Hi MissPitstop and everyone else thinking of home educating a child with SEN,
There are an increasing number of families turning to home education-and a growing percentage of those families (IMHO) have children with SEN.
There are a number of things to consider-a child like yours (and mine) who found school so stressful and demoralising is probably going to need some time for his self esteem and confidence in his ability to return.
Our youngest child was diagnosed as very severely dyslexic/dyspraxic/dysgraphic and ADHD. I most definitely recognise;
'ended up with him in tears, scribbling all over it, tearing it up and throwing his pencil across the room because he said it was rubbish.'
I even tried putting on a timer so she could see that we really were going to only work for a few mins and yet she still ended up screaming her anxiety and belief that she was totally useless. She needed time to regain some self confidence, believe that she was safe and would not be forced back to school because she was useless.
We ended up letting go of formality in learning and allowing the child time to 'deschool', to relax and do only the things she was interested in for the time being. For us this worked well and eventually this time of deschooling became 'unschooling' or interest led, informal 'autonomous education'.
Other children's love of structure returns and the family may choose to have a more formal timetable in place. There are different ways to home educate and each family will find the right path for themselves, however many children need time to 'deschool
"Deschooling is the process by which a child who has been in school re-acclimatises him or her self towards the new environment of home education from the school environment.
When a child is first removed from school the child's (and parents) expectations about what education is undergoes a period of reassessment. Schools follow a highly structured educational style with class learning regulated by the national curriculum and regular changes of subjects through the day. But its not just what is learned and how that changes, it's the institutional ethos. By this I mean the structured culture and authoritarian environment of school which of course plays little part in home life.
Sometime a child may have been traumatised by their school experiences. Perhaps by bullying, or the sense of being a small cog in a large institution. Sometimes it can be specific incidents leading to school refusal that leads to the decision to home educate. In these kinds of circumstances the process of deschooling is not limited to relearning how to learn, its learning how to trust in their own safety again. In this sense its the re-establishment of the child's concept of self and individuality.
Since their education has sometimes been bound together with fear and low self esteem then attempts to introduce formal learning into the child's life too soon after a removal from school may well be met with resistance from the child. It therefore can take some time for the child to see formal education as a safe and positive thing."
Whilst I heartily agree with the recommendation about Alan Thomas' book, there is another written especially for families such as yours and mine.
Home Educating our Autistic Spectrum Children : Paths are made by walking edited by Terri Dowty and Kit Cowlishshaw
Product description:
Mainstream educational provision for children on the autistic spectrum can be inadequate or inappropriate. An increasing number of parents dissatisfied with the education system are looking elsewhere for an approach that will suit their children's needs. In "Home Educating Our Autistic Spectrum Children", parents who have chosen to home educate their children with autism or Asperger's syndrome candidly relate their experiences: how they reached the decision to educate at home, how they set about the task, and how it has affected their lives. Following these personal accounts, the final chapters offer practical advice on getting started with home education, legal advice from an expert in education law, and contact details of support organisations
Please also have a look at the Home Education-Special Needs website and their associated email support list. I cannot recommend the list highly enough for any family considering home educating their child with SEN, there you will find the real experts on this subject, the parents actually doing this and they will recognise your situation immediately, as it is something most of the posters there will have gone through. You will find a very warm welcome and lots of support and damn good advice.