mapsedge | (no subject)

And just like that, we're homeschoolers again.

Katie has expressed great anxiety over school. The noise and chaos overwhelm her, she's constantly frightened; no, there aren't any particular threats to her person, but the whole atmosphere is an assault on her senses. Her autistic brain just can't filter out the unwanted stimulous, and as a result she's doing poorly in school. She's smart, she has a firm grasp on most of what she's been/being taught, but she can't articulate in any way that can be graded within the curriculum.

Jami has similar problems, though it comes down more to the fact that he is smarter than pretty much everyone in his peer group and the other kids are singling him out for "special treatment." He's not being challenged.

Add to that the Missouri school system is becoming a numbers game, where our children are being treated like dollar signs. Attendance is of the utmost importance because it's tied to state and federal funding and we frequently get letters and/or phone calls on the general subject of, "Where's your kid??" You know, when my children are sick, they're sick; when they have medical appointments, they have appointments; when there's a feis, we travel. Fuck off.

The last quarter of the school year, education grinds to a halt as the teachers start teaching the MAPP test, and our kids don't test well in any case.

So we're bringing the children home.

I'll take Katie to her school tomorrow so she can say goodbye to her teachers and get her stuff. Jami, who has been sick, will go as soon as he's well. Both kids seem...relieved.

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I'm sorry that public school was an experiment that didn't work out. My own worries about homeschooling come from a lack of social interaction, and the parents simply not being capable of teaching the coursework, neither of which are problems you and Michelle have.

Homeschooling has changed a lot since we were kids. Socialization is the most common concern expressed, but it's absolutely not a concern now. There are opportunities all over. As to coursework, nobody's really doing it alone anymore. You need a science class? There's one on Thursday's at Bob's house. You want to do scuba for PE? Tuesday afternoons at The Swim Store. Horseback riding? Grain Valley. Math? There's always a high-school student looking for extra cash.

Our biggest hurdle was always finding secular curricula, but even that's not really a concern anymore. It's interesting that when you announce your intention to homeschool, resources start appearing like magic and in astonishing quantities.

That is fantastic news. I always said if I ever had kids, they'd be homeschooled, because the whole "teach to the test" atmosphere in the public schools annoys me. (Not that I ever intend to have kids, but just in case...). There are entirely too many kids being crammed into too few classes these days, and very few get the kind of attention they need to learn at their own pace. I'm really glad you two can do that for your kids.

I had noticed that the amount of commentary on school activities had dropped substantially in recent months, and knew that both kids had been sick...and that made me wonder if either or both of them were running hard up against the state minimum attendance requirements (the consequences of which would be disastrous for both of your children).

As for your MAPP test comment - yeah...
Sadly, it's becoming a year-round deal down here, because the state test results are a major part of our school district A-F rating system (don't get me started on that one), and the high school versions are part of the state graduation requirements (concept is better, but the tests still suck).

I'm sorry that parts of your local public school system chose to take an adversarial attitude about your situation, and wish you and your family the best with your renewed home-schooling efforts.