FONT="Century Gothic"][/FONT] I know that I will probably sound completely indecisive. But, let me see if I can make a incredibly long story short! One of the main reasons my husband and I are choosing to home school is, I have a child with various special needs. Starting with ADHD and on and on. My child struggled horribly in school being labeled learning disabled and socially he just didn't thrive. We have a incredibly large school district here in NY. Just in our district alone we have 7 elementary schools. At the end of the school year I had written some scathing letter's to the superintendent of the school. Regarding, the treatment that my child was receiving. Basically, he was being treated as a juvenile delinquent instead of a child with special needs. I am requesting he be sent to a different elementary school. Not only him but my daughter as well. This all started June 23. We went camping in May and meet some great friends while there. They talked to my husband and I around a camp fire about home schooling. Which I have always said that I wanted to do after my kids learned to read. (silly huh) My dh had absolutely no interest in it at all. Said, No way that will ever happen! Well, after talking with these new friends he said to me, “why don't we home school our kids” BUT, the curriculum must NOT be biblically based. (My husband is not a christian) So dh went looking. Found a curriculum and said what do you think of this one? I wasn't sure. Again, to shorten the story. In the end he bought BJU, Apologia, Saxon. tee hee hee Which is all biblically based. Now, he is fine with that. I am in the process of joining our local home school group and just recently joined the HDLSA. Phew, so here is my question. Last night when I opened my e-mail. There was a letter from the Head of Special Needs, stating both your children have received permission to change to the school that we have requested. They are going to have to ride their own little bus. WHAT DO WE DO????? Do we give ps another chance to help him out with the services they provide (which in our system is a lot) or keep them home??? Oh, and by the way, my husband say's if I don't send them then "Why did I fight so hard to make my point just to be a "B". uugg.....
I don't know the homeschool laws in NY.But in Arkansas,if your child starts the year out in public school,you can't pull him out to homeschool until mid school year(December) and if he is under any sort of disciplinary action,then you can't homeschool until the following year.It might be something to consider in your decision.What are the laws where you live,what are your options if you started experiencing the same problems early on at this new school?
In NY we only have to give them 2 weeks notice. I don't know anything about if there is disciplinary action going on.
Do the kids know about all this? What do they think and how old are they? Why dont you and DH discuss this with them and see how they feel? It wont mean you let them be the deciding factor, but you should take their feelings into account. After all THEY are the ones who have to attend whichever school you'll decide upon. Be honest and open with them. You might start with a talk about how everything has pros and cons. Compile a list of the pros and cons of both options and discuss each one. Give them about 48 hours to mull it over and take all that into account. Good luck. Also, what was the point of raising the fuss if you're not going to do anything about it?
In NY you just can pull them at any time and then you have 2 weeks to notify the district superintendent. You do not need to give them two weeks notice. There are no excpetions to that. We pulled sd out mid year and just sent the district a letter. I happen to know several families with children who have special needs. These kids have thrived in homeschooling. It is much easier in homeschooling to adjust to the kids needs than in a ps. Manny kids with adhd need to be up and moving to learn well, that just does not happen in a ps. You can also adjust the lessons to last as long as you need them, maybe only 15 mins at a time where as in ps there is not always that option. I would suggest you take a look at this site : http://www.piccnys.com/ They are a chapter of LEAH and is direct for parents with challenging children. They can really give you some excellent information.
You've got your curriculum all bought, etc. Personally, I don't think the "new" school will be any better than the "old" one. However, since you are a Christian, you need to be submissive to your husband in this. BTW, I am amused by what you consider a "large" school district! Seven elementary schools is rather small to me. My husband teaches in a district with over 10 high schools!
When my now 18yo Senior was in 1st grade we took him out of A "Christian" Private School into ps so that he could get "help" w/his learning disab. What a joke that was. He has done way more better at home and likes it at home way better. In ps they wanted to give him way to many outs for his ld. And use his ld as excuses. That was not acceptable to his dad and me. Anyway, I could go on, but I won't because I know each child and each school is different. Just wanted to give you a little taste of what we went through. HTH
Honestly... usually problems in one building of a district are a common thing throughout the whole district and starts to fall into their teacher policies. The school my oldest went to for k and 1st that we couldn't believe we had waited to pull him from, changed up quite a bit.. they moved all the k-3rd graders out to other buildings in the district, and brought in all the 3-5th graders and changed teachers up and things.. we thought for sure when we sent our oldest back there in Feb things would be different as far as the school poilitics go. They weren't, he was still labeled a trouble maker, I was sent many notes and had to go in for conferences because he was "disruptive" (many times he was noisy in line going to lunch or recess :roll:, who knew they had to be little soldiers and march in silence ) We made the decision to bring him back home, and we won't be sending any of our kids to this district unless it's unavoidable... and I don't see that happening ever (we have enough life insurance that if anything happened to either dh or I, we could live off of it for the rest of our lives if we plonk most of it in CDs and draw the interest every year).
I agree that one school will be like another. You may not have exactly the same issues, but NO ONE will care about your kids the way you do, so there will always be some type of disagreement. I also think 7 schools in a district isn't all that big. LOL! Coming from a city that had just one, maybe, but now I have dozens. There are two on my street alone!
Well, my son had a Dr's appt this morning. I was speaking to the Dr about what was going on. She looked straight into my eyes and said, "If you are up for homeschooling then that would be the best thing for your children and as far as the social aspect there is so much around here they wouldn't be lacking" I think that is what I needed to hear. WHY do so many people think ps is so much better???? It confuses me!
There ya go!!! So you tell your dh that the doc reccomends it, and it's a done deal! Do you know how lucky you are? So many doctors are against hs'ing! I'm also lucky. My kids go to a particular group of doctors, and one of them is a hs'er. So he has educated the others on it to where they are not antagonistic.
Because "everybody does it", so it must be "right". Until you've tried something new, you'll defend your own actions to the death. People don't like homeschooling because it goes against their own choice to PS their kids, and it makes them feel as if they've made the wrong decision all along. No one likes to be told their wrong, even if it's coming from their own subconcious. Not that PS is altogether bad. It works for some people, and there are some who just plain don't have a choice, no matter what they want to do.
Since you're a member of HSLDA, you should check out their site. I think they offer information and advice for hs families of kids with special needs. You may find that your area still provides some services to special needs kids, even if they are homeschooled.
If it were my choice, I would homeschool. My kids have been in 3 of the 5 elementary schools in my district because of moves and redistricting. All the schools are basically the same and the principal seems to make the biggest difference. When there's a good principal, things go well, but then they get promoted and you could end up with one who makes everything a nightmare. Besides, schools hate when they have to make special accommodations for students because it costs them money.
Wait. Your dh, who is not a Christian, was opposed to homeschooling, but now is in favor AND has bought Christian curriculum materials for your children... and you're considering giving the ps another chance??? What's wrong with this picture??? You've got the stuff to do it with, and dh is on board. Sounds like God moving, to me! (even if your dh wouldn't recognize or acknowledge it)
I am LOL. Lindina..... Thank you..... Sometimes when you are walking in something you can't see the big picture. It is so much easier to have someone smack you in the head! Thank you!!!
well if you are set to homeschool them at home, have the books and talk it over with children and dh I would just leave it that way. Give it one one your to try.
It sounds to me like God is opening doors for you and I would definitely keep them home! You know what your kids need better than a school district. Take advantage of the support you're getting!
