When is it an escape?

[Jill]

I know homeschooling can be an excellent alternative to mainstream
education but I am concerned about the number of kids with untreated
separation anxiety who are allowed to remain untreated by staying at home.

Who does homeschooling help? The parents ? The child? Is it really
easier? I am interested in peoples ideas on this.

[Elaine Harvey]

Jill, are you really interested in other opinions? Sounds to me like you
already have yours set.

When my child was learning to walk, he had 'separation anxiety'. I didn't
'treat' it by pushing him away constantly. He 'treated' it by walking farther
and farther away then coming back to prove to himself that I was always there.
My point is that children don't need to be treated for developmental tasks. It
is not abnormal to grow and learn. It's abnormal to punish a child for not
growing fast enough for you. Don't apply pseudo-psychiatric jargon and
diagnosis to developmental tasks like this one. Watch out now, I am a psych
nurse practitioner.

And no, I have NEVER met a parent who decided to home school because Junior
cried when he had to go to school. I have met parents who cried when Junior
came home from Public School and had learned to act like monsters then chose
to home school.

Now the parent who withdrew her 16 y/o from school because he had 'separation
anxiety' never even considered home schooling, she just rushed right out and
applied for federal aid. In this case the kid was fine (he hated school and
figured this would work. He was right.), the mother on the other hand......

Elaine H.