Week One of 9th Grade

Although this is my eighth year homeschooling Zack, I have a daunting feeling about getting through high school.  Can I provide the best education for him?  Will he get the most out of his high school experience?  I enjoyed high school so much, I feel like I'm cheating him out of the social experience by keeping him at home.  But then, I have to remind myself that social experiences aren't the same for him as they were for me.  For him, being in a class of students is not exhilarating or exciting.  Sitting next to your "best friend" or the "cute one" is not motivating or enticing for him.  All he hears is the noise and all he sees are the distractions.  The anxiety in him builds and builds until he is in tears.  He begins telling kids to "shh,"  and "pay attention to the teacher."  Of course, he's right!  The kids should be quiet in their learning environment.  But, it doesn't make Zack a popular student.  Kids don't like to be told what to do by other kids.  "And anyway, what's wrong with that guy?" I imagine they think to themselves.  Not all classes are stressful for Zack.  He enjoyed the Mad Science classes I enrolled him in.  But he still tried to control the class.  

After talking to the counselor at Visions in Education, the public charter school I home school through, I am convinced that this is the best option for Zack.  He can pursue his interests in drama and cartooning, and get the one-on-one academic teaching that is so important to him.  After receiving his STARS scores, I feel confident that this is working for him and that having him graduate with a diploma is a feasible task. 

This first week went great.  I had some apprehension about taking him to the gym for his  daily exercise.  New experiences are often very difficult for Zack.  If the "picture" in his mind doesn't match up with the reality of the experience, it can cause a meltdown.  A meltdown for Zack is heightened anxiety displayed by pacing, verbal sounds of agitation, and eventually tears.  However, when we walked into the gym, he didn't make a sound and he had no problems getting on the treadmill.  We started at a slow 1.5 mph pace until he could adjust his balance and get the hang of the feeling of the earth moving beneath his feet!  He had his MP3 player which has recordings of Disney movie theme songs.  The music always calms him down.  Before the end of 30 minutes, he had increased the speed to 3.5 and was even jogging a little.  He enjoyed the exercise and we went back the next two days. 

All other academic topics are about the same as previous years.  We are continuing with Saxon Math.  This year it's Algebra.  Since reading is still a challenge for him, I got The Phantom Tollbooth on CD.  He follows along in the book and then completes comprehension questions.  He's a strong science student, so Earth Science shouldn't be a problem.  Other than that, he will be taking a drama class again, and he is working on his cartoon drawings.  After getting the first week under our belt, I'm feeling less angst about it, and am looking forward to another year of teaching Zack.