I wrote this response for a mom on one of the boards I'm active on. After writing it, I realized it might help some of you here.
Check it out I would suggest that you (without him) sit in on a school day and observe. See what his world would be like at school. you will know if this will be the best for him.
Age Could it just be hormones? I have 2 sons and there was definitely a lot of that going on.
A book Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking-Go straight to the chapter on raising an introvert. As an introvert myself and raising one too.... this book is amazing!!!! There's a Ted talk by the author here. It made me tear up.
Online options There's a great book by Tom Vander Ark called Getting Smart. You will want to skip over some of it but for the most part, it's great. There are a million online options that are available to public school kids, that you can use too.
Food Allergies Many people find that their anxiety is eliminated when they cut wheat from their diet. I did not have extreme anxiety but I can say that this has had an impact on my life.
Unschooling Work with him to determine what he wants to learn. This is scary but may be the answer for a couple of years. Penelope Trunk writes at length about the latest research and her experience with unschooling. As a mom looking back at homeschooling, much of what we did, probably didn't matter that much. Both of my sons are in college and doing really well. Looking back,the best things I did for my kids was read a lot and teach them how to write and plan papers.
Unconventional Homeschooling Work to create something entirely different for him. Maybe he needs to watch 5 Tedx Talks a day and do a summary of them. Here's one to get him started. Then go to code academy (free) and learn computer coding for an hour.
Then have him start a blog about something interesting to him and write one entry a day along with designing the layout (blogger is free). And read for 1-2 hours a day... anything of his choice. You may need to rethink how you approach this child. Add in adobe illustrator and photoshop and this kid might be engaged and excited about learning as it becomes more relevant to his interests.
Lastly, I would choose relationship above education. You know your child. Don't do anything out of embarassment or because other people think you should do it. Your son sounds like an amazing young man. In the end, having a good relationship is so much more important than what they learned in school.
My son never wanted to have friends over. He preferred to play Legos and read. He would interact with kids when we went to church and friend's houses but was not interested in initiating that contact. I worried so much but didn't let on. I thought I was ruining him by homeschooling him.
That same kid now attends Wheaton college, lives in the dorms, stays up until all hours with his friends and was elected to student council. He has deep connections, a darling girlfriend and good grades. (And we hardly did any science at home.)
Hope some of this helps a little:)
Check it out I would suggest that you (without him) sit in on a school day and observe. See what his world would be like at school. you will know if this will be the best for him.
Age Could it just be hormones? I have 2 sons and there was definitely a lot of that going on.
A book Quiet: The power of introverts in a world that can't stop talking-Go straight to the chapter on raising an introvert. As an introvert myself and raising one too.... this book is amazing!!!! There's a Ted talk by the author here. It made me tear up.
Online options There's a great book by Tom Vander Ark called Getting Smart. You will want to skip over some of it but for the most part, it's great. There are a million online options that are available to public school kids, that you can use too.
Food Allergies Many people find that their anxiety is eliminated when they cut wheat from their diet. I did not have extreme anxiety but I can say that this has had an impact on my life.
Unschooling Work with him to determine what he wants to learn. This is scary but may be the answer for a couple of years. Penelope Trunk writes at length about the latest research and her experience with unschooling. As a mom looking back at homeschooling, much of what we did, probably didn't matter that much. Both of my sons are in college and doing really well. Looking back,the best things I did for my kids was read a lot and teach them how to write and plan papers.
Unconventional Homeschooling Work to create something entirely different for him. Maybe he needs to watch 5 Tedx Talks a day and do a summary of them. Here's one to get him started. Then go to code academy (free) and learn computer coding for an hour.
Then have him start a blog about something interesting to him and write one entry a day along with designing the layout (blogger is free). And read for 1-2 hours a day... anything of his choice. You may need to rethink how you approach this child. Add in adobe illustrator and photoshop and this kid might be engaged and excited about learning as it becomes more relevant to his interests.
Lastly, I would choose relationship above education. You know your child. Don't do anything out of embarassment or because other people think you should do it. Your son sounds like an amazing young man. In the end, having a good relationship is so much more important than what they learned in school.
My son never wanted to have friends over. He preferred to play Legos and read. He would interact with kids when we went to church and friend's houses but was not interested in initiating that contact. I worried so much but didn't let on. I thought I was ruining him by homeschooling him.
That same kid now attends Wheaton college, lives in the dorms, stays up until all hours with his friends and was elected to student council. He has deep connections, a darling girlfriend and good grades. (And we hardly did any science at home.)
Hope some of this helps a little:)
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