generalparenting

I am sooooo anxious right now. I dropped my son off at the bus stop at 7:14 this morning. We waited until the bus was actually there before I left him. He looked so scared as he drove away on the bus with his face at the window waving good bye. I really hope he does ok today. I want to call the school so bad to check on him but I know I am being to over protective. Ugh. I hope he is ok. I hope he like this school and is making friends. I hope the kids on the bus were nice to him. The kid that was homeschooled until this year rides his bus. I hope they get together. He was so nervous last night he kept asking what time it was because he wanted to go to bed. He said he was sick to his stomache this morning. I hope he is feeling ok now. He will just be in his first class right now. He doesn’t change rooms when he changes classes so that should be good. At least he doesn’t have to worry about getting lost from class to class and if he does have to go to different class for anything he is going with his whole class. That should ease some of his worries. I can’t wait until 2:05 when it’s time to pick him up at the bus stop.

We went to the school to check it out and it definitely seems like a good fit for my son. They are better equiped to handle a child with a mental illness than a public school is. He will be in a class that is mixed with both fifth and sixth grade students. He will be starting as a sixth grade student. We met the teacher who seems extremely nice and willing to be helpful. She also seems to be willing to meet with me whenever I feel there is a need.

The class room consists of 9 sixth graders and 10 fifth graders. He will be sitting at a table with three other boys, one of which was homeschooled until this year. Excellent placement if you ask me. The term ends on December 1 so my son is not expected to do any real work in class until the next term begins but my son is anxious to jump right in. The class is having a parents show room that they are displaying things they have learned about ancient civilizations that they have previously learned about. My son is at least a year ahead of them in this aspect but the teacher invited him to share what he knows about a civilization of his choice.

He has chosen the area of Zimbabwe and the ruins there. He is extremely excited about this project. He has been studying this at home with much enthusiasm. The class that he is going to be joining is far behind where he is in history but he will not mind going over the stuff because he LOVES history. Ancient civilizations and Archeological sites are a facination of his. I think he will have a lot to offer his classmates with his knowledge.

He will be starting tomorrow. It seems awfully soon for me but of course I am going to miss him terribly and am partial to him staying home. He is excited to start as soon as possible. When it was suggested that it was even a possiblity that he could start that soon he was thrilled and practically begged to be able to. I’m glad this is making him so happy though I am sad that I will no longer have creative control over his schooling.

I hope the strict schedule doesn’t throw him because being homeschooled if he wants to take some extra time on something he finds interesting he has that luxury. Ahhh I hope this turns out ok. 

You all know I have been trying to get my child back into public school at his request for the last couple of weeks or so and I’m still trying to do that. The counselor at the middle school finally called me and told me that the school had an IEP meeting ( Individualized Education Plan) about my son and had to wonder if maybe my son would be better suited for a different school. They want to send him to a much smaller school where he can have more one on one attention. The school runs from grades K-8 and there are 185 students total. I love this idea but.. does that mean when it’s time for high school he will still need the smaller size school? If so that is doable it just means he has to go to the alternative high school that has something like 50 students total for the entire high school. I like that idea but it worries me that he will be with a lot of kids who have been in a lot of trouble and that high school is their last chance at graduation. I know I have taught him well and I know this is still a few years away but I have to worry any way.

Anxiety is something many adults across the country suffer from. They are Generalized Anxiety, Panic Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Social Anxiety or Seperation Anxiety. These are all very real and they are all different anxiety disorders. In this post I am going to be focusing on Social Anxiety Disorder.

Social Anxiety causes many problems for individuals suffering from it. It causes anxiety over simple things like initializing a conversation with another individual, speaking in public, dealing with situations that are unfamiliar to the individual, being extremely upset in new places without knowing all the exits, and many other symptoms. Children have all of these with often more situations that can cause the anxiety.

A child has to get up in the morning knowing they have to face a few hundred other students who are not all friends with this child. They have to get ready even as the anxiety builds in their chests often causing shortness of breath, diahrea, nausea, fainting or feeling faint, hyperventalation, dizziness, vomiting, shaking, nervousness, and many other symptoms. They know they are going to have to try to leave their mother and father for the day which in itself causes anxiety. They may be called on in class which could cause embarrassment at the anxiety it brings as well as the other symptoms. They will most definitely have to face other students, and different situations different from the day before.

Anxiousness over takes the child thinking of all of the things that could cause anxiousness. I know that sounds ridiculous but as one who suffers more than one anxiety disorder this is an all to real fear. The child trying to face every day situations can cause isolation, acting out agressively, emotional out bursts, and over all disruption of their education. School can become difficult to face every day.

There are a few tricks I have come across to help with social anxiety although I have to admit most of them are avoidance. You can talk to your child and try to run through scenario’s of situations your child may come in contact with such as reading out loud to the family, or even alone to start out. Talk to your child about their feelings and the things that are hard for them to deal with because not all of these things will necessarily cause anxiety. Last but definitely not least reassure your child. Let them know that it will be ok.

I took my son yesterday to register him for school at the public middle school. He did very well on his placement tests. The school was faxing his last school he attended and when they get his records he can get his schedule and start. He did his reading test and I am thrilled to say that he has tripled his ability since he began home schooling. I am going to have to keep on him about that after he starts public school because I don’t want him slipping behind again. I’m so proud of him.

He is so excited to start school as soon as possible but the school counselor said that it would be at least three days before they got all of his records and then they have to make him up a schedule before he can start. My son is also nervous I can tell looking at him when he talks about it. I completely understand. He has been home schooled the last three years. This is a major adjustment. I hope he does well and I hope he likes this school, even if I am going to miss being completely involved in his schooling, now I can only be as involved as the school allows me.  I’m sure it will be fine but it is going to be a big adjustment for all of us.

My son wants to go to Military School, yes Military School. We have discussed this and all of my concerns in both of my blogs. Well to solve some of my issues with this whole thing my son and I made a deal, if he goes to public school this year and tries it out then I will consider Military School next year if he still wants to go. This is good for me in two ways. First I can see how he does in a school setting, second I can have some time to save up the money it’s going to cost for Military School. Hey if he doesn’t go then we have some extra cash for whatever we may want to do.

My baby, My son, who is 12 years old who has been home schooled the last three years wants to go to military school!! What do I do? I let my daughters go to public school when they no longer wanted to be home schooled so should I let him go? It’s considered a charter school and is not an ROTC or is it affiliated with them or the military but still! I tried to tell him what it would be like there but he looked at me and said and I quote, ” Mom this is just something I have to do.” UGHHHH!! It would be nice for him to get more social interaction and it would teach him a lot but military school? Really? I guess if he really wants to do it I can look into it but geeze, military school? I know I am sounding a little redundant but dang!!

With me home schooling I am always looking for a good deal to add to my curriculum. As I said before I love second hand stores and flea markets but what I really love is the stuff that is free. My absolute new favorite site is www.HomeSchoolFreeStuff.com ! It is amazing. There are plenty of different kinds of projects for kids to do. My son and I have done so many experiments I can’t even count. The only thing you pay for is the shipping and handling. They of course sell some curriculum stuff like math etc. but that stuff is beyond reasonably priced also. Have you ever tried to find a decently priced math curriculum? It’s ridiculous!! They want $60 and up for curriculum that you can only use for one year for one subject. I don’t know about you but that is way to much for this homeschooling mom. Any way, just thought I’d let you know about this site. If I love it maybe some of you will too! Happy hunting.

My son and I are always looking for new and exciting things to add to our homeschooling curriculum. Yard sales and flea markets are this homeschooling mom’s best friend. I love Good Will and other second hand stores. The books there are unbelievable and they practically give them away. Libraries are excellent of course especially when they have sales, but even borrowing is good. Our best buy yet I think was at our local Dollar Store. They had a series of audio classic CD’s. They are incredible stories, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, The Hound of Baskervilles, The Wizard of Oz, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and several more. My son and I have found that this type of book is a wonderful addition to our chapter books.

He has free reading and there is a series of books that he is working on now, but when we are eating lunch and doing our daily chores we can pop in one of these CD’s and can enjoy a classic story. I don’t know if all Dollar Stores sell these but these are the kinds of deals I love. I spent twenty dollars and bought every single one. When we finish them I plan to buy the books that he really likes knowing that he will read them over and over again. What am I going to do with the CD’s? Well I’m donating those to other families who’s children will also soak up the classic stories. I have to have the hope that they too will love the books and will buy the original to read when they discover what excellent stories they are.

I know there is the complaint, listening to a book isn’t the same as reading it, but I know that my son would not have thought of reading these books before having listened to them. When he was younger he had seen the movies and didn’t want to read the books. He didn’t realize all of the things that were missing from the movies or changed. He discovered this through listening to the book and he wants to be able to explore them now, to take his time and let every little detail soak in as he absorbs each writen word. I have rediscovered my love for these stories as well and I myself am presently reading The Wizard of Oz, which was one of my Good Will finds. Before listening to the book I had forgotten how much I loved the story.

I don’t think that listening to a good book can be a bad thing. It brings the story to a whole new group of readers and will hopefully bring them to lift the original and explore the pages themselves. With a good book comes the desire to read again and again. There is nothing like reading the pages of a classic and what better way to get kids and even adults to realize this then to give them a taste with a book on CD?

Well it’s time to wake up and get ready for the day… 5:45 comes early on a Monday. Make my bed and wake up the kids, feed the baby bird with a syringe, feed the ferrets, make breakfast and send the girls off to school. Cleaning up for breakfast I spend a little time talking to my son catching up on anything he may have missed telling me about his weekend then it’s time to get to work. I turn on the computer and as I wait for it to load I get school books ready. History first, figure out what we are going to learn today… I say we because History was never a good subject for me so I’m learning right along with my son. I figure out all of the work for History and then move right along, Science, Math, Reading, Social Studies, Latin, Spanish, and Sign Language. My son starts his work and I get on the computer. I check my mail, make necessary responses, and pull up my work as a poet. My son reads to me his work as he does it asking questions when he needs help. I go over each subject with him as he completes it. It’s time for lunch and we practice home living as we call it. He helps, or makes himself depending on what we are having, with lunch then it’s time for chores. After all of the chores are done we work on Sign Language. He’s getting pretty good too. We spend about twenty minutes with that and he finishes up the rest of his school work. By 1:30 sometimes as late as 2:30 he finishes up his school work for the day, usually ending with his writing and research projects. It’s a busy day Monday mornings for me but it’s one of the best day’s of the week also. We get to learn new and exciting things and making school about learning not about homework and pressure makes it fun.