DS told me that he doesn't want to HS

Does he realize that homeschooling and seeing his friends are not mutually exclusive? Could he play soccer while being homeschooled? Around here I know there isn't even a team associated with school until 7th grade and then I believe you can still join a league team instead of the school team. It's very hard for kids who are the *thick* of school culture to see beyond it. He may be imagining a very isolated existence if he was homeschooled. You need to find ways to address his concerns if you want to convince him. I think this is an older child version of wanting to ride the bus and carry a lunch box, they just want to be *normal* and they think school is the only way to do that.

My DD was 10 the first year we homeschooled and she was convinced she was going to have to stay home ALL the time and never have friends. Having gone to school for 5years she couldn't understand how things would be without it. At first we didn't do a lot and she actually asked to go back to school. Instead of signing her up I asked why and she said she was lonely. So we joined a homeschool group and signed her up for youth league cheer and she felt a lot better about things. DD is NOT a confident, outgoing child but she has done very well in the gentler culture of homeschooling.

I know you said it's too late for next year, but maybe you could look into some options and think about the year after? Don't give up!

Quote:
I really never thought I had anything to worry about. DS has some special needs (read~~perfect HSer) and he is pathologically shy around other children his age . He has just had so much fun socially this year that he doesn't want to accept the fact that he would not only keep old friends but make new ones also. He said that he couldn't play with his friends bc they would have to do their homework (sad) Oh, and next year they don't get reccess (only PE) and get homework on the weekends so there goes weekend sleepovers I'm just sick about it. I will NOT make him do the amount of homework they require. If i have to send him to school i want an IEP. He needs more time and less homework. he gets extremely frustrated when faced with 40 math problems (wouldn't you? I would)

Oh, I found out that if we pull him out of school then his grandparents won't get a refund : I wonder if my mom didn't arrange this on purpose bc she thought school would be best for him : Anyhow, DS told his dad that he didn't want to HS, but wouldn't tell me bc he knew how much i wanted to I hate it that the little guy felt that way about approaching me, he didn't want to dissapoint me...makes me want to cry (I can't get to the other smilies or I would be bawling)

Well as a parent of a Learning Disabled son who I forced to homeschool at the age of 11. I can say maybe the choice of school is not the best one for him? But I learned things were not easy for us when my son was so Adamant about going to school. We both ended up fighting and in tears every single day for the entire year. He hated it, Loathed it. Do you see your son settling down and doing the work and adjusting? On our end it wasn't because he would not be with his friends because we were brand new to the area and had no friends yet. I took him every day to homeschool acitivities and he refused to join in. He went back to school this year and is getting all B's and is a whole different kid. He is happy again!
We did have to move so he could go to a school i felt comfortable with him going to though.
Maybe you need to look at different schools because I personally wouldn't want to be in that one either.
Terrie

I was worried that my 7yo daughter would want to stay in school. We are pulling her out after this school year. (By the way, next school year starts in July! They're starting year-round!)

She expressed reluctance at first. She's very social (a Pisces). We sort of started doing things on the weekend that we would do if we were homeschooling, to show her what a day would be like. We talk to her about what sorts of things she is interested in learning about and doing. When it's hard to wake her up for school, I point out that she only has to worry about this for two more months. I let her stay home from school on her birthday and we took her to a movie and out to lunch and pointed out that we can do this for her birthday every year when we homeschool. She's sort of seeing homeschool as something special, and something that she is lucky to be able to do. This past spring break has been wonderful. She's been so free and creative. She loves art, and she got to spend four hours making little animal sculptures out of mud. (It's been raining!) She's at the point where she's really looking forward to homeschool.

All that being said, if she ultimately said that she wanted to be in school, I would probably let her stay, but I would let her know that if it ever gets too stressful, she has an open invitation to homeschool. (In first grade, she has 1-2 hours of homework per night!) If your son feels forced, it may not be successful anyway. It will be a great opportunity for him to have that out when and if he needs it. Also, maybe over the summer you can start with the plan that you have and see if he likes it.

Good luck!

Quote:
I'd leave him alone academically- he's going to have his hands full. He'll have plenty of demands made on his time and mind - it won't be helpful at all to add more. But *reading* wonderful things to him without asking him to do anything about it (even artwork!) is always wonderful. If you read lots of wonderful things to him - things he also loves (!), which might or might not be Waldorf suggestions, will carry him a long way in life.

A book with lots of wonderful suggestions is Books That Build Character : A Guide to Teaching Your Child Moral Values Through Stories. But never mind the title, because it's not a lot of "message" books - it's about 300 beautifully written classics that children and their parents love.

And hang in there - he might not want to stay in school for all that long. Lillian

Quote:

That's totally what I'm worried about...My son was Dx with bipolar at this young age. He is already a handfull with talk of suicide, hurting himself (hitting, smashing his favorite things, etc) I worry that I won't be able to handle it and now that i've embraced the idea ...this...

I need to read the other replies (I've been out of town)