The teacher within

I have mentioned before that my 12 year old son struggles with ADHD/LD,Anxiety and depression. He has struggled off and on in school. He's had some great teachers and some real crappy teachers. He is very smart and we are often surprised at the interesting facts he tells us. He has been having a hard time adjusting to middle school. He's pretty much failing all his classes. His teachers make him feel bad for asking questions or asking for help. Kids tease him and pick on him and he feels stupid. He has a hard time getting up and getting ready for school. It's a constant struggle as I remind him every 10 minutes to wake up and keep moving. (He'll eat, then fall asleep in the bathrroom, maybe get dressed, then fall asleep in my room or his room) Once or twice he's missed the bus.

I was reading some friend's blogs the other night and came accross one that talked about homeschooling. I had actually considered this at one time, but felt I didn't have what it takes to be a teacher, especially to a "special needs" child. And yet, something clicked when I came upon her blog. It felt so right to look into homeschooling my son. I'm still researching it all, but we are on our way.  When he missed the bus yesterday, I thought "How on earth am I supposed to drive 30 minutes into town on icy/snowy roads in our van?"  "What if I get stuck, what if we get in an accident?" My girls weren't awake yet, so I'd have to get them up and ready and take him late. I know it might sound like poor planning on my part. Or maybe you think I'm irresponsible? But I didn't feel good about taking him. It was the last straw and I had had enough. (Sometimes his bus doesn't even wait for him and will leave a few minutes early than scheduled)

So yesterday I just had him do some studying. I had him look up things online while I researched homeschooling and where to begin. This morning I let him sleep in till 8:30. What a difference! It still took a couple tries to wake him up, but he woke up HAPPY! He got up without arguing, he actually seemed ready for the day! I had him eat breakfast and got him started on some educational games. He's done some science, problem solving and world history. Then I had him take a 15 minute break and made him some hot chocolate. Then it was reading time. (Literature Arts books that we acquired somehow) Then back to educational games. He is eating it all up! It's amazing. He was even reading to his little sister. I haven't seen him so happy and willing to learn in a long time. Now, I'm just winging it to start out, but I think this is a great start!
I am studying different curriculums and will hopefully have a set plan for next week.

I would love to hear from other home school moms! I do not however want to hear from those against homeschooling.
By the way, my 2 daughters are doing wonderfully in school and I will be keeping them in school for now. My son needs the one on one attention, and I need to get my footing. Who knows what next year will bring though. 

I might get my basement office finished for Christmas. It's been a work in progress, doing little things at a time, with a little bit of money at a time. I'm thinking my "old" office will probably become a classroom of sorts, and I'm all kinds of excited about the possibilites.