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Homeschooling some kids, others in PS?


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I did for about two years.  My younger son really enjoyed homeschooling (we pulled him out of ps) and my daughter still enjoyed ps.  She chose to homeschool after she started developing stomach issues due to social stress at school.  I don't believe there were any problems between the kids, dd did *not* want to hs, ds did *not* want to go to ps, so they were both happy doing different things.

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Yes, my little one is in PS. Her special needs are such that I can't HS all 3 kids. If I wanted to HS her, I'd need to put the older 2 in a B&M school. The district is willing to put her in a small class with 9 kids and 3 teachers so the ratio is the same as what she'd get at home. Plus they're individualizing the curriculum in a way that the general ed classes wouldn't for my older 2.

 

I hate being tied to the PS schedule but it's what's best for our family right now.

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We pulled DS mid-2nd grade.  He wanted to come home.  School had become a very toxic environment for him.  But DD wanted to finish the year with her friends and leave her school at the end of 5th grade with her classmates.  They were both fine with the arrangement, but it was only for half a year.

 

If you have kids that are fighting the choice, one way or the other, that might make things much more difficult.

 

I would think the main thing would be to make certain all kids feel like each choice is what is right for them, keep comparisons between the two ways to educate from even happening unless everyone is very polite and respectful, etc.

 

The main challenge was keeping in mind the school schedule (such as having to miss a homeschooling even to go pick up the in school child) and keeping up with homework when the rest of the family is wanting down time and hanging out as a family.  The child still doing school work needs to feel like they are also still a part of family time.  Stuff like that.  Definitely doable, though.

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I've hs'ed my 4 dc (ages 14, 12, 10 and 8) since the beginning. Ds 12 asked to go to school for grade 7, so he's there now. He is enjoying most parts of it and doing very well with the academics. He has his school schedule, but is still able to participate in 3 of our homeschool activities (swimming lessons, indoor soccer, and basketball). This is great, as he gets to keep in contact with his hs friends, and keeps doing fun things with his siblings.  

 

It's also nice that he's within walking distance of his school, and can walk to and from school on his own. If he has after-school activities, he can come home on his own. I can maintain the daily schedule with the rest of the dc. I find it easier to hs with one less child, even though ds was wonderful to hs. I still get to be involved in the hs community with the dc's activities, so my social support system is maintained.

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My oldest did the last semester of 8th grade and the first half of a semester of 9th grade at public school while I homeschooled four. It was good when it was good. She benefitted from the structure and outside pressures. It was a pain to have to make sure she was up and ready every day and to monitor homework, but it was nice to not have to hound her all day to work on her homeschool lessons. I had to pull her out in 9th grade for a bullying issue that the school wouldn't help resolve. So now I'm homeschooling five.

 

There's a wonderful, super small liberal arts charter school that I've applied to. If kids get accepted there for next year, it's unlikely to be all of them. I would have some at home and some at the school. My 12yo and 10yo would like to try school, but I don't like our local public schools.

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My 1st grader goes to school and my two high schoolers are homeschooled.  With such a huge age gap it works better for me to not be teaching all of them.  When the two oldest have graduated in a few years I'll be happy to homeschool my youngest, depending on where we're living.  It's nice to have the 1st grader in school because it's a lot easier to have him miss a few days here and there than it would be if my 10th grader were the one in school.

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My sister did this for a while.

It took away most of the advantages of both.

No longer could the family sleep in in the mornings, or go on little trips or field trips when school was in session, avoiding the crowds.

And yet they still were not out from under having to be home all the time or having to educate their kids themselves. 

In a lot of ways it was the worst of all possible worlds.

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I'm listening in...

 

I am planning on homeschooling my kindergartner next fall, but I will have a 7th grader and a 9th grader in public school.

 

I've told my bigs that I'd let them come home to school anytime.  If I felt like they didn't get a say in the matter, I'd have them home.  Which is very weird to me because it is a recent development in my mind and they often drive me batty when they are home in the evening and on breaks.  The bigs both want to stay in public school.  They are both doing well academically and socially and the school is a decent school.

 

I'm planning on keeping the kindergartner home because he is already accelerated and from past experience I'm not sure our elementary is the right fit for his personality combined with his accelerated academics.  

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My son is 12 and home full time. My daughter is 14 and is going to the public high school part time for her freshman year, so she is there either 2 or 3 days a week until 1:15. I love everything about our arrangement except being a slave to the school schedule. I get one on one time with my son, which we both benefit from. My daughter gets to pick what classes she wants to take at the high school, this year it is choir, band and Biology. She gets to see her friends (she was in PS until 7th grade) and has made many new ones from participating in marching band. She gets to do any extra curricular activities she wants and is welcome in all the high school functions. She also gets to study whatever she would like at home (literature, music history/world history, Latin, math) and also has lots of extra time to practice her many instruments.

 

I do wish we didn't have to follow the school schedule, especially when planning vacations, but I'm willing to do it because it is the best of both worlds for all of us. My son is excited to be able to do the same thing in a few years, and I am as well! I'll get some free time back but still be able to work with him when he is not at school.

 

 

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Yes. As others have said, the biggest problem is being tied to the school schedule. We also lose some flexibility for field trips and vacations. Another problem was that both got jealous of the other's perceived benefits. The one being hsed wanted the school opportunities and the one in school wanted more time at home. Both boys are in school currently but we may be hsing part or full time next year.

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We had the perceived benefits thing too. We used to make 6 flags day a family thing. Then things became split. That sort of thing. I do not feel we had a choice though. My daughter's mental health issues were too much to handle at home so she went to public school at 13 yrs old.

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Our DD17 is in public school for the first time this year while our two DSs are continuing with home schooling.  It has been an adjustment, but not as bad as we'd anticipated.  The school schedule is a bit of a downer in that we can't take off for a few days to go see my folks, etc. anytime we want to, but because DD is in a specialized special ed setting, her teacher is very good about us pulling her out for important family things that have come up.  

 

The pros are that DD is getting the specialized educational help she needs, while the boys are now able to move at a better pace academically for them.  DD is loving the social aspect of school, and she is in a small enough group setting that she is very successful socially.  (She has social and relational challenges.)  

 

While we don't deal with this because of DD's life skills educational focus, I would think that dealing with the hours of homework after school hours might be tricky and a bit exhausting for the parents who do both.  But that's just my guess.  

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DD attended a private school for high school (after attending a public school.)  At the time she made the switch we began homeschool DS (who was starting 6th grade).  So, DD was never home schooled; she attended an all-girls school, so it wasn't an option for DS.  We found it best to keep him on her school's schedule--getting the same holiday breaks, etc.

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My older dd always attended private school.  She is now in college.  I have homeschooled my other three kids for seven years now. 

 

Older dd is from my first marriage and her dad and I shared custody of her so our situation was a bit different in this regard.  It mostly worked out just fine, though.  We aligned our school breaks with her school breaks.

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We had one in p.s. last year, and this year one child is in a part-time school (3 full days/week).  There have been no issues at all except explaining to people who are confused why we have two plans for two children.  One minor inconvenience is that sometimes the school schedule conflicts with organized homeschool field trips. 

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For most of my time as a homeschooler, I've had various older children attending private high school.  It works okay, but the brick and mortar school schedule affected our homeschool schedule on a daily basis. It determines our school time each day and sets our homeschool calendar,  in addition to taking time in the evening for various b&m school related activities like teacher conferences, volunteering, fund raising, homework help, etc. My ds in high school recently decided to come back to homeschooling. I'm thrilled by my new found freedom!

 

On the positive side for homeschooling and sending a child to school, it helps prevent some irrational fantasies about life being easier if we put our homeschooled children in school.  It's not really easier--it's just different. It takes a different kind of energy to coordinate a child's education with teachers and schools.

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Ds (will be 18 in April) was in public school until the end of 3rd grade. Then we homeschooled him exclusively (except for some therapies by appointment through the special ed dept. at the local school) until 10th grade, when he started taking one class per year at the high school, largely to learn to tolerate a classroom environment (he's very bright but has social and sensory issues that make school very uncomfortable for him). This year he's taking a college-level course through a program which we access through the high school, but which actually meets at a different location that seems to be more comfortable for ds (bonus!). 

 

Dd went to public school for Kindergarten and first grade, was homeschooled for second and third grade, went back to ps for fourth through sixth, and is now in seventh grade. We decided at the beginning of the year to try the public school until Christmas and see how it went, but she's having some serious enough issues there that we'll be bringing her home part time. 

 

The upshot is, I've had an elementary student at school and a preschooler at home, then a homeschooled upper elementary student and a public schooled lower elementary student, then two homeschoolers (the easiest year by far to do field trips and other fun trips), then a middle school-to-high school student at home with an elementary student at school. Now we'll be doing part time both places with both kids. 

 

I like that we can get the best of both. Like others have said, the thing that chafes most is the limitations placed on our time by the school schedule. We've also had a few issues with dd being jealous of ds when she was in school and he wasn't (when she was in K and 1st; being homeschooled for a couple of years cured her of that...lol). I've found that it helps to be open with the kids about our reasons for choosing the educational placement for each that we have, and why we believe each child's situation is the best fit for him or her. They're smart kids, they can follow the reasoning. We have also discussed the fact that both arrangements have pros and cons, and that in a lot of ways each is as annoying and/or awesome as the other. And although we reserve the right as the parents to make the final decisions about such things, we do ask our kids about their preferences and priorities, and take those into consideration when we're weighing options. I think the kids appreciate the fact that we're making decisions for each of them as individuals, taking their individual personalities, strengths, and challenges into consideration, rather than just stuffing them both into a one-size-fits-all schooling situation. They're very different from each other.

 

Anyway, overall, it's been a good experience around here, even with the challenges that crop up from time to time. 

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