When I was pregnant with my son I wanted to either home school him or get him into a Montessori school. Montessori was out of the question once I found out the only one near me was $3,000 a year. I couldn't afford that, especially not after my sons dad walked out on us. Home schooling quickly got put on the back burner as well because I found myself as a single mom and had to work and wouldn't have enough time to dedicate my attention to my sons education.
He has been in public school since preschool, but now that he is about to finish 5th grade the idea of home schooling has popped back up. My son struggled in 1st grade since we moved 4 times through the school year, he struggled with 2nd grade until we had him tested and found out he had ADHD, he did great with 3rd and 4th grade since he was on medication that helped him focus and concentrate on school. Then we get to 5th grade.
He has been struggling all year. He went from 2 years in a row being on A/B honor roll to having Cs and Ds on each report card. He knows the information he is supposed to be learning but either won't get the homework done or won't get the work done at school because of his anxiety. On top of having ADHD he also has ODD and anxiety. This is not a fun combination for any child. I learned earlier in the year that ADHD, ODD, and anxiety combined can mimic asperger's (which I had him test for mid school year).
My son has a 504 plan that requires he be allot one break in the morning, one break in the afternoon, and a snack when needed. These three things have worked the past 2 school years to keep him calm and focused. This year..... this year that is barely working. He is more anxious, more distracted, and more easily upset by his classmates.
He is very "by the book" and if his classmates are acting out, causing problems, taking the teachers focus away from teaching, etc. then he gets very anxious and at times has anxiety attacks and needs to leave the room.
There was one week where he had gotten sick and missed almost a week of school. I called the school and asked for the work he had missed over the week so he could do them at home and get caught up. What I was not expecting was about 50 sheets of school work. No, not all of that was what he was missing during the week. 45 of those 50 sheets were "in class" assignments his teachers had failed to get him to complete at school. "His breaks and distractions are making it almost impossible to get him to focus and do his work" is pretty much the gist of what his teachers told me.
I tell every teacher at the start of the year "what ever he does not finish in class... send it home with his homework and I will make him complete it." Every year this never happens until the pile of incomplete work is too big to be done in one night with his homework.
I have gotten more emails and phone calls from his teachers this year than in the past 3 years combined. I have gotten more calls from the school nurse about my son being in her office in tears than I have in the past three years. Then my son informs me last night that his teachers told him that middle school will not tolerate his poor handwriting (still almost illegible) and they will not be as lenient on the breaks he needs outside his 504 plan like they are in 5th grade.
Knowing my son has anxiety they add on unnecessary anxiety about middle school. My son loves school, even though he struggles with it, and he loves seeing his friends every day. But, when my son is bringing up the idea of home schooling because of the stress and anxiety of this past year, plus what he is anxious about and fear for next year, then I know something is going on.
Now, I plan on spending the summer looking up the pros and cons of home schooling, plus talking to the people my son sees at Children's for his ADHD and anxiety, and figuring out what will be best for my child.
I don't have a lot of patience, but if I have to pull it out of my ass to home school my son, to emotionally and mentally help my son, then by god I will do it!
I am so tired of seeing my son broken and beaten down, on the verge of tears, every single time I pick him up from school.