DS1 is going back to school so no more home ed for us

[ToffeeWhirl]

After I took DS1 out of school in Year 7, I promised him that I would never make him go back because he was so unhappy and stressed there.

We spent nearly two years home educating (although it was only a year, officially, because he was still on the school roll). When it was going well and he was an interested pupil, it was fantastic. I loved learning stuff with him and planning all the topics. It was as much an education for me as it was for him.

A couple of months ago, he started CBT treatment for his anxieties and OCD. It has been very successful. He has started going out again, meeting people, talking about his future plans. Then he amazed us all by declaring that he wanted to return to his old school. He said he'd always liked it, but his anxieties had made it impossible to cope there. Now he wasn't anxious anymore and he wanted to go back.

I can see that he is so, so ready to move on. He is 14 now and desperate to catch up with the socialising that he's missed out on recently - not because of the home ed, I hasten to add, but because of his anxieties. Maybe school will be a bumpy road, but it's the road he chooses to take now.

So, I am going to be packing up all our home ed stuff: books of science topics; pages of scribbled maths calculations (some with sad faces and other less polite expressions of boredom); English compositions and quizzes on grammar or spelling; photos; several lapbooks on a variety of topics; too many unused textbooks (nope, never listened to the advice of the more experienced home edders); half-watched David Attenborough DVDs; and numberless piles of papers.

Home education wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It was really fun when DS1 was enjoying it. But there were also many times when I felt very frustrated at his lack of interest in studying anything. At the moment, YouTube and skateboarding are his main passions .

I'm glad we did it though. It was the right thing for him at the time and we had some very happy times together.

So bye bye to all the lovely and helpful home edders here. I wish you all well. If only I'd listened to you when you advised me not to buy too many textbooks .

[SatinSandals]

Sell them on eBay! ( they sell well depending on what they are).
Good luck- hope all goes well for him.

[Saracen]

LOL at the textbooks. Well, it isn't the worst mistake you could make in home educating! it sounds like you and your son enjoyed yourselves together and home ed helped him over a rough patch.

Best of luck to him in his new adventure. I hope school is everything he wants it to be, and that he still manages to make time for YouTube and skateboarding!

[morethanpotatoprints]

Ha Ha, textbooks, us too.

So pleased for your ds, keep in touch let us know how he is getting on.
Sounds like you have had fun along the way.
I am filling up my love because I know how far little toffee has come.
Take a look at your first threads,
You are all amazing, musn't forget Mr Toffee. x

[NoComet]

Good luck to your DS and to you Toffeewhirl, you'll miss him, just as my DF who home ed for primary is now missing her youngest.

It's a wonderful thing to do, I'd have loved to in one way, but I haven't the patience.

Here's hoping the other DCs are kind and, if needed, the SN dept. are helpful. Ours were worth their weight in gold, giving my much bullied and teased dyslexic DD1 someone to talk to. Even if they never helped much with her writing.

Seriously make sure he knows what help there is at school and make sure he doesn't loose touch with the support he had to get him to this point, Y9s are much nicer than Y7s and Y10/11 more sensible too, but I'm sure there will be days when he wishes he was back at his dinning room table, with too many text books.

[ToffeeWhirl]

Thank you all . Good idea about ebay, Satin, although I have a younger DS so he might be interested in them one day .

Thank you, Saracen. I'm sure DS'll fit YouTube and skateboarding into his curriculum somehow!

Morethan - aw, we started home ed at the same time, didn't we? Yes, I remember those first threads. It's lovely that you remember the ups and downs of 'little Toffee'. How is your DD getting on?

Star - I'm overwhelmed with the amount of support DS1's school are offering him, so no worries there .

DS1 went off to his first lessons this morning. He's starting in the pupil referral unit this week, then moving to lessons at school next week, so it will all be very gradual. He was very male about it this morning ("Don't make a big deal about it, mum.").