Homeschool World Forum

[Laurachambers]

I am the aunt and legal guardian of an 11 y/o who is currently in remission from testicular cancer that spread to his liver, stomach, kidneys, and lungs. The public school has been giving us a hard time about his absences, so we have decided to home school him, at least this year, until his antibodies are built up, so he won't have as many minor illnesses.

When he feels good he is very rebellious. He is much than other children his age and grade (5th). He is angry that the chemo made him lose his hair and that the cancer took an important body part from him. He has a lot of temper tantrums and only my husband seems to be able to help him. John lives with his mother and older sister (15 y/o, 8th grade), who goes to public school.

I hold a Regent's Bachelor of Arts degree and my husband has his high school diploma. We live in WV. I have read the laws and have my letter of intent ready.

I would really like to us the curriculum the school is using, as we can't afford to buy one. I read they have to provide this to me. I hope they don't give me any trouble. I would like John to be on the same school schedule as his peers.

Also, I am disabled and cannot drive, so constantly going to the board of Ed isn't going to work for me.

Any suggestions.
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Laura

[Mark]

will be in prayer for you and yours..

and yes, homeschooling would probably be the best option for him.

mark
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My new blog:
http://exwitch.ancientcrossroads.org/

[Laurachambers]

Thanks for the support. It seems daunting right now, but I know it will all come together.
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Laura

[robinsegg]

Homeschooling could be a very good option for him, right now. It will give you the opportunity to stay close when these moods strike, and to arrange his schedule in a way that works for him.
A couple of concepts you may want to know about:
Deschooling is where you take a child out of a classroom setting and give the child no formal lessons for awhile. This seems to help them rediscover the love of learning. The guideline is one month per year school.
Unschooling is a teaching style which uses no curriculum, but takes a child's interests and creates unit studies around them, so that learning takes place in all disciplines under that one interest.
These concepts may be useful to you for the first few months, esp. since he has other emotional issues going on right now.

I wish you well,
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Rachel
teacher at home
The Cleft in the Rock Academy