With my sons health issues, I am contemplating homeschooling him next year until we can get them under control. How can I send a 15 year old to school who is constantly gasping for air.. Number one, he is not supposed to be in P.E. because exercise is a trigger and the school is going to demand he has it, Then the fact that he drools and cries when the attacks happen.. He won't have the freedom to get up and leave.. I can't see how it's going to be a positive learning environment when he's worried he's going to have an attack.. But on the other hand I don't want to allow this to handicap him.. What should I do????? BTW he is having what is called Lyrangospasms. His vocal cords clamp down and obstuct his airway.. They don't last long, but long enough to drop his oxygen level down into the upper 70's lower 80's. This is NOT asthma.. the inhalers they gave him irritated his vocal cords and now we are dealing with this.. NEVER ending.. ((((((sigh)))))
First of all, I am sorry to hear about your son going through this health issue and hope he will out grow it. I have taught in the public school system for the past 31 and understand your concern. I do know when there is a medical issue, they do take note and post it for teachers. Your thought of teaching him at home may help his health and he will not feel close in to other classmates in a classroom environment.
What does your son think of the idea? Why is he in public school? If you are on board with him attending PS then I'd let his preferences lead the way. Poor kid.
What does your husband think? Personally, I would find a way for my son to have his education at home because of this. We live east of you (still in TX), in a town smaller than yours. Next county over, there is a big coop with many activities, particularly for teens. I have friends with older kids who participate. I think if I were in your situation, I would find a way for him to school at home and work out the complexities (it wouldn't be easy for us) for him to participate in the big coop. But...I think the situation in our family/town is a little different from yours. This is what would work for us.
I'm so sorry that you're going thru this, but so thankful that you finally have an answer! I was going to suggest cyberschool (not that I'm normally for them) but if your intent is to get him at peace and comfortable with his condition so that he can control it in uncontrollable circumstances and then re-enroll him in school....I would cyberschool....it makes sense since it would be their curricula and he wouldn't miss anything. I do think he needs the time to adjust to the condition and find a way that works for him. You do not want him singled out or teased because he has an attack in front of his peers. Teenagers are very cruel sometimes....and they pick on those that appear "weaker" to them. (((HUGS)))
I also was thinging cyber school. Funny. You know the problems he faced last year with being sick, and honestly, diagnosis or not, if he is missing too much school the school will throw the same fit.
Now that you have a medical diagnosis have you talked to the school? I know they did not work with him on the phys ed before but maybe with the diagnosis of something that is not common they might be a little more flexible. If it is something that you just need him home until it is under control, you might be able to get the doctors to sign off that he needs to be at home and then the school might be willing to have a tutor come to the house. I know back when I was working for the school districts around here I used to home tutor some students who were temporarily at home due to a chronic condition. This way he will still be doing the assignments that his counterparts are doing in the school and he can just step into the class when you and the doctors feel it is safe.
Cyber school isn't really an option because you have to attend school for an entire year before enrolling.. We pulled him out in March last year. I thought of doing abeka academy or Texas Tech University has a school, but those cost an arm and a leg.. Our goal is to get him back into things as soon as possible.. We do NOT want this to rule his life.. He's withdrawing from everything right now and quite frankly, I don't think we are at the end of the line as far as a diagnosis just yet.. He's having severe stomach cramping down the middle of his stomach and is throwing up and that's aggrivating his vocal cords even more.. I'm really aggrevated that the doctors didn't do anything about the vomitting.. They just left that alone.. I can't imagine what sort of damage the acids have done to his throat.. I had to fight with our family doctor to get a referal to the ENT and a speech therapist... There's no telling how long it's going to take to get in to see one and then I'm sure we are going to have to go back and get referals to another doctor.. It's so very frustrating. We are praying that we can get into the doctor BEFORE school starts next month.. I'm leaning more towards the tutor thing myself.. He's very difficult for me to deal with as far as schooling goes.. He's in public school because he wanted to go back then begged me to pull him out after being sick all year. We talked about his options a little bit and I asked him what he wanted to do about school this next year, and he's on the fence. He wants to go back, but doesn't want to have these attacks in front of anyone.. It's a huge handicap to him right now and we are trying to encourage him not to allow it to take over his life... For HIM to take control over IT! He is performing at the back to school bash on the 8th and is nervous about being up there and having an attack.. There's NO WAY to hide it anyway, then he's up in front of everyone and that makes it even harder.. I need to see about getting him a tutor or maybe he can do the school work on the computer.. I know they have the Public school "Academy" that's just down the street from us and all their work is on a computer.. No teachers and it allows them to go at their own pace.. As far as I'm concerned, him going to public school right now is not an option.. I will NOT throw my child to the wolves so to speak. Kids ARE cruel and he's a very sensitive guy already.. You guys have given me some things to think on.. Thanks for all your input.
That may depend on the school. I've never heard that rule before! I know it wasn't so for Rachael. I'd explore what different cyber schools are available; there's so many different ones! But you're in Texas, so maybe it's a law there that doesn't exist here!
All cyber schools in Texas require you to have been enrolled the previous year.. So that's out the window.. :/ I don't know why they have that rule, but they do and it stinks!!! So once we talk to the school and see if they can do tutoring or let him even go to the academy (where they have very small classes and can leave as soon as their daily work is done) we'll go from there.. Depending on what the school says, we will probably be doing Abeka and this guy may be homeschooled all the way through even though I REALLY didn't want to do that.. If I could find something where he is accountable to someone else besides me, then I'm jumping on it I'm not wanting to bump heads with this guy all year like I did in the past. And it takes away from the girls who are REALLY wanting to learn! (((((sigh))))) Why can't this just go away.. So unfair.. YEP, I'm whining..
Yes. Rachael attended ECOT (Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow), but I think they're only in Ohio. And she hadn't attended public school AT ALL until she enrolled there.
Is there a reason you don't want to home school him? You are asking for advice, so mine is to keep him home! That is what I would do. Do you feel he should be in school because he is in high school?
As much as I LOVE HIM and want to spend time with him,I really don't want to homeschool him.. I would much rather have him in highschool since he is so difficult.. If we lived in an area with lots of homeschool co-ops and things for teens it might work better, but He disrupts the schooling of the other 2 and it's really hard.. When my husband and I agreed to homeschool, the deal was that all the kids would go to highschool. BUT really, they WANT to go to highschool.. I wanted just to get the basics down at their own pace.. And that would be through 6th grade. BUT the Jr High here is HORRIBLE! so homeschooling until highschool is what we decided to do.. I'm not really a fan of the public school system here and we have had several run-ins with the principal at the highschool.. Still, both boys cause a HUGE disruption and I just can't do it.. It sucks all the energy out of me to fight them to do their work and they lack motivation because they are only answering to me.. NOTHING worked to get them motivated.. Last year was an eyeopener for my oldest because he went back with NO credits because he wouldn't do his work.. 17 and classified as a Sophmore.. LOOOOOOOONG story.... We have too much going on stress wise in this house without adding that.. Who knows, these episodes may slow down and it might not be a problem by next month.. He only had one today compared to 6-8 he has been having.. Night is worse.. He hasn't slept a whole night in a week now. We started him on Tagament today so we'll see how that goes.. If it helps then GREAT!! I'm thinking stay away from carbinated drinks as well.. Yes, Unfortunately I am having to find a course of treatment for my son since we haven't been able to find a doctor competent enough to help yet... Apparently a child who throws up several time almost on a daily basis is not in need of intervention..
I don't see how you can keep him in public school with this condition. Either he'll be sleep deprived or be having attacks or worried about having attacks throughout the day. Someone mentioned the attitude of the other kids-bad news. I would definitely keep him home. If you intend to have him return once he's better, than best bet would be virtual academy, such as k12. I don't understand the rule you mention. Maybe by cyber school you mean independent study where you'd get the work from a teacher at school and bring it back the following week? I can understand then, if you'd had to have been enrolled prior to that. A virtual academy would be different. Here's a link to an article about Connections Academy in Texas: http://kdhnews.com/news/education/v...cle_52b63b2e-ef64-11e2-bdf0-0019bb30f31a.html Here's the link for K12 Texas http://www.k12.com/txva#.Ue9YZr7n_IU I normally would not recommend k12 but seeing as how you will rejoin public school once he's better, this would be a good fit.
Mommi, I can't tell you what to do. I know you've prayed about it, and from what you've said before, these guys are committed to Jesus too, and surrendered to the ministry? I think IF I were in your position, I would keep him home for his health, hand him his work and tell him here it is, you do it. I can't fight with you any more about it, and I won't. If you want to go back to public school and play football, YOU do YOUR work. If you need help, ask me, I'm available anytime to help, check your work, hand you a test when you're ready for it, but I'm NOT fighting with you any more about it. And I'd remind him about "do everything as though for Jesus". And then I'd go about teaching the girls and let him stew in his own juices about whether to do his work or not. His choice. If you're going to give him Abeka to do, great. Hand him the book and tell him to let you know when he's ready for a quiz/test whatever. But if you're going to have the tutor come from school because of chronic illness, do know that they're only going to come a limited amount of time per week (here, it would be 3 hours a week), and they will convey the work to him, you only have to be home when they come, no stress, no fuss, it's all between them and him.
If it is GERD that is causing this to act up eliminating carbonated drinks is a good idea. You might also want to limit anything with acid (tomatoes, oj, lemonade...), limit fried food and dairy. I know some folks that deal with GERD and the Tagament does help along with modifying their diet. I hope he sees some results soon.
I agree.. What stinks about it, is that WHEN he does get better and can attend school(HE wants to) they are going to make it really hard on him.. he will be having to test out to get credits even though I say he passed.. Going in this year as a freshman eliminates some of that. He starts out on a clean slate. There's a LOT to consider.. He's not a great test taker as it is.. They stress him out and he will bomb them even though he knows the stuff.. I'm beginning to wonder if God has a reason why he shouldn't be in public school and this is his way of telling us to reconsider our decision.. I'm pretty much settled in on keeping him home.. Just how to go about schooling him is another story.. He is up all night having problems breathing.. Running into my bedroom during the night gasping for air.. This is REALLY annoying.. BUT there HAS to be a reason for it.. HAS TO BE!! God wouldn't allow this to happen just to make us miserable.. We REFUSE to allow this to run his life.. He's getting used to it and has an attack and then moves on like nothing happened but it does still scare us all every single time.. It would be a HUGE distraction to have this happen in class.. So, as it stands, He's back on the homeschool bandwagon.. I CAN DO THIS!!
You can totally do this!! Sit down and set expectations with him for both him and for you and then get to the business of school and have fun!!!
