Grandparents raising/homeschooling grandchildren...

[tekkie50]

Are there more grandparents out here raising their grandchildren and also taking on the task of homeschooling? If so, I'd love to hear how you are coping with the challenges!

Tekkie50

[StellarStory]

There must be but I don't know any of them. Hopefully some will come along soon.

[seekingmyLord]

I don't know of any personally. The way the law is worded in some states, it would not be legal.

I am the age of most grandparents, but I am homeschooling my one and only daughter. I had her at 40 and she is now 6. Energy-wise, I do pretty well and I probably have much more patience than I did when I was younger, but I would not have the same issues that a homeschooling grandparent would with the parents, too.

I hope it goes well for you!

[tekkie50]

Not a problem with the parents as I am RAISING my grandchild. I find the whole school thing an issue as he thinks differently than others in his class - hands on and auditory. Doesn't seem to be paying attention most of the time, but really is. Drives the teachers crazy. Also find it difficult to relate to all those moms and dads who have little in common with me. Just thought there might be others. Thanks anyway.

[seekingmyLord]

Not a problem with the parents as I am RAISING my grandchild. I find the whole school thing an issue as he thinks differently than others in his class - hands on and auditory. Doesn't seem to be paying attention most of the time, but really is. Drives the teachers crazy. Also find it difficult to relate to all those moms and dads who have little in common with me. Just thought there might be others. Thanks anyway.

Don't be discouraged. We really are not so different. The plus is that because we are older, we tend to have more patience than we did when we were younger. You have the additional benefit of having the experience in raising your own child (I worked with youth of all ages through my church for years).

I have always felt that my daughter would not do well in a classroom. She is just too in tune with her environment and with what everyone is doing. When taking a tour, she gets up near the tour guide and turns to look at the people as if she is a guide in training. During story time at the library, she could repeat everything that was read, but she was more interested in turning around and looking at the other children than the storyteller--quite distracting for the other children. Of course, she was younger then. She has learned to act more appropriately now in such situations at six, but the stories read there are quite short. At home, she still moves all over the place when someone is reading to her and much of the time that she is reading, yet she is quite advanced.

I have a feeling you might find some of this information helpful:
http://giftedkids.about.com/od/gifted10 ... excite.htm

[4given]

I feel for you, but felt I had no wisdom to share. I did a quick search on "grandparents homeschooling grandchildren". Apparantly, there is an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 grandparents homeschooling their grandchildren. Not all of them are raising their grandchildren but many are. I personally know of one grandmother who is HSing her 2 grandsons of whom she has custody. She's involved in our local HS group.

I guess I just wanted to encourage you to keep searching for contacts. I greatly admire what you are doing. That, IMO, is true love.

[Ramona]

10 or 11 years ago when I was first starting out, one of the "moms" in our local support group then was a grandmother raising and homeschooling her grandson. I know you're not alone.

Ramona

[gulfmiss]

I saw that your post was written in July, but I will respond just in case you might be checking on the board. I am homeschooling my ten year old graddaughter. I also care for her nearly-three year old brother five days a week while their mother teaches (my DIL). I care for my other (two year old) grandson on Mondays on Fridays so all of that is quite challenging. I am sixty and get quite tired. I don't know how you do it full-time. My hat is off to you!

My GD is ADHD so homeschooling her is quite a challenge some days and other days she does fine. She also has anxiety issues and trichotillomania. All of those were factors in deciding to homeschool. I am a retired teacher and my DIL teaches fourth grade. Our state and district have become obsessed with testing and the pressure just seemed to be too my for my GD.

[tekkie50]

Thanks for the replies! I brought up the subject of homeschooling in my grandparent support group. No one in our group is currently doing it, but several will be taking a look at it. Many grandparents really struggle with the school system as many of the grandkids have emotional and learning difficulties.

I have been surprised at the willingness of our school district to work with us. My gs was behind in reading at the beginning of the year and they have him working with a Title One teacher, and also let us bring in our own tutor twice a week. He's really flourishing. We are still looking at homeschooling, but probably not until he finishes this school year.

[gulfmiss]

Good luck to you and you GS, Wendy. We, too, are blessed with help from our school. The counselor is a lady with whom I taught for many years at the high school before she moved to the elementary/middle school. Both the former principal and current principal are former students of mine and I taught next door to one of them for years. Add to that the fact that my DIL teaches at the school and we were lucky to receive so much support. I have read of so many bad experiences with the schools when parents/grandparents try to homeschool that I feel extremely blessed.

I am glad that you are finding a formula that works for you. I feel as though we are still trying to find our way. I'm used to a much more structured situation than I find myself in now...I am forced be be more flexible due to the ADHD problem and due to the fact that I have two toddlers running about the house. LOL

We are using Time4Learning which is a computer-based program because she seems to like that better than the books, but I have her school texts as a backup. We started off at one level but we've had to back down a level in math. We have the luxury of being able to move up or down a grade level with the program.

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only grandmother on here who is trying to homeschool!