Homeschooling a delayed child???

[broncosmama]

My 5 year old is currently in a public school pre-K program designed for children with delays.  He has both fine motor(4yo level) and speech delays(3yo level), and a few "quirks" that suggest an overall delay, but no diagnosis of anything specific.  I also have a very high energy 2 year old.  Last year he did really well in his class, but this year I'm not so sure.  He's met all of his in-class IEP goals, but honestly he met them before he went on summer vacation last year.  If we continue with public school, we're going to sit down and change his IEP.  Most people have told me that since he met his goals, to continue with p.s. and his IEP.

In the meantime, I've ordered homeshooling for dummies, some Kumon workbooks, Handwriting without Tears, and started looking into Texas law.

I want to homeschool because - 

• I feel like this is the best public school has to offer (low student/teacher ratio, program designed just for him), and he's still not able to consider mainstreaming into the regular age appropriate class
• I DO NOT want him in special ed once he gets into the upper grades.  I don't want him to have that stigma and label.  He is very smart, and was able to score on a 6-7yo level on certain areas of his quarterly assessment
• The program has lost a good amount of funding.  Last year (when he did really well), it was 7 students/1 teacher/2 fulltime aides/1 parttime aide.  This year, it's currently 10 students/1 teacher/1fulltime aide/1parttime aide, and they can add students at any point in the year.
• I spend a lot of time with him at home working on these things already, and sometimes between me and school, he doesn't get much of a break to just play.  If I'm working on it so much, why not homeschool?  KWIM?
• There were some allegations (that I heard 3rd hand, so I don't how true any of it is), that the aide hit one of the students.  I personally don't believe it, as we've had the same aide and teacher all of last year and part of this year. 

I'm afraid of homeschooling because

• I'm afraid he'll continue to fall behind and not be able to catch up.
• I'm fairly antisocial by nature, and I'm afraid we'll turn into hermits.
• I'm worried about being able to juggle it all.

That all being said, have you hs a delayed child?  How is it working out?  Any suggestions in getting started or getting over my fears?

[Stephenie]

My son has multiple developmental issues - motor skills, gross and fine, an autism spectrum disorder and the social skills delays that go with that, sensory processing disorder, a mood disorder and adhd. We homeschool him TX (which is a great state to homeschool in by the way. No real regulation) 

We have had really good luck with it so far. He would be the same grade as your son, so we are not too far into it, but it has allowed him to keep academics separate from his social and motor delays, and also allows him the quiet environment his adhd and spd require for concentration. He is actually really far ahead with his school work in all areas other than handwriting. We are able to schedule all his therapies whenever we need to rather than trying to fight for the after school time slots. We are able to get him in home aba so that there is someone to help guide us through his issues as they come up and who really understands who he is, not just the shut down or melting down version of himself he is in large areas. I think for us it is the best possible solution. 

[broncosmama]

I'm glad to hear he's doing so well.  Can I ask what curriculum you're using?  What's in home aba?

[broncosmama]

I'm glad to hear he's doing so well.  Can I ask what curriculum you're using?  What's in home aba?

[SundayCrepes]

Here is a study on ADHD kids who were homeschooled. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201009/experiences-adhd-labeled-kids-who-switch-conventional-schooling-homeschool

It doesn't sound like your son doesn't have ADHD, but you may find the info reassuring.

In our homeschool group we have three kids with autism. All mothers are happy with how their kids are doing. Another has a daughter that is dyslexic. The mother has assisted her so she is reading above grade level.

Ken Robinson http://sirkenrobinson.com/skr/ states, "The question is not 'How intelligent are you,' the question is, 'How are you intelligent.'"

My 3 year old daughter has a speech delay. I worry she will have dyslexia. I can't imagine putting her in school. For the stigma reasons you have addressed and because I just don't trust the schools. A friend is a high school special ed teacher. One of her students needed specialized reading assistance. She was not allowed to tell that to the parents because if she did the school would have to pay. So here's a kid that will be illiterate because no one told his parents he needs a special kind of help. I'm sure the parents believe the school is doing everything they can. Not hardly.

Am I afraid my daughter will have problems and I won't be able to do the right thing? Of course I'm worried. That's because I'm conscientious. I will do posts as you have, I'll read, I'll talk to other parents, I'll hire specialists if I have to. I will be proactive. And I am sure I will do better than an overworked teacher.

[Stephenie]

Originally Posted by broncosmama 

I'm glad to hear he's doing so well.  Can I ask what curriculum you're using?  What's in home aba?

We're using Moving Beyond the Page, Handwriting without Tears, misc math workbooks and cuisnaire rods and just random projects he takes intrest in and we adjust everything as needed. 

Aba is applied behavior analysis, it's a therapy method used often with kids on the autism spectrum, but I've known kids with ADHD and ODD that get it as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_behavior_analysis

[ameliabedelia]

Check with your school and state laws, but I think in many states  homeschooled students can received special services through the school dept. My homeschooled daughter received speech therapy and OT from prek through 1st grade (at which point she graduated out and was no longer eligible.).  I took her to the local school for the therapies and the teachers worked with me to find a time that fit into their and our schedule.

The only thing is that I do think it is very important to provide plenty of opportunity for social interaction, especially with a speech delayed child as I think hearing speech from a variety of people  is helpful for language development. You can still do that if homeschooled of course.

[AllyRae]

My two older children are homeschooled...both have autism, auditory processing issues, various forms of dyslexia, and sensory issues.  I won't like...it is a CHALLENGE.  A huge busy frustrating challenge.  But short of placing them in a specialized autism school, there are no better options.  They are doing much better at home than they'd do anywhere else (DS fell over a year behind at his former school...and given that he was entering the 2nd grade, over a year behind is a big deal.)  They're also able to get a lot more help and therapies than they'd get in the public school...whereas my son would get 90 minutes of OT a month and nothing else at school,  he's getting 90 minutes of OT a WEEK, in addition to group and individual behavior and social skills therapy. We're also able to catch issues as they come up, rather than letting them fester for a year at school.