My educational Shadow

Yep, I have one of those. She is responsible for showing the Department of Human Services that I am homeschooling properly. I homeschooled for nearly ten years without any issues whatsoever, graduated one child with honors, and my second child successfully tested well above grade level when she tested for the school she attends now, but apparently, when you adopt from DHS, particularly a child with special needs, they see fit to harrass you and make demands in hopes that you will place your child in the corrupt public school system, rather than effectively meet their needs at home. I know not all social workers are like this, but I know the ones I am working with are. They made it clear from day one that they objected to my decision to teach my children, even before Luke came into my life. They placed a clause in our adoption agreement giving them the power to watch over his education to ensure I met his needs. This clause has become a royal pain in my behind because I know that Luke is not best taught with books. He needs a great deal more. Last year, we used nothing but books so we could turn our progress in, but there was little progress to show for all the work we did. This year, we will use some books, but we are adding in so much more. This blog will provide me with a way to keep track of what we are doing and it will hold me accountable and allow my shadow (a teacher who is aiding me in providing accreditation) to see first hand what we are working on.

The journey so far

Homeschooling has definitely been a journey with a great deal of ups and downs. I started homeschooling back in 2002. At the time, I was mom to two daughters who were in kindergarten and 4th grade. Back then, we were totally school at home homeschoolers. We sat down with text books and basically pretended we were a school. A whole lot has changed since then. Our daughter Jess was diagnosed with ADHD and we realized that school at home just didn't work for her and became a little more relaxed. We also added to our family through adoption. It wasn't exactly the plan for us to bring home a child with significant special needs and a toddler at that, but thats exactly what we did. In 2006, we brought home a 3 year old with intense issues stemming from abuse, neglect, and a multitude of learning disabilities. Since, we have received the dreaded autism diagnosis, along with a few others RAD, ADHD, PTSD, SPD, etc. In 2008, our son Luke was officially adopted and in 2009, our daughter Kara graduated high school as a homeschooler. Since she has went to cosmetology school and is now a liscensed cosmetologist at just 18. Our daughter Jess is a ninth grader this year and for the first time ever is attending school at OBA. Our son Luke homeschooled last year and will be my only child at home this year. I think that might be good for him as he needs a great deal of one on one. So that is the journey up to this point. Join me as we embark on another adventure: homeschooling a child with autism. This one scares me a bit. I worry that I don't have the skills to teach a child with special needs. I worry that maybe Luke cannot learn. I worry that he will lose important social skills by homeschooling. However, I do know that school didn't work. We tried that and it was a miserable experience for both of us. I know in my heart that even if Luke never reaches the goals I have set for him that he will be happier, more emotionally adjusted, and more capable individual because we homeschooled.