I was reading a different website and found you all from your advertisement of the old kaleidoscopes board! I was dismayed to see it was gone but happy to find you all here. I homeschooled my two oldest for four months and we moved to a new state and put them back in public school (on base schools at Edwards AFB in California) and they did much better.
Now we are in another state and the schools are really really bad again. My youngest has had a very hard time. He's in first grade but cannot do what his teacher expects, and despite our attempts at getting the school to be accountable for helping him and getting him into his occupational therapy, they've not followed through. His teacher couldn't be bothered to even see he brings home the proper materials (homework, reading book).
I was pursuing a physics degree, working part-time, which didn't leave any time left to deal with helping Ben to the degree he needs. So, I dropped school and work with the intention of tutoring him but after only two days back from Christmas vacation I was shocked into homeschooling him. He's always wanted to be home. He never wanted to go to school. Before Christmas he had begun to cry when I tried to drop him off. He was a very sad little boy. I thought I should do the 'right' thing and tell him this is a part of life. Then I picked him up and saw his face before he knew I was there. It was the face of pure abject misery. My sunny, senstive and very loving 6 year old looked so sad and that's when it snapped. I couldn't do this too him anymore.
So, here we are. Today is his last day of public school. He's so excited to be homeschooling. He cried with happiness when he found out our decision. We are going to use Calvert and start at the beginning of first grade. Right now I'm using 100 easy lessons and he's doing beautifully. I'm also going to get Handwriting without tears. He's left-handed and has a genetic condition that causes muscle weakness and fatigue.
He has three older brothers all in public school that may be joining in homeschooling this fall, certainly the oldest who will have to move to a middle school if I kept him in public school. I do not feel comfortable with that move. He's very much a follower and as most of you know, there is a lot of 'bad' to follow in public school and though we've been able to combat this issue with him and he remains a very good child, I don't want to risk him falling in with children using drugs and alcohol.
I'm thrilled to find you all and am all ready working my way through old posts to dredge up helpful information. I do have one question? Is there any one book that you felt was invaluable to you in your homeschooling journey? I want to find good solid books to read and do not have the time or money to sift through the overabundance of published efforts. Give me the gold nuggets out there so I can spend my time on the good stuff.