in motion

We've made the decision and Martin is coming home. His tutor got another job. It's difficult to imagine introducing another tutor to Martin and his school. School at home seems to take the pressure off all of us, especially Martin. So we're in a big transition here. It's the last week of school and we have lots of prep for beginning home-school next week.

The biggest changes are physical. We have to accommodate a home-school space in our house. The current plan involves making the school room in what is now my bedroom. My husband and I will move downstairs to the kids' room. They move into the guest room. I'm not sure where the guests will go. Maybe my friend's B&B down the street? The big switcheroo will happen this Saturday. You're all invited. I'm making sour cream coffeecake.

The other big challenge is curriculum. My husband plans to do an hour of academic work with Martin. We're counting on a new tutor to do about 4 hours of autism therapy, mixed in with some academic work and social skills games. I'm in charge of some music, inviting friends over to play, and physical activity. This is the initial plan. But we've learned that planning can get you only so far. It might look totally different by Christmas. Martin might be splitting his time between disco lessons, the study of ancient Egypt, and fencing.

While the whole thing is a little daunting, I'm more relieved than anything. We've been trying so hard to make school a good place for Martin, his teachers, and his classmates. While it might have gotten better if we gave it two or three more months, it's hard to put everyone through it.

We don't know what were in for. We have some friends that home-school. I've read Mitchell Stevens' wonderful sociological study, Kingdom of Children, on homeschooling families and their various politics. But I know nothing about the day-to-day experience. I guess that's not such a big deal because I didn't know what getting married would be like or what having a baby would entail. Those things have worked out OK. By that reasoning, though, I could end up on a spaceship with aliens tomorrow because, hey, it might be interesting.