Did ASing lead to full time homeschooling

[workingmom]

I'm curious if any of you found that once you worked with your kids, and found them to excel and be interested, did that lead you to decide to homeschool? I have always been ASing and am just afraid that once he realizes school is a breeze he won't be interested in learning and not want to learn. For those of you who did AS, I'm sure much of it was b/c of working, so did you change your schedules drastically if you went to full-time hsing? We may have an option of grade skip at the end of first grade (next year) he's already doing first grade stuff now but the principal doesn't consider grade acceleration until after 1st. I'm deciding to stay with school and AS, but am cautious that he may prefer to not to anything extra or just coast through school when he realizes he can. I'm sure by the time summer is done we'll be well into second grade stuff. I just don't want to miss the boat on capturing their love of learning. I'm flexible and work PT and could manage to hs fully I suppose with some help. If any of you did hs even if just for a year after AS I'd love to hear about experiences, pitfalls, and regrets (on either side)

[Melinda in VT]

I did it the other way around--I homeschooled first and then afterschoooled.

[BabyBre]

I understand your concern as I watched my first ds's love of learning get crushed in public school. He was such an amazing, inquisitive child and began attending public school as "normal" in kindergarten, but by the 5th grade I just couldn't bear to watch it any longer. His grades were horrible and he needed attention that couldn't possibly be given to him by a teacher who had to divide it among nearly 30 students. At that point I didn't feel only afterschooling would be of much benefit to him, so we began homeschooling full-time in 5th grade, up until just this year when he began public high school as a 9th grader. We now afterschool and it's simply required of him to spend an hour after school either on his homework from class or on the work I give him. He does fight it occasionally, but to no avail because his grades give him no ground to stand on. When they improve, we'll talk. (We've now determined he has an attention deficit that significantly affects his organizational skills.) When I first brought him home, it was very rough. In fact, our entire first year was quite difficult (but not without those precious moments that remind you why it's all worth it!). I quickly developed a tactic for dealing with the resistance he gave me and soon it was fairly under control. Perserverance is the key until homeschooling or afterschooling is just the way of your life.

 

We also did this the opposite way as you with my younger dd. I began formal instruction with her at about age 4 and she's always done work a grade level ahead at home. Per dh's wishes, she entered public school in 1st grade this year according to her age. But I have NO intention of letting her education sit idle, so we afterschool (before school) on her ability level. As far as I'm concerned, she gets 6 hours of socialization and enrichment every day, and the bulk of her education in a couple hours at home (you can see the thread "What kind of things are you doing for afterschooling?" to see how we spend our limited time). I have to admit that bringing her back home full-time, even after only the few months that she's been in a classroom, would be difficult. She gets to hang out with her friends with very little (that challenges her) required of her all day long. Why would she want to come home, while her friends are all there, and work hard?

 

My recommendation would be to just remember who's in charge. If you say it's so, it's so. Eventually he'll just accept it. Also try beforeschooling. Dd is completely spent after those 6 hours of enrichment so we do our more intense work before school and save the fun stuff like science projects for after school. It's just an accepted part of our morning routine.

 

I wish you luck.

[Kathy in MD]

to avoid working. Ds was happy to be home because I scaled the work and expectations back to where he could be successful. However he did object to having to do all the assigned work. He also fought with having to redo poor work. A third problem was that he couldn't hide homework from me - I knew what he needed to do!

 

He's been home for exactly a year now. My main regret is that I didn't bring him home a couple of years earlier when he moved into 4th grade. That's when most of his therapies were completed and he needed more structure and closer supervision to do catch-up work. He was in a Montessori school, which was great for keeping his love of learning alive when he litterally couldn't physically do the work.

 

Academically, ds is still happy to be home. However he misses his friends at school and wants to go back in HS even though he anticipates that he'd be in hot water again academically. :rolleyes:

[AuntPol]

We are going to homeschool my youngest (in 2nd grade now) starting in the fall but leave my oldest (3rd grade) in public school.

 

My oldest does well in public school with supplementation at home. Our school has a lot of opportunities that support her social and academic needs (Odyssey of the Mind, Daily AG pullout, Hands on science and social studies, great programs for specials, working in library and preschool room, etc). Her particular grade at school has a unusually high number of gifted kids and a great deal of kids with parents working at the school. She is gifted but not at the level of DS and she is more creatively gifted (art, writing, drama) than he. She is the teacher's pet kind of kid.

 

ON the otherhand, my son is not doing as well. He has ADHD and Sesnory Issues and has many Aspergers like traits though no diagnosis of Aspergers. He is one of the youngest in his class. He made the cut off but since he entered, the cutoff has been changed and we would not have made it. He would be in first grade in many states. He has maxed out the county's reading level and gets no reading instruction beyond the 2nd grade Houghton Mifflin curriculum as it applied to whole class. The school refuses to accelerate him in anyway. They refuse to cooperate on him having an IEP (doesn't qualify because his academics are high). We do have a 504 for writing but no real implementation. His particular grade level has a lot of less academically gifted (and those the school puts in that category are actually age wise 3rd grade as delayed a year starting) and most are girls. There is a high number of gangster wannabes in his grade level (yes -7 yo's beating each other up over colors and gang signs and the administration does nothing). Whereas my DD thrives on variety etc, he does not transistion well and he has a lot of transitions in his day (recess, lunch, specials, modules, AG pullout, etc). We've been blessed with 3 great teachers so far but they are limited by county policy, school policy, and having to deal with a school that is mostly title one and no time leftover for him. We get called constantly to come pick him up etc and it never stems from his teacher but a specialist, an aide, an administrator, a sub, or a teacher from another grade who doesn't know him. I've asked for 3 years to have the specialists be on the same page as the classroom teacher and been denied time and time again. I just don't think the school can balance his academic needs with his behavioral and social needs and in the end, all is sacrificed.

[Carmen_and_Company]

It did for me while my oldest was in 6th grade. We afterschooled from the summer of 4th grade until we pulled Taz out right before winter break of his 6th grade year.

 

Taz graduates from our hs this June. My middle child, Storm, enters her 7th year of hs'ing in the fall as a 6th grader, and my youngest will stay in a 2-3x times per week pre-IB charter school that caters to hs'ers after only hs'ing one year.

 

So I have one that began in the middle, one that always was hs'd, and one I only hs'd for one year--grin.

[talexand]

My only problem with ASing is that we didn't have time to do enough of it. So I got permission from the principal to homeschool half time. Ds (9 years old) attends school until after lunch and then I pick him up and homeschool for the afternoon. My 6 year old goes to school full time so he can learn how to do school. I will switch him to part time down the road but for now school is working for him. My older ds often ends up back at school when it lets out for chess club, French club, or robot club. If time is tight we actually homeschool at school in an empty classroom to save travel time. In fact, once a week while I hs my son I will meet with 5th graders who need help with their science projects. Its got to be the most cooperative, friendly school/homeschool partnership I know. I wish it were an option available to more afterschoolers. I know many schools aren't as openminded.

[Tokyomarie]

We had a special circumstance that led to our afterschooling: we were living in Tokyo and our girls attended Japanese private pre-school/kindergarten programs followed by Japanese public school for Gr. 1-6. I wanted to keep their English academics growing at grade level, so I afterschooled them. When my oldest went into an international school for Jr. High (part of Gr. 7 through Gr. 9), she still afterschooled despite the fact that she was in a very pricey private school because she was academically gifted and they were not able to accommodate her needs in all areas. She would have entered Gr. 10 at a different international school but we relocated to the States. After considering the options, we decided to homeschool all three children full time.

 

Ch. #1 was in Japanese and international schools w/afterschooling through Gr. 9; homeschooled & dual-enrollment from Gr. 10-12.

 

Ch. #2 was in Japanese schools & afterschooled through Gr. 6; homeschooled Gr. 6-12.

 

Ch. #3 was in an international kindergarten & afterschooled (loosely speaking since it *was* pre-K!) through K4; homeschooled K5- present Gr. 7

[lwilliams1922]

eeesh could you share your tactic?

 

I have a bright 7th grader with adhd ( innatentive).

I taught her from the age of 2 then once she got in school I spent all my time chasing assigmnents she forgot or loss.

 

I just decided that is not the best use of our time so she will be HS asap.

I have not told her yet as I am sure she will protest (for a while) all the time she spends with friends.

 

I quickly developed a tactic for dealing with the resistance he gave me and soon it was fairly under control.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I understand your concern as I watched my first ds's love of learning get crushed in public school. He was such an amazing, inquisitive child and began attending public school as "normal" in kindergarten, but by the 5th grade I just couldn't bear to watch it any longer. His grades were horrible and he needed attention that couldn't possibly be given to him by a teacher who had to divide it among nearly 30 students. At that point I didn't feel only afterschooling would be of much benefit to him, so we began homeschooling full-time in 5th grade, up until just this year when he began public high school as a 9th grader. We now afterschool and it's simply required of him to spend an hour after school either on his homework from class or on the work I give him. He does fight it occasionally, but to no avail because his grades give him no ground to stand on. When they improve, we'll talk. (We've now determined he has an attention deficit that significantly affects his organizational skills.) When I first brought him home, it was very rough. In fact, our entire first year was quite difficult (but not without those precious moments that remind you why it's all worth it!). I quickly developed a tactic for dealing with the resistance he gave me and soon it was fairly under control. Perserverance is the key until homeschooling or afterschooling is just the way of your life.

 

We also did this the opposite way as you with my younger dd. I began formal instruction with her at about age 4 and she's always done work a grade level ahead at home. Per dh's wishes, she entered public school in 1st grade this year according to her age. But I have NO intention of letting her education sit idle, so we afterschool (before school) on her ability level. As far as I'm concerned, she gets 6 hours of socialization and enrichment every day, and the bulk of her education in a couple hours at home (you can see the thread "What kind of things are you doing for afterschooling?" to see how we spend our limited time). I have to admit that bringing her back home full-time, even after only the few months that she's been in a classroom, would be difficult. She gets to hang out with her friends with very little (that challenges her) required of her all day long. Why would she want to come home, while her friends are all there, and work hard?

 

My recommendation would be to just remember who's in charge. If you say it's so, it's so. Eventually he'll just accept it. Also try beforeschooling. Dd is completely spent after those 6 hours of enrichment so we do our more intense work before school and save the fun stuff like science projects for after school. It's just an accepted part of our morning routine.

 

I wish you luck.

[Guest voangory]

I AS-ed for a while. It wore my son out to tears. I have no idea what they do at school, but whatever it is it wears my kiddo down. So this year I decided to HS full time, with the help of another HS-er (bless her heart) who watches him for me when I go to work. We have been so privileged. We'll be moving in the summer, with a more demanding job, so I may not be able to HS full time anymore. I'll pray, and please pray with me, that we will find a way again because the way AS has been for us is just too hard on my kiddo.

 

Lova.

[homeschoolmom]

It did for us.

 

We found that public school was not fitting our academic expectations/DD's needs and she was learning more academically from us in AS than all day in PS.

 

We pulled her out at the conclusion of first grade and breathed a collective sigh of relief. DD is much better off academically and socially.

 

We hope to continue to hs through (at least) the elementary school years but we take one year at a time.

 

Just our experience....

[teachmom3]

We originally brought my youngest ds home from full-time ps after having afterschooled him for a couple of years. That was seven years ago, and he's never wanted to return to ps. He was in special education with some mainstream inclusion, and although the placement was fine for him (most of the time) while he was there, his academic progress really (REALLY) shot up after we brought him home to homeschool full time. If he were to return to ps now, he probably would not qualify for special ed.

 

Unless something unexpected occurs making it necessary for me to return to work, we will probably homeschool him through high school.

[JFSinIL]

I started out afterschooling one of my twins, a bright third grade boy who loved history. We would read and outline Usborne books after school , do simple history craft projects...and then his teacher remarked how he was getting done with his work so fast at school (in a class of 30 kids) that she was sending him to the library to read the encyclopedia. So I brought him him halfway through 3rd grade.

[workingmom]

I made the switch this summer and am so relieved. It was frustrating trying to fit it all in and still prioritize free time/play. Even working part-time this makes the most sense to me right now in this stage of school and my life. We started in the summer to "test it out" with my work schedule. So far so good.