I have been homeschooling my 8yo DYS son for a year and a half and it is a complete disaster. He is defiant and I cannot get him to do anything. So I give up for a while and "unschool"... but this only allows him to give in to his obsessions for days on end, he just stays in his fantasy world all day.
Rather than freeing his mind and allowing to learn about what interests him... his interests just get narrower and narrower. By this I mean he spends all day setting little paper soldiers up on the table and moving them around. By the end of the day his eyes are all bleary, his face is red, he does not look healthy at all.
Money is tight and I cannot sign him up for many activities. Actually, none at all right now. The only place he wants to go is to the model store and we cannot go to the model store...we can hardly pay our mortgage. I have to scream to get him to get dressed and come out with me, he has no more interest in the great museums that are all around us here in NYC, where we used to while away our days. (I guess we have gone too often.) Anyway, at the homeschool coop classes, we faced the same behavior problems and lack of interest and focus we faced in school. The same sinking feeling when I went to pick him up. The same unwillingness to let him to with older kids where it MIGHT be a little better. I think taking him out of school was the worst thing I ever did to him.
It's also bad for my two year old-- there's so much screaming and crying in the house. The defiance is the worst. I get wild with fury because he just ignores me all day. When I spend time with a "normal" who listens to simple commands-- tie your shoes, come down to lunch, etc... it's always amazing to me.
Most days he does no work at all, and I am NOT comfortable with this. His interests, as I said, have winnowed down to these little paper soldiers. This is one difficult child, and I feel totally without support. I have to say DYS has been no real help at all.
I'm sorry, I just had to vent.
Last edited by bronxmom; 02/01/11 06:32 PM.
