Re: general awareness--problems with school / homeschooling

[Guest guest]

> It makes me sad when people give up and go to homeschooling

because

> of problems they have had dealing with school personnel. There are

> many, many, many caring teachers out there. I'm so sorry that so

> many of you have had negative experiences with schools regarding

> celiac.

Please don't sell homeschooling short, either for medical or

educational reasons. We went to it as an emergency measure when the

school district completely failed to meet our son's educational

needs. They thought they could cope with celiac, but they were just

plain unwilling to deal with high IQ, educationally advanced

kindergartener. For those many caring teachers you mention, there

are also many whose classroom skills range from mediocre to awful -

and we got one best described as " incompetent. "

In the year we have homeschooled, my son's celiac has been

completely under control - no accidental ingestions because of

clueless teachers, and no emotional distress from being on the

sidelines for yet another school party. No feeling left out when the

other kids chow down on gluten treats. Instead he has learned to

bake his own GF treats (minimal assistance w/ oven) and handles his

medical condition with pride at knowing how to take care of himself.

Side benefits are that with him eating 3 meals/day with a parent,

we've made huge strides in his nutritional status, and he has gone

up several growth curves. Last year in school, he had a respiratory

infection about every other week, and lost a lot of time due to

being sick. No respiratory infections this past winter - which has

enabled his immune system to start to recover from 2 years of

battering at school with its constant supply of germs.

Oh, and academically? He's about 3 years ahead of his age.

Maureen

p.s. " homeschooling " is actually a misnomer, as we do a great many

things out and about in our community - educational, sports, arts,

science, etc.

[Guest guest]

> It makes me sad when people give up and go to homeschooling

because

> of problems they have had dealing with school personnel. There are

> many, many, many caring teachers out there. I'm so sorry that so

> many of you have had negative experiences with schools regarding

> celiac.

Please don't sell homeschooling short, either for medical or

educational reasons. We went to it as an emergency measure when the

school district completely failed to meet our son's educational

needs. They thought they could cope with celiac, but they were just

plain unwilling to deal with high IQ, educationally advanced

kindergartener. For those many caring teachers you mention, there

are also many whose classroom skills range from mediocre to awful -

and we got one best described as " incompetent. "

In the year we have homeschooled, my son's celiac has been

completely under control - no accidental ingestions because of

clueless teachers, and no emotional distress from being on the

sidelines for yet another school party. No feeling left out when the

other kids chow down on gluten treats. Instead he has learned to

bake his own GF treats (minimal assistance w/ oven) and handles his

medical condition with pride at knowing how to take care of himself.

Side benefits are that with him eating 3 meals/day with a parent,

we've made huge strides in his nutritional status, and he has gone

up several growth curves. Last year in school, he had a respiratory

infection about every other week, and lost a lot of time due to

being sick. No respiratory infections this past winter - which has

enabled his immune system to start to recover from 2 years of

battering at school with its constant supply of germs.

Oh, and academically? He's about 3 years ahead of his age.

Maureen

p.s. " homeschooling " is actually a misnomer, as we do a great many

things out and about in our community - educational, sports, arts,

science, etc.

[Guest guest]

> It makes me sad when people give up and go to homeschooling

because

> of problems they have had dealing with school personnel. There are

> many, many, many caring teachers out there. I'm so sorry that so

> many of you have had negative experiences with schools regarding

> celiac.

Please don't sell homeschooling short, either for medical or

educational reasons. We went to it as an emergency measure when the

school district completely failed to meet our son's educational

needs. They thought they could cope with celiac, but they were just

plain unwilling to deal with high IQ, educationally advanced

kindergartener. For those many caring teachers you mention, there

are also many whose classroom skills range from mediocre to awful -

and we got one best described as " incompetent. "

In the year we have homeschooled, my son's celiac has been

completely under control - no accidental ingestions because of

clueless teachers, and no emotional distress from being on the

sidelines for yet another school party. No feeling left out when the

other kids chow down on gluten treats. Instead he has learned to

bake his own GF treats (minimal assistance w/ oven) and handles his

medical condition with pride at knowing how to take care of himself.

Side benefits are that with him eating 3 meals/day with a parent,

we've made huge strides in his nutritional status, and he has gone

up several growth curves. Last year in school, he had a respiratory

infection about every other week, and lost a lot of time due to

being sick. No respiratory infections this past winter - which has

enabled his immune system to start to recover from 2 years of

battering at school with its constant supply of germs.

Oh, and academically? He's about 3 years ahead of his age.

Maureen

p.s. " homeschooling " is actually a misnomer, as we do a great many

things out and about in our community - educational, sports, arts,

science, etc.

[Guest guest]

Maureen,

Another very good benefit of homeschooling we have found is the fantastic relationship I have with my homeschooled children. I am a mother of four. Our adopted son went through the public school system. We are homeschooling the younger three, all with celiac. While our relationship is great now with our 19 year old son, we had several very rocky times with him. He was extremely rebellious, and generally unwilling to talk to us or take advice. He was often in trouble at school and on the road. Our three youngest children (15,13,11) seek our advice, and talk to us. They are never rebellious. They get along well with people of any age, and are never rude to anyone outside the family, and only occasionally to each other (the 15 year old girl on a monthly basis ). They have great relationships with their friends. Add to all that the benefits you already mentioned, I am so glad we made the decision we did.

homeschooling in Jupiter, FL

Re: general awareness--problems with school / homeschooling

> It makes me sad when people give up and go to homeschooling because > of problems they have had dealing with school personnel. There are > many, many, many caring teachers out there. I'm so sorry that so > many of you have had negative experiences with schools regarding > celiac. Please don't sell homeschooling short, either for medical or educational reasons. We went to it as an emergency measure when the school district completely failed to meet our son's educational needs. They thought they could cope with celiac, but they were just plain unwilling to deal with high IQ, educationally advanced kindergartener. For those many caring teachers you mention, there are also many whose classroom skills range from mediocre to awful - and we got one best described as "incompetent."In the year we have homeschooled, my son's celiac has been completely under control - no accidental ingestions because of clueless teachers, and no emotional distress from being on the sidelines for yet another school party. No feeling left out when the other kids chow down on gluten treats. Instead he has learned to bake his own GF treats (minimal assistance w/ oven) and handles his medical condition with pride at knowing how to take care of himself.Side benefits are that with him eating 3 meals/day with a parent, we've made huge strides in his nutritional status, and he has gone up several growth curves. Last year in school, he had a respiratory infection about every other week, and lost a lot of time due to being sick. No respiratory infections this past winter - which has enabled his immune system to start to recover from 2 years of battering at school with its constant supply of germs. Oh, and academically? He's about 3 years ahead of his age.Maureenp.s. "homeschooling" is actually a misnomer, as we do a great many things out and about in our community - educational, sports, arts, science, etc.

[Guest guest]

I'm glad that homeschooling worked for you, but as a high school counselor in the public school I see a greater amount of kids and parents with great relationships than vice versa. It's just usually the "trouble makers" get the attention

Re: general awareness--problems with school / homeschooling

> It makes me sad when people give up and go to homeschooling because > of problems they have had dealing with school personnel. There are > many, many, many caring teachers out there. I'm so sorry that so > many of you have had negative experiences with schools regarding > celiac. Please don't sell homeschooling short, either for medical or educational reasons. We went to it as an emergency measure when the school district completely failed to meet our son's educational needs. They thought they could cope with celiac, but they were just plain unwilling to deal with high IQ, educationally advanced kindergartener. For those many caring teachers you mention, there are also many whose classroom skills range from mediocre to awful - and we got one best described as "incompetent."In the year we have homeschooled, my son's celiac has been completely under control - no accidental ingestions because of clueless teachers, and no emotional distress from being on the sidelines for yet another school party. No feeling left out when the other kids chow down on gluten treats. Instead he has learned to bake his own GF treats (minimal assistance w/ oven) and handles his medical condition with pride at knowing how to take care of himself.Side benefits are that with him eating 3 meals/day with a parent, we've made huge strides in his nutritional status, and he has gone up several growth curves. Last year in school, he had a respiratory infection about every other week, and lost a lot of time due to being sick. No respiratory infections this past winter - which has enabled his immune system to start to recover from 2 years of battering at school with its constant supply of germs. Oh, and academically? He's about 3 years ahead of his age.Maureenp.s. "homeschooling" is actually a misnomer, as we do a great many things out and about in our community - educational, sports, arts, science, etc.

[Guest guest]

We love that we home school. Sometimes I laugh about the "unsocialization" issue. I don't remember being allowed to talk in class! **smile** However, with the Celiac, homeschooling makes it one less thing I have to worry about. I am thankful for that. For most of my DD's events, that would contain food, I just pack her GF food. I know I could do that for school as well, but sometimes there are "surprise" events, so this helps a lot. Also, my DD is almost 7 (3 weeks) and is the average size of a 3-4 year old. This is a result of the malnutrition from undiagnosed Celiac. I wonder how that would affect her in class. Because homeschoolers are around people of all ages, it doesn't seem to be an issue now. She holds her own, and is uplifted, and treated as a 6/7 year old should be. Jennie OsborneCan I help you develop a child in your life into a spiritual

champion?www.jensnest.comwww.joinnest.com

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[Guest guest]

After reading some of the experiences on here I just want to say how lucky I feel and how very grateful I am towards my son's school. Everyone has been so incredibly supportive. He is now going into the 5th grade this coming monday, so I do have the advantage of him being old enough to understand his condition and be in control of his diet. He was diagnosed at the beginning of 3rd grade. At that time his teacher had a friend who was a celiac, so she understood all about the disease. And as luck would have it she has transitioned to 5th grade this year and he's got her again. I keep a few boxes of gf treats as emergency backups for class functions, but I usually will bake something and take it in for the whole class to share. His teachers always set it away from the gluten stuff so as not to cross-contaminate, and all the kids love it and only know it's gf because they know it's Sebastian's. And

last year his class won a pizza party for something they had done, so I made him a homemade pizza and took it in. The kids were all like how cool he gets a whole pizza to himself. He did share it with others (putting the slice on a plate for them so their hands didn't touch what he would eat). His teacher that he had last year would give out treats at the end of the month for their accomplishments, she found some gf candies and kept those specially for him to have so he wouldn't feel left out. And both the teachers when there have been class parties and things like fruit or other safe foods were brought in they either had them put on a separate table or let my son go first to get his stuff, to avoid any cross-contamination. The new school nurse we got at the end of last year, when I talked to her, spent several hours researching it and sat down with me after to discuss it. She plans on taking my son

around to each classroom for him to talk to the kids about having celiac disease (she did this last year with one of his classmates who was diabetic). I was invited to go back to the cafeteria and look at all the ingredients for the foods that they fix, which i did but ended deciding much safer to pack a lunch. And our principal is amazing, for one thing she knows every one of the kids by their name!! and we've got over 600 kids in the school. But our school does fundraisers at Mcs where the staff do the cooking and the serving and our principal goes around wearing a tip cape (lots of pockets and very colorful), and when she sees us she always will say 'hi Sebastian, did you remember to tell them no bun?'. Ok now i've been rambling on.. like I said after seeing some of yalls experiences I just felt like we were really lucky and I wish yall could have a school as supportive as ours. Lanie __________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I agree with Maureen. I have 10yo boy/girl twins. We started

homeschooling more than three years ago, pulling the kids out in the middle of

second grade. I know there are caring teachers out there, but my kids didn’t

encounter them. Instead, they had teachers who were abrasive, apathetic, and in

one case even abusive. Their solution to my children being bright was to “order”

me not to read to them or let them read anything on their own so the rest of

the class would have time to catch up. They also wanted to medicate my son so

he’d be too sedated to notice how bored he was and make any demands of

them. They told my daughter that nobody would like her if she was too smart,

and encouraged her to dumb herself down to fit in with the other girls. And

this was in a full-day gifted program. Since coming home, the kids have soared

academically and been free to explore topics that would’ve remained unavailable

to them until college.

We started homeschooling before the kids were diagnosed with

celiac, and I’m so glad we didn’t have to go through some of the

nightmares that’ve been described here. They’ve already experienced

enough of it at summer programs and social gatherings, when well-meaning

counselors and adult friends (mostly teachers, interestingly) try to get them

to eat with the crowd so they won’t feel “left out.” Being

subjected to that attitude on a daily basis would be awful for a child. Rather

than the diet being portrayed as a bad thing by ignorant teachers, my kids have

developed a very positive attitude towards the diet. They know what they can

and cannot eat, so they’re able to make the right choices when they’re

offered food at friends’ houses. And we have time to try different

recipes and cook together, with the result that they’ll be much more

independent by the time they’re ready for college.

I also agree with about the relationship aspects of

homeschooling. My kids have friends of all ages, and they seem to understand

the give-and-take of relationships better than their same-age friends who go to

school. We’ve become closer as a family, and being home has definitely

strengthened their twin bond. At school, the teachers often pitted them against

each other, hoping to break that bond just as they attempt to break family

bonds in order to make themselves the authority. They’d talk about one twin

with the other and actively try to cause strife. At home, the kids work and

play together and consider each other their best friends, but they’re

also very strong independently.

Deciding to homeschool was the best choice we ever made, on

absolutely every level.

Jenn