Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New profile posts
Latest activity
Internet Search
Members
Current visitors
New profile posts
Search profile posts
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Forums
Parent Support Forums
General Parenting
I have decided
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Marguerite" data-source="post: 461070" data-attributes="member: 1991"><p>You're right, Malika. It very much is case by case. difficult child 3 was always the social butterfly, despite his autism label. He loves being around people, he enjoys younger kids especially (more on his social level I think) and enjoys helping other kids especially with computers and computer games.</p><p></p><p>The issue with mainstream for us - was the social experience productive and generally a positive one? If so, then stick with it. We stuck it out for years because we felt it was best. But when it became apparent that FOR US it was not working and in fact was seriously damaging what social skills difficult child 3 had, we made the change.</p><p></p><p>We have a friend in the village who a few years ago removed her boys from the local school in order to home-school them. The boys are PCs, nice kids, a bit odd because their mother is a hippy and never cut the boys' hair. The eldest boy at school has feminine facial features and long blonde curls down to his waist, is likely to cop a lot of bullying. But even here, this boy was coping well and was popular with the other kids. He really is a nice kid. </p><p>But his mother was doing very little about his education. The boy was himself being proactive and seeking out learning opportunities. His younger brother far less so; he was only 8 and enjoying communing with butterflies. I organised a couple of "school excursions" for the boys, took difficult child 3 along too because I felt it would be good for him (he is friends with these boys). We had a good day, I think the boys learnt a lot, we explored local forests and got very hands-on with a lot of stuff. But these boys were starving for intellectual content. </p><p>A few months later the older boy asked to be allowed to go back to school. When he got back, after 2 years' home schooling, they found he was ahead of his grade in some areas and behind in others. He has since fitted back in and is now in high school. His mother's experiment with home schooling is now over; I think she realised that she was actually supposed to be teaching the boys and not simply allowing unstructured play time.</p><p></p><p>Aidenjames, I understand and respect your views. However, it all needs to be taken in balance. And the modern classroom environment is a very recent thing, it is not normal. If it works - great. But it doesn't always work and is not always the right fit. Not for all kids. As I said in my earlier post - if mainstream works, then great. But we need to have options for those kids who struggle and for whom mainstream is a bad fit. And in Australia, we do have places too remote for mainstream education. That's why in Australia we also have correspondence school options. They actually do give these otherwise home-schooled kids the necessary social interaction but in a controlled, structured way.</p><p></p><p>Marg</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Marguerite, post: 461070, member: 1991"] You're right, Malika. It very much is case by case. difficult child 3 was always the social butterfly, despite his autism label. He loves being around people, he enjoys younger kids especially (more on his social level I think) and enjoys helping other kids especially with computers and computer games. The issue with mainstream for us - was the social experience productive and generally a positive one? If so, then stick with it. We stuck it out for years because we felt it was best. But when it became apparent that FOR US it was not working and in fact was seriously damaging what social skills difficult child 3 had, we made the change. We have a friend in the village who a few years ago removed her boys from the local school in order to home-school them. The boys are PCs, nice kids, a bit odd because their mother is a hippy and never cut the boys' hair. The eldest boy at school has feminine facial features and long blonde curls down to his waist, is likely to cop a lot of bullying. But even here, this boy was coping well and was popular with the other kids. He really is a nice kid. But his mother was doing very little about his education. The boy was himself being proactive and seeking out learning opportunities. His younger brother far less so; he was only 8 and enjoying communing with butterflies. I organised a couple of "school excursions" for the boys, took difficult child 3 along too because I felt it would be good for him (he is friends with these boys). We had a good day, I think the boys learnt a lot, we explored local forests and got very hands-on with a lot of stuff. But these boys were starving for intellectual content. A few months later the older boy asked to be allowed to go back to school. When he got back, after 2 years' home schooling, they found he was ahead of his grade in some areas and behind in others. He has since fitted back in and is now in high school. His mother's experiment with home schooling is now over; I think she realised that she was actually supposed to be teaching the boys and not simply allowing unstructured play time. Aidenjames, I understand and respect your views. However, it all needs to be taken in balance. And the modern classroom environment is a very recent thing, it is not normal. If it works - great. But it doesn't always work and is not always the right fit. Not for all kids. As I said in my earlier post - if mainstream works, then great. But we need to have options for those kids who struggle and for whom mainstream is a bad fit. And in Australia, we do have places too remote for mainstream education. That's why in Australia we also have correspondence school options. They actually do give these otherwise home-schooled kids the necessary social interaction but in a controlled, structured way. Marg [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Forums
Parent Support Forums
General Parenting
I have decided
Top