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My son is the only child at home and he keeps asking us to become foster parents so he can be around kids. This just breaks my heart. I didn't know I would have to homeschool. I want him to have lots of friends.

I have had homeschool moms in our group ask me why I have only one and then they tell me they had lots of kids so their kids would have someone to play with.

Lori, you're so right. And I think a big part of the disconnect is the 2E issue, which they deal with by only addressing one of the E's. I learned that they are required to address both, but they don't know how to address the second while taking into account the first. His tutor works at a school for verbal/reading/writing LD kids and she told me that they are not teaching to his style of learning, and he will fly with HS. And she agrees that the best school in the area for him is what I think people on this board refer to as a "prep" school. Still, their teacher recommendation form asks if the child has an IEP, sensory issues, fine motor issues, attentional issues, etc., etc., etc. And his OT thinks he needs a couple more years before he is ready for their expectations. Not that there's any room anyway, but I did contact them last week.

Finally, your post makes me think we should just show up at the playground at recess. Not at his current school, but at another public elementary school closer to where we live. (We live across the street from another school district, where each grade only has about 50 kids as opposed to 400, and which does address GT in the early years. We actually petitioned the Board to see if we could pay for him to attend that school, but the answer was no.) Just showing up at the playground may be okay with them, however. Something else to look into. Thank you for mentioning it.

In 2-3 hours of official school time, you can cover MUCH more material with your HG+ child than he'd ever get in school, even if you're not pushing at all. It's only natural for these kids.

So what do you suppose you do with the rest of your day?

You play! You go to HSing events and hang out with other people. You take foreign language or gym classes. You go to the park, to the store, to the gym. You LIVE!

In the 5 months we've been HSing, DS has learned to ski quite well, has played football on a local team (with pads and everything--they even played an exhibition game at halftime of the local pro team's game!), has taken a museum class on caves, and has taken art and foreign language classes that were far more interesting and advanced than he'd have gotten in his elementary school...among other things. That's a lot of ground to cover!

Every one of those opportunities was far more interactive and people-oriented than regular school is. LOTS of social time! Oh, so much!!!

I think going to the HS group activities is a swell idea, Questions. You need to know what you're getting into before you get into it. If you can find a mentor to help you with any questions () or problems you have, so much the better. I had two mentors actually, and I'm not sure I'd have been brave enough to take the plunge without them.

Talk to the/an organizer of the HS group. They may even have a mentor program for newbies. It will give you peace-of-mind to talk about your concerns with someone local. And HSers typically are quite happy to talk about HSing. We've all been where you are!

How unthinking of those parents. I am sorry for what they say and what you feel, and believe me, I understand!

Quite frankly, Kriston, I'm ready to start tomorrow. I've been frustrated that school gets in the way of his learning. And that it distresses him so much. Maybe he won't go back after vacation. But we're first making sure we have no better option and that the school can't help us.

We cross-posted, Lori.

I'm sorry about your experiences with your local HS group. That's a real shame. I hope your efforts to get part-time access to the school works. I think that's a great solution, and it's one I wish we had access to as well.

I never understand people who want to limit the choices of others. It's not like the other HSers would be required to send their kids to "government school." Ugh. I really dislike that mentality.

Yes, I completely support you in that. There's a lot to consider, and if you don't have to act immediately, then there's no need to act rashly.

You're covering your bases. You're doing the right things.

Hang in there! If you need any help, just say the word!

Your post sounds very sad Lori. Do you feel down today?

I can't imagine a town without a library!
I have always been a big ( and I mean big like London or Toronto)city girl, so when we first moved here, it was a little strange. The first couple of months I felt like I was on vacation, but then the novelty wore off and the reality of "too small" settled in. And the town that I am in has a good 100,000! But I quess your previous experience really plays hard on your perceptions.
Well, a city of close to one million is about 45 min. drive away - I used to visit all the time! I would pack the car, kids in the back, bikes attached, and I would be off for a day. It has helped tremendously. Now I don't need those "visits" to keep my sanity, but we go at least once a week (Ghost takes a class at the state flagship there).
I can only smile though, when my kids make comments indicating that they consider SLC a huge one - babies, they don't know the world yet.
So , I guess my question to Lori would be this - is there any way you can visit somewhere that feels more like you on a regular basis?

Wow, posts are flying here today.

To Questions:
It is written somewehere here, on the pages of my old posts, but I will repeat. My son was miserable most mornings and most nights when he was in 1st. and 2nd. grade. No problems in pre school and K, but those were only half day and it has probably made a huge difference.
He did not want to go to school, sometimes he would be vocal about it, sometimes just anxious.He wanted me to teach him at home and was finding a lot of arguments for it - the most frequent one was that he can learn all that staff in one hour and than we could do some fun things together.
Today, a good 5-6 years later, he loves being at his school.
A lot of work in between, a lot of changes. Take it one year at a time.

Oh yes. Give me the work and leave me alone and I will do a great job. I hated work situation when the job wasn't clearly divided among people or I had to work too closely with somebody else. I always ended up doing much more work and at least half of the other people were getting on my nervous for not doing their thing fast or well enough. I am so over team work.


That's one of our main reasons. DS5 doesn't want to be in school full day and I don't see why he should. He will be more happy if he has enough time to pursue his own interests.