Q: My brother and I dont have the greatest relationship in the world. I just turned 16, and he will be 12 very soon. the reason we dont get along is that we lose patience with each other, or we just want to annoy one another. I love him very much, i dont know if he loves me, but we do get along from time to time. this is just some background information.
Ok, so my brother is homeschooled, and was homeschooled for three years. he is in sixth grade. I am homeschooled too, for four years, but i am gonna go to school next year for my junior year. (i am in 10th grade right now).i am an extremely social person and all of my friends go to school.
well, everybody know that homeschoolers can turn into these wierd kids, ones that dont know how to socialize, etc. well, my brother is a bit behind on the maturity level.
the reason this worries me is that both of us are going to go to school next year. My brother (who wil go on to middle school, seventh grade) will have a great shock at how much more mature, or umm... different, everyone else is from him. i am afraid he wont find any friends, and that he will be the outcast and miserable.
in my opinion, his maturity level is that of a 3rd grader. his social skills are that of a first grader. these are some of the things he does:
he has a stuffed animal of an whale that he gaurds with his life, takes it with him everywhere, but he leaves it in the car when he goes to public places. he named the toy whailey.
he plays with legos, bionicles, etc. he is actually pretty advanced at building things.. my mom buys him kits made for adults sometimes: he is very smart. school smart.
he cries. a lot. it is EXTREMELY easy to make him cry.
he has no idea what sex is. (he knows what reproduction is, but only "a baby forms when sperm from a man meets an egg from a woman". thats as far as it goes)
he insists on wearing his jeans at his belly button.
he is greatly apalled when someone swears. then he runs to me and asks me if the word was a swear word, and becomes obsesed with retelling everyone how someone swore, etc.
he cannot talk on aim. like he doesnt get the concept of lol, all he can do is say the sky when you ask him wuts up (very clever... for a preschooler)
anyways you get the picture. i am really truly worried about him. i tried discussing it with him but he just doesnt get it. usually he throws a tantrum before i get to finish.
he does socialize, although not very much. like he is exposed to only five or six people a day that are his age: he does gymnastics, and they are the same people every day, and he is not exactly close friends with them. (they are actually ten to elleven years old)
anyways, what should i do about my brother to help prepare him for social situations at school? i will not be geting any support from my mom because she believes that he is school smart, and that is all that counts. in fact she sees nothing wrong with my brother. i dont know about my dad, but it would be rather akward approaching him on the subject.
at home treatments please (lol but we both have busy schedules and doing things like get togethers for him is out of the question)
oh ya i forgot to say. all my friends little brothers are alot more mature than my brother, so i do have something to base my comparison on.
sorry its so long... any feedback would be very appreciated!!!
