Hello everyone!

[Lorri-d]

Hi everyone,

We have just started home educating our son who is 7. We are brand new to HE as this will be his first week at home! He has mild austism/aspergers and was desperately unhappy at school. All sorts of measures were put in place to 'help' him fit in to no avail. He wasn't sleeping, would cry most mornings and we were under a huge amount of pressure from the school as he was always late - because it would take so long to talk him into going. He would conform all day long so the teachers were happy but would come home and have meltdowns as he was so tired and stressed. He also counted down the days at half term and holidays and cheered when it was the weekend - bless him.

Anyway we had enough of all that so after much discussion we have finally thrown in the towel and here we are! Our son couldn't be happier and I can't tell you how relieved we are not to have the stress of school from tomorrow.

We are not sure exactly how we are going to go about home educating just yet. But I personally would like to be as relaxed as we can be and go at his pace. He was behind most of the other children at school but I'm hoping he will flourish at home as he will be happier and not be comparing himself to the other children.

Can I ask how most people approach Maths and English? Do you find it better to structure some things and not others? Hubby and I have been having a debate over learning times tables today!

Also is anyone from West Sussex? We live in Chichester.

Lorraine

[LovingHomeEd]

Hello Lorraine, and welcome

My son is autistic and I have been educating him at home for five years now. He was very much like your son, 'coping' at school and then falling apart at home, it was awful. He is so healthy, happy and confident now, it's really lovely. I'd suggest trying different ways of learning in small bits to see what suits him best. My son is a very 'hands-off' learner - he learns in his own way, in his own time and there's nothing you can do to make him do it differently! Some children like having a timetable and 'set' lessons, it just depends, so try lots of things and see what you like.

Have you read 'Paths are Made By Walking', edited by Terri Dowty? It's about various families home educating austitic children and the different ways they do it; I found it very interesting. There's also a good on-line group - HE-UK Special - who would be worth joining if you haven't already.

We are very unstructured. We spend a lot of time outside and do lots of practical projects. For English we have just always read a lot and he's picked it up himself. For maths we focus on real situations - money, primarily, because his only interest now is Lego and how long he has to save his pocket money for until he can buy the next set! It varies so much, but virtually everything has an educational value anyway so you'll be doing a lot without even realising it. In terms of health, I'm sure just being calmer and happier will make a big different and do more good than anything else. Have lots of fun and enjoy!!

[Lorri-d]

Hi lovinghomeed,

Thanks for replying. Yes, it is awful isn't it. It used to break my heart when he would cry and beg to stay at home Thank God we don't have to do that anymore!

A friend of mine is a teacher and was going to do some tutoring for maths and english (am so worried that I will teach him the wrong way or something) apart from that we are just planning lots of reading and projects at home with a few trips out here and there. I think it will just be a case of finding the right balance. The last thing I want to do is end up replicating school.

My son is obsessed with lego too! Star wars lego is his fave How old is your son now? No, I haven't read that book but will have a look for it on amazon. Thanks for the recommendation.

Lorraine

[LovingHomeEd]

Hi Lorraine, My son is ten now, I took him out of school at the end of reception year. You'll probably find your confidence about doing it 'right' grows as you go along. I have wobbles from time to time that I'm not doing enough - I think a lot of people do. My son takes in information very slowly as well so it can seem like nothing happens for months and then suddenly he can do ten new things all at once and there are big sighs of relief all round! Mostly it's fun (although I am not allowed to play with the Lego anymore because I am too slow at putting it together ). I remember the first day we didn't go to school and the relief was just huge. It was really lovely

[Lorri-d]

It was our first official day at home today. Really enjoyed not having to get frazzled over lunches and uniform etc We did some reading and maths, looked at his animal encyclopedia and had a picnic in the park - lovely