is it unusual to homeschool only for middle school?

[wapiti]

I'm considering homeschooling for maybe 5th through 7th or 8th, something like that. (or maybe starting in 4th for my younger ones, once I've gotten my feet wet with dd9 next school year; six kids total.) We're currently afterschooling Latin and math (EPGY).

 

So would it be weird to homeschool for only a few grades? We're planning on private high school (or at least I am, LOL, not sure what DH is planning). Anyone else homeschooling only for middle school and/or late elementary?

[swimmermom3]

I think you will find that many of us who did not start out homeschooling from the beginning and who may have figured out it would be a really hot day in Antarctica before we attempted to do such a foolish thing,;) often start in middle school. What I hear most frequently is 7th grade with a boy. We started with a 4th grade boy and no idea how long we would go. He is a competitive swimmer and homeschooling is frequently seen in our club. It also happens to suit this child well. His older brother bailed from middle school in November of the same year for 7th grade. That child returned to ps for high school.

 

Now, according to my previously-held theory, only a nutcase would homeschool high school, which I guess is why I have a senior at home.:D

 

Your plan is feasible but you really need to be committed to doing a good job even on the bad days. Best wishes to you and your family on this adventure. It is a lot of hard work, but extremely rewarding at the same time.

[Luckymama]

That's what we're doing, starting this year with 5th grade through 8th grade :) She'll probably attend the private high school her sister attends, though if she wants, she could try for admission to a charter school. We're out of district for the math/science high school and the arts high school which makes admission more complicated.

[swimmermom3]

I don't know if other posters would agree but I do know if I could do it over for my middle child that was home for two years, I would use that precious time to focus primarily on skills and not worry nearly so much about content. I would make sure he could take notes, create outlines, write essays, research and process information, construct lab reports, answer questions, ask questions, seek out help when needed, keep track of his work, meet deadlines, memorize facts, work hard, and follow rabbit trails while balancing the must-do work. Content is much easier to acquire if the basic skills are there. Yes, they will hopefully cover those skills more in-depth in high school, but don't count on it. I let this son spend more time acquiring information and less time writing. That is a mistake I hope not to repeat with his younger brother.

[Tracy]

I wish I could have been homeschooled during middle school--the two worst years of my entire life. And that was now 30 years ago.

[mcconnellboys]

No, I know lots of people here who homeschool through middle school because the kids can be so very mean then with all the hormonal angst just beginning....

[Granny_Weatherwax]

In my area it is very unusual. DS is the only homeschooler I know of who is only home for 6th-8th. The other homeschoolers we know all began in the early elementary grades, if not from the very beginning. Very few admit to planning on public high school, although I just found out there are two families whose older students take 2 classes at the HS(the rest of the classes are homeschooled) and play varsity sports.

[swimmermom3]

No, I know lots of people here who homeschool through middle school because the kids can be so very mean then with all the hormonal angst just beginning....

 

My guys are lean and short. This was an issue for my oldest son in middle school. The bullying was ugly. Two years at home allowed him to mature and grow in confidence if not in height. He returned easily to the large, local high school without any issues.

[Trish]

We just decided to start homeschooling (really, decided in the spring), and began this summer/fall. That's with a 4th and 6th grader. It wasn't really middle school issues, although some of those started cropping up at the end of 5th grade. (friends fighting, bullying) So those things were more a confirmation of our decision to homeschool than a reason behind it. We figured we'd get more done without the distraction of school issues (and we are). In third grade a bunch of the parents were hassling the teachers about their grading policies, so the teachers sort of retreated and cut out any extras, leaving my third grader even more bored than he was before.

 

First year of 4th and 6th at home seems to be going well, with some tweaks. We have definitely not thought as far ahead as high school. I'm thinking if they want to continue hsing that's fine with me,or if they want to return to school at that point, we'd consider it.

[wapiti]

Thanks very much ladies! I really appreciate your observations and experiences.

 

I don't know if other posters would agree but I do know if I could do it over for my middle child that was home for two years, I would use that precious time to focus primarily on skills and not worry nearly so much about content. I would make sure he could take notes, create outlines, write essays, research and process information, construct lab reports, answer questions, ask questions, seek out help when needed, keep track of his work, meet deadlines, memorize facts, work hard, and follow rabbit trails while balancing the must-do work. Content is much easier to acquire if the basic skills are there. Yes, they will hopefully cover those skills more in-depth in high school, but don't count on it. I let this son spend more time acquiring information and less time writing. That is a mistake I hope not to repeat with his younger brother.

 

This sounds like very wise advice - much appreciated!! :)

[creekmom]

I was a middle school teacher for 7 years, and my husband currently teaches at the local middle school (he's been teaching for 16 years - although not exclusively at ms). We plan on homeschooling through the middle school years. I've heard a lot of people say that if you could only hs during one part of their education - definitely do it during middle school! Soooo much is going on developmentally during that time, and it's hard to sort it out and find out who you are when the peer pressure to be just like everyone else is so extreme. You are either popular or you're not, and if you're not, life is miserable for you. Everyone is trying to figure out which "group" they belong to, and if your child picks the wrong group with kids who don't make good choices, well...you can only imagine how that will affect your dc's life. So, all that to say, hsing during middle school will be a decision you're unlikely to ever regret!

[AngelaNYC]

We homeschooled oldest dd for 8th grade only. I wish she would have been home for all of middle school, but the year we had was still worth it. We did as the previous poster said and spent more time on skills rather than content. We also used this time to reconnect, focus on self-esteem, and allow her to be a kid again. She had every intention of starting fresh in a new high school the following year. She's a senior now and the positive changes that came for her being home that year are still there. :001_smile:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I'm considering homeschooling for maybe 5th through 7th or 8th, something like that. (or maybe starting in 4th for my younger ones, once I've gotten my feet wet with dd9 next school year; six kids total.) We're currently afterschooling Latin and math (EPGY).

 

So would it be weird to homeschool for only a few grades? We're planning on private high school (or at least I am, LOL, not sure what DH is planning). Anyone else homeschooling only for middle school and/or late elementary?

 

Not uncommon on our base for kids to come home in late elementary. It seems like late elementary to middle school is where some of the effects of the school accumulate beyond tolerating. Within the military homeschooling circles I've seen a lot of families who have pulled kids between 4th and 6th, homeschooled for a few years or a tour or two and then put them into high school.

This seems especially magnified if the one tour is to an area with substandard schools or only the DOD school as an option. Families who know what better school situations look like seem to be more open to homeschooling until they get back to their "good schools" back home.

[Night Elf]

I wish I could have been homeschooled during middle school--the two worst years of my entire life. And that was now 30 years ago.

 

I didn't have a middle school. Elementary was K - 7th. High school was 8th - 12th. Those 5 years were horrid and is the main reason we're homeshooling through high school. It's not academics because we're using an accredited traditional high school online. High school was a hot mess. :D

[Mom22ns]

While the majority of homeschoolers I meet start at young ages. There are also quite a few like us that started in middle school, and yet a few more that pull out for high school. We pulled out for 5th grade. When we started we thought we would go back for high school. Three years later, I can guarantee the next school DS will attend will be college (or maybe cc). However, I am less certain about DD. She says she is home to stay, but I wonder if the pull of ps will bring her back for high school.

 

I think it is a great choice. I've never met anyone who loved middle school. It is considered the most hated part of almost everyone's education. Why put your kids through it. Homeschool for the middle school years and if everyone is in agreement, send them back. If they don't want to go back, then re-evaluate.

[Amira]

That's what my sister does and it works well for them. She never has more than one or two children home at a time and she has all the resources she needs for middle school. Her kids have all liked it too, and they like going to high school after. I think it can be an excellent plan and I have to admit it sounds lovely to me.

[katilac]

I would certainly pick middle school if I had to choose only a few years to homeschool.

 

The drawbacks to me would be that it can take quite a while to figure out what works for your family (curriculum, scheduling, etc), and that process might be a big chunk of a relatively short amount of time. Also, having them in school for years often means having to get past a 'schooled' attitude of working for the grade instead of the learning, getting by with minimum effort, and so on.

 

So, yes, if I had to choose, I would choose the middle school years, but I far prefer homeschooling as an ongoing lifestyle.

[HeidiKC]

We started this year in 5th grade and I think we'll probably do it until 7th or 8th grade. I am pretty sure he'll attend high school. We've got a contract on a house in another school district for that reason. The main reason we're homeschooling right now is that he wasn't challenged academically, and I don't foresee that being a problem at the high school (which has an IB program, high test scores, great reputation).

[Jamee]

When we pulled DS from 4th grade, we had no intention of homeschooling middle school. That has since changed and we've decided to commit through 8th grade with him. Depending on the schools, if we're still here when younger DS gets to 4th he'll be homeschooled too. The more we thought about it the more it made sense to take the boys out at late elementary, get them on track for high school then return to PS. Right now, I have no intention of homeschooling high school, but at this rate, who knows???

[Crimson Wife]

Not politically correct for me to say this, but I've noticed it's fairly common for those living in a ritzy neighborhood to send their kids to PS for elementary and then pull them out to homeschool (with heavy use of pricey co-ops and tutors) rather than send them to a more socioeconomically mixed middle school. Then when high school rolls around, off the kids go to some obscenely expensive private prep school. :rolleyes:

[wapiti]

To update you all, I'm preparing to pull dd out of 4th grade before winter break and start hs-ing next month, though I haven't made the final decision yet - I have a few more days to ponder it. At this point, I do not intend to hs for middle school, though I find myself thinking, gee if it's going well, maybe we'll hs for 6th.... or maybe even 7th.... LOL (seriously I think I just want to control math!). I really don't know how it's going to go. Sometimes I think I'm losing my mind - what am I thinking. And then I remind myself that I think she can get a much more rigorous education at home. And at this point, I'm so unhappy with the school's curriculum at her level that I'm ready to pull my other kids as they reach 4th grade.

[Debbie in OR]

I have been pondering this question, and other similar ones, quite a lot in the past two weeks. I think if I had to choose only one season to hs, I would pick the elementary years so that I could lay a foundation for what was to come.

 

But I also think so much depends on the child and the school options. Many of the kids who were hsed in our community attend the middle and high school when they reach that age. We are currently dealing with several hs friends who started PS this year.

 

What I didn't anticipate was that these kids would be thriving in PS. Every kid we know of who has left hs-ing and Christian school and attended the middle or high school is not only loving it but being a positive influence there.

 

But the thing is, by all accounts, we have an excellent PS system here in our little town. People move here regularly simply because they want their kids to go to our schools. We have a reputation in the NW. I don't think you could do this with every PS system. Nor do I think you could do it with every kid. I feel pretty confident my ds would be fine character-wise in PS (I would be more concerned with academics). My dd needs more time to lay that foundation.

 

Anyhow, I guess I will re-state my original thought and that is I think it truly depends on the child and the school.

Edited December 9, 2010 by Debbie in OR
oops..never mind!

[Debbie in OR]

I don't know if other posters would agree but I do know if I could do it over for my middle child that was home for two years, I would use that precious time to focus primarily on skills and not worry nearly so much about content. I would make sure he could take notes, create outlines, write essays, research and process information, construct lab reports, answer questions, ask questions, seek out help when needed, keep track of his work, meet deadlines, memorize facts, work hard, and follow rabbit trails while balancing the must-do work. Content is much easier to acquire if the basic skills are there. Yes, they will hopefully cover those skills more in-depth in high school, but don't count on it. I let this son spend more time acquiring information and less time writing. That is a mistake I hope not to repeat with his younger brother.

 

 

I am printing and posting this somewhere. :001_smile:

[Beth in SW WA]

My older dc have done private in elementary, homeschool in middle school, back to private for high school.

 

My wee ones will homeschool through middle and attend private in high school, God-willing.