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Family Matters:  Home School ADHD 8 Year Old Son? UPDATE  |
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ddmashayekhi
True Blue Farmgirl
4815 Posts
Dawn
Naperville
Illinois
USA
4815 Posts |
 Posted - Jan 09 2012 : 4:55:46 PM
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This has been a nightmare school year for my youngest son. He is ADHD and his school decided to keep him in special ed. for the majority of the day. The problem is the other kids in special ed. have severe needs and my son is academically where he should be in most subjects for a third grader. He however cannot sit still in a regular ed. class room for long & when he gets upset he yells. Therefore he is hardly with the regular ed. kids.
My son tells me he is super bored at school. He also says he hates it there and has no friends. He figured out that if he has a meltdown then I will have to come get him. The special ed programs in other schools by us are full and will not accept him since we don't live in their district. The special ed schools we toured that do have openings are unacceptable.
The special ed. director for our county told me that homeschooling would probably be best for my son. That he is getting absolutely nothing out of the school he is in and that the school has failed him completely. I quite agree but am very nervous about having to quit my job to home school. We have our house for sale & priced way below it's current market value just to move to a better school district.
I very nervous about being able to home school and give my son the best education possible. I also don't want to quit my job, but won't have a choice if we go this route. I know behavioral problems accompany ADHD and I worry that allowing my son not to go to school anymore will encourage him to act up to get his way all the time.
We have tried all the ADHD medications available for my son and he had severe reactions after one dose of each kind. Medication is not an option. A gluten free, eat your blood type diet and natural/organic attention drops did not make any difference. Both my husband and I are at our wits end.
Is there anyone here who has a ADHD child and can advise me on what I should do or try? I've raised two sons already and this time around I am completely lost! Help please!
Dawn in IL
1.20.12 - I just wanted to thank everyone for their help on this. We had an IEP meeting yesterday with the school. We are going to have our son attend school in the morning and I will pick him up at 12:30 to homeschool in the afternoon. The school is going to teach him math and language arts, I will do science, social studies and spelling, plus whatever homework he has. My son will be able to stay in choir plus have his special ed. courses and gym, music, lunch and recess with the general ed. kids.
The arrangement will hopefully help us keep my son's education going and help with the behavioral problems that were occurring at school in the afternoon.
All we can do is pray this will work for the rest of this school year and hopefully sell our home before he starts 4th grade. The school district we want to move to has a superb special ed. program.
Thanks again for the kind Emails and wonderful advice & links. They all helped us be ready for yesterdays meeting.
Dawn in IL
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Edited by - ddmashayekhi on Jan 20 2012 11:39:41 AM |
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rksmith
True Blue Farmgirl
858 Posts
Rachel
Clayton
GA
USA
858 Posts |
Posted - Jan 09 2012 : 5:15:45 PM
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My niece has ADHD and had a horrible time at public school. She was sent home the second day and told not to come back without strong meds until after the school could make arrangements to send her to a psycho-ed center a few counties away. Due to all the drama my sister decided to homeschool her and she has done fantastic with it (currently not on meds) she still has some issues but being homeschooled has made a HUGE difference in her behavior and her learning. However, my sister was already a SAHM, so she didn't have to do anything drastic in order to homeschool.
Rachel
Farmgirl Sister #2753
True enlightenment is nothing but the nature of one's own self being fully realised-- His Holiness the Dali Lama
http://madame1313.wordpress.com/ |
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MrsRooster
True Blue Farmgirl
1168 Posts
Amy
Seabrook
TX
USA
1168 Posts |
Posted - Jan 09 2012 : 5:39:08 PM
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http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/forum/category-view.asp
You could try here under Special Needs. The ladies on this forum are wonderful and they would be more than willing to help you. There is also a forum called the Homeschool Lounge. Browse that in your Browser.
I hope that helps.
We have been homeschooling for a year and LOVE it. You will want to take some time and decompress (not start right in to "schooling"). You will have to decide what style works for your son and what curriculm you'll use or if you'll design your own. Be prepared to take a few weeks to get back to "school". Don't worry, your son will not be behind and will be better off if you take it slow.
There are many of us here that homeschool. Anyone of them would be glad to answer your questions or give you a place to start.
Even though my daughter doesn't have ADHD, I just went from school to homeschool last year. We are all here for you.
ADHD won't matter once you find a style and curriculm that works for you. Go at his pace and don't worry about grade levels or anything else. Go at what HE needs, not what "grade" he should be in. He will be higher or lower in every subject.
Don't hesitate to ask questions.
There is a Henhouse called Hens at Home that is a homeschool henhouse. Email Brian to join. I will keep an eye out if I see you posting.
I hope this helps. Enjoy the journey. You will learn more and get closer to your son more than you can ever imagine. Working Moms are just fine homeschooling. You just work with a different schedule. You will just need an understanding person to be with him while you are at work. Plus learning isn't all books or worksheets.
www.mrsrooster.blogspot.com
www.flossesandcrosses.blogspot.com
www.morganicinstitute.blogspot.com
Farmgirl #1259
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ddmashayekhi
True Blue Farmgirl
4815 Posts
Dawn
Naperville
Illinois
USA
4815 Posts |
Posted - Jan 09 2012 : 7:03:44 PM
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Thank you both so very much! I am feeling less scared and much better after reading your responses. I really am worried that I won't do a good enough job for him. It is a relief to know there is help here and on the link Amy gave me.
It never occurred to me to do the homeschooling in the afternoon and try to find a childcare person for the mornings. I work Mon-Fri 8 to 1, so maybe I can slowly figure this out!
I really appreciate your helping me on this!
Dawn in IL |
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oldbittyhen
True Blue Farmgirl
1511 Posts
tina
quartz hill
ca
USA
1511 Posts |
Posted - Jan 09 2012 : 7:31:34 PM
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I found with my son (who is now 32,and a firefighter)who is adhd and delexic (sp?), that anything with artificial flavors or colors were a huge problem, and when he got overwelmed, the only thing that helped was letting him pace back and forth, at home, or in the school hallways. He would calm himself and be able to rejoin whatever was going on and do well. Have you noticed any food allergys, cause that will cause problems also. He never was on med's, they have way to many side affects, we just worked alittle harder, and had a whole lot more patinence ( which was very hard at times), routine is very importent, I can not stress that enough, and calmness no matter what...
"Knowlege is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad" |
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prariehawk
True Blue Farmgirl
2914 Posts
Cindy
2914 Posts |
Posted - Jan 09 2012 : 9:32:12 PM
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I have a friend who had to take her daughter who has Aspergers out of school and she had a teacher come to the house to go over her assignments. A is now back in school part time. I think her insurance paid for it. It might be a possible option.
Cindy
"Vast floods can't quench love, no matter what love did/ Rivers can't drown love, no matter where love's hid"--Sinead O'Connor
"In many ways, you don't just live in the country, it lives inside you"--Ellen Eilers
Visit my blog at http://www.farmerinthebelle.blogspot.com/ |
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ddmashayekhi
True Blue Farmgirl
4815 Posts
Dawn
Naperville
Illinois
USA
4815 Posts |
Posted - Jan 10 2012 : 10:57:53 AM
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Thank you again for your help. Everything I learn is helping me figure out how to do what is best for my son. I didn't realize I could have a teacher come to the house to go over assignments too. Thanks for letting me know about that Cindy. I'll look in to it here.
Again, thanks for all the advice & help!
Dawn in IL |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Jan 10 2012 : 4:09:22 PM
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Actually that's a FREE public school thing. You can have home public school, one of the local school teachers comes to your home so many times a week. Any one with a medical condition can request this. And it's totally free, just like public school is. It's still public school and the kid does the same work that the other students at their school they are enrolled in does. The "tutor" comes out to just help with questions and what not and take the school work back to school for the teachers to grade, they would have the same teachers they would have if they were attending the school.
Also a lot of states now have K12 which is another public school home school program that is free.
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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ddmashayekhi
True Blue Farmgirl
4815 Posts
Dawn
Naperville
Illinois
USA
4815 Posts |
Posted - Jan 11 2012 : 1:17:28 PM
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Thank you Heather! I am gathering up all the information and preparing for our IEP meeting on 1/19. I am hoping the school will be cooperative. I've not been impressed with them so far, but hopefully they will work with us on this. It was the county special ed. director who suggested home schooling to us and she'll be at the meeting.
I appreciate all this help!
Dawn in IL |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Jan 11 2012 : 2:33:48 PM
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I'm not sure if money is a issue for you or not, but it is for us. So we were going to do k12, which is free. However, we really wanted Calvert. Well just this year (my kids are too young though till next year) our state got MVP (Maize Virtual something........can't remember now lol) but it's part of the K12 here. However, you pay a extra 75 dollars a year for it. And it is k12, but with a Calvert Cirr,! I need to go to some of the open houses and see exactly how much calvert it is, vs how much k12 it is. Personally I don't care for k12 but would do it to save money. But, I can swing 75 a year for calvert, with the k12 (calvert with out the k12 is hundreds of dollars, and goes up each year, and extra for a teacher, but the k12/calvert comes with a teacher). Any way, we will see how it works for us, if it doesn't work for us we may do pear tree, which is our second choice, t's cheaper then calvert alone but more expensive then the k12/calvert AKA MVP program.
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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MagnoliaWhisper
True Blue Farmgirl
2817 Posts
Heather
Haysville
Kansas
USA
2817 Posts |
Posted - Jan 11 2012 : 2:35:48 PM
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oh and BTW, I had two back surgeries while I was in school and had the program where the local teacher came to the house (free, no insurance needed, etc). It is as good as the local teachers are, or as bad as they are. I had one Horrible, awful, terrible experience, cause the teachers were terrible! And one good experience cause the teachers were good! Same program, two different schools. I will say both my "tutors" were good though, it was just the first schools other teachers were down right mean. The tutor was even fired and false accusations by said teachers were cast on her!
http://www.heathersprairie.blogspot.com |
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sonshine4u
Chapter Guru
1205 Posts
April
New Prague
MN
USA
1205 Posts |
Posted - Jan 12 2012 : 08:09:34 AM
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Hi Dawn,
Have you heard of the GAPS Diet? It's a book about the correlation between your gut and your behavior. Here is the link so you can look into it: http://www.gutandpsychologysyndrome.com/gaps-diet/
We homeschool and it's been a great thing for our 3 kids. We don't have ADHD, but have had vision related issues that sometimes get misdiagnosed as ADHD. I understand how hard it is to keep them sitting still! I just want to encourage you in your search to help your son. Ask the Lord to help you in your quest and He will direct you.
Hugs,
April
Playing in the Sonshine
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ddmashayekhi
True Blue Farmgirl
4815 Posts
Dawn
Naperville
Illinois
USA
4815 Posts |
Posted - Jan 13 2012 : 2:42:04 PM
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Thank you for school information Heather. I will look into Calvert. Fortunately we can afford the best program we can find that will work for our son.
Thank you for the link about the GAPS diet April. I uploaded the pdf files from the link and will read over them tonight.
I really appreciate all the help and information everyone has given me. I stopped at our local library and got 4 books on home schooling too. There is a ton of information available, in a way too much, it is overwhelming to say the least. I am grateful for everyone's first hand experience here, it helps me cut out all the extra stuff.
Thanks & have a superb weekend!
Dawn in IL
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sherrye
True Blue Farmgirl
3775 Posts
sherry
bend in the high desert
oregon
USA
3775 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2012 : 07:05:33 AM
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may i suggest doris rapps book called Is this your child. she is very knowledgeable on add and dyslexia. some environmental stuff in the school could be bothering him. when kids are exposed to things such as mold or cleaning fluids it causes them to have attention issues. dr. rapp has spoken before congress and clinton about unhealthy schools i bring this up since he seems to do fine at home? just throwing ideas out there. hope it helps sherrye
the learn as we go silk purse farm
farm girl #1014
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ddmashayekhi
True Blue Farmgirl
4815 Posts
Dawn
Naperville
Illinois
USA
4815 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2012 : 2:31:11 PM
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Thanks for the book suggestion Sherry. I will check with my library for the book. I make my own cleaning products or use eco friendly ones only. I have wondered if the strong cleaners schools use could be a factor too.
Dawn in IL |
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Family Matters: Home School ADHD 8 Year Old Son? UPDATE |
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Home School ADHD 8 Year Old Son? UPDATE
