Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy What would you do if you were me ?

So i just about had enough with the school . This morning they called again , home phone to my cellphone , wanting me to call them back . They can't even be consistent with what we've discussed on our conference about a month or so ago . DS still gets delayed consequences . ( for example , getting orange today at school , then he will lose recess the next day ) That was just one of the example ..

After getting calls so many times the past few months , i've had enough . I am at the point where i don't want to answer the call when i see their numbers .
DH has been talking about homeschool will be a better choice for DS . Less stress for everyone , and the most important thing DS will get what he needs educational wise . He will learn new things if we homeschool him , and he won't lose his self esteem .. he won't feel like why is he different and he doesn't have to deal with teacher who turned this whole year to be a horrible school experience .

Kindergarten and 1st grade was a good school experience , this year , not so much , how many times DS said how much he dislikes his teacher .

My question is .. there's only 2 more weeks of school left , is it wise for me to pull him out ? DH thinks that if i am at that point .. i can just pull him out . But he thinks that just ignore the calls and let him go through this 2 weeks and it'll be done with . I know ignoring calls from them is bad too .. but what would you do ?

Thank you .

It sounds like your DH has already committed to the idea of homeschooling next year. Have you?

The answer to that question should answer the original one... if you're committed to homeschooling next year, then there's no sense in prolonging the agony for the whole family, so yes, pull him out now. If you haven't committed to it, then no, you need to have him finish this school year so promoting to 3rd grade is an option for the next.

I agree and on the same boat with DH to homeschool DS next year . But there is tiny little spot in my heart that thinks maybe 3rd grade would be different . Maybe just 1% of me thinking it might be different next year if he goes to school . But then again the gifted teacher .. ( there are only 2 ) , is his homeroom teacher in this 2nd grade . So even if he's eligible to be in the gifted program next year .. what would be the difference if it's going to be the same teacher that makes everything so horrible this year ?

I do feel like i want him to experience the things i had back when i was in school . DH said we can always send him back to school after a year of homeschooling or whatever just see how things turn out .

It sounds like you have teachers who refuse to understand the child AND school-wide discipline policies that are inappropriate.

I think I wouldn't assume things were going to be different unless I had gotten an agreement from somebody (like the principal) that things were going to change in very specific ways, and that the agreement looked like enough. If he's going to be placed with the same teacher, that sounds like more of the same unless the teacher and everyone else has agreed it will be otherwise.

However, I also don't think you should homeschool because your DH thinks you should-- only if YOU think you should. I, for one, am totally unsuited to it, and I like my job; I would make a lousy HSing mom. Some people enjoy it and are terrific at it. You should think that piece through carefully, as well as how you would plan to meet your child's needs better than school does. (If, for example, he exhausts you on the weekends, will you be better at meeting the needs than the school, and how will you do it? Some kids, like mine, are really difficult that way. I don't know yours.)

DeeDee

i am thinking the same thing about phone calls .

I think he'd be considered truant if he didn't show up for 2 weeks . And sick for 2 weeks probably still need paper from doctor .

That's what i was saying too , just 2 more weeks .. and get it over with . Hang in there .. i keep telling myself this too .

The thing is that his school experience will be very different from yours. He's a different person and doesn't feel things the same way so what you may had enjoyed, he may not.

I wouldn't probably pull him out for the last two weeks but if it were my son, he would probably be sick for a few days and I'd just tell him he would be home schooled in the Fall so he would have something to look forward to the remaining couple of days at school.

Same teacher next year?

Yikes.

No-- homeschool. This kind of thing seldom improves with more exposure...



ETA: What others have noted above, too, though...

tell your DS that he won't have this teacher again in the fall, and that you are working on a better situation for him, that you know it's been hard...

and LET HIM HAVE a number of days that he can use between now and the end of school. Seriously, if it helps him, give him a way out on a limited basis. He can have six half-days, no questions asked by you, that he can use as "get out of jail free" cards, so to speak.

Would that help him?

I'm not disagreeing with what anyone has stated thus far, however, don't think for a minute that home schooling will solve your child from feeling "Different" Your child is likely to feel different for their entire life. The trick here is to celebrate that, encourage it, and explain why it's a wonderful thing rather than seeing it as the issue many do.

You child will still feel different if for no other reason other than they are home schooled and almost everyone if not every other child they know isn't. It also will be apparent in what will likely be a lack of social opportunities in comparison to children in school outside of the home. If you do home school please go out of your way to ensure many social opportunities are provided. I've know far too many home schooled children who grew up nearly completely unaware of how to interact with anyone outside of their own family and it was excruciatingly painful for them when they did attend HS or College adjusting to that fact.

I don't think truancy is an issue if you go to the office and unregister him from the school. It's the same process you'd have to go through if you moved to another area.

DeeDee ,

i can't say i am really good at teaching ..LOL .. i can be mean and very strict . But that is because that's what it takes to get DS listens .

But anyway , DH is 100% sure that i , and both of us can do it ,( mostly me of course ). He thinks i can do it well because i used to work with DS , during summer months , working on maths , reading , language and arts .. those kind of stuff . That's how he already knows the materials they're teaching at school . And saying it's nothing new anymore

I am not a teacher , and never went to teachnig school , i went for accounting during my college years . Teacher ? i tutored some kids .. but that's about it

Ever since February we've been trying to make things better for DS , the school maybe did what we discussed for the next 2-3 weeks then they're back to the way they were again .