Wow, you gave me a lot of helpful advice and it sounds like you know what it's like to homeschool a child with autism. Knowing others are doing it is such a relief to me! I'm going to have to hop on over to that forum I think. My son is both medicated, and we are seeing a doctor who monitors his blood levels to get him on a super strict supplement regimen and without those two things he's a wreck. With it, he's much more able to relax and be a part of the family dynamics. He is what I would call a "situational eloper" for the brief time he was in a public preschool he was frequently trying to elope and literally made it more than halfway home before the police found him and he was 3. They found him a block away from the river. Honestly his eloping and determination to be at home where it was quieter and his fears about school is what broke me and made me feel like he needed to be home, no matter what special needs program they could give him. At home, he's glued to my side and would never dream of leaving (although I still have everything on lockdown just in case he decided to throw us a curveball). I still feel emotional thinking about it. I honestly don't know anything about introception so I will definitely be bringing that up with his OT. A lot of this is probably just my worries because I want him to be happy and feel accepted and that he could do with his life what he wants when he's an adult. He actually has a pretty high IQ and I'm pretty sure he will outpace me at some point before he's done learning and that worries me too. lol Thanks! You gave me a bunch of helpful advice. I haven't thought to take him to a developmental optometrist specifically, so that's definitely going on my list for the summer. I have 4 sweet sister in laws who are all public school teachers, one of which is a first year special ed teacher. I really do love them, and they are very kind, but I think the idea that I'm trying to home school a child with special needs is scandalous to them. We all live close to one another too, so they tend to try and "fix" my son. I really do think it's out of love and concern but they are so convinced that public school would "fix" him that I've sort of begun to question myself. But my son did public preschool for almost a year and somehow managed to elope and got so far away the police needed to be called when he was three. I have nothing against the public school, but I realized the little guy wasn't feeling safe there. I do compare him a lot to the norms, and that just makes me worry, and I don't want him to pick up on that. I feel like it's hard not to impose these random rules on him about what he "should" be doing and I question if it'd be down right negligent of me to just let him fly ahead where he can and take longer where he needs to and let grade level entirely melt away. Thank you so much to each of you who have responded with helpful feedback, advice, and encouragement. I feel like I can breathe a little easier after these responses. I psyched myself out thinking of ALL that lies ahead and my anxieties got the best of me. I feel like I need "permission" to let him be his wonderful, neurodivergent self. Sometimes it feels lonely when "everyone else" seems to be moving along with their kids in a group and he and I are on our own different path. Sometimes the words of strangers do seem to be more encouraging than the words of people I've known for years.

I'm trying to plan where to go from here with my son as we head into 1st grade. My son has severe ADHD, Sensory processing disorder, and autism. Would you be very concerned about a boy on the cusp of his 6th birthday who is just starting to sound out CVC words? People seem concerned that he's not reading yet. He just in the past month started blending CVC words. I can only get him to focus on reading for 5 minutes at a time because he hates reading so much so it's very slow going. Most first grade level boxed programs I'm ruling out because he'd be behind their LA programs for reading and writing, but he'd also likely be bored by the content or what was being taught. He loves discussing complex stories in detail, he has a huge vocabulary, he does math for "fun", and he likes science and enjoys asking how things work and follows around his grandad, who is a research scientist, and asks for scientific explanations for everything. Family and well meaning friends keep asking me why can't he just sit still and why he continually gets frustrated so easily. People tell me he'd be better off in the public school, but we tried that and he was miserable. My plan: Phonics - Explode the Code/BOB books --he's behind but he seems to hate these the least so I figure I'll stick with it and hope it clicks. Math - Singapore math dimensions 1a/1b - He loves math and enjoys this program so I know I'll keep this. Handwriting - HWOT workbook - He hates writing almost as much as phonics. There certainly ARE tears on his end. His hands hurt and he has terrible fine motor skills and is also behind in this area but I take him to OT for fine motor skills and sensory processing help. Read a louds - I was just planning on reading him well written books that interest him and practicing narration. I wasn't planning anything formal, does that sound like something ill advised at this age? Science - Nature study journaling - I'll be adding a "real curriculum" with experiments in second grade. History - SOTW and activity book - This is by far his favorite thing we have going for him. Does this sound well rounded enough for a first grader next year who will be 6 in the beginning of June? None of the All In One curriculum choices look appealing to him or me. Any tips for teaching a child who struggles to focus? Does it get better with age? We use visual schedules and take breaks often. He dances around and bounces around but is retaining the information. We are just "stuck" with reading and handwriting. All my other homeschooling mom friends have children his age who sit for longer periods of time already and do worksheets. It's hard not to feel like we are fighting an up hill battle. I'm worried about how we seem to spend less time homeschooling than others because if he want's a break we take it rather than fighting over it. Should I be pushing him more, or just let him go at his own pace since he is still young? Thanks in advance for any feedback. I suppose the ADHD and autism diagnosis make me feel like I am more likely to mess things up for him.

Hello! I'm a mother to a six year old, a three year old, and a one year old and currently living in the Chicago suburbs. I have read (a vast majority) of the WTM and I found it quite empowering. I have areas I feel I need to improve myself in, but I am looking forward to homeschooling my children. My husband is finishing up his degree and we will be moving to West Virginia in the next year so he can take over his family's business. We own a house in Kanawha county that we plan on moving back to. I just looked up the homeschooling laws and I was shocked how different they are than Illinois! I have a couple of questions I hope someone could help me with. Or maybe someone could point me to an organization that could help us navigate what we need to do once we are physically there? 1. When you give notice of your intent to homeschool it states that you need a minimum of a high school diploma from a regionally accredited high school. Would a high school diploma from a public school in Illinois (ranked as one of the top 1000 in the nation) count as "regionally accredited" or does it need to be a WV diploma? My high school is ranked literally 7000 places higher than the local high school so I think it'd be adequate? 2. When it states that you need 180 days do I need to fill 180 days with six hours of education? That seems like more than what I thought a 6 year old would do in a day being homeschooled. I was anticipating more like 3-5 hours a day at first. Do you have ways to bulk up your day? We did homeschool kindergarten this year and my 6 year old literally spent an hour a day and seems to be ahead of her public school friends in her knowledge and abilities. I have no idea how I would have milked another 5 hours out of each day! 3. It states you have a choice between standardized testing, public school testing, or a portfolio reviewed by a certified teacher. My six year old is an anxious child and I worry that sending her to a strange place with strange people to do a test like she has never done would cause her to under perform. Are there certified teachers who I could hire/pay to review our portfolio and write a letter? I don't know if that is an option people use or not. Or perhaps any words of encouragement about little ones and standardized testing? 4. I was planning on doing a "curriculum" that wasn't worksheet intensive. Should I reconsider changing that in order to have ample "proof" of day to day work? Are there curriculums WV is more in favor of or more hostile towards? 5. Is WV hostile towards homeschoolers? Illinois has been such a breeze and so straight forward and now I am wondering if when we move if we will find other homeschoolers or if the public school boards will be showing up at my door every day? I'm so excited to move, but now I am feeling a bit sad. I love our days of gentle learning and loads of play time outdoors and adventures! Plus losing our support network. I wonder what we have gotten ourselves into! Sorry for the aimless rant and questions that are not totally related to WTM.