Curious about how long folks homeschool in your circles...?

[erica471]

What is a "family school"? I've never heard of that.

 

Oh, sorry I should have explained.

Its basically an alternative public school. We homeschool 1/2 time and they go to family school 1/2 time. The classrooms are combined 1stgrade-2ndgrade, 3rdgrade-4th grade etc. I teach her math and all language arts they teach her science, social studies. They also provide library, PE, art and music. Parents are required to volunteer and be involved. Right now in my dd's 1st-2nd grade class there are only 9 kids. It has been a nice compromise for a somewhat reluctant dh. I also work part-time and have been able to schedule my hours around her school. Even though I'm only "required" to teach her math and language arts I still do history and other things I think are important.

The only negative for me has been that we are require to turn in lesson plans every month, though it certainly keeps me organized!

[erica471]

Here's a link to the info for family schools for our state:

 

http://www.ped.state.nm.us/alted/family_schools/index.html

[angela in ohio]

The thing I see often here is very relaxed homeschooling until about grade 6, then (especially boys) are put into school because mom "can't get them to do anything." For example, I know three families like this that are sending boys to public school next year.

 

I do know of families homeschooling high schoolers - they tend to be either very strong Christians or else very academically-inclined (or both.)

[AKshanmar]

While doing some research for our bookstore I requested some enrollment figures from the state of Alaska. There are just over 10,000 kids in the state which homeschool through some sort of charter school. I was amazed that the number of kids was fairly equal throughout all the grades. I was expecting a drop-off in the highschool grades, but it just wasn't the reality.

 

I told all my kids that they could choose what to do when the got to highschool. My daughter homeschooled her freshman year and then a new career and tech highschool opened with her dream job of culinary arts as one of the career tracks. She has thrived both socially and academically. I am content.

 

My son will be a freshman next year. He wants to attend school. I think he will do fine, but perhaps get frustrated with the inefficiency of the public school system as he is a very efficient kid and refuses to do anything that he doesn't see a point to doing. I wouldn't be surprised if he finished up homeschooling. One of his good friends is 16 and graduating this year and I'm sure that will appeal to him!

[debbiec]

I'd say 50/50. 50% HS K-7/8 and 50% all the way ~

[Robin in Tx]

We've had a number of homeschoolers decide to go alternate routes around middle/high school time, but by and large the majority stay with homeschooling. I think the difference is that we have several organizations that offer classes to homeschoolers grades 7 and up including lab science, and teen social groups. I think that if you have good options for outsourcing certain subjects/activities, the temptation to drop homeschoolling altogether is minimized. I think that Joanne was correct, too, when she said that some families get stretched financially after so many years. Our local homeschool store has been experiencing poor sales and one of the reasons has been the decreased customer base.

 

I wouldn't consider it dropping out as much as I would consider it reevaluating needs/priorities and changing direction. Somne of the ones who have gone to h.s. around here have done fantastic. I have thought about a parochial high school for my dd - they have opportunities I can't replicate elsewhere including a great orchestra. We've got a couple of years to decide, though.

 

Robin

[Diana in OR]

I think the difference is that we have several organizations that offer classes to homeschoolers grades 7 and up including lab science, and teen social groups. I think that if you have good options for outsourcing certain subjects/activities, the temptation to drop homeschoolling altogether is minimized.

Robin

 

 

You're right. There are a lot of classes and activities for hsers in our area. However, for the interests my ds has (football, wrestling, choir) there was no hs outlet (there is a hs choir, but interferes with sports schedules). The ps was our only option for these things, and ds and I were spending far too much time driving back and forth to the school 2X/day.

[freethinkermom]

I don't really know any other homeschoolers locally so I can only speak for my family. We very briefly (one trimester) tried the middle-school for DS10 this school year. After their attempts (testing, many meetings, etc.) to determine what grade he should be in academically combined with the districts anti-acceleration policy we decided their was no place for either of our sons in the local school system ever. Ds10 will have essentially finished highschool homeschooling long before the school district would let him even start highschool since. We plan on homeschooling until we feel they are old enough to go away to college. That will mean starting college level coursework long before that point, but we have a plan, or at least the beginings of one.

[Rebecca in VA]

My soon-to-be-11-year-old is strong in math and science, which are my two weakest areas. Right now I'm accelerating her using video courses, but I'm not much help in teaching her. Eventually she'll want more challenge than I can provide.

 

She also wants to be in a more social setting. The happiest hours of her days are when she sees friends or participates in outside activities.

 

There's a math and science magnet school in our county that I've been thinking about for her. I think she could easily get in there, and I think she'd feel stimulated and challenged. The students there are motivated and high-achieving. I'm working toward preparing her for that school, though she's completely unaware of what's on my mind (which is good, since I may change my mind about this and I don't want to raise her expectations).

[LoriM]

I think more homeschool through high school here because of the amazing and excellent resource concurrent enrollment at our local community college provides to augment a high schooler's education and social interactions.

 

I do spend a lot of time ferrying my high schooler "only child" (her sister is at the university full time) to a large number of youth group, team sports, and just "hang out" evenings so that she has a complete high school experience socially. I would NOT do those things if her school day and social life were combined at a ps...but then, she'd also not have the time to do those things if her evenings were sunk in homework and projects. GRIN.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[imeverywoman]

that there were 2 other H.S. students who were registering this week. Mine is a combination of wanting to teach a lazy, underachieving student that life is NOT a field of roses, as well as fear of failing him while he is learning said lesson.

[MIch elle]

a Christian High School in the fall and we're all excited about it!

 

The opportunities (academics, sports, clubs, etc.)to attend a good high school outweigh what we could offer him at home. He wants to go and I'm relieved from the burden of trying to be and do it all for/with him.

 

I'm happy for my ds and look forward to homeschooling only ONE dc this fall.