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Hi
I feel your pain!  I am so sorry that has happened to your son.

My son was in kindergarten last year and his entire year went like your son's last part of the year!  My son's k teacher criticized and was very negative (I witnessed it...not just my son telling me).  My son reacted the same way...crying...not wanting to go etc. etc.  My son was also being teased, hit and pushed by other kids.  My hubby and I were brought into meetings with the school psychologist, principal, teacher and other staff and we were told that our son should be retained unless he went to a full day of school (instead of a half day program).  They said he cried too much and didn't follow directions.  Hubby and I let him attend a full day of school and he was not retained.  

We decided this year to homeschool him instead!  Things are going well.  My son does NOT miss his school.  He wants to homeschool next year too.

Anyway, I would advise you to first look up your state laws and find out what you have to do start homeschooling.  In my state I have to fill out a form every year.  We also have a certain number of hours and certain subjects we need to school in.  You may want to find out if you have local homeschooling groups in your area.  They can also help you out and be supportive.  Local homeschooling groups are also a good place to find friends for your child.  Maybe you could search for other message boards with other homeschooling parents to get ideas on curricula and support.  I'll try to give you some if I am allowed to post other websites.  ParentCenter has a homeschooling board.  Homeschool spot is another one.  The people on there seem to be very supportive and wise.

I hope all this helps you in some way!

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Thanks so much, the information helps immensely.
 

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I have two special needs children with everything from adhd to bipolar and autism...my oldest who is 9 and a 4th grader has been abused, threatened and harrassed by his school for 4 years now.  They allow the other children to call him names, hit him etc. etc until he looses it and then it is his fault and he is the one in trouble.
My youngest is in 2nd grade and now the school is allowing a 5th grader to bully him....when I complain I am told "boys will be boys" and "oh well"  It is to the point that any time the younger child needs to use the restroom he goes and gets his brother out of class to go with him for protection (the restroom is right next to the 5th grade classroom so that child always knows when to go to pick on him).  My oldest has vowed to get revenge for his brother, in the mean time the school is doing everything possible to make sure that both of my children are expelled.  Both children are now crying for me to not send them back to that school.  It is a very sad situation.
I have decided that we are going to try to get through the rest of this year but that is it.  I will homeschool from there on out.  It has really become a safety issue for my kids.  
I found a very interesting site that for a small fee will provide full lawyer services if you need it against anyone that gives you trouble about homeschooling.  On that site it also provided me with all of the laws for my state (it provides them for every state) as well as many other helpful hints and ideas.  You may want to check it out.  I can't post the site but I think you can find it this way....... go to  hslda  dot org   It has really helped me get started.

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Kimmi-
I am sorry to hear about your sons' school situations!  I hope homeschooling goes well for you.  I have heard great things about the website you mentioned.

To both Nebbie and Kimmi -you ladies might want to go to your local library and read many books on homeschooling too.  That helped me make a decision and I received a ton of good ideas and information.  I can't remember all the authors I read except for these two.....Lisa Rivero and Rebecca Rupp.  Finding out your children's learning style and deciding what type of homeschooling (school at home, eclectic, unschooling) your planning on doing are other things you might want to look at.  I know all of this probably seems overwhelming and scary (at least I felt that way when I started).  I just take it day by day.  One of my homeschooling mentors gave me this simple, but good piece of advice, "If something doesn't work, change it!"

Good luck to both of you!

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Thank you so much for the advise and best wishes.  I have read many books about homeschooling.  I took many months coming to the conclussion to homeschool and what style to use.  As your mentor said "if it don't work then change it" which is something that I learned through reading some of the books about the subject.  I have chosen a style of teaching that I am going to start with and if it doesn't seem to work for the kids then I'll change to another.  
Sorry to say my boys are so far behind where they should be that even tho school is still in session here I have started as of today to do a summer session with them in hopes of catching them up.  I am doing a modified (only a few main subjects) right now after school and on the weekends and after school gets out (first part of June) I will go to a full day of school for them.  I figure this might help to catch them up to where they should be academically and will also help me to see if this is the right style of teaching for them as well.  Maybe by the time school is supposed to start I will have most of the "bugs" worked out.  
Best wishes to all who homeschool.

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