HELP! I may have offered to homeschool my nephew

[SAMom]

This young man is going into high school next year. SIL went into the school and was told, "He is not college material but maybe we can get him to graduate." He has a special class he goes to and "help" with standardized test where an adult reads the test questions to him.

 

I suggested SIL homeschool him. She and her husband both work and it wouldn't work. I said, "Take it one year at a time" but said aloud that the high school might not give him credit if he tried to go back. I offered to tutor him over the summer- any little bit helps. (Really, just wanted to keep him from playing video games all day long for the whole summer. And he is well behaved at our house.) Later, hubby says, "Who cares if high school doesn't give him credit for work done. Enroll him as a freshman after taking a year off to homeschool. It doesn't matter if he graduates at 19yo instead of 18." DH's only concern was sports, which at first I thought pretty silly but boy's do need an outlet for physical energy.

 

So I might be homeschooling someone else child. Help! anyone have experience with this? I wouldn't mind starting tomorrow but need to prepare first. He reads at a 2nd gr. level, has a speech problem, and dyslexia. And he shuts down when he gets an answer wrong- can't deal with it.

 

Off to do research (where to start???), pray a lot, and wait for in-law's to think about it.

 

Thanks for staying with me through all my rambling,

Ruth

[Susan C.]

My ds friend is somewhat like this, and was homeschooled. His parents chose to pay a tutor, and with the tutor, his reading went from 3rd to 10th grade level in one year. He is now in college and doing fine. I'll be honest, I'm not sure an untrained person could have done that. I'm not saying its impossible, or that I wouldn't give it a shot though. Sometimes kids just need someone to go down the road with them every step of the way. You would definitely need to know what to look for, or have some input of some kind.

[wapiti]

It sounds like the LDs are having a VERY significant impact. It can be very tough to fix speech problems by that age. I'd look into whether he could continue his IEP for speech (assuming he's still getting therapy through the school), and I'd pop over to the Special Needs board regarding the dyslexia (also, have vision issues been ruled out? If it's easier for him to understand a question that is read to him, that points even more toward a vision issue than dyslexia, though it is not unusual for a person to have both).

 

It sounds like homeschooling has the potential for tremendous impact on this boy. Not college material? Who knows, but underneath those LDs and beaten-down self-image, you might just find the makings of a college man. Either way, what a blessing it would be for his teacher to look beyond his weaknesses and find some hidden strengths.

 

Good luck, I hope for his sake they choose hs-ing! The PS sounds defeating.