deschooling advice

[bettywobble]

Hi, we are currently in our 2nd month of home ed, and are deschooling at the minute. What sort of ideas can we do without pushing my DS too hard (he is 6 and has adhd and autism)? All he wants to do is play on the computer all day, then play outside at night. I suppose I am just having a panic thinking he isn't learning, when I guess he is learning all the time from general life. Reassurances please!
Debbie xx

take the lead from the computer interest. cbeebies, nickjr.com [not .co.uk - it's pants], pbskids, poissonrouge, starfall.com, orisinal.com, mickeymouseclubhouse

lots of people love enchanted learning but i am ashamed to say that, so far, I have been too tightfisted to subscribe.

more to say but gtg

Would he be up to helping make his own website, or setting up a blog? If he's not so into writing, he could put up pictures he draws/ creates on pc (if you have a scanner). My son hates writing but is okay if he gets to type and he loves drawing superheroes,etc and comics. Just make the most of what he likes without being too pushy. The science museum and natural history museum have excellent websites with great games. Being outdoors at night is a great excuse for a bit of astronomy or a naughty messy science experiment in the garden . Don't push it for now though, it takes a while to get school out of the system.

Hi betty - Im new to HE too!
My ds is 8 and has aspergers

We like these learning ladder
We bought two box sets from pc world (similar price as Amazon) so we have preschool to year 2 (about 8 different programs) and year 3-6 (4 programs)

It logs what the child does and gives the child a sticker for them to put in a sticker book

ie its just like education city but instead of paying out for EC every year with this you pay for the lot Once and that is it - much better value for essentially the same product

Away from the computer could you get him interested in knex, lego, magnetix etc

Could he do a project on one of his interests? Ds is very keen on maps and the london underground so spends hours drawing maps, giving me quizzes and recreating various roads and train lines on the floor with wooden train track - hours of fun (apparently!)

Also we have been going on walks - what do we need to take? lets pack a bag! shall we take lunch or just drinks?
Lets see if we can spot features we can see around us on the ordnance survey map etc
(we like maps here!)

Library trips are fab - see what he gravitates towards and learn about that - ds likes space, birds, history and maps!
Plus he is reading through roald dahl, dick king smith etc
Together we are reading all sorts currently Alice in Wonderland and a poetry anthology (a few pages each day)

Only today I was thinking we werent doing much - but looking at that looooooooong post I can see we are doing loads!
I hope some of our ideas inspire you and your ds
(ommmward continue being tightfisted and get learning ladder, honestly its fab and better!)

outside at night is great. torches, of different sizes and types. go bat watching. sometimes you come across cats, foxes, all sorts of interesting animals out at night. this time of year you can go fireworks hunting, or look for houses with pumpkins in the windows

I love being out and about late in the evening with children - might also be a good time to go supermarket shopping if your child gets overwhelmed in crowds.

Thanks for all those brilliant ideas, you have given me loads to go on! I don't feel quite so disheartened by it now, and will be able to use the fact he loves the pc/running around in the dark etc, to my advantage Thanks again.