Who has gone from HS to public school BACK to HS?

[Meadowlark]

Just kind of curious...

 

We're making huge changes this year. I had a baby in July, and 5/6 of my "always been homeschooled" kids are going to public school and even (GASP!) riding the big yellow bus.

 

The thing is, I always wanted to homeschool middle school (I've taught both in elementary and public MS's  and we started with the intention of hsing through middle school) but I kind of thought we were done in the back of my mind.

 

But-my almost 5th grader said he "might" be open to homeschooling 6th. I honestly never even thought about it-I thought once we started, that'd be it.

 

So, if you've done something like this...tell me what it was like. Did your kids severely miss their new friends? Did they seem sad or depressed? Or, did they thrive at home? My son is very extroverted and is excited to start school. That's why his response surprised me. Idk-I might be open to it though. I just can't don't think I can do everybody at once. Anyway, tell me your experience!

[HomeAgain]

We did.  Homeschooled 2nd through 5th, then had a rough summer so put ds in school for 6th.  He was excited, an extrovert like yours.  When it got down to it, though, he wasn't a fan.  I wasn't a fan.  There were things he did miss when I pulled him at the end of the year, like band (his teacher invited him back for that class thanks to the school's open student policy, but the block schedule was hard to manage), but he was still able to see his friends through other activities and he made new friends in our co-op. 

[EKS]

My younger son homeschooled from K-4, went to a private school for 5-6, homeschooled for 7-8, and is now going to the public high school.

 

My son did not miss his friends at the private school because he never really had any.  By the second year, he did seem a bit depressed, anxious, and lonely, and that was a huge reason for putting him in public school.

[mytwomonkeys]

We did. My son started public school in 5th grade & stayed through 7th grade. At the end of last year he was over it and asked to come home. He made good grades, but he just got to the point of hating school. We had him finish out the year & now he's homeschooling and will do so through graduation.

 

We are part of a co-op with 80 kids & he attends there Monday from 8:30-1:30. We are also part of a support group that organizes field trips. As for his friends, he attends middle school youth group on Wednesdays & is part of the set-up team too. On Sunday he serves on the production team for when high school youth group meets... he has a lot of friends that serve with him so that works out well.

 

No regrets. But so glad he is home!!

 

My daughter went to public school in 6th grade. She's in 10th now and doing great. She has no desire to come home & Im okay with that. She's got a great group of friends & is doing so well academically.

[Seeking Squirrels]

We homeschooled oldest K-2nd, then she went to PS for 3rd. We ended up pulling her out with just a couple months left of 3rd and now she's home for 4th. She really only had one friend she made at school so we made arrangements with that kid's mom and made sure they got to see each other pretty soon after the withdrawal. She's now had several play dates with her. She doesn't seem to miss anything else. But she has some SN coming into play that made PS a difficult fit for her so anything she might miss is overshadowed by the relief and the parts she is happy to be away from. 

 

It's too early in to this year to tell if she'll thrive and how we'll do long term. But she's happy to be back home.

 

Technically I guess my youngest is also "back home", but she only went to preschool last year because she was bored home with me all day with her sister gone so we did it for something fun for her to do. It was just 2 hours 3 times a week. Not sure if that really counts or not, but she's home for K this year. 

[Janeway]

My second child PS in kinder, then HS 1 and 2, and then PS in 3 and 4, and has HS ever since. My kids hate public school. They will never consider doing it again, ever.  They miss nothing.

[Renai]

My oldest homeschooled K through half of 3rd. I was working full-time from home at the time and thought I wasn't doing enough, so put her in school in January of 3rd grade. I tutored there, so we were familiar with the teachers and some students. It lasted a month when I figured she was getting more done at home and I pulled her.

 

She did 7th at one charter, skipped 8th and went to an arts charter in 9th. After I registered her for 10th at the same school, she walked out saying, "mom, just homeschool me again." Here, there are no options for part-time enrollment or enrolling at grade level in high school. It has to be all-in. I told her to just go, try it, she was no longer a freshman, and besides, I had JUST accepted a full-time job as a teacher. She lasted one week, called me when I was in a staff meeting, and told me she'd turned in her books and was ready to come home.

 

She's been home since, is doing some dual-enrollment at the community college, and will be graduating this school year. She doesn't miss it at all - and these were dance friends she practically grew up with. She has a better peer group at the community college.

 

My second went to the same school I worked in for prek. She seems to have anxiety issues and never wanted to go back. So she hasn't. She gets along fine with other kids, but I think it is too much stimulation for her. I currently work from home again, or otherwise I wouldn't be able to homeschool her.

[Kuovonne]

Last year, both of my DD went to public school after being homeschooled for years. My older DD stuck with public school the whole year and is now in a traditional private school. My younger DD lasted a semester before asking to be homeschooled again. I was really surprised that she wanted to go back to homeschooling, because she is very social and always longed to go to school when she was homeschooled. She isn't any happier with homeschooling than she was the first time, but she no longer wishes to go to public school.

[Kuovonne]

Last year, both of my DD went to public school after being homeschooled for years. My older DD stuck with public school the whole year and is now in a traditional private school. My younger DD lasted a semester before asking to be homeschooled again. I was really surprised that she wanted to go back to homeschooling, because she is very social and always longed to go to school when she was homeschooled. She isn't any happier with homeschooling than she was the first time, but she no longer wishes to go to public school.

[Meadowlark]

I just wanted to report back and give an update now that the kids have been in school for 5 whole days.

 

Well...wow, what an adjustment. I really feel like my whole world has been flipped upside down. The quiet is eerily quiet and I'm honestly not sure if I like it yet or not. Now before, the chaos drove me batty and I dreamed of this quiet. Now that I have it? I kind of miss the chaos. I'm sure if they were here though, I'd be dreaming of the quiet still. You know how it goes...

 

The one thing that has shocked me is the technology in the schools. I guess we ran a traditional homeschool with the occasional ipad or curriculum on computer. But my kids (even preschooler) are in the computer labs, on the ipads, on laptops, and I had to download 2 apps so the teachers can send me pictures and videos of my kids DURING the school day. Actually, even my first grader has sent things to me. My husband says it's Facebook for kids. Not a fan of all of this.

 

Lunches...driving me crazy. If they all take hot, it's $12 per day. But packing them with their ice packs and everything else is a gigantic headache. Enough said.

 

How do the kids feel? I have 3 that are enjoying it and 2 that aren't quite sure yet. They are my introverts naturally that didn't want to go to begin with. My heart hurts when I take those two to the bus stop every day. Thankfully, they haven't voiced anything to me that would make me want to pull them (and I wouldn't do that anyway so early), so that's helping. I think they both need to get used to it because they both have WONDERFUL teachers who I completely trust. 

 

As for homeschooling, I'm just not sure how we'd ever go back. I had a conversation with my 10 year old today (extreme extrovert) and it's like he's found his happy place. Middle School around here scares me, but I just don't know how he would do after experiencing school. Plus, if we homeschooled again, it'd have to be everybody I think because one of the things we miss is the flexibility to travel/take field trips. I'm not sure that I could handle all 6 of them after having only 2 and 1 this year. 

 

Anyway, all of your stories are very interesting to me. I am amazed that so many of you have children who chose homeschool over public school after they tried PS. Only time will tell for us, but it sure will be interesting. Of course I am mulling over the warm, fuzzy parts of homeschool and conveniently forgetting the tears and yelling that occurred. I guess that's natural. Anyway, time will tell!

[CAtoVA]

Yes, my DS was HS K-3 went  to a small private school for 4th, small public elementary neighborhood school for 5th and then our district's large public middle school for 6th. DS was sent to school in 4th because he had a very bad case of "grass is greener" and simply stopped working at home (by the end of 3rd grade). By the end of 6th grade he had had enough and really wanted to come home for 7th. That was last year. This year there was no question that he would stay home for 8th and he says he has no intention of going to a large, public high school in the future.

 

Last year, in 7th grade, he went to a large HS co-op (400 kids K-12) once a week and also a science co-op (about 80 kids) once a week in addition to church youth group twice a week. He also fenced once a week. This was enough social time for him and he is a very extroverted kid. What he discovered for himself was that the amount of time spent with other kids didn't matter (quantity) what mattered was the quality of that time. He simply grew tired of what he saw as poor quality kid to kid interactions during a loooonnngggg school day (6th grade school day took 8 hours including school bus ride time). As I said, my DS is very extroverted but he has grown to prefer fewer overall hours per day spent with other kids as long as those hours are spent in quality, respectful (often multi-age) interactions. This year he will still attend the large co-op weekly but not the science co-op, and  he will still attend youth group and fencing. 

 

I think my DS also is starting to appreciate the academic freedom of HS'ing more as he is getting older and does not want to give this up. For example, he is advanced in history and will be taking a high school level history class this year in 8th grade. This would not be an option for him at our local public middle school. He would have to take yet another year of grade level American History.

 

I hear you regarding the concern about technology. When my DS started the public elementary in 5th, the teachers and principal were aghast that he had no keyboard skills (because all the students had been keyboarding since K). Of course, he picked it up in no time. One thing I did not appreciate was the sheer amount of hours they parked my son on computers "testing" him. I do live in a very test driven state and area and this was grating on me and him.

Edited August 30, 2017 by chiefcookandbottlewasher

[meganrussell]

My four kids have been in school five days, as well. The only one who likes it is the 9th grader. My 7ty grader doesn't hate it - he just prefers homeschooling and would gladly go back to it. My 4th grader doesn't like the long days and misses our curriculum and doing things together. My 1st grader likes it okay, but misses being home and having more play time. As each day goes by, they're realizing it's not exactly what they envisioned! And I am, too. I MISS homeschooling. I feel like I have stepped out of God's will for my life. I prayed about it, but I more or less made the decision for ME and because I was pressured by the kids.

 

I really can see us homeschooling again - SOON. After this first 9 weeks, we are going to reevaluate. I don't like the things I'm seeing and hearing about the kids are school. 4th graders flipping people off, 7th graders using the F word and so forth. My kids are not used to that behavior from kids. (We do have grown relatives who curse - not the F word - but never kids).

 

My five year old and I don't know what to to work our time. We do his school, read books, visit the library, clean, play outside, sure....but when you're used to having lots of playmates, it's quite a shock.

 

I regret putting them in already. 😟

[meganrussell]

Oh any my 4th grader had already brought home a workbook for standardize testing practice. On day 5 of public school!

[Lang Syne Boardie]

Megan, you don't have to wait nine weeks. If this was just an impulsive mistake, why not leave the ninth grader in school and bring the younger children home now? Do you need a longer break, or are there lessons involved with going to school that you want them to learn, or...why wait?

Edited August 30, 2017 by Tibbie Dunbar

[meganrussell]

Megan, you don't have to wait nine weeks. If this was just an impulsive mistake, why not leave the ninth grader in school and bring the younger children home now? Do you need a longer break, or are there lessons involved with going to school that you want them to learn, or...why wait?

My husband thinks they should stay in for a while because they begged to go. He doesn't want to think I'll jump everything they say frog. I am a bit impulsive. I am wishy-washy sometimes. I may not wait the full nine weeks. Thanks for the encouragement though that it is okay for me to take them back out. I need to hear that it's okay!