high school and beyond?

[cherylswope]

What are those of you with struggling students planning to do for high school? College?

Enigma, if you do not mind sharing, have you finalized any plans for the fall with your son?

Because of my 17yo twins, I would greatly appreciate hearing others' hopes and plans for the future of their own special-needs children, whether still middle-school age or older.

For example, does anyone else plan to continue teaching at home beyond "graduation" age?
Thanks--
Cheryl

[Enigma]

I do not mind sharing.

For reasons I do not wish to disclose, this child must be registered in an accredited outside accountable (read not Mom) program for high school starting in September. I do not plan for him to graduate 'on time'. He will have 4-5 years to work through the program. The school we chose sends only 1-2 courses at a time that he can take at his own pace so I think he will do fine. He does better with fewer subjects anyway.

Since the school will not be sending any math for a bit, I am thinking of using the Key To... math books starting with fractions and moving along from there. My only concern with them is the lack of review from one topic to the next. Once you finish fractions and move on to the next set of books covering decimals, you finish fractions. I don't know what else to do, though. If anyone knows of a similar program but with review, I am all ears.

As far as University is concerned, I don't know that he will go. The most likely scenario is he will go live and work with my youngest brother and his wife in their business.

I have to be okay with that. I have to have faith that he will find the path God has laid out for him and be happy.

[dsmith]

We plan to continue with what we are doing, going slowly through our materials (mostly Memoria Press) while working on important life skills. We are planning to graduate ds at 19, knowing that he will not be ready at 17 or 18. This year I am adding computer programming to his studies. The program we have uses a language my husband actually programs in, so that will be a big help. If that progresses well, my husband plans on letting ds do some work with him in the future. Ds often says that he plans on taking over the business, so that is a definite possibility for the future. It's too early to say whether college is in the future for ds. I've heard from many parents of aspies that around the age of 16/17 great leaps were made across many areas. It is likely that if he does attend college, he will start at the local community college with a class at a time, while working part time with dh.

[Enigma]

dsmith, what computer course are you using? My son wants to learn that, as well.

[dsmith]

We are using this:

http://www.homeschoolprogramming.com...t_overview.php

I am also checking out this:
https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.or...-design-1/?c=1

The first one teaches languages my husband is very familiar with, especially Visual Basic, so that is the main reason for choosing that. The second one looks interesting, but I know nothing about it. Dh has to look at it for me.

If you are on the WTM boards, there has been a number of threads about programming.

dsmith, what computer course are you using? My son wants to learn that, as well.

[cherylswope]

“Enigma” and “dsmith” (wish I knew your real names!),

Thank you for your responses. Our three families seem to have reached the same conclusion. We want our children to enjoy classical education as long and as deeply as they are able, even if they move more slowly than most. Like yours, our children will graduate a little later. I know others with special-needs children who have similar plans.

My husband and I have concluded that we want to give our children a lifelong love of learning, an appreciation for the liberal arts, and a desire to read good literature all their lives. We want them to enjoy a freeing education, so they become comfortable in the realm of great ideas. We want to help them think clearly, especially with all of the difficulties they face. We want their lives to be of service to others. If this service becomes rather menial, due to their own limitations, then this is perfectly fine.

My next “field trip” with my own children will be to our town's sheltered workshop. At least one of my twins may work there alongside individuals with whom they enjoy Challenger Baseball (similar to Special Olympics). Both twins desire to earn a paycheck, contribute to our household, and give money to our small church. As a parent, who could ask for more? We just want to help them find the greatest use of their own gifts and talents within their own very real limitations.

In the meantime, like both of you, we have come to accept the reality that their education will be slower than that of the neighbor's child. Enigma, your posts in particular often reflect back to me with painful familiarity the hard-earned blend of heartache and acceptance. There are some things only parents of challenged children know. Like you, I have learned that a few classes at a time, a good book at a time, one step at a time.... This is how we help our struggling students.

Do you plan, dsmith, to enroll your son in any formal computer classes? If so, do you have a venue to recommend? I have wondered how my son would do in these. His auditory processing tests significantly low, 1-2%ile, so he needs directions repeated often; yet he has some aptitude for (and strong interest in) computers. We will also consider the links you suggested.

With your son, Enigma, alongside his new academic program this fall I hope he regains his love of reading good literature in his leisure time. My son has enjoyed Pearl S. Buck's books, including The Good Earth, and especially Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. He has created a good list of books to recommend to other boys. If anyone is interested, I can post his list here. Michael hopes to organize a small book club with our homeschooling friends this fall. Before he became ill with schizophrenia, he read much more widely. I am thankful for this, because the love of reading good literature came to him early. Today he reads more slowly, but he still reads. Often he listens to literature on audio book. He says that great authors engage him in a way that few individuals in real life can (or will) do.

I recently attended a classical education conference in which a session leader described “leisure” as, historically, a time away from one's work for the purpose of study. How different from our notion of the escapism and entertainment! Perhaps if we cultivate in our children a good use of leisure, no matter where they work, we will help them continue their classical education well into their adult lives.

Blessings to both of you--
Cheryl

[Enigma]

I would love to see and use his list. Please post it.

[cherylswope]

Some of these books might be a little young for your son, but my son has enjoyed rereading them, even as he has grown older.
Cheryl

"Michael's List of Good Books, Especially for Boys"

Little Britches series (Little Britches, Man of the Family, The Home Ranch, Mary Emma & Company, The Fields of Home, Shaking the Nickel Bush, The Dry Divide, Horse of a Different Color)

Peter Pan, unabridged, Barrie

The Adventures & The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, Arthur Conan Doyle

George Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation

The Tempest and Hamlet, Shakespeare

Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson

Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

Robinson Crusoe, Daniel Defoe

My Side of the Mountain, George

Call of the Wild, Sea Wolf, and White Fang, Jack London
(also, Jack London: Tales of the North, a collection of complete novels & 15 short stories)

Old Yeller, Gipson

Hans Brinker, Mary M. Dodge

The Good Earth, Pearl Buck

Rascal: A Memoir of a Better Era, Sterling North

Shadrach, Along Came a Dog, Last Little Cat, A Journey from Peppermint Street, DeJong

Three Musketeers, Man in the Iron Mask, Alexander Dumas

Captains Courageous, Jungle Books, Kim, Just So Stories, Rudyard Kipling

Hobbit, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, J.R.R. Tolkein

The Chronicles of Narnia, Space Trilogy, C.S. Lewis

The Little Lame Prince and the Adventures of a Brownie, Dina Maria Mulock

The Swiss Family Robinson, Johann R. Wyss

The Adventures of Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi

A Wrinkle in Time, and others Madeline L'Engle

[SaintJude7]

late to the party

My son is 12 and autistic. I just pulled him out of public school this past spring. He is a functional reader and loves to spend most of his time drawing. He is mid-functioning, because he has some emerging self-care skills but very limited communication skills. He will never go to college and would probably only be able to work for a family business for his own safety. My husband says we will open a business when we are older and make him the Vice President of Coloring. I always hoped that he would start to read fiction at some point, but he has zero interest in it. I have started working on very basic poetry with him, because he likes songs and jingles and repeats phrases from movies. He can add double digit numbers, subtraction is harder. We just want him to be safe, happy, learn our faith, and be exposed to the true, good, and beautiful at whatever levels he can handle. The public schools wanted him to be a functioning unit in society.

[cherylswope]

[QUOTE=SaintJude7]

"We just want him to be safe, happy, learn our faith, and be exposed to the true, good, and beautiful at whatever levels he can handle."


SaintJude,
I love this! Thank you.

Yes, not all of our children are capable of advanced levels of study. Your son sounds more like my daughter Michelle. Even as a young woman, she will never be able to enjoy college-level work; yet we can continue to strengthen her mind, nurture her faith, and cultivate her talents for the service of others.

You can come late to the party any time.
Thanks--
Cheryl

[cherylswope]

I just stumbled upon a collection of resources some might find helpful on the topic of education after "graduation":

http://www.homeschoolchristian.com/r...hool/index.php


The link includes resources for college-level coursework (and college credit) from home.

Cheryl