I took the advice of a fellow blogger and made my homeschool schedule of six weeks with a week of “vacation” or “free”. We are in this week right now. But this week has been when my son JM is more interested in learning. Why I am not surprised? When you provide learning experiences in everyday situations has been enriching for my son with autism.

     In Puerto Rico we are in back to school mode, my other daughters are preparing to start school next week (this was an arrangement my ex-husband and I made in our divorce so my son could have individualized teaching… how I regret that I didn’t fight so all my children would be homeschooled then!), so we will be back into “machine mode”. JM has been included in the back to school progress, because he will be the first to start school on the 7^th (I may change this because the girls will start on the 8^th and the 10^th). He has new clothes, a backpack for his therapies sessions, new workbooks (he will use his sister’s old books). He starts therapy on the 16^th, so we may take about two weeks to get back to schedule and with the girls’ schedule, adjust the housework around this.

     I am trying to maintain a FORMAL schedule for JM, and I have to stay around it because I want to maximize his learning. One of the mayor changes I am making this year is to give him Thursday off of formal schooling and making that day (he has Occupational Therapy that day) a experimental day, where we apply what we have learned that week. Science experiments, field trips to the park or museums are ideas I have to give him an opportunity to get out of the house and with other children in a more “scheduled” matter. I hope this works. I can’t go to any support groups meetings because of JM and the girls’ schedules; most support groups my area are on Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., JM has speech therapy until 11:30 a.m. and I have to pick up AM at 1:30 p.m. and J at 2:40 p.m., so it’s difficult.

      I will keep you posted how we start, and if this schedule works for us.