Homeschooling

[Cassie76]

I am interested in hearing from people who homeschool their children particularly from Australia, (and input from parents overseas as well). I am interested in the benefits and the downsides of homeschooling children. Also I am interested in hearing from people who homeschool their children who have ADHD or ADD.

My daughter was diagnosed with ADD last year and has not been coping too well with school. I do see differences in her behaviour when she is at home. Her school starts back on the 4th of Feb and she isn't coping to well with that. (I understand that some kids generally don't cope, but with her ADD it is magnified).

Some suggestions and help and prayers for her would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Cassie

 

[CelticRose]

Aussie with ADD daughter aged 12. Learning style is visual/spatial; chaos is the name of the game. Areas of exellence = music & art. These are the first things I dealt with : learning style, areas of interest/excellence. I then geared her other work to those 2 things & eliminated 80% of our problems.

 

[Cassie76]

Thanks CelticRose, my daughters strengths are music, sport and art. I am going to see how she goes at school this year, she will be in grade 3 and I have heard that it is a big leap from grade 2 to 3. She has told me already that she won't be able to handle it and as the school year is just over a week away I am starting to feel a bit apprehensive of taking her there. I think I will just take it slowly with her and see how things pan out.

 

[CelticRose]

Which state are you in?

If things don't work out with the school you can always pull your dd then & homeschool from a comfortable starting point for both of you. Most Aust curriculum suppliers I've dealt with are very prompt about getting materials to you. Also I can link you to an Aus HS board if you want/need this. Lots of Oz specific information.

 

[Cassie76]

We are in Victoria, thanks for all your help

 

[CelticRose]

We are in Victoria, thanks for all your help

lol. I'm in QLD. Opposite ends of the country. Happy to help, so just ask if there's anything else you'd like to know.

 

[Tea]

Cassie I live in Qld, and this is the 4th year that I will be homeschooling. Started with 5 , now have four, two completing senior, and two year 9 and 7.
We brought the children home for a number of reasons, but the first one that raised it head was my youngest that has Type 1 diabetes. Certain issues where becoming harder and harder to handle, and when she had sick time, it was lost time. Also when her sugars are high, she has difficulty concentrating.
Her grades are much better now, and there is no pressure to keep up with a school year, if she is a little slow, then it does not matter. During our first year homeschooling, she had 6 months off due to illness. If she had been at school, she either would have been kept back a year, or it would have been lost learning. Now all she had to do was pick up from where she left off.

None of the kids regret leaving school to come home. They had all said that they are learning so much more then they would have at school.
Tracey

 

[Cassie76]

Thanks Tea, sounds like you really made the right decision for your kids, it's great to know that they are doing great with their homeschooling.

When you did you first find out that your youngest had diabetes?

 

[Tea]

SHe had just started preschool, when I realised that she was not coping, and was generally run down. Now I had a litany of excuses as to why we was sick, but eventually I realised that this was more than just childhood illnesses. She was 4 1/2 when dx'd. Didn't go back to school until the last term of preschool. Then she had the "teacher from hell" for grade 1. Couldn't believe that this women was a teacher. Year 2 and 3 were excellent teachers. Year 4 was shocking and year 5 wasn't shaping up to be any better. Lots of issues, and in the end I got sick of butting my head against a brick wall.
Tracey

 

[Cassie76]

Poor little girl and mum and dad, sounds like you have all had it really tough. That was a lot of work for you Tracey, homeschooling and having a sick child, but sounds like you are all better off. My prayers are with you all and especially for your daughter. How is she coping now?
God bless
Cassie

 

[Robinsegg]

May I recommend this website: http://www.lisawhelchel.com/homeschool.htm It has a lot of good homeschooling info, in an easy-to-read format. It is from the US, though.
Rachel

 

[Cassie76]

May I recommend this website: http://www.lisawhelchel.com/homeschool.htm It has a lot of good homeschooling info, in an easy-to-read format. It is from the US, though.
Rachel

I will check it out, thanks for the post