Home schooling question

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I'm just gonna say it: I want my kids home-schooled; my girlfriend has already backed me on it.

We'll probably hire a private tudor or something to do it.

Now, I know it's been mentioned that the state keeps checking on you to make sure the kid has a social life, and the good news is my gal is a very sociable person, so she could easily teach the kids social skills that way...just to keep the feds happy.

However, if the kid's Autistic like dear old daddy, is there some way I could potentially show that he/she has a social life without actually pressuring him to do social activities he doesn't want to do?

Yes, I consider the majority of society a bunch of superficial sadists who are more concerned with having my kids do "what's good for society", rather than what benefits them individually, but I'm really not totally sure how to handle this situation, so I thought I'd get input from you folks...if you had any ideas.

Hey...we're the Autistic folks, so I'm hoping for a good thorough discussion if possible

My mom had this group of moms and their kids and we always used to go on camping trips and picnics and walks and things when we were little, and for a while when we were older, too. I bet you could find some kind of group like that. Those kids were the only kids that I never really felt nervous or sad around, probably because everyone's moms were there so nobody got bullied or shunned, and it was more like having a lot of brothers and sisters.

Checking on their social life? Really? In my experience in the home-schooling world I don't think that ever happened.

Especially if your child had a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder, I don't think that is a big deal.

There are groups for homeschooling kids to get together and do things with. There are also groups for autistic kids / special needs kids.

Private tutors are cost a lot of money I might add.

Well, that they're checking doesn't really particularly matter; it does matter whether your autistic kid has a chance to try socializing. He should, obviously. It's just that when it's overwhelming, it doesn't do any good--so safe, small situations that he can retreat from if he needs to seem to be what's required here.

Home-school groups can be good. They can also be big and noisy. You may want to go without your autistic child to any big meetings, and arrange for small groups; most likely you are also sensitive to them and know what is most likely to bother your kid, too. Some small groups will probably already exist; many home school organizations form sports teams, chess clubs, debate clubs... you know, all the extracurriculars any school has. You can probably start your own small group, too, if there's enough interest; let's say your kid's a budding entomologist--well, start a biology club, see if there's any other bug nuts out there.

Regarding tutors: If you are college-educated and willing to spend about two to six hours a day (depending on the circumstances and how self-motivated your child is), you will probably not need them. For that matter, even with a high-school education, many parents can teach their children at least up to fourth or fifth grade.

Your state will probably require standardized testing to make sure your child isn't falling behind. This shouldn't be a problem; the standardized tests, as I remember taking them, are very simple and straightforward. There are usually a few ambiguous questions, but not usually enough to really mess up your scores. We always took them at home... taking them away from home could be a problem. For that matter the ACT/SAT might be a problem, but think about that when you come to it.

We've homeschooled our children for over 10 years, and have done it in just about every possible way. I've created curriculums, purchased curriculums, used online schools, been apart of co-op groups, and we've used tutors.

Right now, my 15 year old, who will enter the 11th grade in the fall, is in Mexico for three weeks attending an emersion school for Spanish. She was tutored for 2 years here by a mom who taught math and Spanish out of her house, and this course in Mexico will count for high school and college credit.

My son, who will also enter the 11th grade in the fall, is tutored by a professor at the arts college in the city next to us. She teaches him what she teaches her college freshmen, so he's getting 'honors' credit for it.

In our state, once a child is in 11th grade, they can attend college courses and receive dual credit - high school and college. And they can also take online classes from any school and get credit for them.

I also have a daughter in the 7th grade, and one in the 5th.

Anyway, if you have questions or need help, let me know.

Some things you can do:

Find out if there are other homeschoolers in the area and meet up with them.

Encourage your kids to go to suitable activities or clubs. (note, I said suitable - no need to force them to go somewhere they'll get sensory problems or be out of their depth with other.)

When I was in grade school, my best friends were over 65 in age and I was reading adult novels. I would have done fine in an adult special interest group if we had thought of it, and there would have been no shoving or obnoxious behaviour from other kids.
When I did homeschool, I took the kids to lots of field trips and special interest classes etc, and they worked out well since most homeschool kids are well behaved.
I loved learning and teachers and fieldtrips, and would have loved school if it weren't for all the other students being so nasty to me and loud and rude and pushy and fast and not giving me time to study what I wanted.

We had a party at our house some time ago, and one of the adult's children turned out to have Asperger's. The boy and I ended up in the computer room away from the rest of the party and we had a marvelous time looking up stuff about hermit crabs.

The right to homeschool is very well protected within the United States and I don't know of any state that can look into your homeschool situation and judge how well your child is being socialized. Each state has their own requirements. Some are quite lax. A few of the states do not even require that you notify the local school board that you are homeschooling.

About socialization, there are many opportunities for homeschoolers to socialize. I would say that my son has become much more social since I started homeschooling him. He was too stressed out in public school to even think about socializing.

I went to school when they still taught reading writing and 'rithmatic, and yes they still had a hickory stick.

My children seemed to spend most of their time in elementary school making posters about dinosaurs.
Then they went to high school and STILL made damned posters.

My daughter has the sense to home school her own children.
She is lucky to be able to do this because her husband makes enough money for her to be able to be a stay at home mom. Most mothers don't have that advantage.