My husband and I have been having concerns with our son and school and we are considering homeschooling our son and his younger sister. We live in Wisconsin and I know that there are laws and guidelines that need to be followed.
Does anyone homeschool their ADHD child? How is it working? Better than when they were in traditional school? How is their socialization and how do you handle that?
Thanks so much.
We're HSing our son and it's going wonderfully. There was a transition period that was hard, but we've settled in and are so glad we made the choice.
DS is MUCH happier, is learning at lightening speed and our family is all around more peaceful. The secret with ADHD kids, I think, is to NOT mimic traditional school at home. Cover the neccessary material (math, reading etc) but focus their learning around their interests and in their own learning style. Once we figured that out things got SO MUCH BETTER!
As for laws, just google homeschooling + your state and you'll find all the information you need. Also, there are a TON of homeschooling sites and message boards out there where you'll learn and get inspired.
Homeschooling isn't for everyone, but it can be a WONDERFUL alternative for our special kids. :)
Lacking social in this area is so far untrue. These kids get to more cause most are involved in lots more activities cause their school work takes less time than a regular school day does. Many kids we know like this lack non of this at all. You can join a homeschool group which most do 1 field trip a month and classes the kids can take. RN[QUOTE=Halls]I won't need to home schoolmy youngest but I think homeschooling for ADD or ADHD children is a fabulous idea![/QUOTE]
Same here. My daughter is 4 and already talking about kindergarten. I have every intention of sending her as I think she'll do wonderfully in school.
But, I can't say enough how grateful I am to have the legal option to homeschool DS. The self esteem factor alone was enough to make DH and I take the leap into HSing. The constant reprimanding (sit still, focus on your work, stop fidgiting etc) at school was really taking a toll on his self esteem. He does his "busywork" in 1/4 of the time it took him at school and he's free to explore things on his own. Rather than being told to sit in his seat and get back to work, he's being told to go outside and see how much rain is in the rain guage! :) This makes for a VERY happy boy whose self esteem has not only returned, but has GROWN 10 fold. :) His actual learning has jumped by leaps and bounds and all the issues we faced during "homework time" have vanished as he's no longer tired and stressed out from his day when we attempt schoolwork. I'm not going to lie. Homeschooling is a lot of work for the parents, but I think were homeschooling to suddenly become illegal, we'd be "underground homeschoolers". haha!
My son has a hard time in social settings so badly that I'm considering homeschooling him next year if it doesn't improve. He is smart but I think the socialness restricts his learning and he would do better just me and him learning. I won't need to home schoolmy youngest but I think homeschooling for ADD or ADHD children is a fabulous idea!