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If you've had/currently have a child in a classroom, I'm interested in your story.


Susan Wise Bauer
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I know I am very late to  this thread as I have been away for quite awhile. That said, it is an issue very fresh on my mind. 3 years ago we moved our children to a lovely village town where dh aunt was the elem and middle school principal. There is approximately one classroom per grade. We have loved it! Many of the perks to homeschooling as well as the perks of PS found in one place. Then some of the down sides crept in. There was a massive lack in electives, clubs, and strict (unwritten) rules not allowing them to dual sport in the same season. Further there wasn't a foreign language option for middle school. The excuse was that they just didn't have the funds or enough kids to allow these things. We discovered that in our state, by law, the school has to cover up to two online courses of the students choice per year. So, we enrolled our middle schooler in a foreign language instead of art (which I could do at home). I was a bit taken aback at the push back we received from the high school principal (not the middle school one). In fact, right before school started he wrote a massive letter that was posted to the main web page of the schools site explaining that while they did have to provide this opportunity he strongly discourages it. That the school would provide no help and most students fail. That failing would be permanent on their grades so please be VERY cautious about enrolling your child in online courses. 

 

Dd got an A, but true to threat, she was given no support at school and it was our history of homeschooling that allowed us to help her. Then next year (9th grade) we enrolled her in 2 online classes. Biology and Latin allowing her to take Spanish 2 with the 10th graders. Again we were met with massive resistance. Spanish teacher said she would fail doing two languages and there was serious tension between the biology teacher and our family. She again received A's in all classes while playing varsity level sports all 3 seasons and going to state as freshman in XC.

I did notice that as dd was successful more and more of her peers started taking online classes. Finally, at the end of last year as we sat with her school counselor discussing this coming year (10th grade) he finally admitted that he didn't think their was anything she couldn't handle and what did we want to do. The 10th grade science option (same lackluster biology teacher) was going to be Physical Science and I just about lost it. We decided on online Anatomy and physiology and Medical terminology through a local college as her elective. 

Over the summer things changed for us. It was subtle, but I found I was frustrated with the constant uphill battle of trying to provide and excellent education for my children. I was also frustrated that my dd was forbidden from doing both XC and equestrian team at the same time and that her brothers could not do soccer and XC at the same time when the village school 5 miles down the road could. Also, I cannot say they were being bullied, but there was a definite attitude of "do well, but don't do so well that you make others look bad by default." As a result, some students would find opportunities to drag them down to their level. 

 

We made the decision to enroll them via school of choice at a larger high school and middle school 45 min away. They offer everything. AP classes, a variety of electives, dual sporting if the child can handle it. Most of all they are not threatened by our children's desire to succeed and push themselves. I feel that homeschooling allowed us to both support our children in a unique way, but it also gave us a higher standard of education and provided us with the strength to seek out better options. 

 

Ultimately, I feel bad for our village school, I work with a lot of young doctors and they ask me about moving to the area (torch lake, mi is stunning) but these are people who will not settle for their children's educational options. They are losing families who genuinely support their children's education and are not attractive to this next generation of parent that is accustom to having options. 

Edited by simka2
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Mostly hands off when my last 2 finished in public school.  They said they wanted parental input, but really they only want it if you do it your way.  After them being at school all day for many hours I couldn't make them do more school for me too.  We just pulled my 8 yo grand  daughter out of school to home school. She is starting the 3rd grade. The school did not care that she was getting bullied all the time. With my experiences, I would say that most schools really don't want the parents to help unless you are volunteering to supervise a field trip etc.

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  • 3 weeks later...

We have always homeschooled three out of four kids. My youngest enrolled in a two day school this year. We like the social and religious aspects of it, as well as some academics. We requested some customization that they advertise and there was pushback. We have now opted for nongrading options, and are happily customizing classes to him. We have a similiar experience with his next older sister online,

 

It feels like these places are taking advantage of homeschoolers,especially new ones. I hear the phrase "accountable" thrown around a lot. I don't pay people and expect them to hold me accountable. That seems weird and based on weight watcher experiences here...doesn't work. I am accountable to God and myself, but not to outsourced classes. Their grades aren't important, and they seem to want to ruin everything good about homeschooling. We opted for no grading in one, and the other left grading as there are papers, and i like to see if there my be feedback, These schools have an inflated view of their importance, we just want a few interesting classes, and PE, and recess.

I really don't need anyone to educate my children, they don't get that these are just fun extras. They advertize their accredidation and act like people can't get to college without it. Accredited by who? Why make a big deal out of the testing becase of accreditation,and then make it mandatory to retake tests until a certain grade is acheived, Ridiculous. In my state , it is better to apply as a homeschooler anyway. Why are homeschoolers drinking this kool aide?

Edited by Silver Brook
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  • 3 weeks later...

I had enrolled all my children in public school this year, and already withdrew one because of the four days that he was there, three of those days he was denied his last recess because he didn't have his work done.  I had taught him cursive first, and never taught him to print - I didn't think it would be a big deal, but...........he wasn't getting his work done because they told him he HAD to print, so it was taking him a long time, and because his work wasn't done "on time," he had to stay in during his last recess to finish his work.  I went the whole route of talking and emailing to the teacher and then the principal to no avail - "that's the way we do things here."

I even told them that I preferred for him to have his recess, and send the work home to be finished with me, and yes, in cursive.  Didn't work.

 

Now I'm having an issue with one of my daughters.  There's a field trip coming up that she's not interested in, and I have no problem keeping her at home, as it's something we're already quite well versed in.  Her teacher has told me that if I call the school that day and keep her home, that it will be an unexcused absence - WHAT!!!???  I'm the parent calling in to expressly excuse her for the day!  I'll be posting a question on another forum in regards to this.

 

 

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