I am a homeschooler and have a very, very hyper kindergardener that has the attention span of a weed. He is very bright, curious, and fun -- just hard to hold is attention and very fidgety.

I was wondering how long other homeschoolers have school in session for thier kindergardener. We are doing about 2 hours of classroom now but talk about things we have learned during the rest of day as we go about our chores, etc. Such as finding things that start with "B", insects we see, etc. I have people telling me 2 hours is not enough that a child can't learn all he needs to in that time that is why schools went to full day for kindergardeners. But my thoughts are that we don't have the things a schools has such as "recess" "lunchtime" (that is after school), and the one-on-one is much more intensive than a child gets in school -- thus the same amount of learning in a smaller time frame. I don't want to sell my child short of an education, but I can't see subjecting him to time that is justing going to frustrate him just for the sake of time. He is learning and he likes school. He just can't sit still or concentrate for long periods of time. Taking breaks only seems to get him too interested in other things and he won't stay on task when we resume school time.

I really do believe that he is hyperactive, but I don't want him on medication. I want him to understand that he needs self-control from within, not from medication. Or am I wrong??? I would really like your opinions and suggestions -- if I am wrong, please steer me right! Thanks a million!

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), September 22, 2001

Answers

Children that age, especially boys, are not supposed to sit still for hours nor should they even be expected to do academics, in my opinion. Read John Taylor Gatto's books, especially "Dumbing us Down". You have to understand that schools are designed for processing the most number of children the quickest, hence the warehousing nature of it. Full-day kindergarten means more money for the schools and higher salaries for union teachers who are now working more hours; schools and the decisions they make are all about money. And research and even a healthy dose of common sense will show you that schoolchildren are not getting six hours of education a day - it's less than 15 minutes of actual learning (and less than that for one-on-one contact with the teacher) and 5+ hours of crowd control, waiting, review, busywork, standing in line, etc.

Don't expect people who've gone through government schools and are now using them for their own children to understand homeschooling and why it works. Some of them take your homeschooling as an indictment of THEIR choosing to government school their kids and will try to undermine or criticize your efforts. You must find like-minded people and direct your questions to them, and better yet go to your nearest homeschool conference which will pump you up like nothing else.

And please don't even consider medicating the life out of your child. You can't expect self-control from a 5 year old nor expect them to "stay on task" - they are hard-wired to be immature because they're children. How have we come to the point where we actually believe they should be other than that?

-- gita (gschmitz@directcon.net), September 22, 2001.

I do not start home schooling until the child seems ready and the interest and attention span, ability to sit still, is there. If he is active and interested in other things, let him play, run around, and learn as much as he can from the natural world. Once he is a little older and more mature he will make up for any lost time and have a love of learning, school will not seem like a punishment or something that is taking time away from other things he's interested in. When they start on the school, there is a set amount of work or learning to do and as soon as they get that done they are free to go and work on projecs or pursue whatever else it is they would like to be doing. This fosters efficiency and a work ethic. They can do the lesson in half an hour, or sit and mope all day long and do two lessons the next day, and they would rather do the work and then go fishing. If I make them do math for two hours, where is the incentive to do it quickly and well?

At this age though, I would just sing the ABC's song, casually learn the letter sounds as you go through the day, learn to count to ten and then twenty, and let him sit at the table and do art projects.

Most young children that I have seen, including my ownn, are very energetic and enthused about life, what a gift! I don't think it's abnormal or that it needs to be medicated, they are just full of life and healthy curiosity.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), September 22, 2001.

My son attends a small rural school. Their K program is half day and is only 3 hours logn and that include snack time. I think a couple hours of structured work time, plus the abstract school work around the homestead is fine. We always played school games when we travled. What letter is that while pointing at signs, what letter does XXXX start with as we drove. spelling, match, words can be done all the time. Just to try to make it school, make it fun.

-- Gary (gws@redbird.net), September 22, 2001.

I homeschooled my two children all the way through highschool. My contribution would be to say--why are you doing kindergarten? In our state we are not required to have our children in "school" until they are 7 years old. Start them doing some formal learning then and the rest of the day they are informally learning. Worked well for us. Nancy

-- Nancy (nannyb@huntel.net), September 22, 2001.

Let me start by saying I am not a homeschooler; my son just started kindergarten in a public school this year. It is not a full day however, only 3 hours, including that snack usually. Most of the kids in his class can recite and recognize the alphabet, so they are working on writing it now, and learning the sounds and what different words start with. I am not sure about full day kindergarten; on one hand, so many kids are in daycare now it would probably be good for them. On the other hand, I don't think my son could handle a full day; he isn't hyper, but like yours has a short attention span and tires of an activity fairly easily. He loves to learn, though, and the learning around the homestead is irreplaceable; I had a cousin from Houston come visit when I was 14, and she (at the same age) didn't even know what a chicken looked like! You think I am kidding! There was one on the porch and she told my mother that "white thing" was back on the porch again in case she wanted to chase it off. Good grief! How many others like her must there be? Just expose him to as wide a variety of experiences as you can, and keep him busy - you are right, if he can get by without the medication he is better off.

-- Christine in OK (cljford@aol.com), September 22, 2001.

I totally agree with gita. We homeschool our three children-2 boys 6 and 4, 1 girl 7 months-and we do not do any formal, sit down classroom time. Children this age really are learning all the time. "Play-time" is discovery and learning. I recommend the above book and Home Education Magazine(home-ed-magazine.com) and Unshooling.com. Also, there are many different learning styles : visual, oral,physical (or kinesthetic) to name a few. There are several books available to help you figure out how your child (and YOU!!) learn best and what methods to use. What you do around chore time sounds really good to me. If you can make learning fun and relevant to daily life your child will learn. Maybe not on some "expert's" time-table but they WILL learn. If your child is bored or not interested chances are, even if you make it through the lesson, he hasn't REALLY LEARNED. Homeschooling is a process that you accomplish through trial and error. Do not be afraid to try a different method. Do not feel that because you started out one way you have to continue that way. Try and try again until YOU are convinced that things are working for YOUR child. Because that is your ultimate goal-doing what is best for your child. And that is probably not going to be the same process they use for a classroom with 30+ children. I don't have any personal experience with hyperactivity but I have read quite a bit about it mainly from Mothering Magazine (www.mothering.com). Lots of people see an improvement after they remove certain additives, food dyes, etc from their children's diet. I'm sure there are plenty of resources available for you to explore this further. Mothering would be an excellent place to start. The most important advice I can give you and any parent for that matter is to trust your intuition on all matters regarding your children. Does 2 hours a day FEEL right to YOU? Does it feel like too much? Other people may mean well but no one knows your child like you do and no one knows what's best for your child but YOU! It may be hard when everyone and everything around you is giving you the message that your not doing it the way THEY do or would. But you have to look at what is best for your family and that may not be the mainstream ideal. I wish you the best of luck and will be glad to discuss this more with you. I'll get off my soapbox now.

-- Bren (WAYOUTFARM@skybest.com), September 22, 2001.

Here's a story for you, Karen. My nephews (ages 8 and 10) were homeschooled in the jungles of Papua New Guinea until about 6-8 months ago, when their parents put them in the mission school. They went to school not knowing how to read; withing three months they caught up to the others in their classes (they had been put in classes with kids their own ages). The younger boy won the contest for who could be the first to read 100 books.

Both of these boys are very active and have gone on treks into the jungle with their village friends (natives) almost daily. They do pretty well taking care of themselves, know what vegetation is good for food, can handle a machete, can kill and dress game, can build a cooking fire, know how to cut down the right tree to make a dugout canoe, can man the canoe, etc.

My point is, when a child is interested he/she can learn without being "chained" to the chair.

To answer your original question, we spend no more than 15-20 minutes with phonics and about the same or less with math. We read books and do crafts and take nature walks. The children work with me in whatever chores I am doing, taking great pride in helping and being useful. My nine-year-old daughter can prepare simple meals alone. Last night she made baked chicken, parsley potatoes (had help with the peeling), and green beans. Her two little brothers (ages 5 and 7) set the table. I was not even home, and my husband was in the next room.

I stress phonics, math, and practical skills. By the time my older sons got into 4th-5th grade history and science, they already knew most of what was in the textbooks because they had read so many library books.

Hope this helps.

-- Cathy N. (keeper8@attcanada.ca), September 22, 2001.

Keep in mind that kindergarten is a relatively recent invention. Children didn't used to go to school at all until they were six, though a wise mother sent them to school already knowing a few things. Even half an hour a day of seat-work at that age would be plenty. But I do have a question -- how much time does your son spend watching TV or playing video games, etc.? Because those can be a contributor to hyperactivity. Another contributor is a diet containing too much sugar and starches. Little boys of only five years old often don't have very long attention spans for sitting-at-a- desk activities, but cutting out sugar, TV, and video games might improve things. Another problem I have seen a lot of is lack of discipline. Parents are not teaching their children how to behave from the time they are infants, and unfortunately very few children are capable of teaching themselves how to behave properly, which is why we have an epidemic of spoiled disobedient brats in this country (not saying any of you have children in that category! But surely you know what I'm talking about!).

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 22, 2001.

Learning for a 5 year old should be fun, he can learn colors from folding socks, he can learn numbers from counting eggs collected, he can learn to write by naming his animals and writing their names on collars they wear, reinforcing the alphabet by reading them each day. Later he will learn science from fecal sampling with a microscope, my son had a better grasp of recessive and dominant genes than his 8th grade science teacher.

I really hate the tone this forum always takes with homeschooling discussions. Like all of us who used public schools, somehow taught our children to walk at 2 and then just sat around eating bonbons till our kids turned 18!

Whatever you do decide to do Karen, either a classroom setting in your home, or a less structured program, make sure you completely understand what he will need on a High School transcript, with an SAT or ACT score, to go to college.

One other thought, you said he simply can't sit still, why on earth does he have to sit? Though my daughters learned very well in a more structured way, my son does his homework, laying over his bed, ear phones on, black light, the whole ambiance thing! He has a vivid mind for writing and is a gifted artist, yet rarely does any of this happen at school. He is bored and stifled beyond belief in High School, but 17 years ago when he was born, though I was the earth mom from hell, homeschooling was simply not spoken about. It certainly is something I would do today as a young mother. I really do think that young mothers of today forget just who faught all these old battles for them. I was one of the mom's who was kicked out of a local mall in Houston for breastfeeding, very discretly by the way, imagine that happening anywhere today. Imagine that I was the only person I knew back in 1979 who breastfed their child, including no other mothers at my pediatricians. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 22, 2001.

Well, I went to a one-room one-teacher country primary school, and it was the best learning experience I could ever have had. We had three slabs of two hours or less, mostly much less, in the day, which went from about 9:30 - 3:30.

9:30 - 9:45 - Assembly, calisthenics (star-jumps, run on spot, etc.); flag ceremony and oath of loyalty ("I honour my God. I serve my Queen. I salute my Flag"). File into school.

NOTE: I earnestly believe this, or your USA variation of it, is critical. It doesn't take long - one minute - settle down, silence, oath, salute and hold it for ten seconds. Precede it by a brief prayer if that's your way. However, it gets an individual grounded - they learn the basics, and those will stay with them for their life. On a pragmatic basis (although I don't know what can be more pragmatic than children learning life's basics) it makes a formal start to the school day - we're "changing modes" into "school mode".

9:45 - 11:00 lessons

11:00 - 11:15 "playlunch" break

11:15 - 12:30 lessons

12:30 - 1:30 lunch break

1:30 - 3:30 lessons

That long afternoon session was given over to sport once a week, crafts once a week, and had a slab taken out of it for gardening once a week during the warm months (plus we put in 15 minutes of our lunch- break fetching water from the creek for the gardens daily during summer). The other afternoons the teacher would put the last half hour into reading a book aloud to us, with the older students being allowed!!! to read a few paragraphs each as well "if they were good enough" (there was generally some reason to reward them, and if not, well - they knew they were being deprived, but time was fairly short before the school bus arrived, so someone often missed out).

Each session had at least two different subjects in it, so you can see that our attention spans weren't badly stressed. I always found myself wishing we could go on just a little longer at the end of each lesson - I was just getting into it when it ended.

One of the greatest strengths of this setup was that the teacher couldn't do everything, so the pupils could to some extent progress at their own speed; and those who were really ahead ended up taking the younger ones for PART OF their lessons, and as we know, there's no better way to ensure you know a subject than to have to teach it.

So - basically, I think you're probably on-track. I'd just throw in reading to him daily (an interesting, exciting, enthralling book - say "The Hobbit" or Mark Twain a bit later on; something a bit lighter now. Also "let him" later in the day do some painting - he'll get a lot of the fine motor skills he'll need for writing that way by stealth. Don't explicitly make it a reward for good behaviour, but deprive him of it if he's been bad just the same. If he's been really REALLY bad you might deprive him of reading as well.

Oh yes - let him sew on his own buttons, teach him cooking simple things early, and teach him and let his father teach him craft activities. And make sure he deals with birth and death.

-- Don Armstrong (from Australia) (darmst@yahoo.com.au), September 22, 2001.

I agree with all the above and thank you for your input; however, I should have meantioned that I live in one of the worst homeschooling states and you are required to follow guidelines the same as the schools. Have a lesson plan, submit your curriculum for approval, keep immunation records, attendance, etc. It really ties a parents hands! Guess I should be thankful they even allow homeschooling. There is no homeschooling association in our area (there is a state one and I do want to get involved with them).

Also, your input would be helpful in how you socialize your children. We live in a remote area (just moved here and don't know a soul yet) and as I said, no homeschooling association. No close neighbors with children. Our son is really longing for "friends". How do you handle that??

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), September 22, 2001.

Karen, does he have a dog? A good dog can provide a lot of companionship for a little boy (or girl). A dog and a pony (supervised) would be even better! If you go to church, you could look for a church and start attending, might find some other children there. Otherwise, look for community activities. There's usually something going on during the course of a year that will let you at least meet some people. Also check with the state homeschool association and see if they know of anyone else homeschooling near you.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), September 22, 2001.

Little boys neural connections are often not physically developed enough to handle a school setting. It takes physical development in unseen areas of the nervous system before a child is actually ready to read. In boys, this development is slower than in girls. Most boys are not ready to read before 6 1/2 or 7 years old.

Also, keep in mind that growing muscles HAVE to keep moving, or they will actually get cramping sensations inside. If you tie your child down when he actually needs physical movement, you are doing your child's health harm.

5 year olds learn in very short bright moments, and usually it works best when accompanied by physical activity. You know how your brain goes to sleep when you sit for long periods of time? Circulation. Run around, and your brain works better. Also, the movement patterns of alternating legs and arms while walking and running, actually stimulates balanced brain development.

I did not teach either of my children how to read before they were obviously ready. And then, I only casually introduced them to the concepts. At 6, I used the phonetic sounds of the alphabet as a go to sleep routine. I used a yardstick to point to letters I put up on the wall. The kids looked forward to the routine. And both of my kids are now doing well in school, and score high on achievement tests.

I would relax and let the child be a child. Expecting more of a child than what he is ready for brings stress into that child's life. No child of 5 should be under school stress. In fact, no child should! Learning is fun! Children naturally learn, if we dont make a negative thing out of it. We can make school so much fun that the kids beg for more. The key is to keep them a little hungry for more, dont ever overload them. They will grow into voracious readers and learners this way!

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), September 22, 2001.

Gita, you don't have a clue!! How much time have you spent teaching in a public school? I teach every day in a public middle school. You have unfairly stereotyped every teacher and every public school. I do not warehouse children, I do have my students on task at least 90% of the time, I am not a union member, and I resent your spreading mindless drivel about which you obviously know very little.

I know many teachers who love their students and spend countless unpaid hours working late with individual students who need help. We give up our free time to teach after school programs, and we make our lessons at night while our families beg for our attention. We accept all children no matter how badly behaved they are. We don't raise those kids. We have to take what we get. We have no influence over their gene pool.

When I am gone, this world will be a better place because I helped many kids. When you are gone, I hope you will have done something more important than post erroneous information to internet forums.

-- Jim (catchthesun@yahoo.com), September 23, 2001.

I'm sorry to hear that you live in a more restrictive state. Fortunately and by luck, I live in one of the more friendly to homeschooling states. Something I've read about and don't know if it will work for you is called something like creative curriculum planning. Basically your son goes about his day and then you log his activities and assign them more traditional school subjects. Counting eggs while gathering becomes math, playing in the sandbox-science/physics, walks in the woods-earth science. Get the picture? And if you know he has to have so much time in such-n-such subject it'll be easier to assign daily activities a subject. Could this work for all or part of your curriculum?

Socialization is now seen as a un-problem by the homeschooling community. Homeschooling parents generally have the children involved in other activities: church, 4-H, Scouts, library story time, volunteering, etc. If your son is or will be involved in any of these activities I wouldn't worry about him making friends. I know you said you are new to your area. Chances are you haven't time to make friends either. We all know it takes time to find friends after a move. It is the same for children and you can tell your son this, too.

In every issue of Home Education Magazine there is a list of parents and children looking for penpals. Also, there is a state by state list of contact organizations. There may be one close enough to participate in their activities once a month or so. And maybe a classified ad in your local paper may result in you finding someone in your area thinking they were all alone too! Just some ideas for you. Best of luck!!

-- Bren (WAYOUTFARM@skybest.com), September 23, 2001.

Jim - glad to hear that there are still some good teachers out there. I had a few when I was in HS, but it only took having a handful of crappy ones to ensure that I "zoned out" through almost all of my school day, good teacher or not.

Most grade school teachers are very good. The problem seems to begin in HS. WHat's up with that? Is it because they only spend an hour a day with you instead of all day, or is it something else. I had one teacher (math) that was so undereducated that my cousin was forced to attend a comm. college an hour away (everyday) to get enough math credits to graduate HS - the teacher had simply run out of classes she was qualified to teach and Kyrie had taken them all early or some such. This same teacher also spent most of her non-teaching class time trying to get "in" with the popular students (!).

In another school, I had to take literature as an ELECTIVE because it was unavailable as regular curriculae. Great teacher, shoddy school - too caught up in "team spirit" to bother with the rest of the (non- athletic) student body.

Had the only really good art teacher we ever had fired for having a temper fit. Granted, it was innappropriate to give in to temper, but all he did was fume a bit and throw a ruined roll of watercolor tape (someone had left it in the sink and it had gotten saturated) into a supplies cabinet with more force than strictly neccessary. Thinking back on the school, he probably paid for the tape (not cheap) himself. For a good week after his firing was known to be imminent, petitions were circulating like windmills throughout the student body to keep him, including the student he had gotten mad at. I think the fact that we liked him proved to the school board that he was obviously bad new!

On the other hand, the band teacher of the same school was in her position essentially because of two reasons - she was the only faculty member who could play an instrument and she was the principals wife. She was known for her fits, hitting a student once with a pitched trash can (plastic) and on numerous occasions berating and threatening students and throwing things. Never fired, despite these fits and despite the fact that not only did most students never learn to play (one graduated with four years of band and couldn't even do a scale!), but many who came in from other schools got worse. I remember distinctly having to get up and "beat out" a rythym to a popular song that she was unsuccessfully trying to teach us - the song was played on the local top 40 station at least 10 times a day, and she still couldn't figure out the notation for it. Also (same school as above mentioned math teacher), the band teacher was also given to being swayed in her decisions by popular students - I was very unpopular, but very good. We had a march off to see who would be drum major for the parades. I won. Under pressure from the populars, we re-matched. I won again. She compromised by having me AND one of the populars co-major. I also tried out for flag twirling. I lost out (despite perfect step-keeping and perfect routine following) to a popular girl who dropped her flag three times during the try-outs, couldn't keep in step if you moved her feet for her, and actually ran out of try-outs crying half way through them. Guess who made that call.

Jim - I'm glad you're out there. Just be aware that it doesn't take but a few bad teachers to make students lives so miserable that nothing you can do, however miraculous, will get through to them.

-- Soni (thomkilroy@hotmail.com), September 23, 2001.

Regarding playmates, friends, companions; at my advanced age I firmly believe that books and Nature are probably the only friends that will last a lifetime. Where I live, I see so many children of all ages screaming at each other, hitting each other, using horribly foul language, etc., that I wonder if playmates are that important? All of these children go to public schools and spend lots of their free time in front of the TV. They were never taught to have any respect for humans, animals, or nature. They seem frantic and confused, and it makes me sad.

I went to a one-room school, also, and it was really wonderful because from first grade on (no kindergarden), we got to hear the lessons of ALL the grades recited, day after day. After hearing 8th grade lessons for 7 years, some of it was bound to sink in! And after their work was done, the older kids would help the younger ones.

Sure wish I knew, as a young mother, what I know now....I'd DEFINITELY homeschool. No doubt about it!

-- Bonnie (chilton@stateline-isp.com), September 23, 2001.

"I really hate the tone this forum always takes with homeschooling discussions. Like all of us who used public schools, somehow taught our children to walk at 2 and then just sat around eating bonbons till our kids turned 18!" Vicki McGaugh

Hi Vicki,

I'm not sure what was said that makes you feel this way but I am sorry that you have been offended. I would like to ask though, that you look back at posts you have made concerning homeschooling and see what a negative light you usually try to throw on it.

-- Terry - NW Ohio (aunt_tm@hotmail.com), September 23, 2001.

I thought ADD was a matter of willpower with my son too-I wish now I had put him on medication when younger-it woould have saved him a lot of grief and a long depression in his teens. I did start him on coffee every morning when he was 5 and that according to some medical writers is as good as other meds-but it is metabolized within 4 hours, which is probably why his academic record was so spotty. In Florida, children ENTERING kindergarten must know numbers to 20, the alphabet, colors and be able to write their name.

-- Mitzi Giles (Egiles2@prodigy.net), September 23, 2001.

Karen -

We have unschooled both our children (now 10 & 12). We started out trying "school at home" but we all ended up frustrated. When I taught them to read (at about 7 & 8 yrs) we usually had 10 or 15 minute lessons. Both children and I have ADD. I am on medication - which I consider a real lifesaver - but the children are not. They will be when I can find a good pediatrician in this area who understands ADD. Too many doctors will just give one medication - usually Ritalin - and not check out others or combinations which might work better. Every child is different and what works for one might not work for another. In the meantime, we keep things more or less under control with diet and enough sleep & exercise. As for "school", I consider real life to be more important. My daughter is starting tomorrow as a volunteer at a neighboring farm that raises therapy horses and works with handicapped kids. I think she's getting a great education!

-- Bonnie (stichart@plix.com), September 23, 2001.

Karen~ Don't get bogged down with the rules! The main reason most people homeschool is to control the things their children are exposed to and to have more quality time with their child. Try to remember this when you start to worry about meeting the "guidelines" set up by your state.

Though all three of my children attend public school, I would homeschool in a minute if I wasn't pleased with the education they are receiving. Fortunately, we live in a very affluent area and many of the mothers are able to not only stay home, but also have a lot of free time to volunteer. Sometimes there are so many of us at school that there is nothing pressing to be done. Then we start pulling kids out and spending time with them reading or working on remediation. If it wasn't for this, and the ability to be with my boys a lot at school, I would most likely homeschool.

Also, as the mother of 3 boys, don't worry about your sons attention span yet. Boys mature so much slower and this includes learning skills. However, there love and interest in nature and animals should definitely be encouraged. Keep up the good work.

-- Kelly Balch (balch84@cox-internet.com), September 23, 2001.

Don't waste your time with formal lessons at such a young age. We homeschool our girls and did not begin actual lessons until about age 7. Even now with the girls in 6th and 8th grades, school works takes about 3 hours a day. I do very little actual instruction, only enough to explain so they can work at assignments. Five years old is too young to expect a child to sit still for 2 hours. There is no danger of hyperactivity if your boy can sit still for that long! This medication thing is horrible; the list of symptoms applies to just about everybody!

-- Jeanne DeVor (Parisienne@beethoven.com), September 25, 2001.

I've homeschooled in New Jersey, Kansas, and in North Dakota all with different laws. ND has been by far the most restrictive. Even in ND however the compulsory age for education is not until 7 and then the law requires 4 hours of instruction. If that is the case where you are relax for a couple of years. Enjoy your time with him. Count steps and spell lables off jars and cans. Active boys learn better on the move.

I homeschooled because our oldest two children where very active and I did not feel that a structured classroom setting would be in their best interest. I have noticed that once they started to read that they did settle down.

A one-on-one setting was what was needed. Thus we avoided the classification of ADD and the need to medicate. When they were older and better able to exercise self control they both entered school settings (we've used both public and private).

I would check out the Home School Legal Defence group and see what guidelines they have for your state. We found out that the school was demanding far more than the law required.

As far as socialization goes. An adult is far more capable of teaching a child how to interact than other children are. Playmates give the child an opportunity to practice what they've learned. But if your son needs playmates then you probably need a few friends too. Do what it take to get acquainted with those around you.

God Bless your endevor Lian

-- Lian Mowry (lianmowry@hotmail.com), September 27, 2001.

I strongly recommend that you read the book "Your Miracle Brain" by Jean Carper which documents the latest research on brain development. The book includes interesting information about the brains of hyperactive children (ADHD), and what researchers have recently discovered that will help their brains (fish oil, vitamin supplements, avoidance of certain fats). This book is a must read.

Children at young ages typically have short attention spans, anyway. As a professional educator and mother of homeschooled children, I can attest to the use of SHORT mini-lessons for young children. Incorporate as many hands-on and active participation activities as possible (field trips, singing, drawing, etc.) Much success to you!

-- Liz Rhein (merhein@shentel.net), September 27, 2001.