Homeschooling Bug Hits Again

It's that time of year again...after the first term report cards come out and someone's grades are abysmal even though we spend an inordinate amount of time doing work that should have been completed in school, in addition to regular homework, and then the extra help reinforcing what they learn in school...the reading, the money counting, the addition and subtraction facts, multiplications facts...and then the special education meetings. It always leaves me wondering WHY I send them in the first place.

Autumn does fantastic in school, she has a 504 for her epilepsy, so she can take any tests she misses due to seizures, and so that the teachers make sure she has all the information she needs and hasn't missed any due to absence seizures. She thrives in school though, high honor roll, always has been (even when the seizures were uncontrolled). This is a kid who couldn't remember taking a state vocabulary test last April when she was in 5th grade, right at the height of her seizures...and she missed the reading comprehension part somehow...either was seizurey and missed it or they did it on a day she was out due to a seizure. I don't know. They brought her to the library to finish taking the reading comprehension portion. She had no recollection of the test at all. The librarian was shocked, told her she got an 11.2 on it...Autumn was horrified "That's AWFUL!" ...the librarian explains "No that is REALLY, REALLY good, it means you scored as well as an eleventh grader in the second month of school would have on that test!" She was at the end of 5th grade. And she can't even remember taking it, lol.

Dylan is doing fantastic. This is his first year with no extra help for anything. He is performing at grade level for everything and loving school. He does great in math. In everything. He puts 110% into everything he does, he loves every part of school, especially his friends (and this was a kid I was worried he was autistic when he was a toddler!), had an IEP for speech/language issues, needed readign, writing and math help in the early years.

Owen however, has always hated school. I have yet to find what motivates him. His teachers have not found what motivates him. He does worse each year instead of making progress. They think he has ADD-primarily inattentive type. I've had him tested for allergies-he's allergic to everything basically. I had his lead tested, that is fine. I am having his vision looked at again to see whether the 4th nerve palsy is affecting his ability to do well in school and whether or not we can fix it with vision therapy. I am taking him to a therapist for behavioral therapy (although he has no behavioral issues, he just can't stay on task) for the ADD. Because I refuse to medicate him. I will also talk to her about the school refusal issue he has going on. We get him there without a fuss, then he comes home "sick" but he isn't really "sick" @@ Someone on the show we were watching mentioned homeschool in passing, Owen says "I want to be homeschooled!" I asked him why. He says," So I can spend more time with YOU!" as he bats those big brown eyes at me. A few days later I asked him what I thought he would learn in homeschool, he said he didn't know. I asked what he would teach if he was his teacher,"well the kids would go to lunch and recess, and special, and work on the computers if they are done with their work..." Sounds exactly like what they do there now? His teacher is nice enough, and feels horrible Owen doesn't love her class and school...he likes it, he just doesn't love it or enjoy school period. She's at a loss though, she read them a story, he couldnt' write 5 sentences about it, she asked him verbally to tell her, he told her he just didn't remember it. How can this be? He can tell me every detail of a Star Wars movie? I read to him, I ask him questions he can tell me. Can he always write about it...no, writing throws him off, he has to  concentrate too much on the letter formation of each word I think he forgets what he was going to write. He can write me 5 sentences on the computer, it takes time though as he hunts and pecks for keys.

I don't know...I'll see what they offer at his 504 meeting, If they can't offer to do anythign mor ethan they have already been doign for him, if htey dont' offer to cover vision therapy..I think I'll pull him. How much worse could we do?

P.S.- I'm editing this for spelling errors and Owen comes up to ask if he can be finished eating lunch (Sure...if you ate waht Dad asked you to eat." Autumn comes and asks me if she can watch TV while she is waiting for me to take them ice skating for her birthday (Sure...I am just going to finihs this and hten get dressed.) And Owen says REALLY EXCITED, "It's about Homeschooling ME!" (No, I'm not goign to homeschool you.) To which he replies, "Oh well I read it said I wanted to be homeschooled." OK yeah it did mention that in the middle of a paragraph of tiny print...and the school is telling me he can't read at grade level??@@ And I am worried he is havign trouble tracking words/seeign with his eyes @@