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My son (6) saw some homeschooling books i had bought and became very excited. Every day, he begs to be homeschooled. My husband isn't completely on board with this idea. He says that one of the reasons he can't totally endorse it is because all of my books written by pro-homeschoolers and none are available from the opposite perspective. Does anyone know of a homeschooling book written by someone who doesn't support it?

My husband is highly gifted and has his own ideas about how we should educate our son (i.e., our son should learn how to complete the "boring" schoolwork and then enjoy the rest of his school day). I am not highly gifted, but I consider myself highly street/people smart and feel like I am better at understanding our son's unique challenges (i.e., he shouldn't have to settle for boredom). All that being said, my husband has agreed to support me in homeschooling if I make that choice. However, I'd really like it to be a joint decision, since that is our standard parenting model.

Regarding the original post, I have the same problem with my son, he refuses to give feedback on a chapter from Judy Moody by claiming he doesn't know why the title is called that, or whatever, but we can cover a fifth grade curriculum on how the Internet started and he can answer every question, and give great overall feedback. So....I can totally relate.

If your DH is willing to go along w/ your decision, and you opt for HSing, let the evidence speak for itself. You can always put him back in (usually, I know some who can't b/c they lose a spot etc) if it doesn't work out. Everyone that I know of (granted a handful) whose DH wasn't on board, the DH is now the most vocal about the pros of HSing. SOmetimes I think you have to take the vision of "Ok, let's try it your way and see how it goes."

Sent you a PM MovingUp6...

If my son gets to a point where I think he needs more structure, then we will change what we are doing. It won't be the first time. Right now, we are on call to provide respite care for my mother and structure isn't really even possible.

If my son doesn't start writing more on his own in a few years, I might have him try Bravewriter, but for now the only thing I really make him do is math and sometimes handwriting. I wish I could just get him to record his thoughts, especially the funny ones, in a daily journal.

One thing that he is doing on his own and even enjoying it is playing SAT Coach on his Nintendo DS. He wants to improve his math scores on this game. He also has an ACT prep book that he can look through to see what he needs to work on. He wants to be able to take college classes early and he is working toward this goal.

In regards to having DH on board. Maybe you could just ask DS to complain only to DH from now on? Have DH go to the conferences and listen to the teacher droll on about how the spaces between words are too small....travesty! Have DH volunteer in the classroom, etc.

Also, you don't have to use a standard curriculum. There are tons of resources available to put together a very individualized curriculum of your own. That's the best part of working with your children at home, IMO.

LoriH - what about having your son record his thoughts on a digital recorder? At some later day, he might be inclined to transcribe them.

Hugs on respite care for your mom. I can't even imagine the stress you're under.

I think my son and I will find our way eventually. Right now my Ker is having huge issues and I have a meeting w/ the school psych and teacher next week. I might be bringing him home as well which adds a whole new dynamic to the situation.

Movingup,

Now is the perfect time to give it a try, IMO. There's 8 weeks of school left, then you have summer break. Give it a shot and if it doesn't work, he can go back to school in August/Sept (depending on your state) That gives you about 5 months to get your feet wet. You won't be completely settle but it will give you enough time to get the overall feel and a good indication of whether you should continue.

Tell your husband you've chosen this time frame and would like to give it a try. Then discuss it at the end of the summer and make a joint decision. Be sure to include your DS' feedback in the discussion.

It is so encouraging to get support on this website. Remember the Judy Moody scenario I mentioned earlier? Well, I went to school today and my son had completed the assignment (per our orders) and the teacher wanted me to review it. It had a nice summary of the chapter then it said "the end! NO MORE! Now you know BOZO!" -- He told me he wasn't calling his teacher a bozo, he just wanted to let everyone know that he wasn't doing anymore of this dumb work! -- Hard to argue with that!

Oh, also thanks for the suggestion Shari. I am going to talk to my husband this weekend.

At the risk of merely making DS6 more frustrated at school next year, we will be supplementing and possibly having a tutor help us home school over part of the summer to see if it works better. Not sure we have much to lose in trying it. Also I agree about the taping your son speaking on video, digi cam or other means. Tried that with DS6 this week and he was willing to start "typing" it into computer last night. But then realised we really need to back track and learn simply spelling too, because he tries to write very advanced sentences, but can't spell all the words yet. It's like he is putting his own cart before his own horse.