First off, deep breath.
Relax.
It sounds like your school's been putting you and your son through the wringer - and is whatever else positive they MIGHT be offering - worth that?
In a word, no.
Can you do any "worse" than what's been done to him already?
Again, no.
Even if this is temporary until you can find a better PS situation for him, that's okay. But you may find, like most of us who do this until something better comes along, that often there IS nothing better for your particular child. Hs'ing can be VERY empowering and freeing for a whole lot of kids - even those who aren't being abused by the system. It's certainly doable and it can be fun, too.
A couple of questions - what grade is your son in? Do you know anything about the laws in Alberta pertaining to hs'ing? How those laws are structured can greatly determine what your "home school" looks like. Are you required to file a curriculum/lesson plan; testing requirements, oversight, portfolios, etc. . .
Finding a support group - people who've BTDT - is a must. If the first group (or two or three) you find isn't a fit for you, keep looking. There ARE others "like your kid" out there. (If all else fails, you can start your own - more on that later is necessary.)
I've looked up a few links for you as a starting point.
http://www.homeschoolersguide.ca/****
Alberta Home Based Education
Support, advice and information for homeschoolers in Alberta, provided by ACHBE.
Alberta Home Education Association
The AHEA site provides information whether you are currently home schooling, looking into home education for the future, or just wanting information about the fastest growing education trend.
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/canabassoc/****
http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=Alberta+Homeschooling***
"Education" is about learning - not jumping through hoops. Children come into this world natural born learners; they're full of curiousity and a love of WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY? (Remember
those days? lol) Schools can quickly stamp that out of a child (not all, of course, but some do.) I don't know about Canada, but the whole "teach to the test mentality" is NOT about education, but about rote memorization and regurgitation. How well can you color in the bubbles. How well can you spout back isolated facts. How well you can learn what you're told WITHOUT asking any silly questions like Why or How. (Perfect process for training factory workers and not much else.)
Education SHOULD be about learning how to learn. How to recognize what it is you DON'T know and where to go to find the answers to your questions. To put it simply - Critical Thinking. At least until highschool anyways. :)
Computers, curriculums, textbooks, libraries, tutors, friends, co-ops, support groups, etc. They're all out there.
Oh - most important - DO NOT - repeat DO NOT rush out and buy "A CURRICULUM" (unless one is required by your state). They're overpriced and not really necessary. Most kids are not on "a" grade level. They're advanced here, and below there, and average on some things, so a "one size fits all/one grade level" curriculum usually canNOT do the trick. (Just a word of advice.) (And doing "school" at home, isn't very much fun for ANYONE. Though, of course, it works for some kids who require that kind of structure.)
Also, knowing how your child learns best is really important. By reading? Seeing? Hearing? Doing? (Well, you've a teaching background, so I don't need to tell you that, but it can really impact how you structure your child's learning experience.)
Another thing most people do is take a bit of time off to decompress. Hang out. Go to the museums, watch The History Channel and Discovery Channel. Find out what their passions are. Structure their lessons around what they WANT to learn. Don't worry that you might "get behind". HS'ing is much more efficient that the PS. You can get down in a few hours what takes them ALL DAY! Because you only have the ONE to deal with. No bells. No schedules. No silly questions. No unruly students.
Hs'ing is - or should be - about child-led learning. Kids become more responsible for their own education. Not that I'm a total "unschooler" and let my kid just veg out, but the autonomy that comes with having say over what you do every day can make your kid much more inclined to do the work. To WANT to do the work. And it doesn't really seem like work, 'cause they like what they're doing. They're invested in the process so it becomes *their* decision.
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