My 6-Year Adventure in Homeschooling

When my youngest son was in lower grades, he always had a harder time than the rest of the kids. He was quickly picked up by the teachers that he needed a little extra help. His 3rd grade teacher was a huge help to us navigating resources and such.

In 4th grade, bullying suddenly became a huge issue for him. He had kids that were more than happy to dangerously trip him in class, he would retaliate and would always end up in trouble with them, we ended up noticing this year he started to have terrible facial tics, we finally ended up at a neurologist to figure those out, and it came out that he had Tourettes toppled with ADHD, it was recommended to try meds that did not have stimulants to help with the ADHD, but those did not help, and we chose to ride it out meds free. Come 5th grade he must have spent all summer seething at the kids that had bullied him because during open house he had nothing but daggers for these kids.

5th grade was a rough school year, more bullying, surprise, surprise. But none of it was focused on his tics. We really could never pin down why he was the target. Through all this he did pass from year to year, he would magically catch up to grade level near the end of the school year. He also was one of the youngest in his class, being a July baby.

After the rough elementary school years, I decided for Middle School we would homeschool. I was still working full-time, but by now my Mother had moved in with us, so she was around during school hours. I also could connect to his computer while I was at work through TeamViewer to help out with anything he was having issues with. For the 3 years of Middle School, we used our State's Virtual School option, but the homeschool option within it. So I still chose what classes he took, but I had a licensed teacher on the other side checking stuff and making sure he was getting what he needed. After 3 years of having to answer to teachers, though, it became a lot for both of us. Especially when he would inevitably fall behind a little, they became intense.

When 9th Grade came around I said enough is enough, I'm finding your curriculum that is within your abilities. Because that is the joy of Homeschool, you make it what it needs to be for your child to advance within their abilities. No baseline planned by the state.

I had to find all the free options I could find, but found plenty to help him through each year. One year was a site called All In One Homeschool, Next we used Khan Academy and Fish Tank Learning, then I used college level classes with OpenStax. Our final year we used Saylor Academy classes. I managed to find him classes that worked for him, and he excelled at his own pace. Some years were longer than others, but I made sure he got his work done each year. And that 3rd grade teacher that was such a help all those years ago, she was our licensed teacher that signed off on his school years each year doing our portfolio review.

As of June 1st our adventure has ended, we are both so very much happy that it is over. He will soon be 18 and is ready to just find his way in life. He doesn't want to go to college or anything right now. Who knows if that will change, but if it does, this Momma made sure she kept a transcript of all his years and listed all his classes. Will he maybe need some remedial classes, probably, but if he is anything like I was, once I became an adult all the stuff that didn't click in school, click now.

And all those tics that were such a bother back in 4th and 5th grade, basically all disappeared once he was no longer stressed. They occasionally show up, but are few and far apart. I do believe they were more stressed induced than anything. As for his ADHD, being allowed to work at his own pace and to be able to get up and walk away and change his focus and come back, that was the help he needed and certainly couldn't do in school.

I write this as I know there is someone out there probably dealing with this same situation. I want you to know Homeschool is a great option if you can make it work for your family. No, it won't be perfect, but you are not ruining your child's future either by giving them that option. Also, there is plenty of paid curriculums that will cover all your bases if you don't want to come up with your own options or just use the "virtual public school" option provided by your state. There are secular options and there are religious options, so whatever works for your family.

Best of Luck to you!