Just want to say thanks to all the folks on this website that have kindly offered me homeschooling advice. After a horrible meeting with the school last week, we have finally decided to file a homeschooling notice with the county (giving them their required 15 day notice).

Warning! The following is pure venting:

We wanted our DS6 to stay in school and tried to work with the school to make the principal, teachers, etc. happy. However, it became very clear to us that keeping them happy meant sacrificing our son's happiness.

We went to our meeting with the following ideas: teach the hardest idea first and then go backwards if necessary, present material quickly and then allow longer periods to concentrate on work, and recognize that he can concentrate on many things at once so while it may appear that he is distracted...he is actually engaged.

The principal's response was to say she was taking away his recess until he buckles down and completes his work in the allotted time. This would continue for 8 weeks, or the end of the school year. No special work would be given until he proved he could do the easy work. And, he needed to learn to play the school game to be successful in life.

When we asserted that this would crush any hope that he has left about being happy at school, we were told that wasn't their problem. They were there to teach academics, not worry about the social implications.

We let him go to the school the next day (my volunteer day), and when I saw him, he had just received the news about his new no recess rule. As we suspected, he was devastated. I asked him if he thought that would make him want to do the work, he said no. He was so sad and helpless.

This is a kid who studies immunology for fun and can sketch out the process of mitosis while explaining how DNA is transferred/replicated. And, intuitively started exploring the laws of motion yesterday after considering how a wheel rotates. Needless to say, we (mostly I) couldn't take it anymore and pulled the plug on school.

We are going to see how the next couple of months go and then decide if he goes back next year. Since we have two other children in the school, we will remain connected and that should make any necessary transitions easier for us.

Sorry for the long venting...perhaps there's someone else out there who will benefit.