Homeschool Mommies

First I would spend the money and join HSLDA. Then don't tell your mil. It's none of her business anyway. Make sure that you find out what the law is for in your state. DO NOT listen to the school. Find out for yourself or from a local homeschool support group what the law says and what you need to follow. There are many things that the school will try to tell you or say that you need to do and it will not be what you have to do. Make sure you understand what the requirements are for special needs children. They will have different requirements if your child has been labeled by the school district. If you are in PA go to www.chaponline.com to find more useful information. They also have a great homeschool convention coming up in May. They usually have some speakers there specifically geared towards special needs. They will have a plethora of curriculum and lots of people to give you advice and tell you about their experiences.

Oh and one other thing NEVER EVER let DFS or CS into your home! Never unless they have a warrant. They are not allowed in if you don't want them there.

Personally, I wouldn't make any grand announcement. When school comes up in conversation (and it always does), I'd casually say "Oh, we're homeschooling now. It's been a great decision for dd!" and move on to the next topic. Which will likely result in her going back to the original topic. If you keep your comments simple, matter of fact, and your tone casual but confident, you'll be fine. Just keep "This is the choice our family has made, and it isn't up for debate" in your back pocket!

K., I have a grand-daughter that is also special needs that is being bullied at her school, or at least that is her perception of the situation. To me that is all that matters, her perception. Sometimes, the school teacher doesn't recognize that the child interprets the actions of her peers as threatening. This is where you need to intervene. The other child may not even realize that they are 'bullying' your daughter. As stated in the post below, set up a meeting with the teacher, counselor, principal, and special education teacher.
There are all types of "homeschooling" some are interactive over the internet, which means the parent isn't the "Teacher". That is available here in Texas, I've gotten a lot of information as I too had considered homeschooling my grand-daughter when things weren't going well for her at school. With that, I would assume your M-I-L would not have issue with, there are even programs to get the HS kids together for music, athletics, etc. So, don't let her influence your decision, you and your husband need to make the correct decision for your daughter. I'm sure that is her only concern. Good Luck, I will be praying for you.

Before you pull her out of school, I would have a meeting with the teacher and the principal and I would make it crystal clear that if this situation is not handled immediately then you will take this to the school board and if they won't help then you will take this to your local news station.

You should not be forced to do something that you don't want to do.

You are the mommy and what you say goes. The school system needs to handle this right away, as of NOW.

Don't worry about your step mom. I would stop talking to her completely. She sounds like a real bad migraine headache that nobody needs around.

I wish you the best with this.

Get all your ducks in a row.
hslda.org
go to Missouri and find out what they you for documentation, then get that all set up before you tell your stepmom.
Get your curriculum or whatever you need to start.
Only give her positive information about it when she calls and asks how your daughter is doing, if she does.
When you tell her be matter of fact, no wishy washy, in plain English. We pulled Mary out of school and I am now homeschooling her.
Let her know that this is the best solution you have found for your family and, yes indeed, you have all the documentation.
BE straight, to the point and then don't discuss it any farther.
Or talk to your father, tell him and don't involve her in the conversation.

And if she is that much of a pia and you are living in fear of what she will do, what relatoinship is there to salvage?

Good luck.

There is no easy answer and it's absolutely none of her business. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just tell her that you are doing this and if she wants to make an issue of it, you'll have a hard time getting together with her and you don't want anything to come between her and your daughtere. What can she say to that?

That aside, don't worry about dfs. Someone called on me once and I didn't even know the woman. She claimed that I had my girls home to run my daycare for me. DFS showed up and just happened to show up on the day I was organizing my curriculum for the next year. It was only May. So I showed her what we were planning for the next year and she said she would close the file immediately. She wasn't in the home more than 20 minutes. She didn't ask any questions. I do suggest you get your ducks in a row and be ready before you tell anyone. It truly is no one else's business. As far as I'm concerned it's not the states business either. But that's just my opinion. We've taken our police state way too far and have people involved in areas that are not meant to be infringed upon.

Consider having you husband break it to her- maybe she'd take the initial shock better from him.

what an awful stepmother! i hate that she has so successfully intimidated you, and that you are concerned about preserving a relationship with someone who has reported you to DFS.
rather than break it 'easy' (which doesn't seem possible) i'd focus on breaking it 'briefly.' pretend she's a toddler with whom you can communicate most effectively by using small words, short explanations and being very very clear.
'evil stepmother, we've decided to take hannah out of public school and homeschool her. i'm sure you will be a big help and support.'
she will doubtless grill you, but don't allow yourself to be put on the defensive. for your own sake you should be clear about how you're going to proceed (notifying the board of ed, what curriculum if any you're going to use, what type of homeschooling you'll be starting out with ie structured, child-led, charlotte mason, unschooling and so forth, identifying homeschool groups and co-ops) so you can respond briefly to any questions she has. but do NOT allow yourself to be put in the position of defending your decision. a quiet 'we are hannah's parents and we will make the best decisions for her' should stop most harangues.
good luck!
khairete
S.

It's none of her business!! If you have nothing to hide or nothing to worry about let her call DFS. If this women would go so far as to report you and waste the time of DFS workers when there are children being abused the why would you want your child to be around her????? This pisses me off because I work with children and have had 2 incidents where I had to report to DFS. These children were being abused and nothing was done. DFS is so overworked and understaffed, so any women that would waste their time for her own selfish reasons is not worth my time. If you have nothing to hide then do what YOU want with your child and raise her how YOU want and let that women do what she wants.

I would just let her find out whenever she finds out. I don't think you need to make a huge announcement. IF she doesn't like it -too bad. That's not her child! As far as calling DFS -I think they would laugh at her if she called to report "homeschooling." Just make sure you're properly registered for homeschooling and using a curriculum for the homeschooling so it doesn't appear she's truant.