Hi all! I'm Jeri, a brand new homeschool mama looking for find like-minded people to chat with. I have two sons, ages 10 and 5, but am only homeschooling my youngest. I hope to homeschool my oldest next year, but am divorced from his dad and have to get his "okay" before we can start. He's currently thinking it over. I started homeschooling a couple months ago because of difficulties he was having in public school. He has Asperger's and was having a lot of anxiety and meltdowns because of having to go there, so I finally decided I'd had enough and wanted to try my hand at it. I am SO glad I did. His behavioral issues are all but gone and his social aspects have improved tenfold. Instead of having forced socialization that wasn't being monitored, he has relaxed socialization that is so much more meaningful and successful. It's quality above quantity. Everyone who knows him has commented on how much better he is about making eye contact and having conversations. He is so much happier, calmer, and has almost no anxiety now in everyday things, which is just a miracle to me. I have NO doubt we made the right choice when pulling him and deciding to homeschool. We are using Hooked on Phonics to teach him to read, along with reading lots and lot of books. We are also following the Five in a Row curriculum ideas, though not necessarily the books they are recommending. I love the concept of FIAR, but we are going with good literature that he's interested in instead of their book lists. We are still reading it for 5 days and have planned activities every day that relate to the FIAR book. Last week we were on dinosaurs and read a Caldecott winner about dinos. Next year I plan on finding another curriculum, perhaps Tapestry of Grace (it's my fave so far) and using Math-U-See for mathematics. I live in Missouri and we have very little as far as regulatory laws for homeschooling and my city has a fantastic homeschool community that we have dove into. I absolutely love schooling him like I had no idea I would and love getting the chance to teach him myself. We are casting our net very wide because he is very, very smart and remembers everything he's taught (an excellent memory is an Asperger's thing), so we are bringing in lots of special interests and taking this opportunity to teach him things he might never have learned otherwise. It's so fun and rewarding. Okay, I'll stop with my novel. I look forward to "meeting" you all.:love:
Hi, Jeri, and Welcome!~ There are several moms of Aspies here. (I'm not one, but I'm sure they will have tons of good advice and conversation for you!)
Thank you for the novel, that is how I love to waste my time (you know, when I should be doing chores or something productive):lol:. Welcome. It always makes me happy to see the excitement and how much better a life can be with embracing a child and focusing on what they truly need.
Welcome! My oldest daughter (25) has aspergers and did homebound schooling and my youngest (13) is in the process of being diagnosed. She is homebound for the remainder of the year due to the stress and it seems to be working well for her. In the fall I am homeschooling her. Like your son, her stress level has dropped and things are so much better for her now that she isn't being forced into an environment that harms more than it helps.
