Wow, thanks so much for sharing all of your stories. It really is so helpful to hear from those of you that have walked this road before. I also appreciate the encouragement too!
I should clarify that the school has never directly told us that we're lucky to be there. It comes more from the parents and people in our city who know about the school (but don't actually attend). The classes are very small so there is a long waiting list and that leads to the "lucky" talk among parents.
I do feel fortunate to have been there for all of these years, and it has been an excellent foundation for our oldest kids with plenty of beauty and fun in the mix. We have a ton of good memories, and that's what will make it hard to leave. But like you said texasmom33, I've had that sinking feeling as I watch my older daughter progress, just knowing deep down that my son is going to drown in that same work that she's handling with relative ease. K-5 has been good, and not too overwhelming. When I sat through the orientation for the higher grades I knew it probably wasn't going to work for him without some real struggles.
I should also say that he really isn't miserable. His teacher and the principal both tell me that he is engaged and happy and participates in class. He tells me every day that he had a good day and he's fine with going back the next morning. He's involved in activities and has lots of friends. He's just over the amount of work and the fact that it leaves no room for anything else in his life. He's also worried about the work he sees his sister doing, and he's just not invested in giving every minute of his weeknights and weekend days to homework.
Our main hesitation has been that he's the type of kid that says anything he doesn't want to do is "too hard" - from homework to just putting his laundry in the hamper! So our waffling on whether or not to leave has been tempered by that - is it really too difficult for him, or is he not wanting to work hard? Or is he just afraid of failing under that school stress? I admit I worry that he thinks homeschool is all fun all the time, though we remind him often that he will still need to do school work of some kind. I think that's where co-op type classes will be my friend!
Ultimately we've come to the conclusion that many of you stressed - he can be successful and have a great career/ life coming from any number of schools. We started out thinking this was the best and only way to go, but now we look around at all of the successful adults we know and remember that NONE of them went to that school! ;)
We would pull him out now, but he really is doing okay emotionally (just not at all invested, which makes homework difficult) and unfortunately they would not let us out of the thousands of dollars we still owe on the rest of this year's tuition. :(
I get so sad when I think about him no longer growing up with those same sweet kids that he's been with since Kindergarten, and no longer being at school with his sister like he has been for years. It will be a difficult goodbye for sure, especially since we will still be on campus often for her events and activities. Honestly, now I just need the end of the year to hurry up and get here so we can rip this band-aid off and move forward, ha!
But I really am looking forward to seeing his spark return and I feel fortunate that we get to choose what's next for him. I'm appreciating him for who he is and I'm getting excited about the TIME he will get back to explore things that really interest and motivate him. I'm scared, but I feel like he can really take off with this. :)