Homeschooling

Looks like we will be going on a new adventure - Homeschooling :)

We will be starting with Donald as I am tired of battling the school and have no trust in MSK anymore (There was an issue before vacation that caused mistrust). Karl & Kyle will remain in school until I see that Common Core is too much for them or that CC is enabling them to be too rigid. I talked with Donald last night, at first he had a meltdown, so we talked about the pros & cons about Homeschooling. With time Donald really started to like the idea of homeschooling. Before bed he gave me a Kiss & a Hug, he hasn't done that is a LONG time.  This morning he was much calmer than usual :)

  I am a bit nervous about homeschooling but feel it is really the best option. Common Core goes against EVERYTHING I have work for for my boys.

- I have worked so hard to teach the boys to be flexible and CC is NOT flexible.

- I teach the boys that everyone is allowed to have different strengths, CC expects everyone to learn the same and do the same.

- I worked very hard so Karl would be mainstreamed with his peers, CC will put him out of the class when he cannot do CC work.

- While I think Kyle could do very well with CC techniques, I am nervous that CC rigid techniques will encourage Kyle to always be rigid and rigid does not work in Society.

Many have never understood my techniques of how I raise my boys, MANY think I am too hard on them. Yes, I am very strict, I push them though their quirks, OCD behavior, I expect proper manners & behavior at all times, all things that EVERY parent should want from their child. What many may not see, is that I am loving, fair, we have a lot of fun and that my techniques are working :)

When parents hear the word Autism for the first time, many mourn what their plans were for their child. I did not mourn, I asked, "what can I do?"  My one goal for my boys (and Karissa) is to live a Happy Independent Life and everything I do is to teach them to be independent and teach them the basics in life. One thing I have learned over the years, 'Old School' works better with children with Autism. Plain wooden toys encouraged the boys to be creative, share and interact. Electronic games only encouraged them to be alone. Picture exchange gave Karl incentive to speak whereas electronics would have done the work for him and he would not have had a reason to talk. I have not found technology to help Karl, most of it would only enable him to let machines do the work for him and keep him by himself and I refuse to let either happen.

Donald has weak fine motor skills, for years the schools refused OT for handwriting and insisted keyboarding was the way to go. Donald is turning 13 in July, he cannot print, does not know cursive enough to do all the time and cannot type with 3.5 years of keyboarding. With Schools having kids do keynotes instead of reports Donald has no idea how to do a manual report and has to rely on his IPad to get his schoolwork completed. I won't even go into how I have seen work quality standards drop dramatically over the past 12 years.

I have been a Mom for 25 years, I have had children in school for 19 years. I have watch education change over the years and most of it is NOT good. School should not be this hard, yes the kids need to learn tough subjects and tests are hard but there should not be homework battles, parents should not have to micromanage every assignment or check websites daily to help keep their child on track.

The only good thing I have seen change over the years - Teachers understanding that all children may have different learning styles & that many Special Needs Children have been Mainstreamed with their peers. Common Core WILL remove all the good that has been established :(

Vacations

    It seems Karl now has an understanding about vacations as he has heard friends talk about going on vacation. He wants to go to Florida and seems to think it will only cost $100 per person to go, oh, I wish that is all it would cost. Vacations are not something Karl would know about as we do not take vacations, maybe a weekend trip to RI or something but that was only once in 3 years. We use to go to G&G's timeshare in NH but haven't done that since moving to Maine in 2010. Our last real vacation was to Florida in 2003, long before Karl & Kyle were born.

  Life is all about choices and we made the decision long ago that I would be home with the boys. We decided that it would be best to live with just the basics so I could work one on one with Karl after the therapists were done their therapy each day. It was the best decision we made as Karl has exceeded everyone's expectations and Kyle is  the 'Rock Star' of Early Intervention. So our decision was the right choice and all their accomplishments prove that daily :)

  All the boys are now in school full days, I am now a Work At Home Mom and balance work & home daily. Since Karleen's Ideas is still in the building years we still live with the just the basics and that is OK with us. We do not have an HDTV as we do not need one, our one game system is a few years old but works fine so there is not need to upgrade and we do not go on vacations. What is important to us is that I can volunteer at the schools, go on field trips and be available for the boys. While our decision was based on what is best for the boys, it was OUR decision, not theirs.

  So now Karl is asking why we can't afford to go on vacation and my heart fills with sadness. So I explain that taking a trip to Florida would probably cost us about $4,000 not the $500 he thought it would. Then I explain that we live on one income as I work at home. I explain to him that I could go get a job and work outside the house but that would mean that I would not be home as much, would not be able to help at school or go on field trips. He thought about what I said for a bit then looked at me and said "Stay home Mom, no work for you."  Then proceeds to explain that it was more important for me to help at school and for me to be home when he got home from school.

   Living in a world where daily I see kids getting everything they want, doing whatever they want and upgrading all their electronics every six months to a year, I am happy to say -

My sons know what is truly important and appreciate the small things in life :)