Has anyone had a good experience with public school but still decided to homeschool?

[creekmom]

Just wondering. It seems that all the homeschoolers I know have either always homeschooled or had a bad experience with ps.

[Plucky]

We've had some good experiences with ps. The bad experience I had with a ds is due to his adhd.

 

My teen will be going to school part-time this year. He wanted to go to school, but didn't want to be limited by the ps schedule. He can do so much more when he's not tied to ps full-time. Right now one of my biggest complaints about ps is the inefficiency. We have a lot of opportunities here with homeschooling and if this kiddo went full time he'd have to give up a lot.

[angela in ohio]

I personally had a great experience in a small town public school. I learned a lot, including Latin, rigorous grammar, Calculus, and how to read Great Books. Most of my teachers gave me extra opportunities to learn. I was on all sorts of interesting academic teams and had many wonderful experiences.

 

So why do I homeschool?

 

1. I still know I can better than that.

2. I want my dc to keep our faith.

3. Even in my old school, things have changed drastically in the years since.

4. I want dh and I to be the biggest influence on our dc, not teachers or peers.

 

ETA: I realize now you mean our dc. :D My dd had a slightly bad experience with a private school in kindergarten when we tried that route. It is not why we homeschool, but it gave me the push I needed to decide.

[Crissy]

My older son has had great experiences with the public schools, beginning in 7th grade and I anticipate more of the same through high school.

 

Still, my younger son will be homeschooled for a few more years at the least.

[GWOB]

My dd8 had a wonderful experience at her first ps. I loved the teachers and administration. Homeschooling was in the back of my mind then, but I really had no complaints about that school. It was working for us. Now, the district into which we moved was a different story. It isn't a bad school, just a bad fit for my kids. So, we just homeschool instead.

[Mandamom]

When I homeschooled I always had one or two in public school and it worked very well.

 

Our biggest reason for homeschooling was that public/private school wasn't a good fit for dss. After he matured a little he was ready for private school and is now doing very well.

[Guest KristaP]

My son completed two years at the "best" ps in our town. No major complaints. We made the change primarily for family reasons. My husband is a church planter and is busiest when my son is out of school on the weekends. We now have control of our schedules (everyone is off on Fridays) and the kids have lots of time with dad. In fact, my son told me last week that his favorite thing about homeschooling last year (our first year at it) was that he got to spend a lot of time with his dad. It has been a good change for our family and I believe my son is emotionally healthier. It has even been great for sibling relationships.

[BabyBre]

No.

 

And returning to public school after homeschooling...No.

[lionfamily1999]

Up until last year, we had good experiences with our local ps. Ds's pre-k, k, and 1st teachers were all great ladies that strove to keep him challenged and interested.

[TKDmom]

My dd went to the best ps in our city. I liked it (for the most part). And I've felt a little guilty about pulling her out of the school that I went to so much effort to get her into. But after reading WTM, I realized that I could do a better job. I had no major complaints, just minor annoyances (which are a part of any ps). Now I don't have to deal with all those annoyances. And I like keeping my children close to me (which I'd never thought I I'd say when I had 3 of them under the age of 4. . . ) It's so surreal to have had this total change of heart. But I'm doing what I feel is best for my kids.

[Margo out of lurking]

We had a good ps experience here.

 

My daughter attended a back to basics charter school with the top scores in the top district in a large metropolitan area. It was a great school, very good teachers, terrific families and kids. God really put hsing into both my heart and my dh's--eight years later, we still find it hard to believe. We didn't know anyone IRL who hsed, and the only thing I "knew" about it was that hsers lived in the woods without telephone lines, or else they were wacky religious nuts.

 

When I pulled her out halfway through first grade, I cried for three weeks, thinking I was ruining her life, knowing I could never get her back into the school. (We'd put her on a "wait" list when she was 3.)

 

For the next two years after that, she attended a very similar school on a "part time" basis through a hser program, in a nearby city after we'd moved. It was also a good experience.

 

Now we live in the woods, we're waiting to get rid of our phone line (to switch to cell phone only!), and our families think we're religious nuts.

 

So I guess we were right way back then, lol.

[msjones]

Our son's public school experience was fine. He was happy and learning, and had made some nice friends. We had no huge complaints.

 

But...I was working as a tutor for homeschoolers. After teaching ps for 8 years, I could easily see that homeschooling provided a better setting for learning.

 

I wanted that for my kids. So, here we are in our 5th year of homeschool!

 

We do think that the high school where my husband works is good, and plan to send the boys there when the time comes.

[LibraryLover]

We've never had a bad school experience.

Edited July 5, 2009 by LibraryLover

[myfunnybunch]

Yes. My dd's had a wonderful elementary school experience at the school down the street. Middle school, not so much. They both came home. One went back to public high school, good experience; the other returned to middle school for 8th grade, great experience.

 

We homeschool the boys because it works well for them. We let the girls attend public school because it works for them. :)

 

Cat

[sgilli3]

Just wondering. It seems that all the homeschoolers I know have either always homeschooled or had a bad experience with ps.

 

My elder 2 went to PS for a few years ( with a gap in between some years).

We have a very, very positive PS experience.

 

Each year they attended, they were blessed with attentive, nurturing teachers, our principal knew all the children by name, it was a very well equipped school (resource wise) and the parents seem to really be a part of the school community ( reading, extra fundraising etc)

 

It was a state school (government), and it I truly have not a bad word to say about it ( in fact we are still in touch with the principal, who loves to hear how the children are going with homeschooling- in a nice way:D )

 

We homeschool for a few reasons , none of which have to do with our PS experience.

 

We travel a bit, so we didn't want to be tied to school term dates and also school fees here are ridiculous. We would rather put the money schooling would cost us here towards travel,and other bits and bobs.

 

As to whether the children want to keep homeschooling or return to a school when we return to Oz ( hopefully within the year) - that is totally up to them.

[....]

We also went to one of the best public schools in our state. We are homeschooling now because one of our kids couldn't hold his head above water academically. He needs some one-on-one attention.

[LaxMom]

My husband and I both went to public school and didn't have any bad experiences. At least, we didn't have any negative experiences that followed us on through adulthood; I think when you put that many people in one place, you're bound to have a less than positive experience here and there.

 

My eldest happily graduated from public school. No "bad" experiences, though I though the academics were a little lacking.

 

The younger three will be homeschooled through graduation. I simply do not care for the institutional environment, social dynamic, and academic standards of our local schools. If we lived in a different area, we might not have ever thought of homeschooling at all. (But I'm glad it did come up on the radar and do not view homeschooling as a "plan B" - it just might not have occurred to us otherwise.)

[Night Elf]

There are problems everywhere, in all groups and all situations. You're asking a very select group of people a question that is probably biased.

 

It isn't that I had problems with the schools either for myself or my kids, just that homeschooling is as much an option as public or private school. We've had problems with homeschooling, sometimes so much so that I put the kids back in school for a while and still keep that option open even now.

 

My youngest dd met many nice girls in one year of public school. She's never had a homeschooling friend. The couple of groups we tried to fit into had cliques for the moms and the kids. That's when we gave up on homeschool groups altogether. That's probably been the biggest con against homeschooling. Not having friends at her age makes her feel extremely isolated and sad.

 

I don't hate brick & mortar schools. Homeschooling is just the easiest open at the moment but that may change. Nothing is written in stone.

[Chris in VA]

We had both good and bad experiences. Dd9's experience this year was about as positive as it gets--good teacher, no bullying or other bad behavior (one slight "irritating boy," but we discussed it and it resolved easily), academically ok (not great--much of it was review), and so on.

But we missed each other. We missed the flexibility of homeschooling, the non-pressure projects, the way she could spend time on Mondays with her dad, the long times she could read and play outside. Public school felt like settling, after having homeschooled. I kinda needed the break, and I needed the $ from working last year (could always use more of that), but it was more draining to public school than it was to homeschool! Actually, just a different type of draining--

[Catherine]

My eldest is the reason we got into homeschooling. My middle child would be absolutely fine in ps, or at least, he was through third grade. I suspect my youngest would NOT be well-served by ps. Our small local elementary school is a nice environment, the teachers and children all know each other and it's fairly rigorous as elem. schools go. It would be safe and familiar for my kids.

 

What I will say though is that even in on of the best public high schools in our state, the instruction was uneven, and the supervision was seriously lacking. There was widespread drug use and drinking even during school hours. There was a lack of flexibility and freedom that my ds disliked. In the end it was his decision, to come home again for the last three years of HS. Honestly, he would be getting perhaps a more rigorous, but less varied, education there than he is here at home. But for the reasons noted above, we both are happy he's home again.

[LoriM]

My dds always loved school. They loved their teachers, they made great grades, they were happy. We came home in 7th and 3rd grades (now graduating from college/freshman in college) for school to do things better, more efficiently, and to spend more time together. We eliminated the "lag time" necessary for a classroom of students, and met each child's needs academically, allowing them more time to be children...for play and rest and creativity and discovery.

 

That never changed, all the way through high school and college, by the way. We did things better, more efficiently, and were *more* able to meet each child's needs than the local high school could have or would have. Now my older dd is graduating from college at 20, and my younger dd is attending college fulltime at 16. :)

[Desert Rat]

Mine was an okay experience, but I didn't need the same things educationally that my son needs. That's the difference that made my decision. I had great friends, a decent education-for public school at least, and went on to college. Ds9 would fall through the very wide cracks that most intelligent kids fall through in our state.

[Starr]

My dc were happy in pre-school, K and 1st. Interestingly my dd at 7 jumped at the idea of homeschooling when I mentioned it in an off hand way.