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I am thinking about putting my kids in school for a year to try it. They are all so social and I can't seem to meet their needs. My heart is just not into anymore, and quite honestly, the idea of a quiet house during the day sounds wonderful. If I continue to homeschool, I will probably switch to one of the DVD programs like Abeka. What has been your experience with public school for grades 2,4,7? Thanks

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Both of my kids went to ps in grades 2 & 4 before we started homeschooling. Our school district is excellent, they had great teachers and got a great start on their education. They were happy healthy and loved learning. I had no complaints and have no regrets.

 

Now when they got to 5th grade, they switched to an upper elementary. The environment there was not so pleasant and the education was not nearly as excellent either. Our district test scores plummet in the middle grades rising again in high school. The upper elementary and Jr. High are not pleasant places (socially) and do not have good academics.

 

I think you have to look at your local schools and see if they are a place you would want to entrust with your children.

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My DD went to school for about 8 months and came back acting like I couldn't teach her because I didn't know anything and neither did I do anything right. Oh, yes, and she was taught sight reading methods and had to start all over with phonics even though she was reading at 3rd grade level when I put her in.

 

I would rather slow down to the very basics in school, spending half the time that you normally do, and look into a nice day care program for after school or some type of drop-off class like music, art, dance, karate.

 

Just MHO

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Don't throw in the towel due to fatigue. Take a great summer break. NO SCHOOL... no thinking on it much.

 

Unless you have made little progress or had major problems.... they will lose ground quickly and develop some serious attitudes, etc.

 

Oh, and you will still have to spend several hours a day TEACHING them to make up for poor teachers OR lack of time in the classroom due to poor behavior & interuptions.

 

Get some rest & try the DVDs. But, keep reading with them & to them.... if they read well & love it... they can learn anything!

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but find they don't want to come back home. IMO, hsing is something that a person commits to and you don't change your mind just because sometimes you just don't feel like doing it anymore. You can do whatever you want. Nobody else's experiences will be exactly like yours. Just be sure you're ready for whatever the consequences of your actions are.

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but find they don't want to come back home. IMO, hsing is something that a person commits to and you don't change your mind just because sometimes you just don't feel like doing it anymore. You can do whatever you want. Nobody else's experiences will be exactly like yours. Just be sure you're ready for whatever the consequences of your actions are.

 

:iagree:

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Grades 2 and 4 might be o.k., but I'd be very, very wary of putting a hsed child into school for the first time in the 7th grade. As a former junior high teacher, I saw a lot of misery in kids who'd transferred in from other schools, and seventh grade was the worst. Seventh graders are going through so much change -- turning 13 and trying to find their place in the world -- and tend to form into groups which are often very mean to their peers in order to increase their own social capital. Anyone who's different in any way is fair game. I did have one exception, a sweet homeschooled girl who was the brightest student I ever had, and for some reason her peers loved her, to the amazement of the faculty. However, in general I feel that the risk of emotional pain and values destruction is too high in enrolling a child in the seventh grade. It might be o.k., but it could be really rough.

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My kids went to elementary school for quite some time. The eldest went through to the 5th grade and the youngest nearly completed 3rd grade.

 

The education was criminally bad. I've spent the last 2 years unteaching, reteaching and making up for lost time.

 

Sending them to school was incredibly time consuming. Having them in school tied us down. It seemed like I could never do anything or go anywhere.

 

Sending them to school was socially unpleasant. Many of their peers were badly behaved, and behavior problems absorbed most of the teachers' attention. They were bullied, and they were exposed to sexually precocious attitudes and behavior.

 

The teachers were disrespectful of me, and displayed appallingly bad judgment when it came to selecting books and movies for the kids. They were so full of themselves, it never occurred to them that some of their behavior (Yes, the teachers' behavior) was grossly inappropriate. The teachers wasted class time in ways that deeply offended me. They had the gall to show movies to the kids the very minute the movies came out in DVD. The day a movie was available in DVD, and our family could finally afford to watch it, the teachers would show the movies at school. This happened more than once.

 

After frittering away class time with activities a normal family would enjoy on the weekend or in the evening, they'd send an outrageous quantity of homework home. Each week, when I got the kids' graded material back, I noted that 2/3 or more consisted of what they had done as homework. This meant the bulk of the kids' written work was done with me, while I was frantically trying to serve dinner and get the family off to sports and church.

 

Really and truly, it was a disaster.

 

If you want to send them to school for a year, go ahead. Maybe it won't be that bad. If it is, at least you won't continue to believe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. You'll know what it's like to send your kids to school.

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I considered putting mine in public school a time or two.

 

Due to family issues, I did send them in the Fall of 2001. My daughter was okay there, but it wasn't great. My son's issues were extreme despite a nice teacher. I almost lost him completely. I'll spare you the details. I did the best I could, I thought. Thankfully they were only there 8 weeks. The grass is not greener.

 

Each of my kids used a full program for 7th grade. My daughter used Abeka DvDs and my son used a K12 virtual academy. I honestly believe it was the best they I could have done. It allowed me to deal with other things that needed to be dealt with. When it was my son doing it, it turned what would have been THE WORST year of homeschooling into the best year for him academically. I am VERY glad I made the changes those years.

 

Based on my experience, I definitely suggest taking a good break off of school, using a program, cutting back to 3R's and/or unschooling completely for a time. Which ones of those would depend a bit on your individual kids and circumstances. For us, using programs for preteens was definitely best. I'd be more willing to cut back or unschool with younger kids. I think having a solid 3 months for summer can definitely be a start of something better though.

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If you want to send them to school for a year, go ahead. Maybe it won't be that bad. If it is, at least you won't continue to believe the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. You'll know what it's like to send your kids to school.

 

I was thinking that this was the one good thing about putting her into school for a while. It's funny that you said it.

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I am thinking about putting my kids in school for a year to try it. They are all so social and I can't seem to meet their needs. My heart is just not into anymore, and quite honestly, the idea of a quiet house during the day sounds wonderful. If I continue to homeschool, I will probably switch to one of the DVD programs like Abeka. What has been your experience with public school for grades 2,4,7? Thanks

 

I wouldn't do it. I would do the A Beka DVD's anyday to sending my children to public school. Public school for our children was a trainwreck. Take the summer off, regroup, order the DVD's and give it a try. :grouphug:

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Do you know anything about the schools you would be sending them to? It might be a good experience (or it might not)

 

My kids just finished the year in PS, in 2nd and 5th grade. Were we not moving this summer, they would stay there. They have a great school with excellent teachers and great friends. I honestly have no complaints about their current school.

My oldest was homeschooled from K through last quarter of 3rd grade when she asked to try public school (we started homeschooling in K before moving here because of the poor schools in our previous location). She was very well received even though she started school in March, she made friends quickly and adapted to the school work pretty well (she had trouble with the handwriting speed at first and couldn't keep up the first month but apart from that she did fine). She liked being homeschooled but she loves public school because she is very social and loves having tons of friends (there are not a ton of homeschoolers around and no support group so she didn't have much opportuny to make friends while homeschooled). She loves being in orchestra and band at school.

She is happy to homeschool again after our move but is adamant that if we stay here (in the event our house doesn't sell) she wants to go to middle school with her friends.

All that to say, not all schools are a bad experience, try to get a feel about your local school and see.

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He really responded to the challenge of athletics. The sports wore him out so completely that he was able to settle down and learn. Finally. He has dyslexia and maybe also ADD. The athletics helped him focus. Yes some of the kids are ugly and from crummy backgrounds. I struggled with letting him go. On the other hand, I just love being Mom and not really teaching at all. His academic performance was very good. If he has homework questions my dh helps him. I still have one son at home but he might go to private school next year. In retrospect I have to say that what I liked best about hsing was having my kids nearby. I detested the academic part! :tongue_smilie: I am simply not that disciplined to get it all done in the older grades. Now that they are in school, I get to do the fun stuff like projects and field trips and someone else takes care of the meat and potatoes of academics.

Good luck!

Alexandra

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