First let me state the I don't think all public schools are terrible, and I know there are some good and dedicated public school teachers out there. I know homeschooling isn't for everyone, but I do count my blessings every day for being able to teach my kids at home and know, without question, that this is the best place for them to be.
So... that being said... I have to confess that I spent part of yesterday afternoon meeting with the director of "Instructional Support Services" (special ed) for the school district we live in, and came right out and asked her what they would do with M if I decided to enroll him in public school.
No... I haven't totally lost my mind.
M's pdoc has been strongly suggesting that M needs a "program"... a structured, out of the home educational setting of some type. There seems to be very few kids with schizophrenia being homeschooled. There are very few children with schizophrenia to start with (1 in 40,000 the onset is usually during adolescence or young adulthood) and homeschooling a child with a major mental illness is something that just doesn't seem to be done very often.
I'm sure that M is better off at home, and I've been telling the pdoc that for years. But the longer we homeschool the more I lose touch with what is going on in public schools, and what programs might be available for someone like M. So I decided I couldn't very well tell the pdoc that home is better when I don't have any current information about what it's better than! (forgive me if that sentence doesn't make sense... It makes sense to me, but I'm not sure how clearly I'm thinking these days!)
So thanks to a good friend who knows people in the district, yesterday afternoon I dressed in my "professional" clothes and visited the "dark side" for a meeting.
When I left that meeting I felt light as a feather, and with absolutely no question in my mind that homeschooling is the best possible educational plan for M (and R too!) and with a lot of information to share with the pdoc next time she brings it up, about the benefits (using the word loosely) of a "real program".
Here's what I learned. If I decided to send M to school, we would start at our neighborhood school getting M assessed. This would be a lengthy (and difficult process) as they would want to evaluate his academic, communication, social, emotional, occupational, and physical progress. (and probably a few others that I've forgotten!) Our neighborhood school (since we live in the country) is probably 7-10 miles away... about a half hour drive. (Can you imagine how much longer that would be on a school bus?!) It's a huge middle school with a very big enrollment. Even the "director" we spoke to said that it would probably be very difficult for M to go into that type of a setting. But we could try him in that school (shudder shudder... how in the world would they be able to keep him safe?!) or we could send him to another school in the district just for middle and high schoolers with significant needs. (This school is at least 15-20 miles away!) In that school he would likely be placed in a class for kids with a dual diagnosis (developmentally delayed and mentally ill). The class is small (5-6 kids) and a friend who has observed that class said that it appears that very little academics goes on there. The room she was shown as the classroom had NO books... it was stripped down, bare bones, and while she was observing she saw no academic instruction going on. That's the room M would be in.
The director was quick to point out that if he was capable of it, he could take some classes on the "other side" of the school. One side of the school houses the program for dually diagnosed kids, the other side is for kids with severe emotional or behavioral disturbances. Sooo.... if M is bright enough he can spend a few hours each day with kids with serious behavioral issues. Hmmm... doesn't sound like a great plan to me. Kids (like M) with FASD are extremely vulnerable to peer influences. He's basically 14 going on 7, and they would toss him in with behaviorally disturbed teens?! In addition, he would not be spending any time during the day with typical kids. None at all.
Who in their right mind would think this is the way to educate a extremely emotionally fragile, unstable, vulnerable child like M?? Or any child for that matter?!
I got home from the meeting and gave my big, sweaty (stinky), pimply, charming, frustrating, kind, respectful (and psychotic) 14 yo a hug.
What a blessing it is to be able to teach my kids at home... there's nothing like a visit to the dark side to make you appreciate the many joys of homeschooling!
(Yeah, I know I said things are too crazy right now for me to have time to blog, but I ended up having some quiet minutes today and I've missed my blog...so here I am!)
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