It’s the beginning of our third week as home-schoolers and I’m tired. My son, Ian, is too. Everyday during our home-school program, my son and I exercise or are physically active for at least two hours (I have found muscles in my thighs I never knew were there).
While raising Ian, who has autism, my oldest son with Asperger Syndrome and studying cognitive neuroscience, I became convinced that physical activity (sensory input), and optimizing health are fundamentally necessary for true and lasting progress. So this is why I’ve built in such a vast amount of physical activity.
Overall Ian is much calmer. There are no tantrums, almost zero yelling and refusal is no longer an issue. When his siblings return from their school-day, there is no arguing and Ian can tolerate their interaction and sounds (talking, playing, etc.).
It seems like a miracle, but I believe it to be simply because Ian is not worn-out, overwhelmed, fatigued or frazzled by the afternoon. The entire household is quite pleased with this unexpected bonus!
Facilitating and managing everything day to day is quite a challenge. Juggling my personal responsibilities and career, outside of home-schooling, is the biggest difficulty.
I run my household, of 5 persons, 1 dog, 1 rabbit and 1 albino frog, in shifts and on schedules. There’s simply no other way for me to keep everything organized right now.
We’ve chosen some materials to keep as instructional texts and have dismissed others already. I don’t need 10 weeks to tell if a strategy is going to work; I need 10 minutes. This week (I school 6 days per week) seems like a breeze because materials are in place and I can slack on innovation a little!
I continue to look for ways to enhance what I have in place. I’m always reading, researching and trying new things in hopes of finding the perfect combination of approaches. I also continue to look at school classrooms in the traditional setting.
I do not regret my decision to home-educate Ian at all; not for a second. However, I want him to have the ability to learn in a classroom, make friends, build relationships and be exposed to situations I can’t reproduce. In my heart, I’m unsure any classroom can individualize in a manner comparable to home-educating, but I’m open-minded enough to consider all our options.
I hope all of you are experiencing a successful school year thus far. How is your child handling the adjustment? Share your surprises or stories by posting them below.
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