Tigerlily is very smart.
We were in her specialists office, the doc and I were discussing weight gain issues when out of nowhere Tiger said "it's on the left"
The doc asked her what's on the left, but got no response, but before I could intervene she gave me the hand and walked over to Tiger and asked to see the book Tiger was holding.
Sure enough there was a single question on the page.
Where is the balloon?
It was on the left people.
She was 2 at the time.
An I.Q. test was scheduled. She did well, actually as the questions got harder, her percentages improved. She's no savant, but Tiger is smarter than me. Of course being her father's daughter I always assumed she would be, & I was right (win for me). Along with therapy, I was also teaching my little Tiger and she learned very quickly and once she started speaking again the extent of her learning was hard to miss. So I have proof that homeschooling worked or works? for Tiger.
Flash forward and Tiger starts public school.
Complete Disaster, culminating in Tiger suffering a regression. Losing 30% of her bodyweight and self injuring. Her entire personality changed, to the point that I wonder if she doesn't have ODD.
If you want a good cry see post Pain and Suffering A Lesson Plan.
So I know a standard classroom, even with supports, doesn't work for Tiger. Her sensitivities are too great. She couldn't cope with all the movement, light and noise and that was just in the classroom. At recess, well if you saw what I saw, you would do my goose impression too.
Sniff*
After public came private school. The private school was and is awesome. They adjusted her curriculum day by day to match her abilities. The ratio was 1 teacher to 8 students!!, & she has never attempted to leave her little school ever, not even once. However, she still fights about going to school each day, we still have meltdowns after school, from exhaustion mostly. The effects of the public school debacle are still very evident. Tiger is now tough to engage, if she is not interested, she is not doing it. She hasn't recovered her fine motor skills and she isn't an easy going cooperative kid.
She negotiates and debates about her workload and flat out refuses to be tested. She spent most mornings in grade one and most afternoons in SK. She is ready for grade 2 math but she is not performing to her capabilities in any other subject. Tigerlily is only 6 so repeating grade 1 full day was the plan for this fall but...... I'm questioning if that is the best course for her. She is still dramatically underweight, still gets sick really easily and recovers slowly. she missed 30 days of school that's more than a months tuition gone, and well special schools come with special price tags.
So research has begun and oh boy there are lots of options.
We've eliminated public school for obvious reasons.
Private is still an option, we love her school but how long can we afford it.
Homeschooling has worked in the past but with her current attitude toward learning I'm not sure if I'm strong enough or patient enough, even if she's asking to be homeschooled.
A combination
Private Tutor
Unschooling
It's all a little daunting, and straying from the mainstream is scary in and of itself.
Daddybear thinks that we need to back off while she is still little perhaps De-school her before making any decisions about her future educational path. He thinks that with all the therapy and school that she has been subjected to too much pressure to perform. It's true that Tiger has had to work a lot harder than most kids. I'm so proud of her progress, but have I pushed her too hard? There is a lot of therapy scheduled this summer, most kids get to play all summer.....
So I dunno what I'm doing here. Maybe we'll let the psychologist weigh in before we decide.
The High Functioning Life, there's lots of choices to be made but don't worry, they only affect the ones you love most in the world.
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