Thank you for the quick replies!
Trinity -- Ideally (and is this even possible?), I'd like to homeschool him part-time. If he could go to school for a few hours, then come home for some instruction, we'd have the best of both worlds. If we were to do just homeschooling, I'm afraid he'd go back to his old OCD and anti-social behaviors, which he exhibited when he didn't have enough daily interaction with kids...Something about being with other kids makes those problems dissolve and puts a confident bounce in his step.
Once we get over the financial shock of 1) my pregnancy bedrest & not working, 2) staying home from work with a sick baby for almost 2 years, and 3) paying for all the medical care and therapy, I hope to stay at home at least part time and then I can explore the homeschool option more. Perhaps I could take in a few toddlers during the daytime to help pay bills. Right now, we're just trying to get something back into savings. We are taking extreme measures right now, and have even moved in with my parents to reduce our bills. (So you can see why we are so motivated to get out of this financial situation, LOL!)
As for the religious private schools, I have a bitter taste. I went to Catholic schools during my childhood, and they were not good. Locally, the schools who could make any difference to DS are way out of our range. For now, my best hope is to make things work in public school without burning too many bridges.
Re: books. I shed quite a few tears and had several "AHA" moments over Jim Delisle's Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips for Raising Happy and Successful Children. I loved his chapter on OE's! I can't leave out Genius Denied and also Re-Forming Gifted Education, because those are my favorite resources.
Diana -- I know what you mean about the shock. My mother was a first grade teacher for 19 years, and started teaching fifth this year. She knows what DS will be exposed to next year in first grade (if that's where he goes), and she just can't see him there. Even a skip to second grade would only be a temporary solution. And he already has attention problems due to sensory issues.
I remember when he was about 15 months and we were at a noisy restaurant. He kept saying, "What's that...Louder? What's that...Louder?" We finally figured out he was hearing the ice machine in the kitchen on the opposite side of the restaurant (he called any noise "louder"). The restaurant was so loud that we could hardly hear each other talking across the table, but he was completely focused on this faint ice machine sound from the kitchen.
That sensitivity is what he deals with in the classroom, and I know it will continue to cause problems. He needs someone to just redirect him to the task at hand, but he won't get that in a classroom setting. So for now, it's a good thing for him to "learn" things at school that he has already learned at home...I think?
Thanks again!
Christi
