MicheleGazelle
New member
<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>Murgie</b></i>
Home schooling is a difficult choice for certain. Our child 11, with CF and diabetes is VERY social in school, those seem to be the important thread for his self esteem. sam missed 9 weekds in 4th grade due to hospitalization and it was emotionally depressing for him. Sure friends called and a couple vistied, but our hospital is 1 1/2 hours away and that makes it difficult. Our child does not engage in sport other than skateboarding, so the team connection is not there for him. I too consider homeschooling, but I do not hink I am qualified, nor do I think it is the best decisin for our cfer. Truly a difficult decision, a doctor suggested we consider this option, did yours? what does your child say about this. I am REALLy concerned for middle school next year that begins at 7:30 am. That makes hypertonic saline, pulmozyme, toby and vest all done before school a very difficult task. <b>any suggestions?</b> </end quote></div>
It's not really clear to me if you are asking for suggestions on how to make homeschooling work or how to make regular school work or either or both. Since this is a homeschool discussion, I hope you won't be offended if I address the homeschooling angle. It's not intended to by pushy. It's just something I am familiar with. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
First, I have difficulty believing you aren't qualified. A teacher deals with 20 or 30 students and uses standardized tests and the like to make it manageable to try to assess that many kids. One article (or book) I read indicated that after you took out roll call, recess, the time it takes to change classes, the time it takes to get settled into each class, lunch and so on, most public school kids only do about 1 to 2 hours of academics a day. One of the four legal ways to homeschool in the state of California is to hire a certified teacher as a tutor for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. And, in my experience, 3 hours a day one-on-one is a very intense learning experience for a child, far more intense than anything they would get at school. We had to back off in order to avoid burn out. By the time you take out the daily commute to school, parent-teacher meetings, helping them with homework (or just standing over them to make sure they did it), etc, I found that homeschooling my kids was less time consuming than having them in school -- and this was when I was driving over an hour one way every week to meet with the counselor at the charter school we were using!
The first year that we homeschooled, we did so through a public charter school. They supplied the textbooks, etc. Many of the textbooks and worksheets were the exact same ones my sons had been using in the public school they attended. I got to teach with that and got to see first hand that public school textbooks are not designed first and foremost to teach kids. They are designed first and foremost to serve the needs of a teacher who needs to cope with and assess 20 or 30 students. You won't need to do that and will have more freedom for finding resources that work well for your child's unique learning needs and interests. I joined a homeschooling list before we ever pulled them from school. It helped me make up my mind that homeschooling would be far easier for us than trying to make public school work for a child who was sick all the time.
As for the social angle, it doesn't have to be a sport. Some people do things like boy scouts or astronomy clubs. Some homeschool groups regularly have a park day for the kids to get together (some do this about once a week). Some homeschool co-ops do small classes. There are lots of other options out there for connecting socially.
Good luck, whatever your decision.
Home schooling is a difficult choice for certain. Our child 11, with CF and diabetes is VERY social in school, those seem to be the important thread for his self esteem. sam missed 9 weekds in 4th grade due to hospitalization and it was emotionally depressing for him. Sure friends called and a couple vistied, but our hospital is 1 1/2 hours away and that makes it difficult. Our child does not engage in sport other than skateboarding, so the team connection is not there for him. I too consider homeschooling, but I do not hink I am qualified, nor do I think it is the best decisin for our cfer. Truly a difficult decision, a doctor suggested we consider this option, did yours? what does your child say about this. I am REALLy concerned for middle school next year that begins at 7:30 am. That makes hypertonic saline, pulmozyme, toby and vest all done before school a very difficult task. <b>any suggestions?</b> </end quote></div>
It's not really clear to me if you are asking for suggestions on how to make homeschooling work or how to make regular school work or either or both. Since this is a homeschool discussion, I hope you won't be offended if I address the homeschooling angle. It's not intended to by pushy. It's just something I am familiar with. <img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif" border="0">
First, I have difficulty believing you aren't qualified. A teacher deals with 20 or 30 students and uses standardized tests and the like to make it manageable to try to assess that many kids. One article (or book) I read indicated that after you took out roll call, recess, the time it takes to change classes, the time it takes to get settled into each class, lunch and so on, most public school kids only do about 1 to 2 hours of academics a day. One of the four legal ways to homeschool in the state of California is to hire a certified teacher as a tutor for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. And, in my experience, 3 hours a day one-on-one is a very intense learning experience for a child, far more intense than anything they would get at school. We had to back off in order to avoid burn out. By the time you take out the daily commute to school, parent-teacher meetings, helping them with homework (or just standing over them to make sure they did it), etc, I found that homeschooling my kids was less time consuming than having them in school -- and this was when I was driving over an hour one way every week to meet with the counselor at the charter school we were using!
The first year that we homeschooled, we did so through a public charter school. They supplied the textbooks, etc. Many of the textbooks and worksheets were the exact same ones my sons had been using in the public school they attended. I got to teach with that and got to see first hand that public school textbooks are not designed first and foremost to teach kids. They are designed first and foremost to serve the needs of a teacher who needs to cope with and assess 20 or 30 students. You won't need to do that and will have more freedom for finding resources that work well for your child's unique learning needs and interests. I joined a homeschooling list before we ever pulled them from school. It helped me make up my mind that homeschooling would be far easier for us than trying to make public school work for a child who was sick all the time.
As for the social angle, it doesn't have to be a sport. Some people do things like boy scouts or astronomy clubs. Some homeschool groups regularly have a park day for the kids to get together (some do this about once a week). Some homeschool co-ops do small classes. There are lots of other options out there for connecting socially.
Good luck, whatever your decision.