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    Joined: Apr 2013
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    Our situation: DS7 has been accelerated 3 years in math at school. We had quite a long and painful process to get this accommodation. We have no other accommodations in place at school. We partially homeschool in the afternoons. We have been doing the partial homeschooling since the beginning of the year. The math acceleration has been happening for about a month.

    This week, I was called to a meeting at school. There were 6 staff members present. The issue? They don't want us to continue with the partial acceleration - they are very afraid that word will get out and other families will want to do the same. Also, they recently evaluated his reading level. Turns out he is below grade level. So, this is evidence that the partial homeschooling is not working. Also, they want to discontinue the math acceleration. DS is forgetting to bring his homework assignments home. And no, they will not remind him to bring it home. He attends a 5th grade class, they will treat him like a 5th grader.

    Never mind that he was formally tested with a full battery of achievement and 2E tests. Never mind that our tester recommended that he skip 2 grades.

    So, I am really at the end of my patience with the school. I would like to just pull DS out now and homeschool him 100%. My biggest concern is that he LOVES his friends. He is an incredibly social child and I am really worried that he will miss his friends terribly. I know that he can see them afterschool and on weekends. But he will really, really miss riding the bus and eating lunch with them. How does one homeschool a highly social child?


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    You go to yahoo groups and join different homeschool lists in your area. Some will be good fits and others you will drop. The ones I like are ones that are just a list where you post different activities.

    Like I might post: I am buying a block of tickets to a theater performance at a group rate. Anyone who is interested this is the date and time and cost. Send me the money and your spot is reserved.

    Someone else might organize a park day. Someone else might organize a field trip to the nature center or history pioneer village or a meet up at the science center (we all had year passes). Another person might post all the things they find out about already going on around town that are free...like library time specifically for homeschoolers, a parks and rec PE program for homeschoolers, etc.

    In my (former) group, you went to as many or as few activities as you wanted to. Sometimes people just listed friend requests...I need a science crazy buddy for a 7 year old boy or I need a family of kids and mom who like to ride bikes on the various bike trails we have (that mom needed for one of them to hang with the slower/younger kids and one of them to ride with the bigger kids).

    To tell you the truth...between all the homeschool PE programs, cub scouts, religious education (CCD) class, gymnastics class, and then various fun activities I found on the yahoo list...he was socializing tons more than when he was actually in school.


    ...reading is pleasure, not just something teachers make you do in school.~B. Cleary
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    Focus on the education, and the social life will take care of itself.

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    Wow, that stinks. Sounds like they are not trying very hard to make it work. When we grade accelerated DD I was worried it wouldn't work and then could we move DD back? And the basic attitude was that once you do it, you HAVE to make it work out--you don't do these sorts of accelerations on a trial basis. Total 180 from your school (probably either extreme is no good). Plus it sounds like the problem is not really your child so much as them worrying about things being difficult on themselves. What do they mean his reading level is below grade level? And what does that have to do with acceleration for math?

    I have the same concerns about homeschooling. I think it can work if the child has plenty of other options to socialize and you can form a network with other homeschool kids. We don't have kids that live in our neighborhood so everything has to be arranged ahead of time and put on people's calendars. For us, it wouldn't be easy. Plus I know the kids really enjoy going to school even if the work is too easy. They like being with kids the same age. Tough decision.






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    Sweetie and 22B, thank you for the advice. I think that DS would have no issue making new friends and would even really enjoy the adventure of it all. But I just worry about missing the old routine, the old friends. I'm sure that it will all work out though.

    "I can see why you've lost patience for this school. Following their line of logic, every child that is operating below grade level taught by the school is evidence that THEIR teaching is not working. There should be reports on % of students operating below grade level online if you want to go that route."

    Thanks for that feedback. We've been advocating for a year now. I could write a book about all the craziness we've experienced with this school - as so many of you could too. The real issues are: they don't have a clue about gifted children let alone PG children (even after having multiple consultations with DYS people and our tester who specializes in G and 2E), there is active animosity towards gifted children and their families (we are the school who has the board of ed members who refer to gifted children as "little geniuses" and think they should just go elsewhere), there is no money in the budget to do anything meaningful for gifted children (they are just barely paying the rent at our school). So, I'm not surprised at the outcome. I am, however, very angry that they have strung us along meeting after meeting with empty promises and even have passively resisted making DS's acceleration work. (The kicker is that his math grades are almost 100% even with a few homeworks missing).


    Last edited by somewhereonearth; 12/07/13 12:14 PM.
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    somewhereonearth, I can't help you with advice on homeschooling, but I'm interested in this question - I totally understand (and have seen first hand among my homeschooling friends) that there are many opportunities to offer up social experiences for homeschooled students, but I often wonder how it would work out for kids who are extroverted and really thrive off of a daily schedule that involves being *with* other kids for lunch, listening to teachers, recess, etc. I am not explaining it very well, but these are things that are hugely important to two of my kids in their overall functioning, and I honestly don't see how you would replicate that in a homeschool environment. My kids actually miss being in school when they're off for more than a two-day weekend smile (and just for the record, we're a fun family and our kids participate in a ton of fun and challenging extra-curricular activities as well as have friends outside of school - they just really really like the social part of going to school).

    We've been lucky in that we've had options to choose from for actual b&m schools - I hope that you're able to find some solution for your ds. The idea that the school is trying to put up such a brick wall to his math acceleration *now* - after having already offered it - is just horrible!

    Best wishes,

    polarbear

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    My kids actually miss being in school when they're off for more than a two-day weekend

    I've just had an a-ha moment! DS USED TO BE like this. For PreK and K, DS would miss school terribly on the weekend. Last year he would groan when having to return to school. Same this year. What has made school acceptable this year, for him is: the partial acceleration in the morning and the ability to leave for the afternoon. But he also loves the bus ride (15 minutes) and eating with his friends. Although, for K and 1, he would be happy to eat lunch with anyone. Now the group that he wants to eat with has dwindled down to 2-3 kids. Though he is sociable and polite, he is much much more selective with regard to who he wants to be with. And in fact, if he knows that a friend will be absent, DS will also want to be absent.

    I am thinking that I am going to feel out the local homeschool community much more in the next few weeks. I am curious to see what is out there. If I could find just 1-2 interesting kids/families for DS, I think it may become a far more attractive option to DS.

    For those of you who have made the switch from B+M schools to full time homeschool, did you ask your children what they wanted?



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    The idea that the school is trying to put up such a brick wall to his math acceleration *now* - after having already offered it - is just horrible!

    Oh and it's not the first time the school has done this. Last year they accelerated him to a math class 3 grades up. He went once a week and did beautifully. They cancelled the acceleration this past September and offered "differentiation" in the classroom. After working with DYS and our tester, they put him back in the accelerated class. And they are putting up a wall again.

    Honestly, I blame myself for staying around this long. They have shown who they are and it's my fault for believing that they would behave any differently.

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    If it is just down to two friends it would be easy enough to keep up with them and make one or two homeschool friends. My son skipped up to the next grade but he keeps up with his bestie from the grade he left through scouts and play dates. We did not skip him up in scouts but kept him where he was.


    ...reading is pleasure, not just something teachers make you do in school.~B. Cleary
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    We also keep a carefuuly designed schedule. Here it is
    Code
    |--------------------|
    |Activity | Time     |
    |--------------------|
    |Whatever | Whenever |
    |Whatever | Whenever |
    |Whatever | Whenever |
    |Whatever | Whenever |
    |Whatever | Whenever |
    |Whatever | Whenever |
    |Whatever | Whenever |
    |Whatever | Whenever |
    |Whatever | Whenever |
    |--------------------|
    

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