I *love* handing that notice to the bewildered principal. I've done it twice, with two different principals. The first time was after a long, protracted battle with the school district... well, read this link if you haven't already. The second time, I had my withdrawal notice already printed up on HSLDA letterhead.
Ahhhh, that felt good, too. This time the principal, bless him, was a new guy gleaned fresh from the teaching fields. He had just suspended my son for yet another infraction of school code. Yes, I only allowed Emperor to stay in school a few hours a day for kindergarten, yet in that week and a half, he had managed to get himself suspended... twice? Three times? Well, no matter. Emperor has yet to "serve his time." Bwa ha ha haaaa... Ok, I'll admit I was a bit adversarial to start with that school year, and my kids knew it. But I don't think Emperor took advantage of that specifically... it was just difficult to sit still and not touch everybody and everything, or flood the bathroom and dance on the water... or... well...
If I had to do it all over again, I think I'd have appreciated this principal more. He was taking over a very overcrowded school and making some positive changes. Plus his predecessor did some very bad things... well, you read the post already. But in the end, it really wasn't about him... it was about my son, Emperor. I think for the time being that this is where he belongs.
HSLDA just popped a little article into my inbox about parents who had difficulty withdrawing their children from public school. I guess when you're in hiding from the school, you make sure the school never knows about your children to start with. But it would sure fulfill whatever stereotype about "unsocialized homeschoolers" there are out there. These poor kids living Anne Frank style in their own homes, unable to do the grocery shopping or play at the park... well, I suppose they were pioneers, and pioneer life isn't supposed to be comfy.
I know there have to be plenty of people who surprised their school principals with a letter of withdrawal, but I don't know of any personally. And as much trouble as we had when my middle sons were IN school, we got zero problems from the district or the staff about withdrawing the children.
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Bringing Garbage Home
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In one of his classes, Emperor had only a couple friends because "the rest of the people are jerks and say nasty things to me." A...
So Emperor is home full-time now?
ReplyDeleteIf so, may this be exactly what he needs... and may you have the patience, strength, and wisdom you need as well.
~Luke
You know, when I homeschooled my kids, they were actually well behaved and great grades. NOW, they all have major behavior problems and are getting C's, D's, and F's. No joke. What the heck is going on? I can't figure it out at all. What changed? This is a higher academics school. They are big on discipline. Now, my kids are falling apart and I'm just about to pull them out! The problem is I now have eight kids living here (nine if you count the girl I babysit) and so it can get on the wild side. I'm not sure what to do but I'm definitely confused about it all.
ReplyDeleteI hope you and Emperor will be happier with him being home. I'm really surprised that a school would "suspend" a kindergartner!
ReplyDeleteWhile I think I may have hurt my son's special education teacher's feelings when I withdrew him from school, I don't think anybody was unhappy to see him go. He was never all that much of a behavior problem but the likelihood was becoming much greater the older he got.
I really like HSLDA.. but for all they recommend you do for homeschooling a special needs child or "struggling learner" as they call them, (documentation, using a consultant, etc..) it almost seems easier to keep your child in school.
Luke, Emperor has been home full-time since a couple weeks into his kindergarten year. He would have been in first grade now if he were in public school. :]
ReplyDeleteVirginia, prayers for your situation!! I know how hard it is to have autism issues in public school even in the best of circumstances!
LAA, thinking on your comment... may need to do a post on it. But I agree. :]