Homeschooling Sick Children

by Andrea Hermitt | More from this Blogger

19 Mar 2009 12:12 PM

As I have mentioned many times before, homeschoolers choose to do so for many different reasons. One unfortunate, but very common reason is because of a child's delicate health. In many such cases, schools also agree that a sick child could be better taught at home, and even before homeschooling was legal, schools would facilitate such a private education.

These days because of the overall popularity of homeschooling, it appears that some feel homeschoolers are lying about their children's illnesses in order to homeschool without interferences. Never mind the fact that no-one needs "permission" to homeschool, there are still school districts that will send a truant officer to the home and accuse parents of having invalid reasons to homeschooling.

A recent case in Illinois reveals such a scenario. Here you can read the story of a mother who decided to homeschool for the sake of her children's health and was told that "she had improper motives for homeschooling" and was told by the principal that he could "take better care of the kids at school."

The HSLDA got involved and after 3 months, the family is now homeschooling without issue.

Having sick children is a delicate enough issue to deal with. Add the stresses and inconveniences of the school and a child's health in many cases will only get worse. At least, a parent needs to be accommodated when they choose to homeschool a sick child, whether they do it for periods of severe illness or long term.

Personally, my son suffered from migraines and colitis from birth. These were not the reasons we chose to homeschool, but I do have to offer that the colitis problem improved 75% and there was a 50% decrease in migraine frequency since we started homeschooling as my son now has instant access to bathroom facilities and medication.

*Have a question about homeschooling? Just ask.

* Have you seen the homeschooling curriculum glossary?

Learn more about Andrea Hermitt

Andrea Hermitt is a native New Yorker currently residing in GA. She has been married for over 16 years and has two teenage children.

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