It's been tough deciding what to do about Blaze's education for next year.
Blaze's occupational therapist has suggested Einstein Montessori School for next year. It's a local charter school that only takes children second grade and up, who have reading difficulties. Blaze will be entering second grade in the Fall and I'm told that his auditory processing problem qualifies him for their program. The reason his therapist thinks this would be a good idea is because she has been working with him on social skills and believes that he needs to get back into a setting where there are groups of children, so he can practice what he's learned.
Blaze does not want to go back into a classroom setting. The way this past Fall's school experience (fiasco) affected Blaze, is that he now believes that he should not be around groups of children because he won't be able to control his own actions and someone will get hurt. It's really sad how much that school experience damaged his self esteem, and he wasn't even there that long before they asked him to leave. It has affected me as well, because the private school he attended, is where I still work.
He did a year of public school kindergarten and learned NOTHING, because he found the large classroom (25 children) to be too distracting. The public school was also not going to give him the speech class he needed. So, I held him back a year and we redid kindergarten at home, so that's why I'm reluctant to put him back in school.
This year has been tough, though. Since I did not cut back my work hours when Blaze was kicked out of school, I have been trying to do so much that I am constantly exhausted ( I'm working on typing up an entry that shows what my typical weekday is like).
DH thinks he has a pretty good shot at a better paying job in the Fall. I really hope he gets it, because that would mean I could work fewer hours and spend more time working with Blaze.
I believe I have, as of this morning, committed myself to another year of home schooling, because I just ordered the Christopherus Second Grade curriculum.
Good for you! A friend of mine put her kid in Kindergarten because the "experts" said the social time was a must. The mom had wanted to give him an extra year, but followed the expert advice. Her kid had a miserable time and had to repeat kindergarten!
ReplyDeleteSo you do what's best for Blaze! After all, you're the real expert on that subject!
Some tough decisions facing you and your hubby...but I know you will do whatever it is that's best for all of you.
ReplyDeleteJust make sure you take care of yourself, too, Mama! :)
Sounds like a tough decision. Hang in there! And I'm betting there are plenty of opportunities for social interaction that'll let him get his feet wet slowly.
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