEP b/c he has apraxia but he also has ADD. It's not right for everyone though. It's flexible enough for us but not as flexible as homeschool and you have to follow your state school laws b/c, technically, it is a public school.
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